What do AT&T, Boeing, Com-verse Technology, Prudential Financial, Medtronic, Schering-Plough and Tenet Healthcare have in common?
In recent months, they have all been charged with fraudulent conduct by the US Justice Department's Corporate Fraud Task Force, or with serious misconduct by government prosecutors.
Among other charges, the companies were accused of deceptive stock trading, improper billing, falsification of drug prices, kickbacks to doctors and the creation of a "secret stock options slush fund."
The total cost of their misconduct in fines and effective penalties to shareholders? A cool US$2.6 billion.
Enron aftermath
Almost five years after the Enron scandal first came to light, corporate crime involving major US companies appears to show no sign of abating, despite a government crackdown on corporate malfeasance.
Set up after Enron's collapse, the Corporate Fraud Task Force has taken the lead in prosecuting bad executive behavior.
Critics concede it has notched up major victories, notably the convictions of Enron's two former top executives, but some securities lawyers and investor advocates say corporate fraud has become so endemic that harsher penalties are needed to defeat it.
Jacob Zamansky, a New York lawyer whose firm, Zamansky and Associates, has filed securities lawsuits against big Wall Street brokerages, says more top executives need to be held accountable to deter corporate fraud.
"If the Justice Department is serious about showing enforcement, go after some top guys on Wall Street, in Corporate America," he said.
Slack prosecution
Zamansky believes the government did an "excellent job" in prosecuting the Enron case and other cases until last year but says that prosecutions have slackened overall this year.
A senior Justice Department official, who requested anonymity, argued, however, that the task force has been clamping down aggressively and that the flurry of recent cases was somewhat of an aberration.
"From July 2002 to March 2006, we've had more than 1,000 guilty pleas; more than 160 of those have been chief executive officers and [company] presidents," the official said.
Key members of the task force, which also groups Securities and Exchange Commission and FBI officials, met just last month to swap notes and plot strategy.
"We certainly seek to recover [money] vigorously and to the maximum extent we can consistent with the facts," the official said, adding that there are no plans to disband the task force.
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
RSS