Labels: Enron

Labels: background checks, database

Judge Approves $6.6B In Enron Settlements

May 24, 2006
By Alistair Barr

A federal judge has given final approval for three banks to pay $6.6 billion to settle civil claims that they helped Enron Corp. manipulate earnings, according to published reports Wednesday. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon approved the deals with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (BCM) , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C) , William Lerach, attorney for the plaintiff in the cases said in an interview.

The court order brings total settlements from this Enron litigation to roughly $7.3 billion so far, Lerach added. The class-action suit covers about 50,000 investors who owned Enron securities between September 1997 and December 2001. In total, the amount of money available to Enron investors exceeds the $6.1 billion that Wall Street forked over to WorldCom investors in similar litigation.

The attorney also said he's preparing new civil lawsuits against Enron insiders, auditor Arthur Andersen and seven other large banks including Merrill Lynch (MER) , Barclays Plc, Credit Suisse (CSR) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY)...

Labels: Enron

Labels: 2006, Health South

Labels: Bernstein Litowitz and Berger, Howard Vogel, HP, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg, Milberg Weiss

Labels: Kirk Wright

Labels: money laundering

Of 16 industries ranging from construction to technology, people applying in the nonprofit field during 2005 were most likely to provide false or inconsistent information about their education, according to Infolink Screening Services, a background-checking business in California and a unit of New York's Kroll.

The "hit ratio," as the company describes it, was 21.7 percent for nonprofits, while the average for all industries was 14.1 percent. Applicants for nonprofit jobs also led the way in problems with past-employment verification, which was nearly 10 percentage points higher than the average.

Labels: Kroll

...The departures of David Bershad and Steven Schulman were announced Monday by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach.

The U.S. Justice Department has been investigating the firm for nearly six years. The case is currently before a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.

In a memo circulated to firm employees Tuesday, Bershad said his decision to leave was mutually agreed upon with the company's management and that he would be available at its request to represent clients.

"I am taking this step in the belief that my action will improve the firm's chances to avoid unfounded charges that would be detrimental," said Bershad, who joined the firm nearly 40 years ago...

Labels: Department of Justice, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss

Labels: data breech, database

Hollinger Inc., a Canadian holding company formerly controlled by ousted-newspaper magnate Conrad Black, has agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the criminal prosecution of Black and several others.

In exchange, U.S. prosecutors have agreed not to prosecute Hollinger for any crimes committed by its former officers, directors or employees relating to noncompete payments diverted from Hollinger International Inc. to Hollinger.

Labels: Conrad Black

From its inception, the (non) application of SOX to foreign issuers has been controversial. Now the whistleblower protections of SOX have come into focus as another avenue for crossborder tensions. The ABA Journal has a nice summary of current issues...Europe, it turns out, is much less enamored of whistleblowers than we are in the States...Europeans are apparently more concerned about the privacy and reputation of the accused. "[W]hile the Americans are most concerned with protecting whistle-blowers to ensure market integrity, Europeans place a higher premium on guarding personal reputations of targets of complaints, which sometimes arise out of spite, revenge or other suspect motives."

Labels: Eliot Spitzer, New York AG

Sen. Grassley Asks SEC To Proceed With Investigation Into Reports Physicians Sold Trial Data to Wall Street Firms

Kaiser Network
Daily Health Policy Report
Capitol Hill Watch
May 09, 2006

Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) last week asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to proceed with an investigation into whether physicians involved with clinical trials sell confidential information to stock analysts and investors, the Seattle Times reports (Mundy, Seattle Times, 5/8).

The Times in an August 2005 article reported at least 26 cases in which physicians sold information about ongoing trials to Wall Street firms. In response to the article, Grassley sent letters to SEC and the Department of Justice that requested investigations into the issue (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/9/05).

Last week, Grassley sent SEC a Congressional Research Service report completed in November 2005 that states, "Thus, if the facts in the article are accurate, it is arguable that the described Wall Street analysts may be violating section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act." Section 10(b) is the anti-fraud statute of the law.

Grassley asked SEC to respond to the CRS report no later than June 2. In a letter to SEC Chair Christopher Cox, Grassley wrote that "the integrity of the scientific process itself is compromised by clinical researchers who disclose ... the details of ongoing research." SEC spokesperson John Heine declined to comment on the issue (Seattle Times, 5/8).

Labels: Department of Justice

Labels: background checks

SEC Lawsuit Against Morgan Stanley: $15 Million Penalty

Patricia Shehan
All Headline News Contributor
May 10, 2006

Washington D.C. (AHN) - A news release Wednesday announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a civil injunction against Morgan Stanley and Co., Inc. for failure to produce e-mails in the tens of thousands during investigations dating from 2000 through 2005. The SEC alleged Morgan Stanley did not search diligently for the tapes or their back-up tapes. The SEC suit against Morgan Stanley calls for a $15 million penalty and required company reforms, subject to court approval. This law suit comes on the heels of another lawsuit being sought by a Florida law firm for $100 million in damages from the Wall Street firm filed the first week of May.

Labels: Morgan Stanley

Labels: Eliot Spitzer, New York AG

Overstock.com gets SEC subpoena

By Gabriel Madway
MarketWatch
May 10, 2006

Overstock.com Inc. said late Tuesday it received a wide-ranging subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission that seeks documents related to its accounting policies, communications with analysts and trading of the company's stock.

The subpoena also requests information relating to the online retailer's complaint against research firm Gradient Analytics Inc., Salt Lake City-based Overstock.com The company has sued Gradient and short-selling hedge fund Rocker Partners LP, claiming that they conspired to push down its share price...

Labels: Gradient Analytics, Patrick Byrne

"Fewer and fewer hedge funds are doing what hedge funds are supposed to do, which is provide uncorrelated returns," says Pinkernell. It's not that veteran hedge fund managers forgot how to do their jobs. The problem is that the huge sums flowing into alternative investments have given rise to a new breed of hedge fund, one that's a gussied-up mutual fund masquerading as a hedge fund to collect gaudier fees. "If you think your hedge managers are just providing you with what you could get with an S&P index fund, then absolutely you should not be paying fees of 1.5 percent [of assets] and 20 percent [of profits]," says Tim Jackson, head of hedge fund research for Rocaton Investment Advisors.

"Potential investors were offered high returns from the purchase and management of a stamp fund, which was apparently made up of overvalued - or even fake - stamps and whose returns did not apparently come [from the fund] but from money received from new clients"

Labels: database, money laundering

SEC to get intelligence briefings

By Robert Schroeder
MarketWatch
Apr 27, 2006

Wall Street regulators will soon receive briefings from intelligence officials related to securities matters, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox and the agency's four other commissioners will get briefings from the National Intelligence Council, a planning organization within the nation's intelligence community. Members of the council include the CIA, the FBI and the U.S. Defense Department.

Cox, a former California Republican congressman, headed the House Homeland Security Committee before taking the top job at the SEC. "The SEC should be apprised of what's going on," said spokesman John Nester. "They [commissioners] will be getting regular briefings," he said. Cox told lawmakers about the planned briefings in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee.

The SEC currently has an Office of Global Security Risk, which reviews company filings to determine whether firms have contact with any entities that could be sponsors of terrorist organizations. In his House testimony, Cox said he believes the security office "will play a more significant role in the future, especially given the increasingly global nature of public company activities."

• Give an assessment of how funds work together.
• Discuss whether a fund belongs in a taxable account.
• Require personalized disclosures in fund statements.
• Bring back the profile prospectus, and make its use mandatory.
• Highlight prospectus changes, don’t hide them.

Posted by Zonk on Thursday May 04, @03:27PM
from the argh-my-records dept...carl writes:

"According to an MSNBC article, the FTC has sued five different background investigation firms for selling confidential phone records." From the article: "In the lawsuits announced Wednesday, the FTC charged the companies used 'false pretenses, fraudulent statements, fraudulent or stolen documents or other misrepresentations, including posing as a customer of a telecommunications carrier' to get the phone records. The companies advertised on their Web sites that they could get the confidential phone records of any individual and make them available for a fee, the agency said."

• Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Information Search, Inc. and David J. Kacala, individually and as an officer of Information Search, Inc., Defendants. United States District Court for the District of Maryland Northern Division, Civil Action No.: 1:06-CV-01099-AMD; FTC File No.: 062 3102

• Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Accusearch, Inc. d/b/a Abika.com, and Jay Patel, Defendants. United States District Court for the District of Wyoming, Civil Action No.: 06-CV-0105; FTC File No.: 052 3126

• Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. CEO GROUP, INC. d/b/a Check Em Out, and Scott Joseph, Defendants. United States District Court Southern District of Florida, Case No.: 06-60602; FTC File No.: 062 3100

• Federal Trade Commission Plaintiff, v. 77 Investigations, Inc., and Reginald Kimbro, Defendants. United States District Court Central District of California, Case No.: EDCV06-0439 VAP; FTC File No.: 062 3099

• Federal Trade Commission, Plaintiff, v. Integrity Security & Investigation Services, Inc., Defendants. United States District Court Eastern District of Virginia, Civil Action No. 2:06-CV-241-RGD-JEB; FTC File No.: 062 31021

Labels: background checks

FBI seeking connection between trash industry, Genovese family

By Matt Apuzzo and
John Christoffersen
Associated Press Writers
May 3, 2006

Federal authorities are scrutinizing the reputed boss of the Genovese crime family as part of their investigation into the mob's influence over the trash industry in New York and Connecticut, people close to the case said Wednesday.

The interest focuses on Matthew "Matty the Horse" Ianniello, 85, who prosecutors have called the acting boss of the New York crime syndicate. FBI agents searched Ianniello's New York home in recent months, according to one person close to the case.

Another person with direct knowledge of the case said agents have been asking questions about Ianniello since executing dozens of search warrants last year. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Jared M. Lefkowitz, an Ianniello defense attorney, declined comment Wednesday. The federal interest comes amid a developing FBI investigation of the Connecticut trash industry...

Labels: insider trading

Labels: Howard Vogel, Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss

Senior SEC Enforcement Official Joins Kroll's San Francisco Office

May 01, 2006
BUSINESS WIRE

Kathleen Bisaccia, former assistant district administrator for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement in San Francisco, Calif., has joined the San Francisco office of risk consulting company Kroll Inc. As a managing director in its Business Intelligence & Investigations division, she is responsible for conducting corporate internal investigations in all areas of the federal securities laws, including financial reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Bisaccia will also oversee projects involving due diligence and other regulatory issues.

Bisaccia began her career at the SEC in 1991, when she joined its Los Angeles office as a staff attorney. She subsequently served as branch chief for four years, and following a move to the San Francisco office, as senior counsel and branch chief. Most recently, in March 2005, she assumed the senior position of assistant district administrator. In that capacity, she supervised enforcement managers and staff in all aspects of complex securities law investigations and litigation, including strategy, legal analysis, evidence collection and analysis, case planning, and evaluation of legal theories. Bisaccia also served as director of equities enforcement at the Pacific Stock Exchange in early 2000...

Labels: Kroll

SEC must fix data security weaknesses

Reuters
April 29, 200

It's a nightmare scenario: A hacker accesses e-mails in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission computers and splashes them across the Internet, revealing an inquiry into a company that shakes investor confidence before the probe is complete.
Such an attack has never happened at the SEC, but computer experts say it could if the agency fails to tighten security.

The SEC, an investor protection agency that demands tight internal controls from the companies it oversees, was recently criticized by congressional investigators for not having its own house in order when it comes to cyber security.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said last month the SEC had failed to limit remote access to its servers, establish controls over passwords, securely configure all network devices, and adopt security monitoring procedures.

A successful hacker could use nonpublic information to make trouble for a targeted company or rival. "It wouldn't necessarily be manipulation" of data by a hacker that would do the most harm, said Paul Kurtz, a former White House cyber security official. "It would be to expose information to damage another firm."

Labels: GAO

Labels: data breech, database, homeland security, Lexis Nexis, Matrix, Seisint, terrorism

Labels: Enron