Beazer Shares Fall After Executive’s Firing

Shares of Beazer Homes USA fell as much as 9.5 percent yesterday, the most since March, after the company fired its chief accounting officer, saying he tried to destroy documents during an F.B.I. investigation.

Beazer, based in Atlanta, terminated the accounting officer, Michael T. Rand, after an internal investigation of the company's mortgage unit, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, after the close of regular stock market trading. A message left at Mr. Rand's home was not immediately returned.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in March that it was investigating the company for potential fraud after The Charlotte Observer reported Beazer had sold homes to low-income buyers who could not afford them, financing the purchases with mortgages based on expectations that the borrower's income would rise. That practice is prohibited by the Federal Housing Administration, which provides loan guarantees for home buyers.

Shares of Beazer fell .73, to close at .81

Beazer said last month that the S.E.C. had notified it May 1 that it had opened an "informal inquiry" to determine if anyone at the company or a related entity violated securities laws. Beazer said it would cooperate with regulators.

Mr. Rand is the second senior official at Beazer to be fired this year. In February, the company dismissed its general counsel, Kenneth J. Gary, "for a pattern of personal conduct, which includes violations of company policies." No further details were disclosed.

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