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WASHINGTON - In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known for taking down giant corporations, including the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years. (IHT)
Americans in the dark over fees NEW YORK - When you fork over $36 billion, it stands to reason that you should know exactly what you're paying for. (CNN) REPORT: GAO: Report on bank fees .pdf
LONDON - National Grid, the UK gas and power infrastructure operator, has been fined a record £41.6 million by UK energy market watchdog Ofgem for restricting competition in the market for domestic gas meters. (Times online)
LOS ANGELES - A Southern California woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer was awarded more than $9 million Friday in a case against one of California's largest health insurers. (San Francisco Chronicle) PREVIOUS: LA city attorney sues Health Net Health Net
BRUSSELS - EU antitrust regulators stepped up a probe into microchip giant Intel by raiding the US company's German offices and computer retailers on suspicions they might have stifled competition. (AFP) MORE: EU regulator raids Intel offices
WB using US funds to boost Iranian industry WASHINGTON - The World Bank is using millions of dollars in American taxpayer funds to help Iran build up its industrial and natural gas sectors. This comes at a time when the United States and the United Nations are actively working to discourage the international community from conducting commercial transactions with Iran and its energy sector, in particular. (Fox)
VICTORIA - An elderly Victoria woman was put at risk of hypothermia after Terasen Gas cut off her gas. The 76-year-old woman, who is not married and has no children, is suffering from the first stages of dementia. She owed the gas company $114.24. Terasen has now charged the senior a $95 disconnection fee and a $95 reactivation fee for their work on the weekend. They also required a $360 advance payment fee. (Victoria Times Colonist)
SEOUL - The investigation is probing claims by Samsung's former chief lawyer Kim Yong-Chul that the group created a multi-million-dollar slush fund to bribe prosecutors, government officials and journalists. Kim has claimed he had taken part in creating the fund totalling over seven trillion won ($7.5B dollars). (AFP) PREVIOUS: Office of Samsung chairman raided Samsung Chairman's office raided Lee Kun-hee
Loss is a big win for taxpayers MONTREAL - Judge Joel Silcoff has snipped one of the many golden threads linking the government of Quebec with Bombardier Inc. The result should be more respect for the need to protect public money through competitive tendering. (Montreal Gazette) PREVIOUS: 'A massive blow' Fleet grounded again
VANCOUVER - The future didn't look bright for serial swindler and parolee Michael Lee Mitton when RCMP officers frisked him at Vancouver International Airport on a cloudy June day in 2004. (Toronto Star)
Scandal at Oral Roberts University TULSA, Okla. - Twenty years ago, televangelist Oral Roberts said he was reading a spy novel when God appeared to him and told him to raise $8 million for Oral Roberts University, or else he would be ``called home." Now, his son, Oral Roberts University president Richard Roberts, says God is speaking again, telling him to deny lurid allegations in a lawsuit that threatens to engulf this 44-year-old Bible Belt college in scandal. (AP) MORE: ORU to employ an additional audit firm Oral Roberts president gets no confidence vote |
What you see isn't what you get OTTAWA - The Senate added a roadblock to the so-called "all-in" advertising provision, postponing it until industry and government had the time to figure out how to avoid any unintended consequences on airlines' competitiveness. Liberal senator Dennis Dawson, a former lobbyist for WestJet Airlines, proposed the implementation delay after airline executives appeared before the Senate. (CanWest)
PITTSBURGH - Alcoa Inc., the world's third-biggest aluminum producer, was sued by a government-controlled Bahraini metals company for at least $1 billion in damages based on claims of fraud and bribery of officials overseas. (Bloomberg)
HONG KONG - Prominent Hong Kong tycoon David Li Kwok-po has stepped down from the city's cabinet two weeks after settling with US regulators over insider-trading allegations involving shares of Dow Jones. (AFP) MORE: Banker resigns from Hong Kong cabinet
TORONTO - Enbridge is set to charge its Ontario customers a new fee to help pay the costs of an out-of-court settlement. In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled against the natural gas company - for charging unfair fees. (CTV)
LONDON - The Hollow Insurance: A Consumer Association survey in 2006 reported that 81% of customers didn’t have their coverage properly explained to them by their travel agent, 55% weren’t told about their excess payment and 65% weren’t asked about any existing medical complaints that might have left them uncovered. The government is so concerned that, from January 2009, travel agents will be regulated by the Financial Services Authority. (ETN) PREVIOUS: Moneysupermarket
An ex-president, a mining deal and a big donor Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. Unlike more established competitors, Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Giustra on his luxuriously appointed MD-87 jet that day was a former president of the United States, Bill Clinton. (IHT) PREVIOUS: Aid project: Clinton - Giustra sustainable growth initiative The Sleaze factor
Total found guilty in oil spill case PARIS - A court ruled on Wednesday that French oil giant Total SA was responsible for the 1999 sinking of the oil tanker Erika, and ordered it to pay damages for one of France's worst environmental disasters. (Reuters) MORE: The scandal of the Erika
MONTREAL - A Quebec judge has convicted Vincent Lacroix, the former president of Norbourg, of all the 51 charges he faced for defrauding thousands of investors of millions of dollars. (CP) PREVIOUS: Former Norbourg CEO convicted of fraud Quebec regulator lays 51 charges against Norbourg founder
Criminal inquiry hits De La Rue LONDON - The City of London Police said that its new anti-corruption unit had launched raids on two company premises in Hampshire and one in Bedfordshire as part of a joint investigation with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). De La Rue prints more than 150 national currencies as well as passports, travellers' checks, stamps and passports, through its security paper and print division. The group also owns 20 per cent of Camelot Group, the consortium that operates the National Lottery. (Times online)
TORONTO - Air Canada has been included in the European Commission's investigation into price fixing on freight services, the airline said on Monday, adding that it might suffer a liability as a result. (CanWest) MORE: EU adds to price-fixing probe Air Canada gets EC statement of objections |
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VICTORIA - The Vancouver Island Health Authority has frozen admissions to Beacon Hill Villa in Victoria and taken the rare step of appointing a public administrator to run the troubled seniors' care home over the next six months. (Victoria Times Colonist |
Yahoo in China human rights case A human rights group in the US is suing Yahoo for alleged complicity in rights abuses and acts of torture in China. The World Organization for Human Rights says Yahoo's sharing of information with the Chinese government has led to the arrests of writers and dissidents. (BBC) | |
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Stores raided over 'price fixing' LONDON - Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons are among those suspected of colluding to fix the prices of groceries and health and beauty products, in what is believed to be the biggest inquiry in the history of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). (Times online) |
Groceries market investigation Supermarket raids over 'price-fix' |
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Price-fixing glass makers fined BRUSSELS - Four of the world's biggest glass manufacturers have been fined a total of 486.9m euros ($717.5M) for illegally co-ordinating price rises. The firms are Guardian of the US, Pilkington, which is the UK unit of Nippon Sheet Glass, Saint Gobain of France and Belgium's Glaverbel. (BBC) MORE: EU price fixing probe Commission fines flat glass producers |
Have you ever watched a video with 100,000 views on YouTube and thought to yourself: “How the hell did that video get so many views?” Chances are pretty good that this didn’t happen naturally, but rather that some company worked hard to make it happen – some company like mine. (TechCrunch) PREVIOUS: Media manipulation |
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FRANKFURT - The Federal Cartel Office in Germany, the country's antitrust watchdog, raided offices of several confectionery giants, including Nestlé, Kraft and Mars, last Thursday. Authorities suspect that the companies may have colluded to raise the prices of their products. (IHT) PREVIOUS: EU Commission's latest cartels Chocolate makers fixing prices Chocolate probe Chocolate price-fixing probe |
TOKYO - The FTC discovered that Bridgestone Corp, Dunlop Oil & Marine Ltd., Trelleborg Industrial AVS, and Parker ITR and Manuli Rubber Industries, together with Yokohama Rubber Company, fixed prices and manipulated global market shares in violation of the Antimonopoly Law, the sources said. (Yomiuri Shimbun) MORE: Japan order tire cartel to break up |
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TORONTO - Michael Mendelson, one of two men at the centre of Portus Alternative Asset Management's collapse, was handed a two-year prison sentence Monday as part of a surprise guilty plea. (Financial Post) PREVIOUS: OSC: Portus |
HOUSTON - Three former British bankers pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a single wire fraud charge each in an Enron-related case as part of a deal with US prosecutors. (Reuters) MORE: 'NatWest Three' face jail PREVIOUS: Enron scandal |
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ESL teachers left in limbo in Japan TOKYO - An estimated 4,000 foreign teachers, including about 660 from Canada, are without jobs after Japan's largest school chain, Nova Group, closed its 900 schools and declared bankruptcy yesterday. (Toronto Star) MORE: Teachers trapped as English school goes bust NOVA over |
BANGOR, Maine - A woman from Newfoundland has filed a lawsuit in US federal court, claiming American car companies and dealers illegally discriminated against her because she is Canadian. (Toronto Star) RELATED: Why we are paying more for our cars Sellers defend cost divide |
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OTTAWA - The Defence Department is keeping secret the names of dozens of companies that received almost $42 million worth of contracts in Afghanistan. However, an analysis by CanWest News Service suggests that more than $1.1 million in business has been awarded to an Afghan company that bears the same name as one of Kandahar's most infamous warlords. (Ottawa Citizen) MORE: Afghan war a business for some Business of war |
BA & Virgin to pay out refunds LONDON - British Airways and Virgin Atlantic passengers who were cheated in a price-fixing scam will receive $200M in compensation after the airlines agreed a legal settlement. The deal covers 8M airline tickets sold between August 11 2004 and March 23 2006, with passengers who flew between the UK and US with BA or Virgin Atlantic on those dates receiving a refund of £20 per return ticket. (Guardian UK) PREVIOUS: British Airways fined |
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Has Greece been set alight by property developers? ATHENS - Rogue property developers have been accused of starting the forest fires that continue to destroy large swathes of Greece. (Daily Mail) PREVIOUS: Greek fires blamed on 'culture of arson' Mother's decision to flee a modern Greek tragedy 63 dead in Greek forest fires |
Millions misled over airport prices LONDON - BAA, the airport operator, has misled millions of passengers about prices at shops and bars in its terminals, according to the advertising watchdog. It has been forced to withdraw leaflets claiming that passengers are paying the same prices as in their local high street. . (Times online) |
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VANCOUVER - BC Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge has confirmed Francesco Aquilini’s contested ownership of the Vancouver Canucks. In a lengthy judgment released Thursday, Justice Wedge said that the well-known developer did nothing illegal when in Nov. 2004 he purchased half the hockey team from US billionaire John McCaw. The decision is a heavy blow to Tom Galardi and Ryan Beedie. It is estimated they spent some $15 million on the suit and now face the prospect of having to pay for Aquilini's costs, too. (Vancouver Sun) PREVIOUS: Canucks ownership on trial |
Farmers complain of 'ruthless buyers' LONDON - The messages were allegedly sent by Tesco and Asda, warning suppliers to reduce the price at which they sell their food to the retailers - or face being axed. The emails, understood to contain threatening and aggressive language, have been unearthed by the Government's monopolies watchdog, the Competition Commission. They emerged as the watchdog investigated the practices of the "Big Four" chains - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - as part of a two-year inquiry into their national dominance. (Telegraph UK) |
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Pentagon feels a bit overbilled WASHINGTON - A small South Carolina parts supplier collected about $20.5 million over six years from the Pentagon for fraudulent shipping costs, including $998,798 for sending two 19-cent washers to a Texas base, US officials said. (Bloomberg) |
Telus sues Bell over ad claims VANCOUVER - Telus Corp. has asked the BC Supreme Court to put a gag around Bell Canada's claim it has the most powerful wireless network in Western Canada. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Lack of competition keeps cellphone prices higher in Canada |
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LONDON - IMI, one of the UK’s oldest engineering companies faces an investigation by the US Department of Justice after uncovering a potential multimillion-pound kickback scandal at a Californian-based subsidiary. (Times online) |
DENVER - A federal judge ordered former Qwest Communications chief executive Joseph Nacchio, convicted of insider trading, to forfeit $52 million in assets he gained in illegal stock sales. (AP) PREVIOUS: The Joe Nacchio trial |
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PARIS - A French investigation into Jerome Kerviel, the former trader who Societe Generale says cost it nearly €5 billion last month, took on wider dimensions as French financial police interrogated a second person in relation to the case, calling into question the bank's assertion Kerviel had acted alone in setting up billions of euros worth of fictitious trades. (IHT) |
SocGen trader Kerviel is jailed Societe Generale trading loss incident Prosecutors let SocGen fraud rap drop SocGen director offloaded shares Government to fight any hostile bidder Trading scandal diverts attention from losses French minister says trader 'acted alone' |
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US list for business links to 'terrorist haven' Ottawa's Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. and two blue-chip Canadian companies have been placed on a controversial U.S. government "name-and-shame" list for doing business in countries the US considers sponsors of terrorism. (CanWest) MORE: Countries the Secretary of State has designated as state sponsors of terrorism |
Dutch brewers fined over cartel Dutch brewers including Heineken and Grolsch have been fined a total of 273.7m euros by European regulators for price fixing. The European Commission has penalised Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria for stifling competition by sharing pricing policy and levels. (BBC) RELATED: More dangerous goods banned in EU |
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TORONTO - The US Securities and Exchange Commission said Canada's biggest publicly traded drug maker agreed to pay $10 million US to settle charges against the company. But the stock market regulator said it will press on with its case against Eugene Melnyk as well as Biovail's former chief financial officer Brian Crombie, its current chief financial officer Kenneth Howling and controller John Miszuk. (CanWest) |
OSC, SEC lay charges against Biovail Drug company Biovail's legal woes |
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TORONTO - Nortel Networks Corp. will pay $1 million as part of a settlement with Ontario Securities Commission over allegations that the company issued misleading financial statements between 2000 and 2003. (CBC) |
Will 'wet noodle' ruling put Nortel scandal to rest? SEC to fine Nortel $100M: report |
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Tax evasion nets 163 in Germany BERLIN - Prosecutors in the investigation say the suspects evaded taxes by putting money in foundations in the tiny tax haven of Liechtenstein. (IHT) |
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KITIMAT - The BC Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling by the BC Supreme Court allowing Rio Tinto Alcan to sell power from the Kemano station with no obligation to smelt aluminum. (CanWest) Court upholds Alcan's unrestricted water rights |
Rio Tinto investors eye Alcan assets Commission approves Alcan power deal |
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