Maximus fined by SEC for proxy, reporting violations

Tysons-based federal technology contractor Maximus will pay $500,000 in civil penalties to settle a charge that it failed to disclose it had employed the siblings of one of its executive officers.

According to a settlement announced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Maximus appointed a business segment leader and longtime employee as an executive officer effective Oct. 1, 2019. That person, who is unnamed in the administrative proceeding, also had two siblings that were longtime employees — also unnamed — and each received an annual compensation of $120,000 or more, amounts in excess of SEC disclosure regulations. Maximus failed to disclose the relationship on annual reports in fiscal years 2019 through 2021 as well as in proxy statements filed from January 2020 through January 2022. Maximus was required to report the relationship on forms because of the siblings’ direct or indirect material interest in the transactions, according to the filing.

Maximus did not admit or deny the allegations made by the SEC and cooperated with the SEC’s investigation.

In an emailed statement to Virginia Business, company spokesperson Eileen Cassidy Rivera said Maximus is “pleased we were able to resolve this matter on an amicable basis with the SEC.”

Maximus was one of 36 Virginia companies to make the 2023 Fortune 1000 list, placing at No. 679. The company has more than 50,000 employees worldwide and runs Medicare and Affordable Care Act customer help lines.