Early appeared in court in New York yesterday along with Shona Siefert, a former director of Ogilvy & Mather and now president of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York. The pair face 11 charges related to the Office of National Drug Control Policy advertising account and inaccurate billing by staff.
Siefert and Early, who both appeared in handcuffs, have pleaded not guilty. Siefert has already issued a statement describing the charges as fallacious and saying she was innocent of any wrongdoing.
The charges say that staff at Ogilvy working on the account were told to alter timesheets and to note that they had put in a certain percentage of their time working on the account, regardless of whether or not they had. The pair are also charged with attempting to cover up the fraud. If found guilty, their punishment could include a prison sentence and fines.
Ogilvy & Mather was appointed to the Office of National Drug Control Policy account in 1998, creating acclaimed ads that lead its reappointment in 2002. But the billings scandal, which first came to light in 2000, has dogged the WPP Group-owned agency, which paid the government $1.8m (拢1m) in settlement of a civil suit.
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