Monster Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: MWW) agreed to pay a $2.5 million penalty to settle stock backdating charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC announced today. Several former Monster executives have already pleaded guilty or been convicted of backdating charges from incidents several years ago.

The SEC said Monster overstated its results from 1997 to 2005 because of the backdating. The company later had to restate results to include approximately $339.5 million in additional non-cash charges for option-related compensation expenses, according to the SEC.

Last weeka jury convicted former Monster Chief Operating Officer James Treacy of securities fraud in connection with the backdating. The company's former senior VP and General Counsel Myron Olesnyckyj pleaded guilty to securities fraud in February 2007 over backdating. The U.S. Attorney's Office also charged former Chairman and CEO Andrew McKelvey but reached a deal to have those charges dismissed. McKelvey died in November.