A "Great Day" in the Scrushy Case
I guess it's all relative, but at least Richard Scrushy believes Wednesday, September 29 was a "great day." According to this article in the Birmingham Business Journal, Scrushy learned on Wednesday that 27 of the 85 counts against him had been dropped, although three counts including accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice, were added. As a result, instead of a reported maximum 650-year prison sentence and $36 million in fines, Scrushy now faces a maximum 450 years in prison, and $30 million in fines. So he's got that going for him, which is nice.
The article details a press conference that sounds like it was quite a scene. Scrushy was flanked by his attorneys, including Donald Watkins and Jim Parkman (whatever happened to these other guys?).
The article states that:
Parkman, wearing a dark suit and bright pink tie, peppered his brief speech with sports analogies.Parkman says he is ready "to go the big dance in January," referring to Scrushy's federal trial that begins Jan. 5. ("The Big Dance" is common vernacular for college basketball and football tournaments.) Parkman, of Dothan, Ala., will serve as head trial counsel.
The press conference remained colorful. Parkman added that the new charges are a "couple pieces of potato" added to a stew that has no beef. Asked to describe his professional career, Parkman told a ring of reporters that he "puts his pants on one leg at a time."
Scrushy himself added that he was "absolutely not guilty."
| Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Print Article | Back To Top |
September 29, 2004 |
 |
Martha Stewart Update: West Virginia Bound
The AP reports that the federal Bureau of Prisons had decided to send Martha Stewart to a federal prison in Alderson, W.Va., a minimum-security women's prison that houses about 1,000 inmates. Stewart's request to serve her five-month sentence in Danbury, Conn., close to her home in Westport, was apparently not honored.
According to the article, the Alderson camp (a.k.a. "Camp Cupcake") was chosen largely because of its remote location, which was desirable in that it would not be as easily accessible to the media.
The article notes that:
--Alderson, "nicknamed Camp Cupcake," is known for its open environment. There are no metal fences surrounding the camp.
--Stewart will be expected to work at jobs such as grounds maintenance, sanitation and food services, and will earn between 12 cents and 40 cents an hour at these jobs.
--Free time can be spent playing volleyball, softball or tennis, or doing aerobics.
| Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Print Article | Back To Top |
September 14, 2004 |
|
The $100,000+ Comment
The SEC announced last week that following two jury trials, the Middle District of Florida entered a final judgment in an insider trading case against "Orlando real estate agents" Donna Yun and Jerry Burch. The Complaint, originally filed in 1999, alleged that
on or before Tuesday, February 18, 1997, Yun's husband, then an officer of Scholastic, told Yun in confidence that Scholastic would announce that it expected a loss for the quarter ending February 28, 1997, and that the price of Scholastic common stock would likely decline as a result. Yun breached her duty of confidence and disclosed the inside information at a cocktail party that Tuesday evening to her friend and colleague of six years, Jerry Burch. During the following two days, Burch purchased 130 Scholastic put option contracts, including 10 February contracts that expired within 48 hours, that would rise in value if Scholastic's stock price went down. After Scholastic released its negative earnings announcement on February 20, 1997, Scholastic's common stock price dropped approximately 40 percent, from $61.50 to $36.75. On February 21, Burch exercised his options for a net profit of approximately $269,000 - a 1300 percent return on his two-day investment.
In December 2000, a jury found both Yun and Burch liable for insider trading, but that verdict was vacated on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit based on the district court's jury instructions. In July 2004, the SEC announced that a second jury had found that Yun and Burch were liable for insider trading. Last week's final judgment orders Yun and Jerry Burch jointly and severally to pay disgorgement of the $269,000 in ill-gotten profits, plus pre-judgment interest, and orders them each to pay $100,000 in civil penalties.
So Yun's single comment to her friend at a cocktail party cost her:
--$100,000 in civil penalties;
--joint and several liability for the disgorgement of the $269,000 Burch made; and
--attorney's fees for at least 5 years of litigation, including two federal jury trials.
| Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Print Article | Back To Top |
September 10, 2004 |
|
Former Symbol Tech. CEO Makes "Most Wanted" List
Tomo Razmilovic, former CEO of Symbol Technologies and one of numerous indicted Symbol executives that allegedly "used every trick in the very long book of fraud" to victimize shareholders and enrich themselves was declared a fugitive back in June 2004 after his lawyer told prosecutors Razmilovic would not return to the U.S. to face formal charges.
According to this article today in the New York Post, Razmilovic is believed to be in Sweden:
After being declared a fugitive, Razmilovic was spotted vacationing on his yacht in the Adriatic Sea before returning to Sweden, where he took up residence in a remote seaside home.A native of Croatia and a Swedish citizen, Razmilovic has told reporters that he is innocent and won't return to the U.S. because he doesn't believe he will get a fair trial.
Although warrants have been issued for his arrest here and abroad, Swedish authorities won't move on him until the U.S. government makes a formal request.
The government can ask Swedish authorities to extradite him or prosecute him there, but the process will take months to work its way through legal and diplomatic channels.
Sweden's treaty with the U.S. does not mandate that it extradite Swedish nationals.
The article also notes that Razmilovic has been added to the "Most Wanted" list by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which posted notice of a $100,000 reward and this "Wanted" picture on its website.
| Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Print Article | Back To Top |
September 7, 2004 |
|
We're Back
SLW has been down and out recovering from knee surgery (torn ACL) but we're back in action now. Regular posts will resume this week.
| Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) | Print Article | Back To Top |