Four ex-Media Vision executives have been charged in a fraud case, the San Francisco Chronicle has reported.

　　The suit, brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), alleges that former chief executive officer Paul Jain and former chief financial officer Steven Allen had in 1994 directed employees to falsify documents "to artificially inflate revenue and understate expenses in an extensive scheme to defraud investors."

　　After hitting the bottom and filing for bankruptcy and coming back in 1994, Media Vision changed management and became Aureal Semiconductor. Currently, Fremont, Calif.-based Aureal produces a line of popular chips with its A3D positional audio technology (available in audio boards including Diamond's Monster 3D Sound).

　　Also charged were former controller Robert Williams and former manufacturing director Wayne Nakamura with aiding in the scheme with the other two executives.

　　The scheme overstated the company's profits by over US$119 million. Reportedly from the dealings, three of the employees traded inside stock information and made a significant profit. The suit claims that Jain made $1.5 million, Allan made $825,000, and Nakamura made $21,250.

　　GameSpot News spoke to Aureal's senior marketing and communications manager, Bob Safir, who said that the suit has no real effect on the company. He went on to say "the only relationship that Aureal has with Media Vision is six desks, five chairs, and some letterhead we use as scratchpads."

　　The SEC is pushing to have the profits made by the employees returned - with penalties as high as $7 million dollars.

　　Three other ex-employees have already plead guilty to criminal charges in the ongoing investigation.