crook alert

• Former Rite Aid chief executive Martin L. Grass pleads guilty to two criminal counts in conspiracy to inflate profits of drug chain, destroy and alter evidence and tamper with witnesses. Agrees to pay $3.5 million in fines and forfeiture, with understanding he might serve up to eight years. Attorney said afterward that client did nothing to enrich himself.

• Guidant announces closure of unit that makes stent-graft that may have led to deaths of 12 patients. Takes up to $125 million charge. Company had previously pleaded guilty to covering up the information. Chief executive says company learned "painful lesson."

• Securities and Exchange Commission files civil fraud charges against Gemstar-TV Guide former chief executive Henry C. Yuen and former chief financial officer Elsie Ma Leung. Regulators allege company revenue was inflated, allowing pair to earn more than $100 million. Executives claim everything was reviewed by auditors and lawyers.

• Sprint agrees to pay $5.6 million to settle claims it overcharged government for long-distance services. Stems from whistleblower suit.

• Ousted Ullico chief executive Robert A. Georgine takes the Fifth rather than testify fully before House panel looking at insider trading by board members of the union-run insurer. In-house probe concluded he made $8.8 million from unauthorized trades in company stock.

• AstraZeneca pleads guilty to criminal charges that it conspired to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. Gave free or discounted samples of cancer drug to urologists who billed government for full price. Company agreed to pay $355 million in civil fines and penalties.

• Symbol Technologies' former chief accounting officer, Robert Asti, pleads guilty to scheming with other executives to inflate earnings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17886-2003Jun20.html

 

That Guidant one pisses both of us the hell off!
Bob has one of those AAA grafts inside him and now they discontinued it? What about people whose lives depend on those things? Makes you feel used and abused for sure!

 

And that painful lesson would be to better cover up one's illegal actions.

 

in case you havn't heard, stent from jnj is the best.

 

JNJ makes small stents for the heart....along with several other manufacturers.

There are only 2 companies that made the AAA device for the abdominal aorta, Guidant and Medtronics. Now it is only Medtronics.

 

Cathy,

I don't want to sound crass, but you and Bob should check with a top medical malpractice or product liability attorney. Courts have held that asbestos workers can sue for damages based on their fear of developing disease even in the absence of symptoms. This case sounds very similar to me. Best of luck.

 

Yes, we are in the middle of filling out the paperwork on the Guidant suit. Malpractice is not the way we would go. The cardiology group we use is great. But we are in for product liability.

 

I am pretty sure I am not only one scam by Richard and his ewave analyzer software. Who could forget his touching journey of his family to help some poor village and recently his invitation asking you in joining him to fight against poverty. I always though his presentations are a bit over-the-top.

____________________
Release: #4789-03
For Release: May 21, 2003

COMMODITY SOFTWARE VENDOR CHARGED WITH VIOLATING CFTC ORDER

Defendant Swannell Sold His Elliott Wave Analyzer Software Programs Through His Website

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced today the recent filing of a two-count civil injunctive complaint in federal district court in Los Angeles against Richard Swannell of Australia, charging that Swannell, who sells commodity trading software online (see CFTC News Release 4442-00, September 7, 2000), violated a September 6, 2000, Commission consent order to which he had voluntarily agreed.

That consent order required Swannell to refrain from presenting hypothetical trading results without warning of the inherent limitations of hypothetical trading, and to clearly identify when trading results were based wholly or partially on simulated or hypothetical trading. The order also prohibited Swannell from making any representations of financial benefits associated with any commodity futures or options trading system without first disclosing “prominently and conspicuously, that futures trading involves high risk with the potential for substantial losses.”

Specifically, the complaint charges, among other things, that Swannell violated the order by using hypothetical trading results to sell his Elliott Wave Analyzer software programs and seminars without disclosing that the trading results were not the result of actual trading. Within the past six months, Swannell's website has included statements that the software is "84.9% accurate- Statistically Proven" and that "the Elliott Wave Analyzer 3 can accurately forecast market movement," according to the complaint.The complaint further alleges that these statements are based upon hypothetical trading but that Swannell failed to disclose this fact and failed to prominently display a warning regarding the limitations of simulated or hypothetical trading results as required by CFTC regulations. In addition, the complaint charges that Swannell did not prominently display a warning of the risks of futures trading, as required by the order.

In its continuing litigation against Swannell, the CFTC is seeking a permanent injunction, repayment of ill-gotten gains, and civil monetary penalties.

The CFTC appreciates the assistance of the Australian Securities & Investments Commission.

The following staff of the CFTC Division of Enforcement were responsible for this action: Robert Hildum, Tim Mulreany, Ken Koh, Jacqueline Hamra Mesa, and Paul Hayeck.

The CFTC Issued a Consumer Advisory-Alert on Websites Selling Commodity Trading Systems

For more information on Commodity Trading Systems, see the CFTC’s Consumer Advisory-Alert of May 1, 2000: Beware of Websites Selling Commodity Trading Systems that Guarantee High Profits with Minimal Risks.

Media Case Contact:
Paul G. Hayeck
Associate Director

--------------------------------
ps. look like scam is big on FX front http://www.quatloos.com/forex-press-releases.htm#may03
CFTC Division of Enforcement
(202) 418-5312

 

Merrill Fires Brokers For Timing Activity
October 06, 2003
Merrill Lynch fired three brokers yesterday for allegedly helping New York hedge fund Millennium Partners trade in and out of mutual funds inappropriately, the latest development in New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s investigation of mutual fund trading by hedge funds. [more]

Bank One Sues Beacon Hill
October 06, 2003
Beacon Hill Asset Management, which last year incurred losses of $417 million in two hedge funds, was sued last week by Bank One, an investor in the Safe Harbor Fund. [more]

Former Millennium Partners Exec Pleads Guilty
October 03, 2003
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Steven Markovitz, a former executive and senior trader with $4 billion hedge fund firm Millennium Partners, with securities fraud, the latest development in New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer’s investigation of mutual fund trading by hedge funds. [more]

Czech Financier Charged With Stealing $182 Million From Hedge Fund Manager
October 03, 2003
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has charged controversial Czech financier with stealing $182 million from clients of Omega Advisors, a New York investment manager whose funds include hedge funds. [more]

 

Hard to fathom that less than a year ago this market was free falling on the exodus of wearied individual investors, who were plagued and skeptical following the "accounting scandals" of Enron, Worldcom etal. Those were just a drop in the bucket. I don't think there has ever been a period of immorality in U.S. business that rivals what we are witnessing presently.