A senior executive at Avnet Computer Marketing resigned last Friday amid allegations that the company used counterfeit components in Compaq PCs.

The resignation of Bob Nail, supply-chain management vice president at Avnet, has been accepted by the company's president, Rick Hamada. Nail had worked at Phoenix, Arizona based Avnet for 28 years.

He was named in a lawsuit, filed two weeks ago by a former employee, which alleges that Avnet swapped Compaq-approved components with less expensive German-manufactured parts in every computer it assembled for Compaq. The scheme was desinged to boost Avnet Computer Marketing's profit margins, the lawsuit alleges, according to reports (http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/05/27/HNavnetvp_1.html).

So what will HP, Compaq's new-ish owner, do? It will undoubtedly scrutinise this case very closely.

Avnet is a major electronics and computer distie worldwide and will be keen to avoid the humiliating loss of a major franchise. The sacrifice of Nail will not be enough, if the fraud did actually take place. ®