Former Aspen CEO gets probation in fraud case

David McQuillin, former chief executive of Aspen Technology Inc., of Burlington, was sentenced to three years' probation and a $12,000 fine in a federal court in New York after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud. He was charged with falsifying the 2001 and 2002 revenue of Aspen, which makes software for managing chemical processes. McQuillin and Aspen's founder and chairman, Lawrence Evans, also settled civil fraud charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. McQuillin has been ordered to pay an $85,000 civil penalty plus $28,381.61 in disgorgement and interest and is barred from serving as an officer or director of any public company. Evans must pay a $75,000 civil penalty and $21,478.01 in disgorgement and interest. (Hiawatha Bray)

Biotechnology companies have another trade group to represent them. The New England Biotech Association, which will represent biotechs in the six New England states, officially got off the ground with its first board meeting, in Cambridge. The organization's members include the Biotech Association of Maine, Connecticut United for Research Excellence, New Hampshire Bio/Medical Council, Rhode Island BioGroup, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Massachusetts High Technology Council, and the Biotech Association of Vermont, which is still being formed. (Todd Wallack)

Five Boston radio stations are laying off administrative staff in a nationwide effort to cut costs by parent company CBS, company officials said. The stations are WBZ, WBCN, WBMX, WZLX, and WODS. Mark Hannon, market manager of CBS Radio Boston, said the changes will not affect local programming. "The programming and on-air talents will remain individual," he said. He would not detail the number of cutbacks but a third-quarter earnings statement from CBS issued Oct. 30 said the company will reduce the number of staffers by 480 this year - 290 of them in the third quarter. (Jenifer B. McKim)

Waters Corp., the Milford maker of equipment for chemical analysis, was sued by a Michigan pension fund over claims its board of directors issued misleading statements about the company's financial health. The board, including chief executive Douglas Berthiaume, deceived shareholders while allowing insiders to sell more than $46.1 million of its stock, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Boston by the City of Dearborn Heights Act 345 Police & Fire Retirement System. The fund alleged investors paid artificially inflated prices for Waters' stock. A company spokesman did not return a call seeking comment. (Bloomberg)

The manager of a $10.5 billion money market fund that's shutting down said it has begun returning about 40 percent of that total to investors, who have been unable to access their cash for nearly two months. The $4.5 billion to be returned from the Reserve U.S. Government fund is the first in an unspecified number of distributions, said the fund's manager, Reserve Management Co. Reserve plans to distribute more cash as it sells off assets from the fund, and as short-term debt the fund holds matures, said Bruce Bent, the president of New York-based Reserve. (AP)

Crude oil rose more than $2 a barrel in New York on speculation that a 10 percent drop in prices over the previous two days was larger than justified. "A combination of a relief rally and bargain hunting are helping push the market higher," said John Kilduff, of MF Global Inc. in New York. Crude oil for December delivery rose $2.08, or 3.7 percent, to $58.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. (Bloomberg)

Two former McKesson Corp. executives were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission and accused of insider trading before the company's 2005 acquisition of a St. Louis drug distributor. William Gallahair of Newport Beach, Calif., a former vice president at San Francisco-based McKesson, allegedly made $120,000 in profit on first buying and then selling D&K Healthcare Resources Inc. stock, the SEC said. The commission also sued Jonathan Wilson, a former McKesson senior manager, accusing him of improperly reaping $117,045 after he learned of the pending D&K deal. (Bloomberg)