Posted on 12/13/2004 9:58:46 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have decided against filing civil charges against Global Crossing Ltd. founder Gary Winnick following a probe of its accounting practices, his attorney said on Monday.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had been expected to announce a settlement with Winnick and three other former Global Crossing executives last week, capping a two-year investigation of the international telecommunications company.
Winnick's attorney, Gary Naftalis, said in a statement that the SEC "has determined that no charges should be brought against Gary Winnick. We always believed that the evidence demonstrated that Gary Winnick acted lawfully and properly in connection with Global Crossing."
Global Crossing, which built an intercontinental network of undersea fiber-optic cable in the 1990s, has been the target of an investigation since 2002. After the Internet boom fizzled, the company collapsed in 2002 amid $12.4 billion in debt and questions about its accounting practices.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the SEC's board had overturned a staff recommendation of charges and a $1 million fine against Winnick. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said SEC Chairman William Donaldson was concerned that Winnick, as nonexecutive chairman of the telecommunications group, had not authorized the inadequate disclosure of certain transactions.
Donaldson and two fellow Republican commissioners overturned a staff recommendation to charge Winnick even though Winnick had tentatively agreed to pay a fine.
The decision could affect deals the SEC has made with three other former executives of Global Crossing -- including former Chief Accounting Officer Joseph Perrone and former Chief Financial Officer Dan Cohrs -- over the alleged disclosure violations, the Journal said.
The other former executives had wanted Winnick to accept some responsibility, and now the SEC's lawyers will try to get them to accept the settlements despite Winnick's situation, according to the paper.
The SEC declined to comment.
SEC Won't Punish Global Crossing Founder``
Maybe not but they should punish Spurrier for not coming back to Florida. IMO
If this had been about Halliburton you could bet that Mr. Cheney's name would have been mentioned several times. Why not Mr. Mcawful?
Of course not. This leaves Terry McAuliffe and his illegal trading in Global Crossing free and clear of any scandal. GGGGGrrrrrrrr!!!!!!
The Republicans come to the rescue, again.
The "Two-Party Cartel" at its best. The mini UN. All elites get protected, right Sandy Berger, right Bubba & Hillary? Right Marc Rich?
Hey, at least they nailed Martha Stewart. Confidence in our financial institutions has surely been restored by that.
We all know the answer to that..........
So, I guess that the sell-out deal to the Chi-Coms can go forward unimpeded.
Careful what you say on the phone, the commies are listening!
What the bleep does Winnick and his crew have on Donaldson?
This really bites. Deceived shareholders are out $2 billion or so, and the big guy walks.
This is one time where IMHO the corporate veil should be broken. Lord knows it got torn to shreds with Enron. How is this different? In both cases, books got cooked to prop up the share price.
Also wondering: China was a bidder for Global Crossing's assets at a fire-sale value, including strategic telecom equipment and connections that could affect our security if the Chicoms had them. What happened?
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