RSS feed for this category | Finance & Fraud

Former Stanford Clients Sue Willis Group for Alleged Fraud Participation


A group of Latin American former clients of Stanford Financial Group have filed a lawsuit against Willis Group Holdings, the giant insurance broker, claiming that it aided in Stanford’s alleged $7 billion fraud. The lawsuit is seeking class action status on behalf of over 1,000 plaintiffs and asking for $1.6 billion in damages.
The clients [...]

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, South AmericaComments (0)

SEC to Penalize CEOs Regardless of Role in Company Fraud


The SEC has for the first time invoked specific claw-back provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act against a company CEO that was not directly involved in the company’s fraud scheme. Maynard L. Jenkins, the former chief executive of CSK Auto Corporation was ordered to reimburse the company and shareholders over $4 million that he earned [...]

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, SECComments (0)

Obama Signs Expansive New Fraud-Busting Bill


President Obama today signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA), a bill that extensively ramps up anti-fraud measures, including authorizing new funding to fight fraud, adding protections to federal whistle-blowers and expanding the power of

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Government Contracting & Relations, Most Popular, News & Events, Uncategorized, Whistleblowing, must_readComments (1)

Adidas, Michelin and Total Investigated for Tax Fraud


In April, French President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered investigations into Liechtenstein bank accounts used by Michelin, Total and Adidas as tax havens. The move, intended to coincide with the recent G20 agreement to curb international tax shelters, began four months ago and was focused on accounts held by subsidiaries of the large companies.
Michelin and Total [...]

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, France, TaxComments (0)

Former Blackstone Exec Accused of Insider Trading


“I am both saddened and outraged,” Steve Schwarzman wrote in a message to Blackstone employees on Tuesday. “The SEC has brought a civil complaint today against Ramesh Chakrapani in our Corporate Advisory Services Group.”

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (0)

Private Equity Firms Don’t Live Up to Voluntary Code for Transparency


In 2007 a Code of Conduct for transparency and disclosure was drawn up for the private equity industry in the United Kingdom. It was created, and still remains, as a voluntary code that firms can agree to sign onto at their leisure. Unfortunately, even after signing up voluntarily, many firms didn’t fully comply [...]

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Posted in Codes of Conduct, Corporate Compliance, Corporate Ethics, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (0)

Could The SEC Have Uncovered Madoff’s Scheme Eight Years Ago?


A great piece in the Wall Street Journal today discusses the dedicated efforts of a Mr. Harry Markopolos in trying to alert the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Bernard Madoff ponzi scheme as early as 2000.

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, SEC, Uncategorized, must_readComments (1)

With A Compliance Officer Like That, Who Needs Shady Employees?


The ongoing Alstom bribery probe has already expanded to at least four continents and possibly uncovered hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, but insult was added to injury when Swiss prosecutors announced that Alstom’s former compliance officer was arrested for operating a slush fund

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, Uncategorized, must_readComments (1)

DOJ: Corporations Can Again Provide Legal Assistance to Employees Without Fear


The U.S. Department of Justice announced new Departmental guidelines today that repeal restrictions to attorney-client privilege between corporations and their employees embroiled in federal cases. These new guidelines will

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Ethics, DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, Uncategorized, must_readComments (0)

High-Profile Chinese Insider Trading Trial Begins


Saturday marked the commencement of a trial in Southern China for the former president of Guangfa Securities, China’s sixth largest stock brokerage firm, over allegations of insider trading that began in 2006. At that time, Chinese authorities accused

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Asia, China, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (0)

Anti-Corruption Officials Discovered Taking Bribes


Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission reported yesterday that it uncovered a number of its own officials taking bribes while on the job, where they were

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Asia, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (0)

McKesson Faces $15 Billion Racketeering Lawsuit


Bad news came to McKesson Corp. yesterday in the form of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris. Judge Saris certified a number of 2005 suits by the New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund as class action, and allowed them to

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Corporate Citizenship, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Marketing and Consumer Data, Most Popular, News & Events, Trade Secrets & IP, must_readComments (1)

Transparency International Names Worst Fighters of Corruption


A new report released today in Berlin by Transparency International (TI) ranks 34 countries in regard to their overall corruption-fighting efforts, with some surprising results. The bottom four? Britain, Italy, Japan and Canada. According to TI, the four countries had “practically no investigations or extremely

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Asia, Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, International/FCPA, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (0)

U.S. Shareholders Enter EADS Fray


Last year, we wrote about insider trading allegations against a number of current and former European Aeronautic Defense & Space (EADS) executives. This has been a huge issue in Europe for quite some time, as EADS is one of the largest defense contractors in the world and the parent of Airbus. The controversy [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Conflict of Interest, Corporate Ethics, Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, must_readComments (0)

Indian Retailer Boycotts Cadbury Products for Alleged Price Discrimination


Cadbury products will no longer be sold by India’s largest retailer, Future Group, as Future’s chief executive Kishore Biyani has accused the nation’s largest chocolate manufacturer of price discrimination. He has accused Cadbury of cutting

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, News & Events, Vendor Relations/Ethical Sourcing, must_readComments (0)

Government Closes Loopholes in FAR Regulations


A new bill that will further regulate the federal acquisition process, called The Close the Contractor Fraud Loophole Act, was approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, according to a report by Federal Computer Week, and is now

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Government Contracting & RelationsComments (0)

Alleged Stripper Price-Fixing in the Land Down Under


More proof that price-fixing can take place in any industry: the owner of Adult Fire, an Australian company that puts on various X-rated strip shows for men and women, sued two of its Sydney rivals, Bombshells and Sex Bomb Promotions, for price-fixing. Sadly for Adult Fire the case was “quickly dismissed” after Bombshells and [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, Ridiculous/Odd, Stupid LitigationComments (8)

Oilman Sues BP and Others Over Alleged FCPA Violations


The CEO of Denver-based Grynberg Productions is trying a new strategy to escape possible FCPA violations: suing a bunch of his rivals. This month Jack Grynberg, the eponymous chairman of the oil company, sued British oil company BP, BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward, Former BP Chief Executive John Browne, Norway’s Statoil and others, accusing [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, International/FCPA, Most Popular, News & Events, SEC, must_readComments (0)

South Africa Cracks Down on Possible Food Industry Cartel


The South African Competition Commission decided that there have been so many reports of price fixing involving producers of bread, milk and other food items that they’re just going to go ahead and probe the entire South African food industry, according to a report by sabcnews.com. The Commission will focus primarily

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Most Popular, News & Events, must_readComments (2)

Stryker Finds New Trouble, This Time for FCPA Violations


Last year Stryker Corp came under fire for illegal payments to U.S. doctors. This year, that might be topped. The company announced in an SEC filing last month that it is being investigated by the Department of Justice for “possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.” While not many specific details [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), DOJ, Finance & Fraud, International/FCPA, News & EventsComments (0)

“I Want to be a Whistleblower When I Grow up”


Becoming a whistle-blower is now a financially sound career move, thanks to the UK’s Office of Fair Trade (OFT). The British watch dog announced last Friday that it will offer as much as £100,000 for information leading to the discovery and dismantling of illegal corporate cartels. The OFT will offer the rewards for [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, General, Good Month/Bad Month, Most Popular, News & Events, Whistleblowing, must_readComments (1)

Bahrain Metal Company Accuses Alcoa of Bribery and Fraud


Alcoa was sued yesterday by Aluminum Bahrain BSC in a U.S. federal court for allegations of overcharging, fraud and bribery. Aluminum Bahrain BSC, better known as Alba, says it was overcharged by Alcoa for alumina (pictured), a key ingredient in creating aluminum. The company says it paid excesses of about $65 million per [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Corporate Ethics, DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Government Contracting & Relations, International/FCPA, News & EventsComments (0)

Flowserve Pays $10.6 Million for Abusing Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program


Will there ever be an end to the Oil-for-Food abuses? Flowserve Corporation announced last Thursday that it will pay nearly $10.6 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the United Nation’s Iraq Oil-for-Food humanitarian program. A Dutch and French-based subsidiary of the company, Flowserve [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Corporate Compliance, DOJ, Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, Government Contracting & Relations, International/FCPA, News & Events, SEC, must_readComments (0)

Germans Evade About 30 Billion(Euro) in Taxes Each Year


The large percentage of Germans that regularly avoid taxes isn’t terribly surprising, considering the nation’s top income tax rate is 45 percent and the tax laws are notoriously confusing, according to Bloomberg. Nevertheless, the problem is huge for the country and getting worse. The issue is making a lot of headlines right now, [...]

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Posted in Antitrust & Business Practices (Global), Ethisphere Blog, Europe, Finance & Fraud, Governance Boards & CEOs, Most Popular, News & Events, Whistleblowing, must_readComments (0)

Ex-Wellpoint CFO David Colby’s Firing for “Non-Business Nature” Clarified


One day you’re labeled the “best health-insurance chief financial officer for each of the past four years” by Institutional Investor, the next you’re frantically texting “ABORT!!” to one of your many girlfriends/fiancees, hoping that your double life isn’t discovered. Such is the life of ex-Wellpoint CFO David Colby. Colby allegedly carried on relationships [...]

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Posted in Ethisphere Blog, Finance & Fraud, Governance Boards & CEOs, Most Popular, News & Events, Ridiculous/OddComments (1)

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