Vince McMahon will pay over $1.7 million to the SEC to settle charges related to undisclosed payments tied to sexual assault allegations.
McMahon failed to disclose a $3 million payment to a former WWE employee, the SEC alleges, as well as a $7.5 million payment to an independent contractor.
In a statement, McMahon had the following to say:
“The case is closed. Today ends nearly three years of investigation by different governmental agencies. There has been a great deal of speculation about what exactly the government was investigating and what the outcome would be. As today’s resolution shows, much of that speculation was misguided and misleading.
“In the end, there was never anything more to this than minor accounting errors with regard to some personal payments that I made several years ago while I was CEO of WWE. I’m thrilled that I can now put all this behind me.”
McMahon did not admit to the SEC’s findings but agreed to a $400,000 civil penalty and a $1.33 million reimbursement to WWE.
The former WWE Chairman continues to face Janel Grant’s lawsuit, alleging that she was abused and trafficked during her time with the promotion.
McMahon is also named in a suit alleging that he and others knew of abuse against ‘ring boys’ by Mel Phillips but did not attempt to prevent it.
