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[News] [SOT] SEC Still Bails Out Criminals as Fraud Revealed

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Genesis ex-CEO settles after SEC inside trading charges

,----[ Quote ]
| The former CEO of a Silicon Valley chip company has been charged with insider 
| trading by the US Securities and Exchange Commission today, for allegedly 
| buying company stock in the midst of confidential merger negotations with 
| STMicroelectronics.   
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/02/silicon_valley_ceo_antoun_charged_with_insider_trading/

They pay to be left alone but never sent to jail for knowingly breaking the
law. It was the same with Novell and Microsoft.

Emails show journalist rigged Wikipedia's naked shorts

,----[ Quote ]
| Two and a half years ago, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne penned an editorial 
| for The Wall Street Journal, warning that widespread stock manipulation 
| schemes - including abusive naked short selling - were threatening the health 
| of America's financial markets. But it wasn't published.   
`----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/


Recent:

SEC bans short-selling of 799 financial stocks

,----[ Quote ]
| Short selling involves borrowing a company's shares, selling them, and
| pocketing the difference when the stock falls. It is a legitimate method of
| trading -- it can make markets more efficient and bring in more capital --
| but the government argues that it has widened the scope of the recent
| financial crisis and contributed to the collapsing values of investment and
| commercial bank stocks in particular.
`----

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D939RL7O0.htm


SEC Foresees Rise in Fraud Cases

,----[ Quote ]
| Laying out his priorities, the new enforcement chief for the Securities and
| Exchange Commission in San Francisco said Thursday he expects an upswing in
| fraud cases against public companies.
`----

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202424479239


Ex-Microsoft boss sentenced

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/371393_msftcourt19.html


Former Microsoft Manager Gets 2 Years In Jail

http://news.portalit.net/fullnews_former-microsoft-manager-gets-2-years-in-jail_1427.html


Apple options backdating litigation still not over

,----[ Quote ]
| Just when Apple watchers thought the backdated options issue was on the verge
| of being put to bed, another suit is taking the limelight.
`----

http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20658/1054/


Novell fraud lawsuit settled for $13.9M.

,----[ Quote ]
| After more than seven years in the courts, Novell will spend $13.9 million to
| make a securities fraud class-action lawsuit go away.
`----

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0198-225344/Novell-fraud-lawsuit-settled-for.html


Oracle's Ellison Withheld E-Mails in Suit, Judge Says (Update2)

,----[ Quote ]
| Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison deliberately destroyed or
| withheld e-mails and failed to preserve tape recordings that should have been
| turned over to lawyers for shareholders suing him, a judge ruled.
|
| U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco said yesterday that the
| e-mails, as well as recordings of interviews for a book about Oracle founder
| Ellison called ``Softwar,'' were willfully withheld. Ellison and Oracle knew
| the material was potentially relevant to claims that they made false
| statements about the company's 2001 second-quarter financial results and
| problems with a software product, Illston said.
`----

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a9OHBiyXHVPQ&refer=us



Related:

Microsoft's Accounting Under Scrutiny

,----[ Quote ]
| The company has still not made enough information public to provide analysts
| with detailed information on the profitability of its MSN Internet business,
| Mr. Galvin said, adding, ''There's still room for them to obfuscate.''
`----

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E1DC173DF932A35754C0A96F958260


Microsoft - Undeserving of Libertarian Praise

,----[ Quote ]
| One strategy that Microsoft has employed in the past is paying for the
| silence of people and companies. Charles Pancerzewski, formerly Microsoft's
| chief auditor, became aware of Microsoft's practice of carrying earnings from
| one accounting period into another, known as "managing earnings". This
| practice smoothes reported revenue streams, increases share value, and
| misleads employees and shareholders. In addition to being unethical, it's
| also illegal under U.S. Securities Law and violates Generally Accepted
| Accounting Practices (Fink). Mr. Pancerzewski claims he was forced to retire,
| for raising the issue of deferred earnings with Microsoft executives, thereby
| making plausible deniability more difficult for said executives. He has since
| sued Microsoft, who responded by settling out of court, but also sealing the
| records to prevent public disclosure (Fink).
`----

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/8/20/11034/3908


Microsoft Agrees To Refrain From Accounting Violations in SEC Settlement

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has agreed to refrain from accounting violations to settle federal
| regulators' allegations that it misrepresented its financial performance, the
| government announced Monday.
|
| Under a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the software
| giant neither admitted to nor denied wrongdoing. No fine was imposed.
|
| The SEC alleged that Microsoft's accounting practices from July 1994 through
| June 1998 caused its income to be substantially misstated.
`----

http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18819490


"Microsoft Tax," MSN Enters the Black Hole, New Names for NT

,----[ Quote ]
| The lawsuit, filed last year by Mukilteo City Councilman Charles
| Pancerzewski, alleges that he was forced to resign as Microsoft's general
| auditor in January 1996 after working for the company's internal auditing
| department for more than four years. The suit claims that a "significantly
| younger man" with little auditing experience was picked to replace
| Pancerzewski, who was finally forced out because he discovered Microsoft
| might have been violating government regulations. Once Pancerzewski left the
| company he was replaced by the younger man, who his attorneys believe
| was "less prone to raise issues of possible legal improprieties which could
| threaten or embarrass Microsoft or its management.
`----

http://www.msboycott.com/news/98_06_22.shtml


SEC Investigating Microsoft Practices -- Earnings Manipulated, Former Employee
Contends

,----[  Quote]
| "The CFO to whom Charlie was reporting his concerns about illegality was the
| biggest advocate for the very illegality that was going on," Vial argued in
| court a year ago.
`----

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990701&slug=2969514


Microfraud?

,----[ Quote ]
| THE ALLEGATIONS WERE shocking: For years, Microsoft has systematically
| distorted its profit figures in an effort to consistently beat Wall Street
| expectations and keep its stock price steadily rising. The false reports
| would violate SEC regulations, and amount to outright fraud.
|
| More shocking was the source of the allegations: Microsoft's chief of
| internal audits, Charlie Pancerzewski, who reported directly to the company's
| chief financial officer.
|
| Most shocking of all was what happened to Pancerzewski when he reported the
| suspicious bookkeeping to his supervisors, Microsoft CFO Mike Brown and chief
| operating officer Bob Herbold, in the spring of 1995. Soon afterward,
| Pancerzewski—who for nearly five years had received stellar performance
| evaluations—received his first-ever unsatisfactory one, and was eventually
| forced to resign.
|
| Two months ago, Microsoft quietly settled a lawsuit containing these
| allegations, filed in 1997 by Pancerzewski under the Whistleblowers
| Protection Act. The auditor claimed he was wrongfully terminated after
| telling his supervisors that Microsoft might be breaking securities and tax
| laws. The lawsuit made its tortuous way through several rounds of pretrial
| motions until last fall, when US District Judge Carolyn Dimmick denied
| Microsoft's final plea for summary judgment, finding credible evidence that
| Microsoft may have violated SEC rules, as Pancerzewski alleged. Shortly
| thereafter, Microsoft and Pancerzewski settled out of court. Terms of the
| agreement were sealed, but one source who claims familiarity with the case
| says that Microsoft paid Pancerzewski $4 million.
`----

http://web.archive.org/web/20070308032343rn_2/www.seattleweekly.com/1999-01-06/news/microfraud.php


Ecuador Tax Agency Closes Microsoft Branch Offices For 7 Days

,----[ Quote ]
| "We have twice requested balances, payment reports and complete tax
| information, but the company hasn't given it to us, so in accordance with our
| laws we have proceeded with the closure," the SRI official in charge of the
| proceeding said.  
`----

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200710041610DOWJONESDJONLINE000810_FORTUNE5.htm


Microsoft Office raid in Hungary

,----[ Quote ]
| "Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from
| the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority
| known as the GVH."
`----

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3957835.html


Microsoft exec dumped stock prior to Red Ring announcement

,----[ Quote ]
| To make matters more murky, the sales were not registered with the Securities
| and Exchange Commission within the mandatory two days of the transaction, a
| result of an alleged "administrative error." Microsoft has since remedied the
| issue by following the "procedures required of late-filers."  
`----

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/08/14/microsoft-exec-dumped-stocks-prior-to-red-ring-addresment


Microsoft's Bach sold more stock before Xbox news

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. executive Robbie Bach sold $3 million more in company stock
| during the period leading up to an announcement about a costly flaw in its
| Xbox video game console than previously reported, according to a filing
| Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  
`----

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsofts-bach-sold-additional-stock/story.aspx?guid=%7BBECA3A50-EF33-4161-A111-A43BDC8B0462%7D&siteid=yhoof


Insider Trading Hasn't Affect Microsoft Stock - Yet

,----[ Quote ]
| MarketWatch.com reports that Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's
| Entertainment and Devices division, sold $6.2 million of Microsoft
| stock just prior to announcing that Microsoft was going to have to
| extend XBox 360 warranties to three years because of extensive
| failures. The filings note that this was not part of any
| scheduled diversification or selling program; this was a
| conscious, unscheduled sale by the guy in charge of releasing
| news that could affect the value of Microsoft stock.
|
| [...]
|
| Insider trading is a very serious violation of the law; just
| ask Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for
| avoiding losses of $43,000 through trades that just had suspicious
| timing (no insider trading was actually proven). This is $6.3
| million that went straight into Robbie Bach's pocket.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070713/40947_id.html?.v=1


[Mandriva CEO:] An open letter to Steve Ballmer

,----[ Quote ]
| Wow! I’m impressed, Steve! What have you done for these guys to change their
| mind like this? It’s pretty clear to me, and it will be clear to everyone.
| How do you call what you just did Steve, in the place where you live? In my
| place, they give it various names, I’m sure you know them.  
|
| Hey Steve, how do you feel looking at yourself in the mirror in the morning?
|
| Of course, I will keep fighting this one and the next one, and the next one.
| You have the money, the power, and maybe we have a different sense of ethics
| you and I, but I believe that hard work, good technology and ethics can win
| too.  
`----

http://blog.mandriva.com/2007/10/31/an-open-letter-to-steve-ballmer/
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