Ericsson risked workers lives by Islamic State
/0 Comments/in Ericsson /by ceadminThe telecoms company Ericsson put contractors’ lives at risk by insisting they continued working in territory controlled by the Islamic State [IS] group in Iraq. This resulted in them being kidnapped by IS militants.
Post Office scandal: Public inquiry to examine wrongful convictions
/0 Comments/in Post Office /by ceadminBetween 2000 and 2014, more than 700 sub-postmasters were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a flaw in a computer system Horizon.
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SEC slaps PIMCO with fraud charges
/0 Comments/in PIMCO Advisors /by ceadminWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it filed civil fraud charges against PIMCO Advisors Fund Management LLC, affiliates and officers in a probe of mutual fund market timing
Computer Associates revises finances
/0 Comments/in Computer Associates /by ceadminthe software company under investigation for its accounting, Thursday said it will revise its filings for the second half of 2003 to defer recognition of about $9 million in revenue, due to an adjustment in the way the company calculates subscription revenue.
The Islandia-based software company also said it will report results for the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31 up to two weeks later than planned, due to the work involved in the restatement.
Computer Associates was set to report fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2004 results May 12
Police raid Capitalia offices in Parmalat probes
/0 Comments/in Parmalat /by ceadminROME : Italian finance police searched Rome offices of the bank Capitalia in connection with the collapse of the food groups Cirio and Parmalat, judicial sources said.
The search was ordered by Parma’s public prosecutor and concerns the sale of the dairy group Eurolat by Cirio to Parmalat in 1999, the source added.
Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi and his financial director Fauso Tonna have alleged to magistrates that they were forced by Capitalia chairman Cesare Geronzi to buy Eurolat at an inflated price so that the bank, formerly Banca di Roma, could recover money owed it by Cirio
Bank Promotes Ethical Trade
/0 Comments/in Cooperative Bank /by ceadminMore than £6.5m worth of business considered to be “unethical” was turned away by the Co-operative bank in 2003.
The UK based group said the value of business it had refused was 58% higher than in 2002
Former Mitsubishi bosses arrested
/0 Comments/in Mitsubishi /by ceadminJapanese police have arrested seven former executives of Mitsubishi Motors on suspicion of falsifying reports into a fault that caused a fatal accident.
The seven all worked for the company in January 2002, when a woman was killed by a wheel that broke off a passing Mitsubishi truck.
Up until March of this year it had blamed improper maintenance
NAB rebel head quits amid scandal
/0 Comments/in National Australia Bank /by ceadminNational Australia Bank director, Catherine Walter, has decided to quit in the aftermath of a trading scandal after originally refusing to step down.
“I have tried to stand up for what I believe is in the long term interests of the bank,” she said in a statement.
Ms Walter claimed she was made a scapegoat for 252m Australian dollars (£104m; $188m) in losses on unauthorised foreign exchange trades
Judge fines Ernst & Young for allegedly understating net worth
/0 Comments/in Ernst & Young /by ceadminAccounting firm Ernst & Young was fined more than $134,000 for allegedly understating its net worth during a trial that resulted in an award of more than $100 million against the company.
Butler County Judge S. Michael Yeager on Friday found the New York-based company in contempt for allegedly presenting evidence during last year’s trial that its net worth was $374 million
China Life confirms SEC enquiry
/0 Comments/in China Life /by ceadminChina Life Insurance has confirmed it has received an informal inquiry from the main US securities regulator.
China Life did not say what the US
regulator was looking into, but there has been market concern over levels of disclosure at the firm.
Earlier this month China Life revealed that its state-owned predecessor had breached insurance laws in China when it hid results of a state audit
Nortel chief fired over finances
/0 Comments/in Nortel Networks /by ceadminTelecoms equipment firm Nortel Networks has fired its head Frank Dunn and two executives after conducting an internal review of its accounts.
Nortel also said it was reviewing its earnings figures for the past three years, and profits for 2003 would be revised lower by about 50%.
The company’s accounts are already under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission
Shell under investigation by FSA
/0 Comments/in Shell /by ceadminInvestigations are being carried out by the Financial Services Authority into oil giant Shell after recent events.
A storm of bad publicity surrounds the company following three separate occasions when the company admitted it had overstated its oil reserves.
The Shell scandal first broke back in January when the firm made its initial announcement on a reserves downgrade
Tax police raid oil giant Yukos
/0 Comments/in Yukos /by ceadminRussian tax inspectors have raided the headquarters of oil giant Yukos, whose assets were frozen earlier this month as part of a tax fraud inquiry.
Officials entered the central Moscow building and seized papers which they said related to tax evasion cases.
Yukos has been charged with shirking payment of $3
EarthLink CEO Received Raise as Workers Laid Off
/0 Comments/in EarthLink /by ceadminEarthLink Inc. gave its leader a 76 percent increase in his annual bonus last year, during which time the nation’s third-largest Internet Service Provider said it was cutting 1,300 jobs, a regulatory filing shows.
The Atlanta-based company paid chief executive Garry Betty a $346,790 bonus in 2003, compared to a bonus of $196,590 in 2002
Ernst & Young hit by ban and fine
/0 Comments/in Ernst & Young /by ceadminErnst & Young has been banned from taking on new clients in the US after regulators questioned its relationship with software company PeopleSoft.
Judge Brenda Murray said that E&Y should not accept new auditing work for six months from Securities and Exchange Commission-listed companies.
E&Y is not expected to appeal the ruling, which includes a $1
Moscow court freezes Yukos assets
/0 Comments/in Yukos /by ceadminA Moscow court has frozen the assets of Russian oil giant Yukos as part of an ongoing prosecution of the firm on charges of evading $3bn in taxes.
Under the ruling the troubled firm is barred from “selling or mortgaging its assets, including shares”.
However, the group’s oil sales will remain unaffected
Welteke resigns over hotel stay
/0 Comments/in Bundesbank /by ceadminErnst Welteke, the president of Germany’s central bank, has resigned following investigations into a hotel stay paid for by Dresdner Bank.
The row started after a news magazine reported that Mr Welteke and his family accepted a 7,600-euro ($9,200; £5,000) free stay in Berlin’s top Adlon Hotel.
Mr Welteke was at a celebration of the euro’s first year as a cash currency
Coca Cola director’s role questioned
/0 Comments/in Coca Cola /by ceadminAn advisor to shareholders on corporate governance issues has questioned Warren Buffett’s independence as a director of soft drinks giant Coca-Cola.
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has urged investors not to re-appoint Mr Buffett, citing his business links to the company.
Coca-Cola dismissed the complaint and called Mr Buffett “a man of unimpeachable integrity”
Microsoft settles patents case
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminSoftware giant Microsoft has agreed to pay $440m to settle a legal row over its use of anti-piracy patents.
It struck the deal with California based InterTrust Technologies, a maker of software to protect online delivery and payment for films and music.
The agreement comes one week after Microsoft paid $1
Computer Associates guilty plea
/0 Comments/in Computer Associates /by ceadminThe former vice president of finance of Computer Associates, the US software giant, has pleaded guilty in an audit probe case.
David Rivard pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and obstruct justice.
US prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission have spent two years investigating allegations that the firm inflated its accounts
Japan trade watchdog raids Intel
/0 Comments/in Intel /by ceadminIntel, the world’s biggest maker of computer chips, has confirmed that Japan’s Fair Trade Commission raided its offices there on Thursday.
“We’re aware of the fact that the authorities paid us a visit,” said Intel spokesman Tom Beerman.
“We’re co-operating fully with their investigation,” he added
Probe into Vivendi share buyback
/0 Comments/in Vivendi /by ceadminFrench police have searched the offices of the country’s stock market regulator as part of a probe into an allegedly illegal shares buyback by Vivendi.
The French conglomerate is under investigation for illegally buying back its own stock in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks in America.
It is claimed the company, which has previously faced fraud charges in the US, wanted to maintain its share price
Microsoft hit by record EU fine
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminSoftware giant Microsoft must pay a fine of 497m euros ($613m; £331m) for abusing its dominant market position, the European Commission has ordered.
Competition Commissioner Mario Monti also insisted Microsoft must reveal secrets of its Windows software, which sits on 90% of the world’s PCs.
The European Commission approved Microsoft’s punishment on Wednesday
Coca Cola recalls Dasani amid cancer fears
/0 Comments/in Coca Cola /by ceadminCoca-Cola is to recall all bottles of its Dasani water in the UK, after levels of bromate were found to exceed legal levels.
The recall is an embarrassment for the drinks giant, which has faced criticism for selling what is treated and purified tap water.
Coca-Cola said it had consulted the Food Standards Agency, which agreed there were no immediate safety fears
Microsoft facing EU fines
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminSoftware giant Microsoft is facing a heavy fine and swingeing penalties following the breakdown of talks with Brussels over anti-trust action.
European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti is now planning to unveil the draft EU competition ruling against the firm on Wednesday, 24 March.
Both Mr Monti and Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer agreed that commitment over future conduct was the sticking point
US to withhold Halliburton bills
/0 Comments/in Halliburton /by ceadminThe Pentagon is to withhold 15% of the payments it owes controversial firm Halliburton for the company’s supply of meals to US troops in Iraq.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said the 15% – some $300m (£165m) – will not be paid until auditors have established the actual final cost of the food.
It comes as US criminal investigations continue into whether Halliburton has overcharged the Pentagon for the meals
Bank of America agrees to pay fines
/0 Comments/in Bank of America /by ceadminIt is the biggest pay-out yet won by regulators tracking down wrongdoing by US mutual funds, in which at least half of US households have savings.
Bank of America and FleetBoston agreed to pay fines and cut their fees, but admitted no wrongdoing.
The US market regulator and New York’s attorney general unveiled the deal
The whistleblowing bankers who were sent to jail
/0 Comments/in Barclaycard, United Kingdom, United States /by ceadminTwo traders jailed for rigging interest rates were the original whistleblowers of the scandal, and not the bosses that directed them to carry out the illegal actions. Leaked audio recordings reveal Peter Johnson and Colin Bermingham alerted the US central bank to a fraud that the tapes suggest was directed from the top of the financial system.