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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Livedoor shareholder to sue firm
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminOne of Livedoor’s main investors is to sue the scandal-hit Japanese firm for compensation, saying it bought its stake under false pretences.
Broadcaster Fuji Television Network said it acquired the 12.5% stake on the basis of false financial information
Enron whistleblower condemns Lay
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminThe executive who first raised concerns about financial malpractice at Enron said an internal investigation into accounting procedures was “bogus”.
Testifying at the trial of Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, Sherron Watkins said she first raised doubts about Enron’s accounting methods in August 2001.
“Accounting just doesn’t get that creative,” she said, referring to structures used by Enron to hide debts
Perfume cartel fined £32m
/0 Comments/in Chanel /by ceadminManufacturers of some of the world’s most glamorous perfume and cosmetics brands were fined by French competition authorities yesterday after it was ruled that the companies had colluded to keep prices high at the expense of the consumer.
Thirteen iconic brands, including Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior and Guerlain, and three leading French retailers were fined almost £32 million between them for inflating prices between 1997 and 2000.
The French competition council said that under the price-fixing arrangement, a “price police” was set up between them to artificially inflate prices, put pressure on individual vendors and threaten reprisals against those that refused to apply the prices set by the perfume and cosmetic brands
China Aviation boss pleads guilty
/0 Comments/in China Aviation Oil /by ceadminThe former head of China Aviation Oil (CAO) has pleaded guilty to six charges related to its near collapse in 2004.
Chen Jiulin pleaded guilty in Singapore’s subordinate court to charges including making false statements and insider trading.
Four directors at the company have already been sentenced for their part in the scandal
Key Enron witness ‘duped bosses’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminDefence lawyers acting for former Enron boss Kenneth Lay have accused a chief witness against him of helping to bring about the US energy giant’s collapse.
Former finance chief Andrew Fastow lied to his bosses at Enron while stealing millions of dollars from the bankrupt firm, Mr Lay’s defence attorney said.
Mr Fastow was facing cross-examination after giving evidence against Mr Lay and fellow Enron boss Jeffery Skilling
Tokyo exchange to delist Livedoor
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminThe Tokyo Stock Exchange is to delist internet firm Livedoor’s shares over allegations it broke securities law.
The Tokyo exchange said the action would result in the firm being removed from the market by mid-April.
The move came after Japan’s securities commission filed a criminal complaint against five former Livedoor executives for allegedly falsifying of accounts
Livedoor boss facing new charge
/0 Comments/in Livedoor /by ceadminJapanese internet firm Livedoor’s former boss and other executives could be charged with falsifying financial results this week, reports have said.
Prosecutors claim the group doctored accounts to show a 5.3bn yen ($44
Ex-Severn bosses face fraud questions
/0 Comments/in Severn Trent Water /by ceadminTwo former executives of Severn Trent Water are at the centre of a Serious Fraud Office investigation.
The company was ordered last week to hand back £42m to customers after a two-year investigation by regulator Ofwat, prompted by revelations in Financial Mail about the falsification of figures.
Ofwat sets bills based on accounts and reports provided by suppliers and it had given Severn Trent permission to raise prices at a higher rate than was justified based on the false figures
Google Announces Click Fraud Settlement
/0 Comments/in Google /by ceadminInternet giant Google Inc. has announced it has agreed to settle the “click fraud” suit brought against the company by smaller firms who claimed to have paid for bogus sales referrals. The bogus referrals are generated through “click fraud”
Microsoft faces new fines threat
/0 Comments/in Microsoft Corporation /by ceadminMicrosoft’s efforts to comply with the European Commission’s anti-competition ruling are “entirely inadequate”, Brussels has warned.
The Commission said it would impose fines of up to 2m euros (£1.4m) a day if the firm continued to drag its feet
Lay ‘lied about Enron finances’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminEnron’s former boss lied about the state of the firm’s finances months before its collapse, the company’s ex-finance chief has testified.
Andrew Fastow said Ken Lay claimed that Enron’s finances were robust in a interview in August 2001 despite him being aware of mounting problems.
“It was what Mr Lay was saying
Severn Trent Water to repay customers
/0 Comments/in Severn Trent Water /by ceadminIn an interim report into allegations that first surfaced in 2004, Ofwat found incorrect income data and intentionally miscalculated debt figures would have had customers paying £42 ($75m) million more than justified by 2010.
Severn Trent overcharged its customers a total of £14m ($25m) over the 2004-7 period, according to the water company’s own statement.
The company has agreed to reduce price limits and return £42m to its 3
Enron bosses hid massive losses
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminEnron’s former chief financial officer has testified to setting up partnerships designed to help the firm hide losses of millions of dollars.
Andrew Fastow took the witness stand at the trial of ex-Enron bosses Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay.
The two deny multiple charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading linked to the collapse of the US energy firm in December 2001
Merck denies heart attack claim
/0 Comments/in Merck /by ceadminA US court has heard how pharmaceutical giant Merck knowingly concealed the risks of its arthritis drug Vioxx.
The allegation was made by a lawyer for Thomas Cona, 59, who blames his heart attack on the once popular treatment.
Being heard before a New Jersey judge, it is the latest of thousands of Vioxx cases due to go to court
Coca-Cola threatens UK government over schools
/0 Comments/in Coca Cola /by ceadminCoca-Cola warned the British education secretary it might withdraw its vending machines network from schools over her ban on “junk food”, letters show.
The company told her last November that the proposed ending of fizzy drinks sales would make the business unviable.
It said schools would lose money and pupils would suffer from the removal of such “a highly efficient country-wide beverage distribution system”
Inquiry into music downloading
/0 Comments/in Sony /by ceadminThe US Department of Justice is investigating allegations of price fixing by top music labels on their charges for digital downloading.
The inquiry mirrors an ongoing probe by New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer into what the industry charges firms such as Apple to sell music online.
Labels have been at loggerheads with Apple over what it charges for tracks sold through its iTunes online service
Enron ‘pretty fast and loose with its rules’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminEnron regularly used money from its reserves to manipulate profits, a former senior executive at the US energy firm has testified.
David Delainey told the trial of former Enron bosses Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling that hiding losses was “standard operating procedure”.
“At Enron, we tended to be pretty fast and loose with its rules,” he said
China Aviation execs plead guilty
/0 Comments/in China Aviation Oil /by ceadminThree non-executive directors of China Aviation Oil (CAO) have pleaded guilty in Singapore to insider dealing charges and failing to disclose losses.
Jia Changbin, Gu Yanfei and Li Yongji now face sentencing on Thursday.
Last month, Peter Lim, CAO’s former finance chief, was given two years in prison and fined over one of Singapore’s biggest business scandals
Enron money man ‘raided reserves’
/0 Comments/in Enron /by ceadminEnron boosted its earnings by dipping into reserve accounts, a former chief accountant at a unit of the scandal-hit energy company has testified in court.
Wesley Colwell claimed that he shifted $14m (£8m) from one account onto Enron’s balance sheet so that the firm could beat Wall Street profit targets.
Prosecutors are trying to prove that Enron’s former bosses manipulated accounts to boost its share price
Shell told to pay Nigeria $1.5bn
/0 Comments/in Shell /by ceadminA Nigerian court has ordered oil giant Shell’s local operation to pay $1.5bn to the Ijaw people of the Delta region.
The Ijaw have been fighting since 2000 for compensation for environmental degradation in the oil-rich region
Ex-China Aviation officer jailed
/0 Comments/in China Aviation Oil /by ceadminPeter Lim, ex-finance chief of China Aviation Oil (CAO), has been given two years in prison and fined over one of Singapore’s biggest business scandals.
CAO, China’s monopoly jet fuel trader, accumulated $550m (£317m) in losses in oil derivatives trading.
Lim was imprisoned for cheating, an offence under the Penal Code, and fined 150,000 Singapore dollar($92,000) for an offence under the Securities Act
Google defends China search site
/0 Comments/in Google /by ceadminGoogle has denied accusations that its new Chinese-language search engine is operating without a licence.
It follows a report in the Beijing News that Google did not have the correct paperwork for its China site.
The web giant has rejected the allegation, saying it was operating under the licence of its business partner, Ganji
Broker banned over illegal sales
/0 Comments/in Xsavi /by ceadminInsurance broker Xsavi has had its permission to trade cancelled by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
The broker, which is now insolvent, sold travel insurance to 2,000 consumers without having an underwriter in place.
As a result, consumers travelled abroad unaware that if something went wrong they could have been left in the lurch
Mine giant settles pollution case
/0 Comments/in Newmont /by ceadminThe US mining giant Newmont has agreed to pay Indonesia $30m in an out-of-court settlement over alleged pollution in North Sulawesi.
The money will be paid over 10 years to fund environmental monitoring and community development.
The Indonesian government will drop a civil case against Newmont, but a criminal trial of a top local executive will continue
Prosecution after Corus explosion
/0 Comments/in Corus /by ceadminCorus is to face prosecution by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after an investigation into a fatal blast furnace explosion in 2001.
Three workers were killed and another nine were badly injured at the Port Talbot steelworks.
Len Radford, from Maesteg, and Andrew Hutin and Stephen Galsworthy, from Port Talbot, died after the explosion
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.