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Previous Posts Archives
5/30/2008
Milberg Kickbacks, A Victimless Crime?
Not so, says Michael Perino of St. John's University School of Law.

Perino, in a paper sponsored by the trial lawyer-loving fellas over at the American Enterprise Institute, compared 730 settlements negotiated by Milberg and found that those alleged to involve kickbacks actually saw a lower return to shareholders by a small but measurable percentage.

On the whole, Milberg collected some $25o million in legal fees on cases involving the kickbacks.

In addition to some interesting commentary on the impact of Milberg's illegal acts on the firm's clients, the paper also offers a pretty darn good re-cap of the kickback investigation and prosecution.

You can read Perino's The Milberg Weiss Prosecution: No Harm, No Foul right here.

-- MDT

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5/29/2008
Due Diligizers, Disclosure Insight Posts SEC Comment Letters For Public View
People send me the coolest things... Case in point: here's a nice little marketing strategy from Minneapolis-based investigative firm, Disclosure Insight.

Check out their site and try a search in the company box in the upper right. A chronological list of comment letters, many that would otherwise not be available online, are yours for perusal.

-- MDT

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New Book on Corporate Investigations Coming Your Way
Yesterday a noted friend of the blog tipped me to a new book on the horizon from Business Week and Politico.com reporter, Eamon Javers.

You may remember Mr. Javers having done some of the heavy lifting on the Diligence / Bermuda / IPOC story (although some love really needs to go to Bermuda's Royal Gazette and
KYCNews.com, lets be honest).

The book, to be titled Due Diligence, will apparently focus on "the increasingly sophisticated techniques and strategies global businesses use to garner competitive business information. Sounds like a winner.

No release date yet, but sign me up. Heck, send me a review copy.

-- MDT

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Broker v. Hedge Fund Manager - Showdown in Spin Class
You CAN'T make this stuff up...

Mr. Stuart Sugerman sounds like quite a piece of work. Aye caramaba.

-- MDT

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1 Comments.
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
Sir, I love your blog, i follow you daily and one of the "villans" you track. Your subtitle and label on this is pricesless. Keep up the good work!
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Raid at Deutsche Telekom HQ
Investigators are seeking further information on the German telecom giant's organized spying campaign on journalists and company employees. Notably, DT has admitted surveilling Financial Times Deutschland reporter, Tasso Enzweiler. FTD is owned by mega-media conglomerate, Bertelsmann which has mad its own noises about pursing criminal and civil actions against the overzealous DT. Deutsche Telekom, for its part, is in full spin mode, announcing the company's own investigation into the illegal activities.

-- MDT

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5/28/2008
Legal Manuvering Precedes Class Action Feast
The meal? Bear Stearns rotting corpse.

With the entré decided, all that remains to be seen is who will sit at the head of the table.

-- MDT

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5/27/2008
More on the Deutsche Telekom Spying Case
Between Time Magazine and Spiegel you should be pretty well up to date.

-- MDT

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Kirk Wright - Suicide!
Kirk Wright was found by authorities over Memorial Day weekend, in his cell, having hanged himself with a bedsheet.

A convicted hedge fund fraudster, recently snagged for mismanaging the money of several NFL players, Wright had been serving time in the Marietta, Georgia county jail.

We'd been following his story for several years now - macabre end to what, all along, had been a bizarre story. For more details on Kirk Wright, check out the tags below.

-- MDT

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1 Comments.
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
It is not just sad, but also highly suspicious.
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5/26/2008
Moody's Rating Scandal
Sounds complicated, but Portfolio.com has your cheat sheet. Meanwhile...Moodys is investigating. But isn't the whole scandal tied to the fact that they already identified the problem with their rating and covered up their own error?

-- MDT

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Deutsche Telekom Faces Criminal Probe on Corporate Spying
Someone didn't learn from the HP fiasco, it seems.

-- MDT

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33 Months Behind Bars for Mel Weiss?
That's what prosecutors are asking...

-- MDT

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Former Siemens Manager Heads to Trial
The company's colorful interpretation of the word "commissions" may not fare too well under the harsh gaze of the German judiciary. We'll see as the case against Reinhard Siekaczek, the one time Siemens manager who is out in front of the global bribery probe that has subsumed his former employer. Siekaczek is facing 58 counts of breach of trust and the real question is who he'll implicate on his way down.

--MDT

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5/21/2008
SEC Stalking Maurice Greenberg in AiG Case?
Civil charges may be looming, so they tell him via Wells Notice.

--MDT

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Now Here's An Angle I Never Worked...
Using investigators to track down sellers of sub prime assets - to prove the sellers knew that their wares had a higher probability of failure than they disclosed to potential customers.  Really interesting stuff.

-- MDT

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Investigative Firm, Corporate Resolutions Get NYT Spotlight
An offers up some good stuff on management background screenings. 

Money well spent, always.  

-- MDT

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5/19/2008
Former AOL Execs Charged By SEC on Billion Dollar Fraud
Four former AOLers have already settled with the SEC. Four more still have a date with a New York courthouse. And just think, some called this case dead only a year or so back... (See this article for more on that score and an interesting link to yesterday's PurchasePro store.

At issue are allegations that the eight executives participated in a scheme to fluff up AOL company value in the 2000 to 2002 period. AOL got caught at the time, essentially, paying themselves for their own advertising. This allowed AOL to pump up its online advertising revenue by about $1 billion.

Thus far David Colburn, former head of the AOL’s business affairs unit; Eric Keller, a former senior manager; James MacGuidwin, former controller; and Jay Rappaport, a former senior manager have all reached a settlement on the charges against them, without an admission of guilt.

Still on the chopping block are
John Michael Kelly, former CEO; Steven Rindner, former senior executive; Joseph Ripp, former CFO of the company’s AOL division; and Mark Wovsaniker, former head of accounting policy.

AOL / Time Warner itself paid a $300 million settlement to the SEC back in '04-05 on a related case.

You can get details on the four and four cases, right here - straight from the SEC.

-- MDT


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1 Comments.
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
An entry from the NY Times in 2002 reads that:

"A person involved in the internal investigation said that in April 2001 Mr. Ripp noticed that Mr. Keller had tried to backdate a deal with the online advertising company PurchasePro so that it would add to first-quarter results."

Keller was then put on leave and the matter investigated. I don't understand how the man who brought the issue to the Justice Department is being charged.
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5/18/2008
Siemens' von Pierer Will Face No Charges
Lucky him...

-- MDT

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Backdating Litigation Brings Poor Payoffs to Plaintiffs?
CFO.com has the quick and dirty details on a recent NERA study handicapping the success of stock option backdating litigation. You can find the full report right here, if your of a mind to check it out.

-- MDT

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BAE Execs Detained in U.S. on Stalled Arms Probe
Ok, so they were only detained for about 20 minutes, but there are a number of subpoenas floating around out there as well... That should be at least as interesting, right?
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Software Company Founder Convicted on Fraud Charges
Charles 'Junior' Johnson was founder and CEO of Las Vegas-based software company, PurchasePro. Back in 2001, in the midst of the dot com bust, he conspired to inflate company revenues in a scheme that put Purchase Pro squarely in the cites of Federal regulators.

Seven years later, Johnson makes seven PurchasePro execs to have been convicted in relation to the attempted Fraud. Johnson made his particular situation worse by attempting to alter documents to obscure the fraud. Convicted on all counts, Johnson will now face sentencing.

-- MDT

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5/14/2008
Of PIs and VCs
Ugh...
Dear WSJ,

CC: Tim Hay

Note: Drawing erroneous parallels between corporate investigators and the fictional hard boiled gumshoe set - Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe and the like - is so, so tired.

Perhaps U.S.A. Today could reasonably use that kind of lame comparison for the benefit of their mouth-breathing clientèle, but The Journal is supposed to be written for sophisticated people.

Please respect the intelligence of your readers and trust that they are capable of understanding the role of investigators in the business world at a level beyond clichéd references to mustaches, Ferraris and Hawaiian shirts.

Your pal,

The Daily Caveat
Whew, now that that is out of the way, IF you can get past the pitiful lede, you might enjoy this WSJ piece focusing on investigators serving the venture capital market. It is really not so bad once you get over the hump.

-- MDT

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2 Comments.
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
i read it, equally confused, but that's the "new wsj" right? little bit of flash, little bit of credibility, little regard for digging into the issue in a short piece...posted my own little rant on the blog because every single one of their items and resources in a related article this week was - surprise - covered in a similar article that i wrote for competitive intelligence magazine last fall (you can see it under pubs at clewllc.com at top of list, along with the article about 'sizing up talent in a deal')...whatever...
Blogger Francine McKennasaid...
Go get 'em, Michael. Like the image of the accountant with a green eyeshade, that ship passed a long time ago.
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Mapping Connections Between the Powerful
I absolutely love stuff like this... From the NNDB.

Another classic... The sadly no longer updated, They Rule.

And, while I hate to give it up, The Daily Caveat's secret weapon for tracking connections in current news stories - Silobreaker!

Go have fun with their "network" feature.

-- MDT
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Blogger Francine McKennasaid...
Wow! I also loved "They Rule." Thanks for the new sources. I will definitely write on this tomorrow.
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5/13/2008
Investigative Firm Used to "Spy" on DOJ Investigation?
Did the daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev use a U.S. investigative firm to pry details out of an $84 million Justice Department bribery probe targeting her father?

It certainly seems so. The New York Times reported today that Dariga Nazarbayeva hired investigative firm, GlobalOptions for just such a purpose.

In a 2003 report produced by GlobalOptions and cited by The Times, the firm stated that they "mined connections at the White House, State Department, Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to learn more about the inquiry."

It might comfort you to know (or it might not) that CIA Director James Woolsey and former FBI Directors William Webster and William Sessions have all been affiliated with GlobalOptions in recent years.

I hear that they're all doing quite well in private practice.

-- MDT

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IPOC, Alfa and the Missing Multi-Millionaire
This IPOC story just gets weirder and weirder... Remind me to never, never get in a pitched battle over lucrative telecom contracts with very rich and very shady Russian businessmen.

Keep an eye out for a cameo in the article from the fine folks at Kroll as well as a brief recap of how Diligence LLC's ill advised involvement (and bad judgement) cost them some serious cash.

The IPOC tag below will also lead you to the full background, should you need it.

-- MDT

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Michigan-Based Web Fraudster Faces Commuppence
No really, I am begging you - stop giving these people your money...

Gregory McNight is not really going to produce those 10-15% monthly returns - and yes, his company Legisi Holdings is really just a scam.

Don't believe me? Ask the SEC. They'll tell ya the same.

I just wish we'd been here sooner so we could have helped these poor chumps. I'd really like to hear from SCAM.com forum Junior Member 5Blade to see how he's doing.

If you're out there 5Blade, give us a holler...

--MDT

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5/12/2008
Corporations, Private Investigators and Civil Liberties
This editorial from Eric Schlosser , author of Fast Food Nation, appearing in the New York Times is required reading.

The issue he raises - the use and mis-use of investigators by corporate America is one worth attending to closely.

Of course, all this could be avoided if we had more investigators willing to say No to a client when necessary.

-- MDT
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5/08/2008
Uphill Battle For Shareholder Suits
The game has changed.

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Kroll Ontrack Decifers Space Shuttle Columbia Hard Drive
Here's a fascinating piece on some fine and admirable work from Kroll Ontrack - salvaging the scientific data on a hard drive recovered from the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

The Columbia broke apart during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003. Of the seven crew members there, sadly, were no survivors. A hard thing...

Ontrack was able to preserve much of the contents including data on a test of how xenon gas flows in a zero gravity environment.

Pretty darn impressive for a hard drive that literally fell out of the sky...

-- MDT

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Marsh & McLennan to Break Up Kroll?
That's the word on the street... And there's a hot prospect waiting in the wings.

-- MDT

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5/07/2008
P.O. Box Hedge Fund Crumbles
Please stop giving these people your money.
Seriously...

-- MDT

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Top UBS Banker Question on Tax Evasion
U.S. authorities apparently held and questioned, Martin Liechti, UBS's Head of Wealth Management for the Americas as in connection with an ongoing investigation into whether the bank had aided clients in evading taxes.

Certainly some smoke. We'll see whether there's fire to go along with it

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Another German Firm Faces Bribery Probe
This time it's engineering firm, Alstom, which is facing heat from German and Swiss authorities about bribes it may have paid to win contracts throughout Asia.

And in a timely move, European business ethics face increased scrutiny...

-- MDT

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5/06/2008
SEC Puts the Kibosh on San Diego Hedge Fund Manager
Plus Money is not exactly a name that would inspire me to invest millions. Sounds like a shady payday loan company and shady it definitely is. The SEC has jumped on Plus Money proprietor, Matthew La Madrid freezing his assets while they sort through his $30 million dollar hedge fund investment fraud.

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2 Comments.
Anonymous Anonymoussaid...
Maybe you should try and get all your facts straight,,,before you start accusing people, you PITOHEAD..
Is that you Matthew? And how did you know my wife's pet name for me?

I always assumed it meant something nice, although my Spanish isn't quite as good as hers (or yours, it seems).

Frankly, if you have "facts" you are welcome to post them here. Or better yet, send them along to the SEC. They're the folks investigating.

And Plus Money is still a bad name for a hedge fund.

-- MDT
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Slap on the Wrist for Worldcom Auditors
Let brand new FOB (friend of the blog), Mr. Tom Selling over at The Accounting Onion tell you all about it.

-- MDT

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CTFC Sues Sentinel Management Group
Fraud charges, bankruptcy and $100 million outstanding.

Not a good week to be a former Sentinel exec.

-- MDT

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Parmalat Settles U.S. Class Action
See Yahoo for the details...

-- MDT

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22,000 Dead in Myanmar Cyclone
Twenty... two... thousand. And hundreds of thousands more are hurting. You can help, right here, via World Vision, which earns four stars for capacity and operating efficiency from Charity Navigator.

--MDT
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Kroll in Embarassing Work Product Mix-Up?
Could'a happened to anyone...but it sure does suck when it happens to you.

-- MDT

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Former SEC Chairs Donaldson, Levitt and Ruder Chime in on the Sub Prime Mess
Perhaps unsurprisingly they advocate a firm hand from their former baby.

-- MDT

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5/05/2008
Lifelock Sued Over False I.D. Theft Protection Claims
You've seen the ads - with bozo CEO, Richard "Todd" Davis, touting that their product makes your personal info so secure, he's put his own social security number up in Times Square.

Actual Lifelock customers have found the results to be somewhat less than stellar, leading to a class action against the firm.

Oh, and the Lifelock CEO's social... (wait for it) ...is currently being misused by maybe 20 different identity thieves. Also, there is the small matter of a Lifelock co-founder siting in jail for unpaid gambling debts.

Get the sad skinny at The Consumerist.

-- MDT

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Former Monster.com COO Faces Backdating Charges
James Treacy joins General Counsel Myron Olesnyckyj on the list of former Monster.com execs charged in the firm's 1997 to 2005 stock option backdating schemes. Squarely in the doesn't bode well for Treacy column is the fact that Olesnyckyj plead guilty in February of last year.

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5/04/2008
Torkelson Pleads Guilty (Again)
This time former expert witness, John Torkelson's court date was in Philly, where he plead guilty to one charges of perjury arising from a 1999 statement under oath. At issue was whether or not Torkelson took secret payments from his law firm clients (he did). Notable among Torkelson's clients was the continually beleaguered Milberg, LLC. For more on Torkelson's back story, check out the tags below this post.

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5/02/2008
Herbalife CEO Forced to Admit Resume Padding
And the ever colorful fraud investigator, Barry Minkow is there to take credit.

Minkow is a bit of a controversial fellow in his own right, with his own crooked past. He's now the grand poobah behind the Fraud Discovery Institute.

You might remember Minkow from his dust-up with USANA a while back.

-- MDT

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