Company

China Aviation owner fined $4.8m

Singapore’s central bank has fined the owner of China Aviation Oil (CAO) for selling shares in the crisis-hit firm a month before its collapse.

Beijing’s China Aviation Oil Holding Company was ordered to pay 8m Singaporean dollars ($4.8m; £2

Coke told to close Indian plant

Drinks giant Coca-Cola has been ordered to close one of its largest bottling plants in India for breaching environmental regulations.

Closure with immediate effect has been ordered by the Pollution Control Board of the southern state of Kerala.

The plant in the village of Plachimada is one of 27 that the soft drinks company has in India

Net widens in Reebok insider case

US financial regulators have named more defendants in a case involving alleged insider trading of shares in sports gear maker Reebok International.

“We have named eight additional defendants today,” said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

One of the them is the nephew of a retired Croatian woman accused of insider trading in Reebok options

Hollinger men face fraud charges

Two former officials from Conrad Black’s media empire have been charged with allegedly diverting $32m (£17m) through bogus newspaper deals.

David Radler, ex-president of Hollinger International and Hollinger’s in-house lawyer Mark Kipnis face seven counts of fraud.

The two were indicted together with Conrad Black’s bankrupt holding company Ravelston Corporation

JP Morgan pays $1bn in Enron deal

P Morgan Chase has agreed to pay about $1bn (£554m) to settle claims that it contributed to the collapse of former energy trader Enron four years ago.

The bank will pay $350m in cash and meet claims totalling another $660m.

Enron has previously asserted that 10 banks aided and abetted in its collapse, but the settlement is the first with a US bank

Experian rapped over credit offer

US financial information group Experian has settled charges that it deceived consumers into signing up to a credit monitoring service.

UK-owned Experian lured people into signing up to the service by offering them free credit reports, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said.

Consumers were not adequately informed that they would be tied into the credit monitoring service, the FTC said

Venezuela-Shell tax row heats up

Venezuelan tax authorities have closed a Royal Dutch Shell office for 48 hours and asked for an injunction on some of the oil firm’s assets in a tax dispute.

The row centres on a $131m (£74m) bill for back taxes covering 2001-2004, presented to the oil giant in July.

Venezuela’s tax authority said it had put a hold on Shell goods worth $131m and shut its office in Lake Maracaibo

Ex-Worldcom finance chief jailed

Worldcom’s former finance chief has been sentenced to five years in jail for his part in the largest accounting fraud in US corporate history.

Scott Sullivan played a key role as a “star” prosecution witness in the case against former Worldcom chief Bernie Ebbers who was jailed for 25 years.

The 43-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud and making false financial filings

Intel faces S Korean sales probe

Semiconductor maker Intel is facing a probe into its sales practices in South Korea, echoing similar inquiries in Europe and Japan.

Intel revealed it was co-operating with the country’s Fair Trade Commission which has requested documents relating to marketing and rebate schemes.

Earlier this year the firm was rebuked for violating antitrust laws in Japan, and is also under scrutiny by Brussels

US Justice Department probes DamilerChrysler

The US Justice Department has begun an inquiry into allegations of bribery at DamilerChrysler’s Mercedes unit, the German-US carmaker has confirmed.

DaimlerChrysler said it was co-operating fully, and has made all its accounts available.

The criminal probe escalates a civil one by the US market watchdog, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday