Dive summary:

• Sims Metal Management has reported a loss of $303.4 million in the past fiscal half year due to a reduction of intake and shipments in North America as well about $80 million in fraudulent evaluations at two U.K. facilities.
• A special committee sent to investigate the problem in the U.K. found the inventory had been overvalued by $80 million, about 29% of the company’s U.K. supply, due to "supervisory control failures."
• Sims CEO Daniel Dienst has also announced that he will retire when his contract ends this year saying that the announcement of the employee misconduct was "tough medicine to swallow."

From the article:

"The alleged conduct we discovered does not represent in any way, shape or form the way Sims Metal Management does business, or how we expect our employees to behave," he said in the conference call. "... The isolated acts of a few reckless people and supervisory control failures should in no way question the reputation of our broader [Sims Recycling Solutions] franchise scattered across five continents, 18 countries and more than 50 sites, nor should it undercut the broader successes we've had in this fast-growing market."

Sims Metal Management is continuing to investigate allegations of fraud, the company has stated. The company declined to provide further details about the incident or its planned actions. ...