Ogilvy Execs Indicted in U.S. Fraud Case

Two top executives of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide Inc., a unit of WPP Group, the world’s No. 3 advertising firm, were indicted on charges that they overbilled the U.S. government on a $684-million anti-drug campaign.

Thomas Early, 48, a senior partner at Ogilvy, and Shona Seifert, 43, a former senior partner there, were accused of plotting to defraud the government while working on a print and broadcast campaign for the Office of National Drug Control Policy from May 1999 to April 2000, acting U.S. Atty. David N. Kelley said in New York.

The size of the alleged fraud was not disclosed. Court papers said the actual expenses for the contract fell short of projected costs by $3 million. Ogilvy was not charged.