Posted on 06/22/2003 10:11:13 PM PDT by Bayou City
Former Ullico exec refuses to testify to lawmakers (GLOBAL CROSSING, TERRY MCAULIFFE)
Tue June 17, 2003 05:08 PM ET
WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) - The former top executive of union-owned insurer Ullico Inc. refused to testify to lawmakers on Tuesday about a sweetheart stock deal that netted board members some $5.6 million and caused his replacement last month.
Former Ullico Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Georgine invoked his constitutional right not to testify at a hearing by the House Education and Workforce Committee on the scandal, which is also being probed by regulators and prosecutors.
Rep John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who chairs the committee, said he believed Congress should insist on the same financial accountability from union leaders as corporate leaders.
It seemed clear that officers and members of Ullico's board had "reaped personal benefit at the expense of the very union members and pensioners they have a moral and legal duty to represent," Boehner said.
But Ullico attorney Damon Silvers rejected comparisons to corporate scandals like the 2001 collapse of Enron Corp. and chided the committee for their lack of action against corporate wrongdoers.
Silvers said Ullico board members had paid back the money. "This is a serious matter, one which pains the labor (movement) greatly but it's simply not comparable to events that this committee frankly has ignored," Silvers said.
Boehner said there had been a violation of trust at both Enron and Ullico. "Union leaders who spoke out so publicly on corporate accountability were or still are Ullico board members," he told Silvers.
The Union Labor Life Insurance Co., or Ullico, provides low-priced products to union members.
Georgine and other board members purchased Ullico stock in 1998 as it was starting to rise in value because of its investment of Global Crossing, a telecommunications company that has since filed for bankruptcy.
Directors, who set the price of the privately held stock themselves, were able to cash out at a high price at the expense of the union pension funds, which own nearly all of the insurance company, according to an internal Ullico report.
Silvers said that Ullico is under new management and is drafting a code of ethics.
FREEPERS ROCK!!!
A Link To Global Crossing, Terry McAuliffe anf AFL-CIO
Recent related links to this article:
Sam Waksal, Meet Robert Georgine! [Former Ullico CEO]
The Lessons of Ullico -- How union bosses put one over on the rank an file.
A bio on Mr. Steed from page 48 of the SEC page...
MICHAEL R. STEED--Mr. Steed, a director of GCL (Global Crossing) since its inception, is Senior Vice President of Investments for the Union Labor Life Insurance Company, ULLICO Inc. ("ULLICO") and its Family of Companies and President of Trust Fund Advisors, ULLICO's investment management subsidiary. Mr. Steed joined ULLICO in November 1992 after serving seven years as President and Founder of A.F.I.C. Group, Ltd., a financial and investment consulting firm. From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Steed was the Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee. He received his JD degree from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles and his BA degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
hehe ! Snipped from your link A Link To Global Crossing, Terry McAuliffe anf AFL-CIO :
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They "fried" clintbilly over sex, too, if you are suggesting she should be given a pass.
They are ALL crooks, they ALL deserve to fry.
Martha KNEW the law, she LIED. She's as culpable as these other guys.
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