Securities: Dell Investors File Suit

A group of Dell investors has filed a lawsuit, saying that the company used illegal accounting methods to hide secret kickback payments paid by Intel. Intel made these payments in order to assure that Dell only used Intel processors in its PCs. The investors filing the suit also asked that the U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas allow the case to have case-action status.

Dell investors file suit over accounting practices

These investors say that Dell's profits were inflated by hundreds of millions of dollars. Dell already is struggling through a difficult period; its CEO Kevin Rollins resigned this week and HP replaced Dell as the world's largest PC seller after Dell missed its earnings target. Several lawsuits already are surrounding the company; a federal investigation is looking into Dell's accounting practices and Intel has been ordered to share information about allegations that it paid illegal rebates to dissuade PC retailers from using AMD processors instead of Intel's.