Bovie Medical demotes chief financial officer

Bovie Medical Corp., a Melville surgical equipment maker, demoted chief operating officer Moshe Citronowicz and slashed his pay after discovering the executive had falsified his academic record.

Citronowicz did not receive a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Be'er Sheva in Israel, as had been stated in Bovie's public reports, the company said Tuesday in a regulatory filing.

Citronowicz has been demoted to director of strategic development and is now an at-will employee, the company said. His salary has been reduced to about $196,000 from $220,000, Bovie said in the filing.

"The board of directors concluded it was in the best interest of the company's shareholders to retain Mr. Citronowicz, who has made significant contributions to the company since joining in 1993, while imposing significant financial penalties and other remedial actions," Bovie said in a statement.

As part of his penalty, Citronowicz forfeited 75,000 in stock options in the company, the regulatory filing said.

The former chief financial officer was Bovie's third-biggest shareholder, with 407,000 shares as of June 30, according to Bloomberg data.

Citronowicz declined to comment on the situation, John Aneralla, a company spokesman, said by telephone.