JuristMail - Legal News » Corporate/Finance

Virginia Company Pleads Guilty to Arms Dealing

John Fiore — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:40:39 +0000

An Arlington company has pleaded guilty to trying to sell guns, night vision goggles and other military equipment to people in Yemen and Libya. At a hearing Thursday in federal court in Alexandria, a representative for Taipan Enterprises Ltd. pleaded guilty to unlawfully brokering sales of military equipment.

The company was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine, the amount recommended by prosecutors. The company was never actually able to sell any equipment. Defense lawyer John Hundley said the small fine is evidence that the company’s conduct was relatively minor. The company’s president said his contacts in Yemen were with a businessman. Court records show that the company tried to sell Swiss-made machine pistols to a Yemeni national in 2007 and night vision goggles to Libya and a Chilean military contractor.

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Guilty Plea Date Set for Ponzi Scheme Case

John Fiore — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:40:30 +0000

A judge has set a Jan. 27 date for a disbarred South Florida lawyer to plead guilty to charges stemming from what authorities call a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. The date was set at a hearing Wednesday after Scott Rothstein’s attorney announced he will plead guilty. Rothstein had initially pleaded not guilty to racketeering, fraud and conspiracy charges after his December arrest.

Rothstein attorney Marc Nurik said plea deal details are incomplete. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 100 years behind bars. Prosecutors say Rothstein used his now-defunct Fort Lauderdale law firm to bilk thousands of investors with the promise of payment from phony legal settlements.

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Retired Army Officer Sentenced for Contract Scam

John Fiore — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:58:30 +0000

A retired U.S. Army major must serve 57 months in prison for accepting $245,000 in bribes from companies in exchange for awarding military supply contracts in Kuwait. Judge Clay D. Land of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia also ordered Christopher H. Murray, 42, to pay $245,000 in restitution to the federal government. Murray also will serve three years of supervised release upon completion of the prison sentence.

Prosecutors charged Murray Jan. 8 with soliciting and accepting bribes while serving as an Army contracting official at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Murray pleaded guilty that day and admitted he awarded contracts to supply a variety of goods and services to companies in exchange for bribes. Court documents do not identify the companies. Prosecutors said Murray handled contract awards at Camp Arifjan between September 2005 and November 2006.

In this capacity he solicited bids for the Defense Department and awarded contracts after reviewing offers from interested firms. The contracts involved the supply of furniture and various other items for military facilities and fence installation at Kuwaiti and U.S. bases, the charges said.

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UnitedHealth Group’s Profit up Thirty Percent

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:22:07 +0000

Managed care company UnitedHealth Group says its fourth-quarter profit rose 30 percent, on higher premium revenue, despite a continued decline in commercial enrollment. The Minnetonka, Minn., insurer says it earned $944 million, or 81 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That’s up from $726 million, or 60 cents per share, in the same period of 2008.

Revenue rose 6.5 percent to $21.78 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast a profit of 73 cents per share on $21.72 billion in revenue. Commercial enrollment continued sliding during the quarter. It consists mostly of employer-based and individual health plans and generates higher profit margins for insurers than government business like Medicaid.

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KeyCorp Narrows Losses

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:21:53 +0000

The regional bank holding company KeyCorp narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter while setting aside $756 million for bad loans. KeyCorp, based in Cleveland, said Thursday it lost $224 million, or 30 cents per share, in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.1 billion, helped by improved interest margins and fewer delinquencies.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, a loss of 39 cents per share on revenue of $1.06 billion. KeyCorp, which operates across 14 states, lost $524 million in the comparable fourth quarter of 2008 when it cited ongoing woes in the economy and a large, noncash accounting charge.

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Southwest Airlines Posts Profits

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:21:06 +0000

Flying against the headwinds of a recession and volatile fuel prices, Southwest Airlines Co. made money in the fourth quarter and extended its string of annual profits to 37 years. Southwest said Thursday it earned $116 million in the quarter, which was enough to lift the company to a full-year profit of $99 million after it lost money during the first nine months of 2009.

Traffic on the nation’s largest discount carrier has been rising in recent months while it’s been falling on many competitors. Chairman and CEO Gary C. Kelly said a “dramatic” drop in business travel during the recession made this “perhaps, the most difficult revenue environment the airline industry has ever faced.”

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Amag Prices 3.6M Stock Offering

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:20:45 +0000

Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it priced a public offering of 3.6 million common shares at $48.25 per share. The biopharmaceutical company said late Wednesday that the offering’s size had been increased by 600,000 shares.

Amag gave the underwriters an option to buy up to an additional 540,000 shares to cover any overallotments. The offering is likely to close on Jan. 26. Shares of Amag Pharmaceuticals closed Wednesday at $49.28.

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Target Renovating Instead of Opening

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:20:35 +0000

Target says it will focus on polishing up old stores rather than opening new ones this year. The discount chain will spend $1 billion renovating 340 stores while opening fewer than 10 new locations. The renovated stores will offer more groceries. It’s also developing smaller stores for urban markets and plans to expand outside the U.S., most likely in Canada, Mexico or Latin America.

The chain, based in Minneapolis, has faced tough competition from larger rival Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Customers have turned away from Target’s its “cheap chic” styles and toward retailers they see as offering lower prices during the recession. Target’s Chief Financial Officer Doug Scovanner and other executives will speak at an investor meeting Thursday in Philadelphia.

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Goldman Sachs Earns Nearly 5B in Q4

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:20:18 +0000

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says it earned $4.79 billion in the fourth quarter as the bank’s trading business again outdistanced the rest of the financial industry. The company rewarded its employes with $16.2 billion in salaries and bonuses for 2009. Goldman said Wednesday it earned $8.20 a share in the last three months of the year as fixed income, commodities and currency trading buoyed its profits for the third straight quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted Goldman would earn $5.20 a share.

The bank’s stock rose slightly in pre-opening trading. Goldman, which has outperformed other financial companies for years, has been the strongest bank throughout the financial crisis. It had less exposure to toxic mortgage-backed securities than other companies and also has been more aggressive in its trading.

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Hershey Has No Immediate Plans on Cadbury Bid

John Fiore — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:20:09 +0000

Candy maker Hershey says it has no immediate plans to make an offer for British competitor Cadbury, making it all but certain that Kraft Foods Inc.’s $19.5 billion bid will proceed without competition. The Hershey Co. did leave room for reconsideration, however.

The company says it is reserving the right to bid or participate in a Cadbury offer within six months, but a number of conditions must be met.

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