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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Austrian bank in Refco settlement
/0 Comments/in BAWAG /by ceadminOne of Austria’s biggest banks, Bank Fuer Arbeit und Wirtschaft (Bawag), is to pay $675m (£361m) to settle claims it helped a US brokerage commit fraud.
US authorities said the large payment was related to its dealings with the now defunct brokerage Refco.
As part of the deal Bawag admitted helping hide bad debt at Refco
Black Hawk maker faces $283m bill
/0 Comments/in United Technologies /by ceadminManufacturer United Technologies will pay the US Department of Defense $283m (£152m) after a probe into its handing of contracts over 20 years.
The US company’s Pratt & Witney jet engine unit is settling a claim for work over-charged through its accounting system.
United said the bill was larger than anticipated, but would have little impact on its 2006 financial results
Fund chief is arrested in continuing Livedoor scandal
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminA leading shareholder activist in Japan has been arrested after being drawn into the Livedoor scandal rocking the country this year, prosecutors say.
Fund manager Yoshiaki Murakami had said he had unwittingly violated insider trading laws in connection with a takeover initiated by Livedoor in 2005.
The former trade ministry official also said he would resign from his fund
Exxon gives ex-boss $400m golden goodbye
/0 Comments/in Exxon Mobil /by ceadminExxon Mobil investors have defied the oil company’s board and approved a resolution that says directors should be chosen by a majority vote.
The non-binding vote came at Exxon’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Dallas.
It represents a victory for investors angered by the retirement package of ex-chairman and chief executive Lee Raymond, according to analysts
EU smashes acrylic glass cartel
/0 Comments/in Arkema /by ceadminThe European Commission has fined four firms 345m euros ($444m; £235m) for fixing prices and operating a cartel in the sale of acrylic glass products.
The punished companies were French group Arkema, British firms ICI and Lucite, and Irish business Quinn Barlo.
They were found to have fixed prices and exchanged sensitive information between 1997 and 2002
Daewoo boss gets 10 years in jail
/0 Comments/in Daewoo /by ceadminKim Woo-choong, the founder of Daewoo Group, which at one time was among South Korea’s largest industrial firms, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Kim, who was on the run for six years, was found guilty of charges including embezzlement and accounting fraud.
The 69-year-old also has been ordered to hand over 21 trillion won (£12bn: $22bn) and was fined 10m won
Time Warner, Ernst to Settle Fraud Suit
/0 Comments/in AOL TimeWarner /by ceadminTime Warner Inc., its AOL subsidiary and auditor Ernst & Young have agreed to pay $23 million to settle a lawsuit accusing them of defrauding a Pennsylvania pension fund for teachers and state workers.
The suit, filed in February 2004, claimed that the companies overstated revenue and subscriber figures after the merger of New York-based Time Warner and America Online Inc
Former head of Banco Santos arrested
/0 Comments/in Banco Santos /by ceadminThe former head of Brazil’s Banco Santos, Edemar Cid Ferreira, has been arrested on suspicion of committing fraud while managing the bank.
Mr Ferreira was arrested at his mansion located in Sao Paulo’s wealthy Morumbi area, Federal Police said.
Creditors who invested in banks owned or connected to Mr Ferreira have seen losses approaching $1bn (£685m)
Lay and Skilling guilty
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminFormer Enron bosses Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling have both been found guilty on fraud, conspiracy and other charges.
A spokesman for President George W Bush said the verdict should be seen as a warning to other corporate criminals and applauded the decision.
As the verdict was read Skilling looked down, while Lay sighed heavily and shook his head as his sobbing wife Linda clutched his arm tightly
Livedoor executives go on trial
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminExecutives of Livedoor, the scandal-hit Japanese internet company, have gone on trial charged with breaking stock market rules and falsifying accounts.
The four men were arrested earlier this year with Livedoor’s founder and charismatic head boss Takafumi Horie.
Mr Horie, who rose to prominence for his willingness to attack Japan’s staid and traditional business world, will face trial on his own at a later date
Firestone in Liberia rubber row
/0 Comments/in Firestone /by ceadminTyre maker Firestone has been accused of buying rubber from plantations that are illegally occupied by former combatants from Liberia’s civil war.
It is one of three companies that the Liberian government and the United Nations have accused of profiting from the illegal rubber-tapping.
Their report says human rights are being violated at plantations across the West African country
Jail for scandal-hit Skandia boss
/0 Comments/in Skandia /by ceadminA former chief executive at the heart of Sweden’s biggest ever corporate scandal has been jailed for two years.
Lars-Eric Petersson was convicted of handing out 156m Swedish kronor ($21.5m; £11
Ex-Ahold bosses guilty of fraud
/0 Comments/in Ahold /by ceadminThe former chief executive and chief financial officer of Dutch retail giant Ahold have been found guilty of fraud.
A court in Amsterdam handed down the verdicts to Cees van der Hoeven and Michiel Meurs for their roles in one of Europe’s largest accounting scandals.
Each has been fined 225,000 euros ($286,800; £153,000) and given nine-month suspended sentences
HealthSouth Settles Fraud Case
/0 Comments/in HealthSouth /by ceadminHealthSouth Corp. agreed to pay $3 million and serve three years on probation in a deal with the government that spares the company an indictment over the $2.7-billion accounting fraud that almost triggered its collapse
Hyundai chairman Chung indicted
/0 Comments/in Hyundai /by ceadminSouth Korean prosecutors have indicted the chairman of carmaker Hyundai Motor for his alleged role in a bribery and embezzlement scandal.
Chung Mong-Koo was arrested at the end of April and has been accused of creating slush funds to pay politicians and officials for business favours.
He also is accused of transferring funds and shifting corporate controls to his son, Chung Eui-Sun
Enron bosses ‘stole to pump egos’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminFormer Enron bosses Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling stole from investors both to line their pockets and stroke their egos, their trial has heard.
The comments came from prosecutors presenting their closing arguments at the court in Houston, Texas.
Prosecuting lawyer Kathy Ruemmler said the case centred around “the lies these men told and the choices they made”
Judge deals blow to Enron accused
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminThe judge in the Enron trial has ruled that jurors can find the energy firm’s former bosses guilty of deliberately avoiding knowledge of massive fraud.
The ruling has raised concerns among the defence team and legal experts.
Known as the “ostrich instruction”, because it refers to a person sticking their head in the sand, the ruling means that prosecutors will need a lower burden of proof to be successful
Citibank overcharged customers in Japan
/0 Comments/in CitiGroup /by ceadminA computer glitch at Citibank branches in Japan has caused 274,800 incorrect transactions over the past week, the latest Japanese problem at the firm.
As a result of the error, some account holders had transactions wrongly recorded twice, while others took place but then did not appear on statements.
Citibank said the computer problem had now been fixed
Group settles fraud probe for $20m
/0 Comments/in Hartford Financial Services /by ceadminhe Hartford Financial Services Group has agreed to pay $20 million to settle an investigation into claims of fraudulent sales practices in retirement products, the attorneys general of Connecticut and New York said Wednesday.
The Hartford agreed to return $16.1 million in profit from the sales that Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer say were arranged in concealed financial agreements with brokers
Toyota worker sues for harassment
/0 Comments/in Toyota /by ceadminA Toyota employee has filed a $190m (£103m) lawsuit in the US, alleging that the carmaker’s top American boss sexually harassed her.
Sayaka Kobayashi, 42, claims Toyota North American chief executive Hideaki Otaka, 65, made repeated sexual advances to her in 2005.
Toyota said it had a “zero tolerance” policy towards sexual harassment, but declined to make any further comment
Company Files Fraud Lawsuit Against Yahoo
/0 Comments/in Yahoo /by ceadminA Yahoo advertiser has accused the Internet search engine of fraud, saying its ads have been appearing in spyware and “typosquatter” Web sites that take advantage of misspelled trademarks.
Crafts By Veronica, which makes fabric-covered photo albums, filed a lawsuit accusing Yahoo of breaching a contract by charging advertisers for pay-per-click ads shown improperly in “pernicious spyware programs” and on low-quality Web sites.
It names Yahoo; Overture Services Inc
Hyundai boss arrested in South Korea
/0 Comments/in Hyundai /by ceadminThe chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, Chung Mong-Koo, has been arrested in South Korea on embezzlement charges.
Mr Chung and Hyundai are accused of creating slush funds to pay politicians and officials for business favours.
A Seoul judge said earlier that he had issued the arrest warrant because he feared Mr Chung may go into hiding or tamper with evidence
Prosecutors seek Hyundai arrest
/0 Comments/in Hyundai /by ceadminSouth Korean prosecutors have asked for an arrest warrant for Chung Mong-koo, head of the Hyundai motor group, on embezzlement charges.
He is at the centre of allegations of illegal political lobbying.
The car giant is suspected of creating a slush fund to pay politicians and officials for business favours
Enron feared witch hunt, Lay says
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminEnron executives thought the firm was the victim of a witch hunt when stories broke about its financial problems, company founder Kenneth Lay has said.
Speaking during his second day in the witness box, Mr Lay reiterated that he thought Enron’s finances were healthy.
Mr Lay has been accused of hiding the losses and lying to boost the company’s share price
Computer Associates ex-CEO pleads guilty
/0 Comments/in Computer Associates /by ceadminComputer Associates (CA) former CEO and head of sales both added their guilty pleas to those of five other former company executives yesterday, admitting fraud, obstructing justice, and perjury.
Former CEO Sanjay Kumar and his head of worldwide sales Stephen Richards presided over a “systemic, company-wide practice of falsely and fraudulently recording and reporting.
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.