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Accounting
/ Archive
Rudy
Giuliani
- 
Money
- 
Accounting
- 
New
York
- 
New
Hampshire - 
Iowa
- 
2008
Election - "Critics
say Rudy didn't make as many cuts as he claims."
... "It is [Republican 2008 election Presidential Canidate] Rudy Giuliani's
favorite boast on the presidential campaign trail: "I cut taxes 23 times"
as mayor of New York, he says, a claim inevitably met by applause." ...
"The impressive-sounding stat stars in radio ads this week in New Hampshire
and Iowa, where the voiceover asserts that Giuliani "cut or eliminated
23 taxes."" ... "Trouble is, it's not really true, say tax-cutting allies
of the former mayor, as well as experts at the Citizens Budget Commission
and elsewhere." ... "A close examination of the tax-slashing claims from
a list provided by his campaign show that in at least four cases, the former
mayor is seizing credit for cuts initiated by others and, in one case,
for a tax reduction he fought." ... ""We don't consider not raising a tax
a tax cut," said Charles Brescher of the Citizens Budget Commission, which
recently produced a summary of Giuliani's fiscal record." -By
David Saltonstall -NYDailyNews.com
US
- 
Iraq
- 
Afghanistan
- 
Government
- 
Military
- Accounting
- 
Politics
- 
Lawmakers
- 
History
- 
Missouri
- 
Virginia
- "Freshmen
Senate Democrats seek panel to probe Iraq contracting."
... "Summoning the ghost of Harry Truman, the Senate's freshman Democrats
on Wednesday called for the creation of an independent, bipartisan commission
to investigate wartime profiteering in Iraq." ... "Truman was a freshman
senator from Missouri in 1941 when he led an inquiry into waste and abuse
in government contracting during World War II." ... "Under the 2007 version
of his effort, spearheaded by [Democratic Senators] Sens. Claire McCaskill
of Missouri and Jim Webb of Virginia, the proposed commission would investigate
the mismanagement of private contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which
has resulted in $9 billion in taxpayer dollars unaccounted for." ... "McCaskill,
a former state auditor who uses Truman's old Senate desk, said at a press
conference of freshmen lawmakers, "I realized we had the same problem in
this war that Harry Truman found in World War II, except that it's on steroids.
It's out of control."" -By David
Goldstein -McClatchyDC.com
US
- Iraq
- Military
- Construction
- Accounting
- Politics
- "Pentagon
approves disputed Iraq costs: Almost two-thirds of
contracts questioned by auditors allowed." ... "The Pentagon approves disputed
costs on Iraq contracts at a much higher rate than on military contracts
as a whole, Defense Department records show." ... "Through last October,
almost two-thirds of costs challenged by Pentagon auditors as inflated,
erroneous or otherwise improper — more than $1 billion — were eventually
approved by project managers. That compares with 44% for all defense contracts
in 2005." ... "The records show auditors have questioned $4 billion, or
about 10%, of the $38.5 billion in Iraq reconstruction spending as of October.
Contracting officers hadn't made final decisions on about $2.3 billion
of that amount." -By Matt Kelley
-USATODAY
Accounting
- Company
- "PwC
settles Tyco lawsuit for $225m." ... "PwC [PricewaterhouseCoopers]
has agreed to pay $225m to disgruntled shareholders in Tyco
International to settle claims that it failed to spot a massive
accounting fraud while working as the conglomerate’s auditor." ... "The
payout is one of the biggest ever by a professional services firm and brings
the total amount to be received by Tyco investors to more
than $3.2bn, the largest settlement agreed by a US company and
its former auditor." ... "In May Tyco agreed to pay $2.95bn to settle a
class-action lawsuit alleging that its leadership, led by former chief
executive Dennis Kozlowski, had engaged in an accounting fraud and overstated
income by $5.8bn." ... "Mr Kozlowski and Mark Swartz, the former finance
chief, were convicted in 2005 of looting the company and are serving prison
terms of up to 25 years." -By Francesco Guerrera
-FT.com
US_Debt
- Government
- Military
- 
Seniors
- Money
- Accounting
- Politics
- "Rules
'hiding' trillions in debt: Liability $516,348 per
U.S. household." ... "The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss
last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit —when corporate-style
accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows." ... "The loss
reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and
government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel.
The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid
in income taxes in 2006." ... "Modern accounting requires that corporations,
state governments and local governments count expenses immediately when
a transaction occurs, even if the payment will be made later." ... "The
federal government does not follow the rule, so promises for Social Security
and Medicare don't show up when the government reports its financial condition."
... "Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion
in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006." -By Dennis
Cauchon -USATODAY
Government
- 
Terrorism
- Accounting
- 
Enforcement
- "Audit:
IRS can't fully screen terrorists." ... "IRS screening
of tax-exempt organizations for potential terrorist activities is inefficient
and incomplete, a new federal government audit warns." ... "The tax agency
fails to systematically match filings of tax-exempt groups against a comprehensive
list of potential terrorists, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
audit found. Instead, the IRS manually compares the filings with an incomplete
list." ... "As a result, "The IRS provides only minimal assurance that
tax-exempt organizations potentially involved in terrorist activities are
being identified," the audit released Friday concluded." -By
Kevin McCoy -USATODAY
US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Government
- Military
- 
Health
- Money
- Accounting
- Politics
- 
Jim
Nicholson
- "Lawmakers
wants VA to explain bonuses." ... "Congressional
leaders on Thursday demanded that the Veterans Affairs secretary explain
hefty bonuses for senior department officials involved in crafting a budget
that came up $1 billion short and jeopardized veterans' health care." ...
"A list obtained by the AP of bonuses to senior career officials in 2006
documents a generous package of more than $3.8 million in payments by a
financially strapped agency straining to help care for thousands of injured
veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "Among those receiving
payments were a deputy assistant secretary and several regional directors
who crafted the VA's flawed budget for 2005 based on misleading accounting.
They received performance payments up to $33,000 each, a figure equal to
about 20 percent of their annual salaries." ... "Also receiving a top bonus
was the deputy undersecretary for benefits, who helps manage a disability
claims system that has a backlog of cases and delays averaging 177 days
in getting benefits to injured veterans." ... "The bonuses were awarded
even after government investigators had determined the VA repeatedly miscalculated
— if not deliberately misled taxpayers — with questionable methods used
to justify Bush administration cuts to health care amid the burgeoning
Iraq war." ... "Annual bonuses to senior VA officials now average more
than $16,000 — the most lucrative in government. All bonuses are proposed
by division chiefs, then approved by [Veterans Affairs chief, Republican
Jim] Nicholson." ... "The investigative arm of Congress, the Government
Accountability Office, determined the VA had used misleading accounting
methods and claimed false savings of more than $1.3 billion, apparently
because [Republican] President Bush was not willing, at the time, to ask
Congress for more money." -By Hope Yen
-AP via -Yahoo
US- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Terrorism
- Safety
- Accounting
- "GAO
Faults U.S. Military Over Munitions in Iraq: Report
Says Insurgents Took Unsecured Explosives." ... "The U.S. military's faulty
war plans and insufficient troops in Iraq left thousands and possibly millions
of tons of conventional munitions unsecured or in the hands of insurgent
groups after the 2003 invasion --allowing widespread looting of weapons
and explosives used to make roadside bombs that cause the bulk of U.S.
casualties, according to a government report released yesterday." ... "Some
weapons sites remained vulnerable as recently as October 2006, according
to the Government Accountability Office report, which said the unguarded
sites "will likely continue to support terrorist attacks throughout the
region." For example, it said hundreds of tons of explosives at the Al
Qa Qaa facility in Iraq that had been documented by the International Atomic
Energy Agency were lost to theft and looting after April 9, 2003." ...
"The GAO report pointed to several critical assumptions underlying U.S.
military war plans in 2003 that proved invalid -- including expectations
that Iraqi resistance was unlikely and that the Iraqi army would capitulate
and continue to provide security." -By Ann Scott Tyson
-WashingtonPost
People
- 
Family
- 
Women
- Poverty
- Economy
- History
- 
Worker
- Accounting
- "U.S.
economy leaving record numbers in severe poverty."
... "The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty
has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer
to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation's "haves" and "have-nots"
continues to widen." ... "A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census
figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are
living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and
an annual income of less than $9,903 - half the federal poverty line -
was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less
than $5,080 a year." ... "The McClatchy analysis found that the number
of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's
56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same
period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases
in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large
U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested
that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban
counties but extends to suburban and rural areas." ... "The plight of the
severely poor is a distressing sidebar to an unusual economic expansion.
Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession
of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time,
the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the
amount going to wages and salaries. That helps explain why the median household
income of working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for
five straight years." ... "These and other factors have helped push 43
percent of the nation's 37 million poor people into deep poverty - the
highest rate since at least 1975." ... "The share of poor Americans in
deep poverty has climbed slowly but steadily over the last three decades.
But since 2000, the number of severely poor has grown "more than any other
segment of the population," according to a recent study in the American
Journal of Preventive Medicine." ... "About one in three severely poor
people are under age 17, and nearly two out of three are female. Female-headed
families with children account for a large share of the severely poor."
-By Tony Pugh with contributions by Barbara Barrett
-McClatchy
via -RealCities
Noteworthy
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- Money
- Accounting
- "Auditors:
Billions squandered in Iraq." ... "About $10 billion
has been squandered by the U.S. government on Iraq reconstruction aid because
of contractor overcharges and unsupported expenses, and federal investigators
warned Thursday that significantly more taxpayer money is at risk." ...
"The three top auditors overseeing work in Iraq told a House committee
their review of $57 billion in Iraq contracts found that Defense and State
department officials condoned or allowed repeated work delays, bloated
expenses and payments for shoddy work or work never done." ... "More than
one in six dollars charged by U.S. contractors were questionable or unsupported,
nearly triple the amount of waste the Government Accountability Office
estimated last fall." ... ""There is no accountability," said David M.
Walker, who heads the auditing arm of Congress. "Organizations charged
with overseeing contracts are not held accountable. Contractors are not
held accountable. The individuals responsible are not held accountable.""
-By Hope Yen -AP
via -Yahoo
US- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Money
- Accounting
- Politics
- 
Cheney
- 
CA
- 
TX
- "Waxman
Probes Iraq Contracting, Missing $12 Billion (Update1)."
... "[California's Democratic] Representative Henry Waxman, kicking off
hearings on government contracting, questioned former Ambassador L. Paul
Bremer today on what happened to as much as $12 billion in unaccounted-for
cash spent when he was in charge of rebuilding Iraq." ... "A report from
Waxman's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said the money
represented more than half of Bremer's budget from May 2003 to June 2004.
The report described contractors being told to bring big bags to collect
shrink- wrapped bundles of money and one episode where a Bremer staff member
was allegedly told to spend $6.75 million in a week." ... "``We have no
way of knowing if the cash that was shipped into the green zone ended up
in enemy hands,'' Waxman, a California Democrat, said at today's hearing.
``We owe it to the American people to do everything we can to find out
where the $12 billion went.''" ... "The hearings, which fulfill a Democratic
campaign promise, will spotlight the use of contractors in Iraq and on
homeland security under President George W. Bush, as well as spending on
Medicare and Medicaid." ... "Representatives of eight companies -- among
them Halliburton Co.'s KBR Inc. subsidiary, Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin
Corp. -- have been called to testify. The committee will also hear from
family members of four Blackwater USA contractors who were killed in Fallujah
in March 2004, their bodies burned and dragged through the streets. The
families have accused Blackwater of failing to protect the men." ... "In
addition to Bremer, Waxman today will call Stuart Bowen, the special inspector
general for Iraqi reconstruction. In a report to Congress last week, he
said [Texas] Houston-based KBR, the largest U.S. military contractor in
Iraq, failed to account for $22.3 million of items surveyed in two audits
in 2004." ... "KBR, 80 percent owned by Halliburton [which has an ongoing
compensation arrangement with Republican Vice President Cheney], transports
war supplies and provides food to U.S. troops in Iraq. " -By
Jay Newton-Small -Bloomberg
Energy
- Money
- Politics
- Accounting
- 
MA
- "U.S.
Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron." ... "The
Interior Department has dropped claims that the Chevron Corporation systematically
underpaid the government for natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico,
a decision that could allow energy companies to avoid paying hundreds of
millions of dollars in royalties." ... "The agency had ordered Chevron
to pay $6 million in additional royalties but could have sought tens of
millions more had it prevailed. The decision also sets a precedent that
could make it easier for oil and gas companies to lower the value of what
they pump each year from federal property and thus their payments to the
government." ... "The reversal in the case, which involves Chevron’s accounting
of natural gas sales to a company it partly owned, has renewed criticism
that the Bush administration is reluctant to confront oil and gas companies
and is lax in collecting royalties." ... "In return for the right to drill
on federal lands and in federal waters, energy companies are required to
pay the government a share of their proceeds. " ... "Administration officials
knew that dozens of companies had incorrectly claimed exemptions from royalties
since 2003, but they waited until December 2005 to send letters demanding
about $500 million in repayments." ... "In February, the Interior Department
acknowledged that oil companies could escape more than $7 billion in payments
because of mistakes in leases signed in the 1990s." ... "In addition, four
government auditors last month publicly accused the Interior Department
of blocking their efforts to recover more than $30 million from the Shell
Oil Corporation, the Kerr-McGee Corporation and other major companies."
... "“This latest revelation proves that the Bush administration is incapable
of preventing big oil companies from cheating taxpayers,” said Representative
Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, a senior Democrat on the House Committee
on Resources. “The public has been systematically fleeced out of royalties
that these companies owe for the privilege of drilling for oil and gas
on lands belonging to all of us.”" (1, 2)
-By Edmund L. Andrews
-NYTimes
Political
- Accounting
- "Reagan
Aide Stockman Targeted in Fraud Probe." ... "To old
hands in Washington, [Republican aide] David A. Stockman will always be
the long-haired numbers cruncher who led the cheers for Reaganomics but
nearly lost his job for privately denigrating the administration's budget
at the same time he sold it to the public." ... "Stockman's trip "to the
woodshed" with President Ronald Reagan and his denouncement of the "rosy
scenario" of White House fiscal policy helped coin political phrases that
linger in the capital's lexicon more than two decades after he left government."
... "Now the man who put one over on Congress could face far more severe
consequences for possibly misleading Wall Street." ... "Lawyers at the
Securities and Exchange Commission recently notified Stockman that he could
face civil charges related to upbeat statements he made to investors two
months before an auto parts company he ran sought bankruptcy protection
last year, according to sources familiar with the issues who spoke on condition
of anonymity because the investigation continues." (1, 2)
-By Carrie Johnson with contributions by Richard Drezen
-WashingtonPost
Ken
Lay - Enron
- Energy
- Business
- Accounting
- Law
- 
Colorado
- "Enron's
Founder Kenneth Lay, 64, Dies in Colorado (Update9)."
... "Kenneth Lay, who built Enron Corp. into the world's largest energy
trader and was convicted of the fraud that led to its collapse, died today
near Aspen, Colorado. He was 64." ... "Lay's defense lawyer Mike Ramsey
said through a spokeswoman that his client died ``from what appears to
have been a heart attack.''" ... "Lay and his successor as Enron's chief
executive officer, Jeffrey Skilling, 52, were convicted May 25 of spearheading
the fraud that plunged Enron into bankruptcy in December 2001. Lay and
Skilling were scheduled to be sentenced in October. Lay, who was also convicted
of bank fraud, was facing the rest of his life in federal prison." ...
"Enron's implosion from accounting fraud wiped out more than 5,000 jobs
and $1 billion in employee pensions virtually overnight. Shareholders claimed
more than $25 billion in losses as a result of the crime." -By
Andrew Dunn -Bloomberg
Ken
Lay - Enron
- Business
- Accounting
- History
- "Lay,
Skilling convicted in Enron collapse: Kenneth Lay,
left, and Jeffrey Skilling are seen in this file photo combo." ... "Kenneth
Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted of conspiracy and fraud Thursday
by a federal jury that laid blame for one of the biggest business scandals
in U.S. history squarely on Enron Corp.'s two former top executives." ...
"Jurors found that the men, who received tens of millions in pay and stock
options, repeatedly lied to cover up accounting tricks and business failures
that led to the company's 2001 demise. The collapse wiped out more than
$60 billion in market value, almost $2.1 billion in pension plans and 5,600
jobs." ... "Lay was convicted on all six counts of conspiracy, securities
and wire fraud against him in the corporate trial and all four in the personal
banking trial. Former Chief Executive Skilling was convicted on 19 of the
28 counts in the corporate trial, including one count of insider trading,
and acquitted on the remaining nine." -By Kristen
Hays with contributions by Mike Graczyk, Erin McClam, Angela K. Brown and
Mark Sherman -AP
via -SFGate.com
Canada
- Woman
- Mother's-Day
- Financial
- 
Education
- Accounting
-Family
- Politics
- "Want
to move up? Marry down." ... "Unlike many others,
Christine Ellison has risen to the top of her field while still being able
to celebrate Mother's Day. But her success had more to do with equality
at home than equality at work: She put in the long hours required to earn
and maintain a coveted partnership in a national accounting firm while
her husband stayed home with their child." ... "Unintentionally, Ms. Ellison
was acting out a template that some feminist thinkers argue is the only
way to restart the stalled progress of women in society in general: Elite
women must change not just workplaces, but also their intimate lives, in
order to break the "domestic glass ceiling" -- the family duties that explain
why women are vastly underrepresented in the most powerful positions."
... "How? Don't study liberal arts in college, they say. Hesitate to have
more than one child. And marry "beneath" you, taking a spouse with lower
earning potential so that yours never will be the career it "makes sense"
to compromise." ... "Ms. Ellison was already up for the partnership when
she first became pregnant. So she worked from home for four months, and
then her husband, an electrical engineer named Jim Fulsang, took six months'
parental leave from his job. In the end, the pair decided that Mr. Fulsang
would quit to be with baby Michael in their Woodbridge, Ont. [Canada],
home." ... ""I've invested so much in my education and career," she says.
"Anybody who knows us well knows that our decision is financially logical.
And he's more suited to be at home."" (1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-Tralee Pearce -GlobeAndMail
Computer
- Business
- Accounting
- "Ex-Computer
Associates Chairman Kumar Pleads Guilty (Update4)."
... "Sanjay Kumar, former chief executive officer of Computer Associates
International Inc., pleaded guilty to charges he led a $2.2 billion accounting
fraud at the company, two weeks before he and an ex-colleague were to begin
trial." ... "Kumar, 44, and his co-defendant, former sales executive Stephen
Richards, 41, entered guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser,
in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The two men, who were scheduled
to stand trial on May 8, pleaded guilty to all the charges against them
in the 2004 indictment." ... "Kumar and Richards were charged with illegally
inflating revenue at Islandia, New York-based Computer Associates in 2000
by backdating contracts. In 2004, the company, now known as CA Inc., agreed
to make corporate governance changes and pay $225 million in restitution
to avoid criminal prosecution. CA is the No. 2 maker of mainframe computer
software." -By Patricia Hurtado
-Bloomberg
US
- 
Global
- Jobs
- Economy
- Accountants
- Computer- 
Web
- "Will
Your Job Survive?" ... "In the new global order,
[Princeton University economist Alan] Blinder writes, not just manufacturing
jobs but a large number of service jobs will be performed in cheaper climes.
Indeed, only hands-on or face-to-face services look safe. "Janitors and
crane operators are probably immune to foreign competition," Blinder writes,
"accountants and computer programmers are not."" ... "There follow some
back-of-the-envelope calculations as Blinder totes up the number of jobs
in tradable and non-tradable sectors. Then comes his (necessarily imprecise)
bottom line: "The total number of current U.S. service-sector jobs that
will be susceptible to offshoring in the electronic future is two to three
times the total number of current manufacturing jobs (which is about 14
million)." As Blinder believes that all those manufacturing jobs are offshorable,
too, the grand total of American jobs that could be bound for Bangalore
or Bangladesh is somewhere between 42 million and 56 million." -By
Harold Meyerson -WashingtonPost
Identity
Theft - Government
- Business
- Accountants
- Database
- Marketers
- Consumer
- Law
- 
Ill.
- "IRS
plans to allow preparers to sell data: Critics said
the proposed regulation could lead to a loss of privacy for clients." ...
"The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal
income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers
will be able to sell information from individual returns - or even entire
returns - to marketers and data brokers." ... "The change is raising alarm
among consumer and privacy-rights advocates." ... "Criticism also came
from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.). In a letter last Tuesday to IRS
Commissioner Mark Everson, Obama warned that once in the hands of third
parties, tax information could be resold and handled under even looser
rules than the IRS sets, increasing consumers' vulnerability to identity
theft and other risks." ... ""There is no more sensitive information than
a taxpayer's return, and the IRS's proposal to allow these returns to be
sold to third-party marketers and database brokers is deeply troubling,"
Obama wrote." -By Jeff Gelles
-Philly.com
US
- Iraq
- Dick
Cheney - Military
- Government
- Energy
- Politics
- Accounting
- "Army
to Pay Halliburton Unit Most Costs Disputed by Audit."
... "The Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly
all of its disputed costs on a $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver
fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, even though the Pentagon's own auditors
had identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive
or unjustified." ... "The contract has been the subject of intense scrutiny
after disclosures in 2003 that it had been awarded without competitive
bidding. That produced criticism from Congressional Democrats and others
that the company had benefited from its connection with Dick Cheney, who
was Halliburton's chief executive before becoming vice president." ...
"This is unlikely to be the last time the Army and Halliburton meet over
negotiated costs. On a separate contract in Iraq, for logistics support
to the United States military, more than $11 billion had been disbursed
to Kellogg Brown & Root by mid-January, according to the Army Field
Support Command, based in Rock Island, Ill. Pentagon auditors have begun
scrutinizing that contract as well." (1, 2)
-By James Glanz -NYTimes
Business
- Accounting
- Law
- "SEC
calls for clarity in executive pay." ... "Public
companies in the US could have to provide investors with valuations of
the pensions and stock options of senior executives as part of a far-reaching
overhaul of the disclosure rules on executive pay by the Securities and
Exchange Commission." ... "The chief US financial regulator is preparing
the first update of its disclosure rules on executive pay in more than
a decade, because of concerns that investors do not receive adequate information
about compensation. An important requirement could focus on executives'
pensions and options." ... "The median total pay of chief executives increased
by 30 per cent in 2004, according to a survey of 1,522 chief executives
by the Corporate Library, a corporate governance watchdog, published in
October." -By Andrew Parker
-FT.com via
-MSNBC
Enron
- Accounting
- Business
- "UPDATE
5-Ex-Enron chief accountant pleads guilty to fraud."
... "Enron's former chief accountant, Richard Causey, on Wednesday pleaded
guilty to securities fraud in exchange for a maximum seven-year jail sentence
for his role in the financial scandal that led to the 2001 collapse of
the power-trading giant." ... "Causey, 45, had been scheduled to go on
trial next month with former Enron chief executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling,
facing the possibility of more than 20 years behind bars, but now may cooperate
with federal prosecutors against them in a switch legal experts said could
hurt his former bosses." ... "Causey pleaded guilty to a single count of
securities related to false filings and statements about Enron's financial
performance. He also agreed to forfeit $1.25 million as part of a sentence
that [U.S. District Judge Sim] Lake said would be set April 21." (1, 2,
3)
-By Jeff Franks with contributions by Deborah Charles
and Ben Berkowitz -Reuters
Texas
- Enron
- Accounting
- Energy
- Business
- "Enron's
Causey pleads guilty: Judge grants two-week delay
to Lay, Skilling trial." ... "Rather than face trial next month, Enron's
former chief accounting officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges
stemming from the scandal that brought down the energy company in late
2001." ... "Richard Causey's plea bargain, made in U.S. District Court
in Houston [Texas] before Judge Sim Lake, can't be welcome news for Kenneth
Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, the two top ex-Enron executives federal investigators
claim were kingpins in one of the biggest scandals ever to rock corporate
America." ... "At the same time, the deal requires Causey to cooperate
with federal prosecutors honing their case against his onetime bosses and
raises the possibility of his taking the witness stand against them." -By
Jim Jelter -MarketWatch
-
-
- "KPMG
to pay $456M to settle tax-shelter charges." ...
"[Accounting firm] KPMG LLP will pay $456 million in fines to settle U.S.
charges related to fraudulent tax shelters developed and sold from 1996
to 2002, the company and U.S. officials announced Monday." ... "It [KPMG]
said under terms of a deferred prosecution agreement that charges will
be dismissed on Dec. 31, 2006 when it complies with the terms of the agreement."
... "Federal law enforcement officials said it was the largest tax shelter
fraud case ever filed. The firm admitted it engaged in a fraud that generated
at least $11 billion in false tax losses, which cost the U.S. at least
$2.5 billion in evaded taxes." -By Robert Schroeder
-MarketWatch
-
- "8
ex-KPMG execs indicted; firm to pay fine." ... "Eight
former executives of KPMG were indicted Monday as the Big Four accounting
firm admitted it had set up fraudulent shelters to help rich clients dodge
billions of dollars in taxes." ... "The firm, mindful of how criminal charges
wrecked competitor Arthur Andersen in an Enron-related accounting scandal,
avoided an indictment but agreed to pay $456 million in penalties." ...
"Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson said the firm's conduct
had exceeded "clever lawyering and accounting" and amounted to plain theft
from the people." -By Erin McClam with contributions
by Mark Sherman -AP
via -BusinessWeek
Ohio
-
-
-
-
- "Governor
of
Ohio Is Charged With Breaking Ethics Law." ... "Gov.
Bob Taft, scion of Ohio's most famous Republican family, was charged yesterday
with violating state ethics law by failing to report 52 gifts, including
golf outings, hockey tickets and meals, on his annual financial disclosure
reports." ... "The charges, all misdemeanors, bring the first prosecution
of a major political figure stemming from a widening investigation of Thomas
Noe, a rare-coin dealer, Republican fund-raiser and friend of Mr. Taft.
State officials have accused Mr. Noe of mishandling and possibly stealing
millions of dollars from a state workers' compensation fund." -By
James Dao -NYTimes
Ohio
-
-
-
-
- "Cost
of Ohio's probe into scandals is $6.5M." ... "As
a result of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation's troubled $50 million
rare-coin venture and failed Bermuda hedge fund that lost $215 million,
state government officials are investing in forensic accountants, lawyers,
financial consultants, and appraisers." ... "The price tag is estimated
at $6.5 million and growing because of the widening scope of investigations
into the bureau's investments and some of Ohio's leading political figures,
including Gov. Bob Taft." ... "There are already two convictions, three
grand juries, 144 bureau investment managers under review, 420,561 pages
of coin-fund records, and as much as $13 million missing from the coin
funds managed by Tom Noe, the prominent Republican contributor at the center
of the scandal." -By Joshua Boak
-ToledoBlade.com
TX
- Tom
DeLay -
-
- "FEC
Finds Misreporting by DeLay Committee." ... "A federal
audit of a political fundraising committee founded by House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay found that it failed to report more than $300,000 in debts owed
to vendors and incorrectly paid for some committee activities with money
from another DeLay-connected political committee." ... "The Federal Election
Commission's report didn't indicate whether it would pursue enforcement
action against Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee."
... "ARMPAC's executive director, Jim Ellis, was indicted in Texas in connection
with a separate DeLay-connected committee, Texans for a Republican Majority.
In that case, Ellis is charged with money laundering and accepting illegal
political contributions for state legislative campaigns." -By
Suzanne Gamboa -AP
via -Guardian.co.uk
Gordon
Smith - Corporate
- Politics
- Sports
- 
Vacations
- 
Jets
- Accounting
- 
Telecommunications
- Energy
- Lawmakers
- 
Ore
- 
Nev
- 
Ind
- 
Fla
- 
Mich
- 
Ky
- Va
-
-
- 
- 
- "Amid
much scrutiny, mixing pleasure and politics goes on."
... "Even if lawmakers are more sensitive these days about teeing up [golfing]
with lobbyists at posh resorts, one would never know it by witnessing a
scene at Dulles International Airport on Sunday night when lobbyists returned
from the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, a high-end course in southwestern Oregon.
One lobbyist from Accenture, an accounting firm, even disembarked sporting
a long-sleeve Bandon Dunes polo shirt." ... "[Oregon Republican Senator]
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.[Republican-Oregon]) held the fundraiser, an annual
event for his political action committee Impact America. A score of telecommunications,
financial-services and energy lobbyists paid $3,000 to $5,000 apiece to
join him for the promise of unfettered access for a weekend with the second-term
Oregonian and member of the Finance and Commerce, Science and Transportation
committees." ... "Smith paid Bandon Dunes $14,472 last year to reserve
the resort for his guests, according to disclosure reports filed with the
Federal Election Commission (FEC). Bandon Dunes charges $175 per person
for a round of golf and at least $300 for rooms during the peak season,
from May to October." ... "Smith, the heir of a frozen-foods fortune, seems
to have no qualms about his close ties to the business community. He readily
admitted that he flew to the event on FedEx’s corporate jet and returned
via Union Pacific’s plane." ... "[Nevada] Republican [Senator] Sen. John
Ensign (R-Nev.[Republican-Nevada]) also flew out for the event, as did
[Indiana Republican Representative] Reps. Chris Chocola (Ind.[Indiana]),
[Florida Republican Representative] Ander Crenshaw (Fla.[Florida]) and
[Indiana Republican Representative] Steve Buyer (Ind.[Indiana])." ... "[Michigan
Republican Representative] Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.[Republican-Michigan])
is hosting a golf tournament in July at the Oakland Hills Country Club
[in Michigan], the home of the 2004 Ryder Cup matches and the 2008 PGA
Championship. [Kentucky Republican Representative] Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.[Republican-Kentucky]),
a cardinal on the Appropriations Committee, will hold an event in August
at Pebble Beach, the world-famous coastal golf course in California." ...
"In the winter, several lawmakers including [Virginia Republican Representative]
Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.[Republican-Virginia]), hosted trips
to exclusive skiing resorts in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming." ... "“You
wonder how long Republicans can bifurcate their message to mainstream America
with this gross display of wealth,” the lobbyist said." -By
Jonathan E. Kaplan -TheHill.com
- AIG
- "Berkshire
Executives Knew AIG Would `Cook the Books,' SEC Says."
... "Executives at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s General Re unit knew four
years ago that American International Group Inc. would use a reinsurance
transaction to ``cook the books,'' according to phone transcripts cited
in a suit from regulators." ... "The transaction, which improperly boosted
AIG's reserves for claims, sparked an accounting investigation in October
that last month led AIG to restate five years of financial reports and
lower net income by $3.9 billion, or 10 percent." ... "Shares of Berkshire
have fallen 4.2 percent since AIG admitted to improper accounting on March
30, compared with a 1.8 percent gain in the New York Stock Exchange Composite
Index." -By David Plumb -Bloomberg
-
-
- "SEC
expected to introduce fewer regulations." ... "The
Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to introduce fewer new regulations
under Christopher Cox's chairmanship compared to his predecessor, and may
strike a new tone on enforcement, people familiar with the chief US financial
watchdog said on Thursday." ... "SEC insiders also said Mr Cox, the congressman
nominated by President George W Bush to replace William Donaldson, was
expected to forge a new unity among the three Republican commissioners
at the SEC if he is confirmed by the Senate." -By
Andrew Parker -FT.com
AIG
- New
York
-
-
- Eliot
Spitzer - "AIG
Lowers Net Income By $3.9 Billion Over Five Years (Update2)."
... "American International Group Inc., the insurer accused by New York
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer of duping investors, reduced net income
by $3.9 billion over five years to correct improper accounting and increase
reserves for asbestos and environmental claims." ... "Spitzer's suit said
[CEO Maurice ``Hank''] Greenberg, 80, directed or had knowledge of at least
seven types of deceptive accounting designed to improve AIG's financial
results or stock, misleading investors and regulators. Spitzer also is
presenting evidence to a New York state grand jury, which will weigh possible
criminal indictments, people familiar with the matter said on May 20."
-By Jesse Westbrook and David Plumb
-Bloomberg
-
- New
York
- Eliot
Spitzer -"Spitzer
files charges against Greenberg and AIG." ... "Eliot
Spitzer, New York attorney general, on Thursday filed civil charges against
Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and American International Group and accused AIG's
deposed chief executive of "manipulating" AIG's books to purposely deceive
shareholders." ... "The charges, filed jointly by Mr Spitzer and the New
York insurance department, are the first to be brought against AIG and
Mr Greenberg by US regulators. Mr Spitzer accuses Mr Greenberg and Howard
Smith, former chief financial officer, of "routinely engaging in misleading
accounting and financial reporting"." -FT.com
via -MSN
-
- Connecticut
- Georgia
-
-
-
- "U.S.
Military Seeks to Close 193 Bases to Cut Costs (Update3)."
... "The U.S. military proposed closing 193 military bases, including a
submarine base in Groton, Connecticut, and an Army base at Fort McPherson
near Atlanta [Georgia], in the first round of base closings and realignments
in a decade." ... "Thirty-three major bases would be among those closed,
and about 70,000 overseas personnel would be returned to domestic bases,
according to a list released by the Pentagon today. California, the state
with the most military facilities, would lose 12, including four finance
and accounting centers." ... "The Pentagon is proposing the base closings
as part of a broad restructuring of the U.S. military to bring greater
unification of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines and meet the 21st-century
challenges of global terrorism and an unsettled international environment."
-By Tony Capaccio and Bill Arthur -Bloomberg
-
-
- "Audits
find flaws in U.S. handling of Iraq deals." ... "The
United States has carelessly, and possibly fraudulently, handled some Iraqi
money meant for rebuilding and poorly managed billions of dollars of U.S.-funded
contracts, said U.S. audits released on Wednesday." ... "In one area of
Iraq alone, nearly $100 million in cash used for rebuilding was unaccounted
for. Incompetence by U.S. procurement staff ranged from contractors being
paid twice to files being misplaced." (1, 2)
-Reuters
-
- New
York
- "AIG
to restate, slashing net worth." ... "American International
Group Inc. said on Sunday it will restate financial reports for much of
the last five years, due mainly to accounting errors that will slash about
$2.7 billion from its net worth." ... "The world's largest insurer by market
value also said it had delayed the filing of its annual 10-K report for
2004 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a third time,
saying it now expects to file no later than May 31." ... "Since AIG disclosed
that it had received subpoenas from New York and federal investigators
on February 14, it has lost about $57 billion in market value."
-Reuters via -CNN
- "A.I.G.
Discloses Its Accounting Was Improper in Some Deals."
... "The insurance giant American
International Group acknowledged today that its accounting for a number
of transactions, including a deal with a unit of Warren E. Buffett's company,
was improper." ... "According to A.I.G., the accounting missteps and the
impact of reclassifying one particular entity would result in a decrease
of 2 percent of the company's previously reported unaudited consolidated
shareholders equity of $82.9 billion, or $1.7 billion." -By
Jenny Anderson -NYTimes
-
-
-
- "War
Costs Exceed Budget, Watchdog Panel Says." ... "Military
operations
in Iraq and Afghanistan are running $12.3 billion over budget this year,
and Pentagon officials are trying to make up for the shortfall by transferring
money from other accounts and delaying refurbishment of worn-out equipment
in Iraq, the General Accountability Office said Wednesday." ... "The office,
a nonpartisan Congressional agency, estimated that the Army was running
about $9.4 billion short of what had been budgeted. By putting off other
kinds of spending until next year, the military is likely to run up higher
costs in future, said the agency, which was formerly the General Accounting
Office." -By Edmund L. Andrews
-NYTimes
-
- "Short-Changed
Soldiers: Report: U.S. Army Reservists Encounter
Pay Problems." ... "An overwhelming number of U.S. Army reservists are
having problems getting paid, and many are paid late." ... "A report issued
today by the General Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress,
discovered major problems with the way the Army compensates its reservists."
... "Such problems are causing a considerable hardship for Melinda Delain,
a single mother who had just purchased a new home when her reserve unit
was deployed to Afghanistan." ... "Like everyone else in her medical unit,
she did not receive her full paycheck for three months." ... "In its report,
GAO investigators found that 95 percent of Army reservists had pay problems."
(1, 2)
-ABCNEWS.com
- Enron
News - "Ex-Enron
executive, wife plead guilty: Andrew Fastow is the
highest-ranking Enron executive to plead guilty in the scandal surrounding
the energy company's dramatic disintegration." ... "Andrew Fastow, chief
architect of the off-the-books deals that brought down Enron, pleaded guilty
along with his wife Wednesday in a deal that could take prosecutors to
the top of the corporate ladder at the scandal-ridden company." ... "The
former finance chief agreed to a 10-year prison sentence and will help
prosecutors build a case against the executives who once occupied the most
opulent offices on the company's top floor: former Chairman Kenneth Lay
and former Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling." -By
Kristen Hays-Miami/Herald
- Enron
News - "Judge
OKs Lea Fastow plea deal: The agreement could clear
the way for a separate pact with her husband, the ex-CFO of Enron." ...
"A federal judge Thursday said he will accept a guilty plea from the wife
of a former top Enron executive that would mean prison time for her and
may also lead to a stiff sentence for her husband, ex-Enron CFO Andrew
Fastow." ... "U.S. District Judge David Hittner said Lea Fastow, a former
assistant treasurer at Enron, could come in as early as Thursday afternoon
to change her plea to guilty, adding he was still considering whether to
reduce her sentence to five months from a possible term of more than
10 years." -CNN
-
-
- "House
GOP leaders seek budget support." ... "Some Democrats
said Republicans were using the distraction of war to whisk a budget through
the Senate that would cut taxes on the wealthy while omitting money for
the costs of combat with Iraq. They said work on the budget should be postponed
until next week so lawmakers could focus on the war." ... ""We know why
we're being jammed on this right now," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa." ...
"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said while the Senate would
spend time discussing the war should the invasion begin, the chamber would
nonetheless complete the budget this week." -By Alan
Fram -AP via
-Miami/Herald
-
-
-
- "Bush's
new tax cut bid stirs outcry." ... "The Bush administration
is pushing for a new round of tax cuts even before it explains how much
war with Iraq will cost the American taxpayer, triggering cries of fiscal
irresponsibility and charges of a Texas political two-step." ... "''It's
indecent that we are debating reducing taxes for wealthy individuals when
our American servicemen are being fired upon in Iraq,'' Kennedy said."
-By Glen Johnson
-Boston/Globe
-
-
-
-
- "ANALYSIS-As
war starts, financial cost to U.S. still secret."
... "Wars cost money as well as lives and estimates for the attack on Iraq
are high and rising." ... "Bush has been conspicuously silent on what the
action will cost U.S. taxpayers. But conservative calculations, assuming
a swift campaign that matches the speed of the 1991 Gulf War, reach up
to $100 billion." ... "This would be equivalent to one percent of U.S.
gross domestic product. But if the war gets bogged down, for example in
street-to-street fighting to take Baghdad, costs would rise." -By
Alister Bull -Reuters
via -Forbes /Magazine
-
-
-
- "Fantasy
Budget." ... "Following a surreal timetable, the
Senate and House are apt this week to approve budget resolutions that would
lock in huge tax cuts without setting aside a penny for war in Iraq. Then
the administration would unveil a "supplemental" spending request -- and
demand that a check be cut immediately." ... "For the administration, this
schedule carries two advantages. No war numbers are released to jeopardize
the tax package; then, once war is underway, Congress dares not challenge
a spending request. But why should Congress go along with such a charade?"-WashingtonPost
-
- "Audit:
Food Supply Vulnerable to Attack." ... "Congressional
auditors say the country's food supply is vulnerable to terrorist attacks
partly because the government cannot ensure the security of processing
plants." ... "The General Accounting Office issued the report Tuesday as
the Agriculture Department told food companies, retailers and farmers to
increase security because of the heightened security alert." -By
Emily Gersema -AP
via -ChicagoTribune
- "GOP
will protect Bush economic plan from delays, but not the rest of his tax
cuts." ... "Congressional Republicans said Tuesday
they intend to give priority to President Bush's $726 billion economic
growth plan, effectively dimming the chances for enactment of the other
half of his tax cut proposals for the next decade." ... "The decision means
GOP leaders intend to fight for Bush's plan to cut the tax on corporate
dividends, for example, but that his call for making the huge 2001 tax
cuts permanent is unlikely to become law in the near future." -By
David Espo and Alan Fram -AP
via -SFGate.com
-
-
- "Iraq
War Could Cost U.S. Nearly $100 Billion." ... "But
experts say occupation costs could far exceed the direct military costs
of the war itself. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments estimated
the five-year costs at between $25 billion and $105 billion, depending
on the number of U.S. troops on the ground." ... "Aid packages for Turkey
and Israel alone could cost U.S. taxpayers more than $10 billion. Jordan
is seeking more than $1 billion in grants and a supply of subsidized oil.
Egypt wants duty-free access to the U.S. market for its goods." -By
Adam Entous -Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
- "Bush
promises to help U.S. governors." ... "States are
in their third year of shrinking revenues and budget cuts, with some $30
billion of additional cuts overall needed in the next few months. Next
year looks even worse, with governors predicting an $82 billion gap between
spending demands and their weak tax revenue."
-AP via -USATODAY
- "Bush
budget envisions lower taxes, record deficits:
The $2.23 trillion plan appears to take calculated risks as it tries to
boost the economy." ... "The $2.23 trillion budget for fiscal year 2004
would hold down spending on most domestic programs while boosting defense
and homeland security." ... "The administration is now projecting a deficit
of $307 billion this year, up from $157 billion." ... "But the fiscal year
2004 (FY2004) budget does not include the cost of a war with Iraq, estimated
at $50 to $60 billion. Nor does it include any large-scale relief to the
states, which are suffering their worst fiscal crisis in 50 years." -By
Linda Feldmann -CSMonitor
- -
- "Bush's
Budget to Favor Military, Education: Proposal
Projects a Record Deficit." ... "Among the previously undisclosed spending
plans in Bush's 2004 budget are $100 million for the State Department to
advance democracy, literacy and economic opportunity in the Middle East,
and $756 million for school choice programs, including a plan for a pilot
school voucher program in the District, according to sources briefed on
the budget." ... "He calls for growth of $30.5 billion in spending that
is subject to Congress's annual appropriations process. The military would
get about $15 billion of that, and homeland security would get $4 billion."
... "The White House projects a $307 billion deficit for this fiscal year,
and $304 billion next year." -By Mike Allen and Jonathan
Weisman -WashingtonPost
- "Bush
Unveils Ambitious New $2.25 Trillion Budget." ...
"The budget that President Bush sends to Congress on Monday would expand
the military, create a major new social entitlement, energize the economy
and, most likely, produce big deficits for the foreseeable future." ...
"The $2.25 trillion plan would offer something for almost everybody. It
would provide modest tax refunds up front and much bigger tax cuts down
the road. It would give the elderly a permanent new right to government-paid
prescription drugs. It would provide more money for the armed forces, for
domestic security, for medical research and for foreign aid." ... "Not
since the early days of Ronald Reagan's presidency has an administration
harbored such bold ambitions and such a lack of concern about red ink.
White House officials concede that deficits could top $300 billion this
year and next, and the budget will probably not project a return to surpluses
in the next five years." (1, 2)
-By Edmund L. Andrews and David Firestone
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- "Deficit
of $199B seen for '03: Congressional Budget
Office boosts its estimates for fiscal shortfalls in 2003 and 2004." ...
"The Congressional Budget Office Wednesday increased its forecast for U.S.
government deficits to $199 billion this year and $145 billion in 2004,
affirming a bleak fiscal outlook already fueling battles over taxes and
spending in advance of the 2004 presidential election." ... "In August,
the CBO anticipated a deficit of $145 billion in 2003 and $111 in 2004.In
a report released Wednesday, the CBO also predicted the 10-year U.S. cumulative
budget surplus will rise slightly to $1.3 trillion from the $1 trillion
it last forecast." ... "As recently as 2001, the CBO predicted 10-year
surpluses of more than $5.6 trillion."
-CNN /fn
- "The
Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2004-2013."
-CBO.gov - "Congressional
Budget Office."
- "Feds
Indict 7 in Texas Terror Probe: Feds Indicte
[sic] Employees of Texas Computer Firm and Hamas Leader on Terrorism-Related
Charges." ... "The leader of an Islamic militant group, his wife, and five
brothers work at a Texas computer firm were indicted on charges of trafficking
with terrorist states Libya and Syria, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced
Wednesday." ... """The war against terror is a war of accountants and auditors
as well as weaponry and soldiers," Ashcroft said. "We will pursue the financiers
of terror as well as pursue the thugs who do their work.""
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- Accounting
News - "Donaldson
to head SEC: Co-founder of DLJ and ex-NYSE
chief would succeed Pitt as top market watchdog." ... "Wall Street veteran
William Donaldson, the founder of the former firm Donaldson Lufkin &
Jenrette, is the Bush administration's choice to be the new chairman of
the Securities and Exchange Commission." ... "Donaldson, whose firm was
sold to Credit Suisse First Boston in 2000, was introduced by President
Bush at a news conference Tuesday." ... "The SEC has been under greater
scrutiny due to the attention given to accounting and corporate misdeeds
that resulted in the nation's two largest bankruptcies, at WorldCom and
Enron, and shook investors' confidence in the market."
-CNN /fn
- 
- 
- "Military’s
use of satellites probed: Investigation launched
amid complaints of unfair advantages." ... "The General Accounting Office
is investigating the Defense Department’s use of commercial satellites,
after competitors complained that Washington-based Intelsat Ltd. has an
unfair advantage in a growing market." ... "Intelsat, incorporated in Bermuda,
is owned by companies and governments in 148 nations, including Iraq and
Iran. Its satellites help the U.S. military communicate with soldiers in
far-flung outposts." ... "The GAO investigation coincides with the Pentagon’s
increasing dependence on commercial satellite providers to provide extra
bandwidth, industry experts say. Government satellite programs have faced
delays and cost overruns even as information has become a key part of battlefield
strategy, they said." -By Renae Merle-WashingtonPost
via -MSNBC
Accounting
News - "Glossary
of [Accounting] Terms, Acronyms, and Abbreviations."- | A|
B
| C | D
| E | F
| G | H
| I | J
| K | L
| M | N
| O | P
| Q | R
| S | T
| U | V
| V | W
| X | Y
| Z | Quick
Ref | -AICPA.org
- "Webster
leaves board in turmoil." ... "Although Biggs still
has the support of two SEC commissioners Harvey Goldschmid
and Roel Campos he probably won't get the nod, given the acrimony surrounding
Webster's appointment. Following the disclosure of Webster's involvement
with U.S. Technologies CEO Greg Earls, a man with a long trail of fraud
accusations in his past, Biggs called on SEC Chairman Pitt to resign."
... "The new board has until April to launch its operations in earnest."
... ""You're going to need at least 100 people. You're setting up a real
operation in the next few months," says Charles Bowsher, who headed the
Public Oversight Board, an accounting-industry body that was disbanded
this year and will be replaced by the SEC-appointed panel." -By
Greg Farrell -USATODAY
-Accounting
News - "White
House narrows SEC chief hunt: Quick decision
needed to restore investor confidence, experts say." ... "Even as high-profile
cases against companies like WorldCom and Enron continue to be investigated
by SEC lawyers, the political fallout surrounding Pitt is affecting the
overall mission and charge of the agency." ... "Among those most closely
keeping an eye on who Pitt’s replacement will be are those in the accounting
industry. Accounting lobbyists furiously lobbied against the nomination
of reformist John Biggs to head the independent accounting oversight board
and instead pressed Pitt to nominate William Webster, former head of the
F.B.I. instead." ... "Now Webster is also resigning amid allegations about
his role as the head of the audit board of U.S. Technologies, a company
that later discovered to be racked with accounting problems that Webster
himself acknowledges he was made aware of at the time." -By
Brock N. Meeks -MSNBC
- "Harvey
Pitt resigns as SEC chief." ... "Securities and Exchange
Commission chairman Harvey Pitt stepped down late Tuesday, bringing a stunning
end to his tumultuous 15-month reign as the nation's top securities regulator
amid still-unfolding financial scandals." ... "Although Pitt got caught
in numerous public-relations flaps during his tenure, his resignation stems
directly from his handling of the appointment of former FBI director William
Webster to head a new five-member panel charged with overseeing the accounting
industry." ... "Webster's selection was controversial because he was chosen
over a candidate opposed by the accounting industry. At a contentious Oct.
25 hearing, Pitt and the two other Republican commissioners voted for Webster
and the two Democrats voted against him." -By Greg
Farrell -USATODAY
- ELECTION
2002 - "Media
rely on 'real votes' to project winners." ... "Voter
News Service, the media consortium whose flawed data led to erroneous projections
on Election Night 2000, withheld results from national and state exit polls
Tuesday because it could not guarantee their accuracy." ... "Exit polls
survey voters after they leave polling places. Without them, television
networks had to rely on vote counts to project winners in congressional
and gubernatorial elections." ... "Voter News Service (VNS) said the problems
with the exit polls lay in the software that crunches information from
questionnaires filled out by voters." ... ""If you see a number that looks
suspicious to you, you check it out. If the process is not calculating
every element properly, you have to adjust or you have to fix the program,"
VNS executive director Ted Savaglio said. "We saw things that we didn't
like, and we just didn't feel we could publish the poll."" -By
Martha T. Moore with contributions from Charisse Jones -USATODAY
- ELECTION
2002 - "VNS
Abandons National Exit Polls." ... "Voter News Service
was forced to abandon state and national exit polls designed to help analyze
Tuesday's midterm election results and also saw its vote-counting operation
slow to a crawl." ... "The failures were a major setback for VNS - a consortium
consisting of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and The Associated Press. VNS had
completely rebuilt its system in response to the 2000 election, when television
networks twice used its information to make wrong calls in the decisive
Florida vote for the presidency." ... "VNS said the exit poll information
was being collected but not being properly analyzed by the organization's
new computer system." ... "VNS had other problems: computer screens briefly
froze when workers phoned in exit poll information, and more people than
expected failed to call with completed questionnaires, Savaglio said."
-By David Bauder
-AP via -FindLaw/LegalNews
- "Voting
into the void: New touch-screen voting machines
may look spiffy, but some experts say they can't be trusted." ... "A fast-talking,
fact-toting woman who can recount dozens of stories of voting machines
going disastrously haywire, (computer science professor Rebecca) Mercuri
goes into a region whose election has been held up and proceeds to hold
forth. Mercuri tells everyone she can, from election judges to county supervisors
to the local media, that the supposedly "state-of-the-art" machines they've
all been sold are nothing but a "a bill of goods."" ... "Mercuri's chief
complaint with the touch-screen system is that its inner workings are often
a complete secret. When a voter touches the screen to make a choice, there
is no confirmation that the machine has actually registered the correct
selection. In the old punch-card and fill-in-the-circle paper systems,
voters can see their choice marked on paper. And in the event of a recount,
election officials can, as a last resort, manually count those slips of
paper. Since the new electronic systems leave no paper trail, there's no
chance of a recount." (1, 2,
3)
-By Farhad Manjoo -Salon
- "Federal
Regulators Sue Ernst & Young." ... "Federal regulators
say accounting giant Ernst & Young misstated the assets of a failed
Chicago-area savings and loan and deliberately delayed reporting the error
to the government." ... "The allegation came Friday in a $548 million fraud
and negligence lawsuit filed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
[FDIC]. It said the accounting firm was silent about the misstated assets
to avoid publicity that would hurt the $11 billion sale of its consulting
arm." ... "Ernst & Young, one of the so-called Big Four accounting
firms, issued a statement blaming Superior Bank's management and a slumping
economy for the collapse of the savings and loan, which was based in west
suburban Oakbrook Terrace." -By Mike Robinson
-AP via -SeattlePI.NWsource
- "SEC
Chief Is Subject Of Probe: Pitt Failed To Disclose
Past Of Board Nominee." ... "The Securities and Exchange Commission ordered
an investigation into the actions of its own chairman yesterday, after
the agency's commissioners learned that Chairman Harvey L. Pitt failed
to tell them that his choice to head a new accounting oversight board chaired
the audit committee of a company being questioned about possible fraud."
... "Former FBI and CIA director William H. Webster told Pitt about his
association with Washington-based U.S. Technologies Inc. more than a week
before the SEC approved Webster by a 3 to 2 party-line vote last Friday.
The new board, intended to restore investor confidence, was created by
legislation passed after accounting scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc.
and several other major companies cost investors and employees billions
of dollars." -By Kathleen Day, David S. Hilzenrath
and Shannon Henry-WashingtonPost
- "SEC
investigates choice of Webster for board." ... "The
Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday opened an investigation into
the selection of former FBI director William Webster to run a new five-member
board to oversee the embattled accounting industry, amid escalating calls
for SEC chairman Harvey Pitt to resign. The White House said it stood by
Pitt, but also said it did not have all the facts in the matter." ... "Pitt
requested the probe under pressure from fellow SEC commissioners, some
of whom have publicly complained that he bowed to pressure from the accounting
industry last month when he selected Webster to run the new board instead
of another, more experienced candidate." -By Sue Kirchhoff
-Boston/Globe
- "Audit
Overseer Cited Problems in Previous Post." ... "Shortly
before William H. Webster was appointed to head a new board overseeing
the accounting profession by the Securities and Exchange Commission last
Friday, he told the commission's chairman, Harvey L. Pitt, that he had
until recently headed the auditing committee of a company that was facing
fraud accusations, Mr. Webster recounted today." ... "Mr. Pitt chose not
to tell the other four commissioners who voted on Mr. Webster's nomination
that day, according to S.E.C. officials. White House officials said they,
too, were not informed about the details of Mr. Webster's work for the
company." (1, 2)
-By Stephen Labaton -NYTimes
via -AltaVista-News
- Enron
News
-
- Enron
News
- WorldCom
News
- WorldCom
News
- WorldCom
News
- WorldCom
News -
- WorldCom
News
- WorldCom
News
- WorldCom
News
- "Labour's
Arthur Andersen links." ... "While Tony Blair toured
Britain aboard his election battle bus in 1997, senior members of his economic
team were working alongside experts at Arthur Andersen, Enron's accountants."
... "That relationship - which produced key planks of current economic
policy - lies behind the awkward questions Labour now faces over Andersen's
return to government work." -By Ollie Stone-Lee
-BBC /News
-
- Enron
News