Ethics: Corporate |
Abuses of power by companies, unions or other organizations by officials who use their positions of power for personal enrichment, to the detriment of the general public and their own employees and associates.
11/30/09
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Analysis & views: 7/13/09 RCMP looking for a Denver investments operator who may have defrauded Canadians of $50 million. 9/24/07 Mattel's apology for its toy recalls is seized on by China toy makers to re-assert the safety of its exported toys. 8/27/07 Chinese toy manufacturers say U.S. importer Mattel must share responsibility for defective toys made in China. 7/14/07 "Lord" Conrad Black, Canada's "billionaire mogul" who amassed a fortune in Canadian media, is now a "disgraced mogul" who faces up to 35 years in prison after his trial in Chicago. 5/20/06 South Korean indictment of head of Hyundai Corporation on corruption rocks automotive industry world-wide. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/20/business/worldbusinessth&oref=slogin
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Analysis & views: 11/30/09 11/30/09 10/16/09 7/15/09 4/20/09 The corporate greedsters are back, and Ralph Nader is on their case. Nader ticks off a number of respects in which corporations are flexing their political muscle to promote programs to the benefit of themselves and harm to the public: from persistence in a now-discredited system of bank control of "student loans" to plans to demand more bailouts to increases in fees on credit cards to full-court press against the Employee Choice Act. Nader urges a "rumble" of protest from public hearings in congressional districts across the country to get the "attention" of members of Congress as well as the occupants of the White House. http://www.counterpunch.org/nader04172009.html 4/4/09 "The best way to rob a bank is to own one." Author of a book with that title, William K. Black, appears on Bill Moyers Journal to describe the cascade of "liar's loans" that banks have made in the process of enriching "banksters" at the expense of those who hold investments in them. A former securities regulator himself, Black (an Obama supporter) blames de-regulators from the Reagan to the Obama administrations for letting loose an orgy of fraud, and is especially skeptical of the "regulating" capacities of Treasury Secretary Geithner. http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/transcript1.html 3/25/09 New York Times article describes the "eye-popping" profits made by a handful of hedge fund investment managers as the stock market has declined. Even as Treasury Secretary Geithner speaks of more "regulation" of hedge funds, he will be heavily dependent on just this segment of the financial industry to furnish the "private" part of the public-private partnership" which is his latest plan to relieve the nation's banks of their "toxic assets." http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/business/25hedge.html?ref=business 3/15/09 A.I.G. bites the feeding hand of the U.S. Treasury.:. The insurance company, in bankruptcy and taken over by U.S. Treasury after $170 billion bailout, defies Timothy Geithner's order and refuses to cut in half the multi-million of bonuses to be given to their top executives. The CEO says such bonuses are necessary to attract the "best and the brightest talent" to the company, and besides it has a contractual obligation to bonuses already "earned" last year (while the best and brightest were taking the company into bankruptcy. (Did someone not read President Obama's lips about this?) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html?th&emc=th 3/13/09 Where are those mega-billions in taxpayer-funded bailouts going? According to Sharon Smith, a huge number of those dollars are being funnelled through AIG's endless assaults on the U.S Treasury into the hands of some of "America's most corrupt capitalists," including firms largely responsible for the financial "mess" like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial. http://www.counterpunch.org/sharon03122009.html 3/4/09 FORMER EXECUTIVES OF COUNTRYWIDE; FIRST THEY KILL A MORTGAGE MARKET, NOW THEY FEAST OFF THE CARRION. Several executives of a company at the center of the housing bust see an opportunity and take it of buying up bad loans taken over by the goverments for "pennies on the dollar" on the value of these loans and re-selling them at "off-the-charts" profit levels. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/business/04penny.html?_r=1&hp 2/19/09 UBS paid; did Obama play? The Swiss bank giant UBS, has agreed to release the names of wealthy U.S. depositors, has admitted conspiracy in defrauding the IRS of tax payments by their clients and has agreed to settle a tax bill with the IRS. With UBS having dropped a half million dollars to Obama's presidential campaign, the bank might wonder how vigorously the U.S. Justice Department will prosecute their American co-conspirators. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/business/worldbusiness/19ubs.html?th&emc=th UBS OBAMA CONTRIBUTIONS. http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638 2/11/09 In 1929, there were huge angry demonstrations against "Wall Street" that accompanied the stock market crash. In 2009, the "dressing down" of greedy banksters has been heard everywhere from President Obama to the sign that appeared on Wall Street: "jump you fuckers." One difference between 29 and 09 is that the dressed-down ones are not jumping out of buildings but, like the disgraced CEOs of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, they've grabbed their payout bonuses and retired to lives of luxury like any mobster don living the "good life" in Miami Beach http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175032/steve_fraser_locked_into_the_bailout_state 1/25/09 Did Bank of America apply "due diligence" in its acquisition of financially stressed Merril Lynch? Christopher Brauchli says it did not do so, having ignored obvious signs of financial weakness of the country's leading investment brokerage firm. Due diligence places on a party making an agreement with another the burden of investigating the true facts about that other party. But never mind, says Brauchli, BA need not worry since, in the "Present Financial Crisis," the U.S. government will forgive the bank its due diligence failure and allow it still a third big chop at the bailout apple as the bank is "too big to fail" (and getting bigger) http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/24-6 1/17/09 One financial institution (Bank of America) takes over a second (Merrill Lynch) which suffered a $15.3 billion loss in the 4th quarter. Now Bank of America, a recipient of a large U.S. government bailout, takes over ML, BA itself reports a $1.79 billion 4th quarter loss, and its shareholders say they were kept in the dark about ML problems when the merger occurred in December. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/17/business/17merrill.html?th&emc=th 1/16/09 Big four U.S. investment funds and Bernard Madoff: What did they know and when did they know it?: Pam Martens, veteran Wall Street analyst, discusses these questions, motivated by observation that Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, unlike foreign investment houses, emerged unscatched by investment losses associated with Madoff's discredited Ponzi scheme. Actually these 4 houses had been collaborators, along with Madoff and NASDQ, in the formation to an alternative to the New York Stock Exchange, Primex, which engaged in a fiscally dangerous practice called "internalization," a variation of which helped create the 1929 market crash. These firms' staffs having been infiltrated by such "spy types" as the former director of the CIA, they may have gotten out of Madoff involvement while the "getting was good," not bothering, of course, to share this intelligence with the SEC. http://www.counterpunch.org/martens01152009.html 12/17/08 David Glenn Cox imagines a group counseling session for the victims of Bernard Madoff's fraudulent investment scheme, and shows us how it may feel when the well-heeled become the down at the heels. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21483.htm 6/26/08 Supreme Court protects Exxon-Mobil's bottom line:. After the oil spill at Valdez Alaska in 1989 resulted in punitive damage award to $5 billion to its victims, the award was later halved and now the Supreme Court further reduces the damages to a half billion. With the company having announced profits or $10.9 billion in the first quarter of this year, even if it eventually pays the award (which will come to $1 billion with interest) it may seem chump change to a company whose operations will probably not be deterred. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/washington/26punitive.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin\ EXXON MOBILE'S 2008 PROFITS: \http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/01/exxon-mobil-profits-soar_n_99568.html 6/14/08 7 arrested in Baltimore for a mortgage fraud scheme that cost many residents their homes. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.mortgage14jun14,0,3281584.story 4/11/08 Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to begin public disclosure of identities of persons applying for casino licenses. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0411/p01s07-usmi.html /12/15/07 U.S. pays $32 million for facilitis not built in Iraq......And there's a Gainesville, FL connection: Pentagon auditors show that nearly all of a contract with Ellis Environmental Group was paid, although the Iraqi government was unable to obtain permits and the construction never occurred. An Ellis spokesman says the work had been assigned to a Gainesville-headquartered affiliate, Ellis World Alliance. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-12-13-Iraqcontract_N.htm 12/7/07 Charges of involvement in fraudulent mortgage scheme are levied against 37 in Houston. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5357783.html 11/27/07 Blackwater corruption probe is stymied by a State Department inspector general who doesn't want to inspect: State's IG called off an investigation of the role of the private security contractor in the smuggling of arms that went to Iraqi insurgency, an issue that pre-dated the civilian killings that got the company into trouble. House Oversight Committee complains that the IG gave a weak excuse for his action, which may have been influenced by the fact that his brother was put on a Blackwater governing board during the probe. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/11/26/national/w103247S86.DTL 11/8/07 Shareholders unite, you have nothing to lose but a corpocracy. Robert Monks, in a new book, says that CEOs of U.S. corporations have "hijacked" control of them and have used this control to exempt themselves from any kind of accountability. His difficult solution to a profound problem: organize shareholders to reclaim control from the hands of this economic power elite. http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/corpocracy110707.htm 11/8/07 Shake-up being demanded in D.C. tax office as employees are arrested for diverting millions in tax refunds to their own accounts. 8/22/07 "Unnecessary obstacle to trade" is the mantra of manufacturer opposition to bans on lead paint in children's toys being advocated in light of recent Mattel toy recall. In both the U.S. and China, toy makers are abetted in this attitude by "regulatory" agencies that are more manufacturer-friendly than consumer-friendly. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/19070.html 1/5/07 Villanova University study shows embezzlement to be very common U.S. Catholic Church dioceses. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/16386792.htm 12/20/06 Less corporate accountability may be the result of planned change in rules for company audits that go back to the aftermath of the Enron scandal and after years of complaint of businesses that their operations were being stifled by audit requirements. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901433.html 11/3/06 Halliburton's operation of services for troops in Iraq uses a "head count" of usage that greatly enhances the number of troops "served" and increases the funds it can obtain for staff and equipment and thus its profits. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/103006G.shtml 9/8/06 Former Reagonomics star David Stockmen now faces Wall Street investigation of fraudulent misinforming of investors. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701723.html?referrer=email 5/5/06 Six officials of firm supplying concrete to Boston's Big Dig construction project are arrested on corruption charges: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14502784.htm 3/31/06 House Democrats release documents showing abuses of U.S. contracts with Halliburton for Iraqi reconstruction: 3/15/06 Many electric utilities charge customers for the company's income taxes which are never paid: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/15/business/15utility.html?th&emc=th 3/10/06 U.S. contractor found guilty of fraud in Iraqi contracts: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/10/international/middleeast/10contract.html?th&emc=th 3/8/06 Andrew Fastow testifies against his colleagues in Enron: http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/03/08/fastow-enron-trial_cz_df_0308fastow.html 2/24/06 Accountability to investors made difficult by the complex "bottom line" practices of company accountants: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/23/AR2006022302064.html?referrer=email 2/20/06 Corporate crime seems to be the wave of the future for profit-making opportunites: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0218-31.htm 2/11/06 Getty foundation chief resigns amid investigations of foundation operations: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/10/AR2006021001767.html?referrer=email
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Analysis & views: 8/19/09 1/5/09 Will charitable generosity shield convicted criminals from punishment?: This is a question today in Miami as two brothers, convicted of swindling and tax evasion as heads of Pharmed corporation, face a pre-sentencing hearing in which their attorneys are expected to present evidence of their sterling civic reputations as philanthropists. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/crime/sfl-flbpharmedxxxxsbjan05,0,7227836.story 3/13/06 Gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher's long-time ties to a "shady" automobile insurance firm are subject of an investigative report: http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-03-09/news/news_2.html
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Analysis and views: Palm Beach Co.: 12/13/08 Wall Street invester Bernard Madoff, a part-time ($9.3 million mansion) resident of Palm Beach, is arrested on charges that he conducted a Ponzi scheme that may have lost as much as $50 billion for his unfortunate investers, including many wealthy fellow members of the PBCC. As one Club member says: "Everyone is in shock." They're embarrassed. They don't want to believe they got taken." http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/12/12/1212madoff.html Tampa: 4/7/08 USF seminar in Tampa will focus on business people "behaving badly," dealing with the consequences of unethical behavior. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/07/na-executives-behaving-badly/ Boca Raton: 2/17/08 Boca Raton stockbroker accused of bilking millions of dollars in investment funds for people in his synagogue as he prayed with them while extorting their dollars that he invested in risky and failing enterprises. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/422261.html Miami: 2/3/08 Soaring business owned by two Hispanic brothers in Miami crahses to earth in bankruptcy:. Pharmed was a leading medical supplies vendor in south Florida and was tremendously profitable, but failed after years of corruption charges against its management. http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/404331.html Orlando: 12/12/07 Pyramid scheme catering to Hispanic "investors" is shut down in Orlando. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-scam1207dec12,0,1839497.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout Ocala: 7/12/07 Free-wheeling horse trading involving financial irregularities lands an Ocala woman in jail. http://www.ocala.com/article/20070711/NEWS/70711012/1053/BREAKING_NEWS Tampa: 6/15/07 Ft. Lauderdale: 6/10/07 Small businesses in Ft. Lauderdale are suffering financial stress from a requirement of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that companies with publically-traded stocks must have expensive auditing procedures on their accounts, a fallout of the Enron scandal.
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