Comparator’s Top Executive to Step Down

In the latest fallout since federal regulators sued Comparator Systems Corp. for fraud, the beleaguered company disclosed Friday that its longtime chairman and chief executive officer will be stepping down by year-end.

In a brief filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Newport Beach maker of fingerprint identification systems said Robert Reed Rogers intends to retire “at the earliest practicable opportunity.”

The filing, which also announced the appointment of a new president and chief executive, provided no further information about Rogers’ retirement, except to say that he would be available as a consultant to the company.

The disclosure comes five weeks after Rogers was named in a sweeping suit filed by the SEC following intense regulatory scrutiny. The suit accuses Rogers and two other top officers of Comparator of lying about the company’s finances, stealing a key product and bilking investors by selling millions of shares of virtually worthless stock.

Rogers, 67, has quietly led the tiny, struggling company since 1983. But in May, Comparator emerged from obscurity when its long-dormant penny stock rocketed to as high as $1.88 per share over several days, setting trading records on the Nasdaq market. The company’s stock has since been delisted by Nasdaq.

Rogers has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. The company did not answer phone calls Friday, and Rogers could not be reached at his home.

SEC investigators said they were not surprised by Rogers’ retirement announcement, but they declined to comment, noting that the civil lawsuit is pending.

Comparator also said in its filing that Armond J. Schroeder, head of a Comparator subsidiary, has been named by the board as the company’s president and chief executive, effective immediately. No further details were provided.

The president’s spot became vacant last week when Richard E. Floegel resigned as president and chief operating officer.

Schroeder has not been named in the SEC lawsuit, nor in a shareholders’ suit that has been filed against Comparator for allegedly manipulating the company’s stock.