UPDATE: See American Apparel's response to story.

A New York Post item claims that the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing a trove of emails that were pilfered December 24 when American Apparel's computers were accessed by an unidentified hacker. One of the messages is purportedly from AA's Chief Financial Officer Adrian Kowalewski, who told a co-worker, “We almost went bankrupt last Friday,” referring to the company's credit problems. This and other emails were widely circulated in the media and blogosphere at the time.

What's new, according the Post, is the SEC's interest, allegedly

triggered because AA pushed back by three

months its deadline to pay creditors — but possibly took too long to make the move legal. Also of

note, the Post repeats news that CEO Dov Charney has approached Los

Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle for money to keep AA afloat. Charney has

been an enduring source of outrage or entertainment, as stories of his

alleged sexual peccadilloes have circulated in the press — and in

lawsuit papers. Until recently the immensely popular, L.A.-based

manufacturer of simple but colorful cotton garments has been an economic

powerhouse. Lately, however, AA has been hard hit by the recession and laid off several hundred employees in December. At the time the company claimed that new automation had made the workers redundant.

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