Company Archives - Page 28 of 54

Securities watchdog charge Kanebo with accounting fraud

September 8, 2005/0 Comments/in Kanebo /by ceadmin

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed a criminal accusation of accounting fraud Wednesday against Kanebo Ltd. and three former executives of the textile and cosmetics company now undergoing rehabilitation.

The three executives — former President Takashi Hoashi, 69, former Vice President Takashi Miyahara, 63, and former Managing Director Kenzaburo Shimada, 59 — were arrested July 29 for allegedly submitted falsified financial statements to financial authorities

Yahoo ‘helped jail China writer’

September 7, 2005/0 Comments/in Yahoo /by ceadmin

Internet giant Yahoo has been accused of supplying information to China which led to the jailing of a journalist for “divulging state secrets”.

Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo’s Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao’s e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information.

The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a “police informant” in order to further its business ambitions

Regulator slams Mastercard fees

September 6, 2005/0 Comments/in MasterCard International /by ceadmin

Mastercard and the banks issuing its credit cards have been overcharging their customers, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The fee levied on retailers to recover the costs of the card system was too high, the watchdog says.

Consequently, all Mastercard purchases in the UK between March 2000 and November 2004 were overcharged

KPMG fined $456m for tax misdeeds

August 29, 2005/0 Comments/in KPMG /by ceadmin

Global accounting giant KPMG has agreed to pay a $456m fine to settle a case related to past tax shelter sales.

The deal means KPMG will avoid potentially crippling criminal charges.

But prosecutors have charged nine people – mainly former KPMG executives – with conspiring to defraud US tax authorities in relation to the case

Transco fined £15m ($27m) for gas blast

August 25, 2005/0 Comments/in Transco /by ceadmin

Utility firm Transco has been fined £15m – a UK record – after being convicted on a charge arising from an explosion which killed four people.

Andrew and Janette Findlay and their children Stacey, 13, and Daryl, 11, died in the explosion in Larkhall, South Lanarkshire, in December 1999.

Transco was found guilty after a six-month trial in Edinburgh of breaching health and safety laws

SEC charges two Kmart ex-bosses

August 24, 2005/0 Comments/in Kmart /by ceadmin

US watchdogs have charged two ex-top executives of Kmart with fraud in the lead up to the retailer’s bankruptcy.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused ex-chief executive Charles Conway and ex-finance chief John MacDonald of misleading investors.

The men made “materially false” statements about Kmart’s ability to pay its bills in the lead up the firm’s bankruptcy in 2002, the SEC alleged

AOL pays out after Spitzer probe

August 24, 2005/0 Comments/in AOL TimeWarner /by ceadmin

The world’s largest internet service provider America Online (AOL) has vowed to reform its customer service after agreeing to settle a US lawsuit.

It follows an investigation by New York state attorney general Eliot Spitzer into complaints that AOL ignored people who wanted to cancel the service.

AOL will provide refunds to all the 300 customers who complained and will pay New York State $1

Drug bosses face civil fraud suit

August 23, 2005/0 Comments/in Bristol-Myers Squibb /by ceadmin

Two former directors of US drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb are been sued for civil damages after being accused of masterminding a $1.5bn ($833m) fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission watchdog alleges that Frederick Schiff and Richard Lane devised a scheme to inflate sales and profits at the firm

Halliburton worker admits bribes

August 23, 2005/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadmin

A former employee of Halliburton subsidiary KBR has admitted taking $110,300 (£61,225) in bribes from an Iraqi firm it awarded a US contract.

The $609,000 contract was to renovate warehouse and office space in Iraq.

Glenn Allen Powell – whom KBR has fired – faces up to 20 years in jail and a fine of up to $1

US giant punished for faulty drug

August 20, 2005/0 Comments/in Merck /by ceadmin

US drugs giant Merck has been ordered to pay $253.4m (£141.07m) to the widow of a man who died from a heart attack blamed on the popular painkiller Vioxx