Move on, nothing to see! Bush is a mere lackey and would never touch his corpulent capitalist buddies! (/sarcasm off)
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Posted on 07/24/2002 6:09:48 AM PDT by Petronski
Just heard on CNBC that the capos of the Adelphia Communications empire, John Rigas and his sons, have been ARRESTED on charges of mail fraud regarding the fraudulent activities in their Adelphia Communications media/sports empire.
Some arrests took place in NYC, others in tiny Coudersport, PA (45 miles from here).
A prosecutorial press conference is expected later today.
Move on, nothing to see! Bush is a mere lackey and would never touch his corpulent capitalist buddies! (/sarcasm off)
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Feds set to indict Adelphia family
By David Lieberman, USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Federal prosecutors have prepared an indictment of Adelphia Communications founder John Rigas and his three sons — former executives Timothy, Michael and James — and, barring an unforeseen circumstance, are planning to file it as early as this week, according to a source close to the investigations. The criminal charges are expected to be filed in tandem with a civil lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the source said. The Justice Department and SEC declined to comment, and the exact combination of charges was not clear. But they could include bank, mail and wire fraud. SEC charges might include falsifying Adelphia's public filings.
"It's very common for investigators to operate on a parallel track," says Jacob Frenkel, who chairs the securities enforcement and white-collar crime practice at Smith Gambrell & Russell. "The SEC and Justice Department can bring the exact same charges for the exact same conduct." ...
They also own the Buffalo Sabres.
I think it's breaking news because it could (could?) signal a coming criminal crackdown by the Justice Department on CEOs who defraud the market/investors.
And Rigas is greek, not french.
At the exact same time?
I'm please someone else sees the same angle here.
The company has always been based in sleepy Coudersport PA, a town that once had the only stoplight in Potter County, PA, but which is now disparaged as Rigasville by locals who don't like his four-story parking garage and massive new corporate headquarters building, the Cathedral of St. John Rigas the Communicative.
The rep is that John Sr. is a generous and caring, old fashioned kind of guy who is aging too quickly, and whose sons fell FAR, FAR from the tree, and haven't the business acumen to sell Kool-Aid on the sidewalk.
What a sad roller-coaster ride of betrayal for stoic little Coudersport, PA...God's Country!
"Hey! I gave insider info. to Terry McAuliffe! He made millions!" Said Biff Pumpanddump, former CFO of Global Crossing. "What's the matter with this Bush guy! We offered him some private placement shares for a penny. And he wouldn't take it! The Clinton's took it. Why not Bush!Where is my Porsche?
Two former executives of bankrupt cable television provider Adelphia Communications Corp. reportedly were arrested along with two other people Wednesday morning on conspiracy charges.
Company founder and former chairman and CEO John Rigas, his son and former company chief financial officer Tim Rigas and the two others were taken into custody by postal inspectors and were to appear in federal court in Manhattan later in the day to be formally charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, CNBC reported.
Attorneys for John and Tim Rigas did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday morning.
Adelphia, the nation's sixth-largest cable company, filed for bankruptcy protection last month following months of turmoil after the company revealed billions of dollars in off-balance-sheet debt -- much of it owed by the founding family.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the company's accounting. Federal grand juries in New York and central Pennsylvania are probing the company's finances.
The Rigases resigned their executive positions with the Couldersport, Pa.-based company in May. Later that month, the family agreed to turn over $1 billion in assets to help cover loans, to turn over $567 million in cash flow from other cable companies the family owns, and to pledge all stock held by the family as collateral. Adelphia estimates it is liable for $3.1 billion in family debts.
Adelphia said the Rigas family used the company's cash or assets to help it buy and operate the Sabres, expand personal cable company holdings, acquire timberland and invest in a golf course, and that many of the deals weren't approved by the board. The company said it was investigating the family's use of company jet airplanes, condominiums and apartments.
I wonder how many other cable empires could be looking at federal charges?
Al Gore's buddies at Falcon Cable were pulling the same shanenigans as Adelphia - but Paul Allen's Charter Cable acquired Falcon and bailed them out a couple of years ago when it was on the verge of collapse.
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