Cabela's to Pay $1M to Settle SEC Complaint

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) -- Outdoor outfitter Cabela's has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a complaint from federal regulators that investors were misled about the Sidney-based company's 2012 profitability ratios.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Cabela's chief financial officer, Ralph Castner, also will pay $50,000 to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the settlement, Castner and Cabela's didn't admit or deny wrongdoing.

The SEC says Cabela's shouldn't have listed in its financial statements an intercompany fee that World's Foremost Bank, the retailer's wholly owned credit card bank, paid parent company Cabela's. The company had told investors that "all intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation."

The SEC says the fee made Cabela's profit margin look better than it was.

The company and Castner declined to comment specifically about the allegation.

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