Briefly

A former vice president of advertising at Advanced Marketing Services Inc. was charged Wednesday with participating in schemes to inflate company earnings, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

The SEC said it charged Sandra Christie, who was vice president at the San Diego-based book distributor from 1997 through 2004.

The fraudulent schemes resulted in the overstatement of the company’s pretax earnings by up to 19% in 2001-03, the SEC said. Christie’s attorney, Marc Greenberg, said his client will fight the charges.

Advanced Marketing shares fell 15 cents, to $7.25, on the New York Stock Exchange.