by the mid-1990 the kickback scheme and large losses registered by several of Livent plays made it increasingly difficult for the company to achieve quarterly earnings targets that Drabinsky and Gottlieb had relayed to wall street analysts. the two conspirators realized that if Livent failed to reach those earnings targets the company credit rating and stock price would fall jeopardizing the company ability to raise the additional capital needed to sustain its operations. Faced with these circumstances, the SEC reported that beginning in 1994 Drabinsky and Gottlieb directed Livent accounting staff to engage in an array of accounting manipulations to obscure the company financial problems.