Diageo PLC has agreed to pay a $5 million dollar fine to federal regulators, without admitting wrongdoing, to settle charges that it manipulated its sales figures by pushing distributors to buy more product than they wanted to.

The payment to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settles charges that Diageo pressured distributors to buy excess inventory in 2015-16. The goal, according to the SEC, was to make it appear that the inventory was moving due to consumer demand.

The SEC got involved because this alleged “overshipping” allowed Diageo to report results that exceeded stock analysts’ expectations. The SEC’s complaint says that the situation was unsustainable because distributors eventually began pushing back against Diageo’s demands that they buy more inventory than they could move.

Diageo, the bottler of popular liquor brands including Johnnie Walker scotch and Tanqueray gin, agreed to pay the fine this week but contends it did nothing wrong.