Adelphia Communications Corp founder John Rigas and his son Timothy were convicted of looting the cable company to line their own pockets and deceiving investors by hiding its backbreaking debt.
A US federal jury found each guilty on Thursday of 15 counts of securities fraud, two counts of bank fraud and a count of conspiracy. The bank fraud convictions alone carry up to 30 years in prison.
A second Rigas son, Michael, was cleared of conspiracy, but jurors remained undecided on the other counts against him.
Former Adelphia assistant treasurer Michael Mulcahey was acquitted of all charges.
The convictions were another big win for Manhattan federal prosecutors, whose pursuit of white-collar crime has landed them convictions of Martha Stewart and former star investment banker Frank Quattrone.
But the verdict was devastating news for John Rigas, 79, who founded the company with a US$300 license in 1952, took it public in 1986 and built it into a cable titan by acquiring other systems in the 1990s.
He leaned forward in his chair as the verdict was read and did not stand up for 30 minutes after it was finished, receiving hugs in his seat from supporters.
John Rigas and 47-year-old Timothy Rigas, who was the company's chief financial officer, were acquitted of wire fraud charges.
The decision came after a four-month trial marked by testimony on complex debt agreements and cable-subscriber numbers.
US District Judge Leonard Sand told jurors to return yesterday to hear additional instruc-tions, and he said they would then continue deliberating the charges against Michael Rigas, 50, the company's former secretary.
A lawyer for John Rigas declined to comment as he left the court, saying the trial is unresolved. Jurors are undecided on one element of the conspiracy count, but their guilty verdict against the father and son will stand.
As Timothy Rigas left court, his lawyer, Paul Grand, vowed an appeal.
Adelphia, then based in tiny Coudersport, Pennsylvania, collapsed into bankruptcy in 2002 after the company disclosed US$2.3 billion in off-balance-sheet debt.
It now operates under bankruptcy protection in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
Prosecutors accused the Rigas family of using complex cash-management systems to send cash around to various family-owned entities and as a cover for stealing some of the money for themselves.
While most of the alleged fraud took its form in hidden debt, the trial was also notable for examples of the eye-popping personal luxury that has marked other white-collar trials.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from