Venezuela hits BP with tax bill
Venezuela has hit UK oil giant BP with a $61.4m (£35m) back tax bill.
The country’s tax authority, the Seniat, said the figure arose from the firm’s operations in the country between 2001 and 2004
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Brazil quiz at Credit Suisse unit
/0 Comments/in Credit Suisse /by ceadminPolice in Brazil have detained a Credit Suisse director in a federal inquiry as he tried to leave the country.
Six other company executives are under investigation as part of “Operation Switzerland” but Credit Suisse says the unit under scrutiny is a trade office.
It says Credit Suisse Representacoes is part of a Credit Suisse private banking division, but is non-financial itself
Ex-Halliburton staff in Saudi kickback
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminA former employee of a Halliburton subsidiary has pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks from a Saudi subcontractor that was awarded a $14.4 million U.S
Capita boss quits over Tony Blair loan
/0 Comments/in Capita /by ceadminThe chairman of outsourcing firm Capita is stepping down over “spurious” claims his £1m loan to Labour resulted in the group getting government contracts.
Rod Aldridge, one of 12 donors who lent the party almost £14m in total before the last election, said he did “not want this misconception to continue”.
Chancellor Gordon Brown said the political funding system had to be reformed to increase “transparency”
Mills’ fraud cost pension plan $5M
/0 Comments/in Mills Corporation /by ceadminOfficials in the US are suing shopping-mall developer Mills Corp. over alleged accounting fraud that cost the state pension fund more than $5 million in stock-market losses.
“This is becoming an all-too-common story all over the country – hard-working men and women
Samsung men ‘admit’ price fixing
/0 Comments/in Samsung /by ceadminThree executives at Samsung Electronics have agreed to plead guilty on charges of conspiring to fix the price of computer memory chips.
The three men each agreed to serve terms of between seven and eight months in prison and to each pay a fine of $250,000 (£143,000).
The long-running US government probe has resulted in more than $731m in fines against 12 people and four firms
Enron treasurer tells of ‘lies’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminFormer Enron executives lied to investors about its financial state because they knew the truth would destroy the company, a court has heard.
Testifying at the trial of Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, former Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr said his bosses were full aware of the firm’s growing debt.
He said Mr Lay asked him about managing the firm’s accounts in 2001 to avoid a cut in Enron’s credit rating
Jail term for China Aviation boss
/0 Comments/in China Aviation Oil /by ceadminThe former head of China Aviation Oil (CAO) has been sentenced to four years and three months in jail for his role in the firm’s near-collapse in 2004.
Chen Jiulin, who had earlier pleaded guilty to six charges including insider trading, was also fined 350,000 Singapore dollars ($207,300; £124,000).
Four directors at the company had already been sentenced by a Singapore court for their part in the scandal
French MPs vote to open up iTunes
/0 Comments/in Apple Computers /by ceadminThe French parliament has backed plans to give consumers more choice over music downloads from the internet.
MPs backed a draft law to force Apple, Sony and Microsoft to share their proprietary copy-protection systems by 296 to 193 votes.
The aim is to ensure that digital music can be played on any player, regardless of its format or source
Occidental offers Ecuador $1bn
/0 Comments/in Occidental Petroleum /by ceadminOccidental Petroleum is offering the Ecuador government up to $1bn (£569m) in disputed taxes, investments and extra revenues to end a legal dispute.
The row centres on whether the US firm transferred part of an Ecuadorean field to Canada’s EnCana in 2000 without approval from the Ecuador authorities.
Occidental proposes giving Ecuador at least $600m in extra revenues from the disputed area, but denies wrongdoing