[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

RAIN 0310 Weekly Update: Litigation, Audits, etc (18)



National Law Journal 02/12/02
Report Criticizes Vinson & Elkins' Enron Work
Law firm could be sued, experts say
David Hechler
The National Law Journal
February 12, 2002
When reports surfaced in January that Enron Corp. employees were shredding documents, one of Enron's in-house lawyers who works overseas was instructed to box documents and send them to Houston.
But one thing troubled him about the instructions from Enron General Counsel James Derrick. They were told to send the boxes not to Enron but to its main outside law firm, Houston's Vinson & Elkins. In this lawyer's view, that's the last place they should have gone.
http://www.law.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTCo...e&showsummary=0&useoverridetemplate=ZZZHCC0Q95C



Reuters 03/05/02
The Internet is outside US law, say lawyers
Reuters
The defense lawyer for a Moscow company accused of violating US copyright
law argues that the borderless Internet is outside the jurisdiction of the United
States
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2105539,00.html



KATU 2 NEWS 03/05/02
Lawyers scour Mabon's records for evidence of extra cash
Lawyers seeking tens of thousands of dollars from the Oregon Citizens Alliance
are finally getting the chance to go through the OCA's books.
Those lawyers may have to go through a half-dozen boxes of records trying to find
evidence the OCA has money to pay a court judgement. It's evidence the OCA's
leaders say just isn't there.
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=42254


Salt Lake Tribune 03/05/02
LDS Official to Be Questioned in Tribune Lawsuit
http://www.sltrib.com/03052002/utah/716624.htm


Salt Lake Tribune 03/05/02
Media Groups Want Records Of Newspaper Sale Unsealed
BY ELIZABETH NEFF
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
A group of Utah media companies will try to convince a federal judge Friday to unseal documents before trial in the heated court battle over ownership of The Salt Lake
Tribune.
http://www.sltrib.com/03052002/utah/716625.htm



KATU 2 NEWS 03/04/02
Sewage and Crime: Ridgefield's dirty little secret
Ridgefield Police believe city employees falsified sewage and drinking water records, and the motive for doing so remains a mystery; a continuing criminal investigation of the case has made its way to the Washington State Attorney General's office.
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=42170


Daily Business Review 03/05/02
Dated material
By: Larry Keller
Accident victim heads to Broward court, says State Farm forged documents to reduce liability in van crash Facing a fraud lawsuit in an auto accident case, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. is trying to stave off the prospect of punitive damages for allegedly forging a policyholder’s documents and engaging in a cover-up to reduce its liability in the case.
http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=21622



New York Times 03/06/02
Enron Auditing Firm Turns Over Records After State Subpoena
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HARTFORD, March 5 (AP) — The accounting firm Arthur Andersen turned over 27 boxes of documents to the state attorney general's office today, in response to a subpoena related to the collapse of the Enron Corporation (news/quote).
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/06/business/06ANDE.html


Boston Herald 03/06/02
SJC orders Lopez hubby to turn over his e-mails
by Jack Sullivan
The state's highest court yesterday ordered Boston Phoenix publisher Stephen M. Mindich to turn over his e-mails to the commission investigating allegations against his wife Judge Maria Lopez.
``It's outrageous and it's unconstitutional,'' said Mindich's lawyer Harvey Silverglate. ``The First Amendment has taken a big hit.''
http://www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/lope03062002.htm


Canada.com 03/07/02
Alberta aboriginals win sweeping tax exemption under Federal Court ruling
BOB WEBER AND DARCY HENTON
Canadian Press
EDMONTON (CP) - A Federal Court judge has ruled that northern Alberta aboriginals are exempt from a wide range of taxes as a result of verbal promises made during treaty negotiations 103 years ago.
http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=7AF688F1-FB48-4404-B951-E9C73D491E8D



Canada.com 03/08/02
Natives in Alberta awarded full tax-free status
15,000 Cree and Dene: Court ruling based on promises made in 1899
Rick Mofina and Janice Tibbetts
National Post
OTTAWA - A group of Alberta aboriginals became the first natives in Canada to secure absolute tax-free status yesterday in a landmark court ruling that strengthened treaty promises of long ago.
Mr. Justice Douglas Campbell of the Federal Court declared that oral promises are equal to treaty terms.
http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=1D48BDB9-3C1E-45DD-9300-3C25C0A57BA6



New York Times 03/07/02
Making Losers of Auction Winners
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
IT'S hard to resist a good Internet bargain, especially when it seems too good to be
true.
Crystal Nordberg of Tulsa, Okla., and her fiancé, Jonathan Williams, had planned on
buying a high- end digital camera for their honeymoon in Europe this May. The couple
set aside money from gifts and work bonuses to buy a Sony (news/quote) Mavica.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/technology/circuits/07FRAU.html



New York Times 03/08/02
Once Bamboozled, Now a
Bloodhound: On the Trail, Online
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
onsider them a band of auction-fraud vigilantes.
Greg Harrington is one of a group of 10 former auction victims who spend hours every week ferreting out fraudulent auctions on Yahoo (news/quote) and eBay (news/quote).
Mr. Harrington, who lives in Houston, warns bidders through e-mail and sends a note to the auction site administrators when he spots what he is sure is a case of fraud. If the auction is not shut down, the team members purposefully win the auction, but don't send payment to prevent others from falling victim to the scheme. He says he has been wrong five times out of the hundreds of cases he has pursued. Those times he left apologetic notes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/technology/circuits/07VIGI.html




Associated Press 03/07/02
Copyright Proof Due in Napster Case
Thu Mar 7,12:22 AM ET
By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge gave the record labels suing Napster (news - web sites) until Thursday to produce documents proving they own the copyrights to 213 songs that once traded for free over the songswap service.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the labels to provide certificates of copyright registration, or applications for such proof, for top-selling artists such as the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020307/ap_on_hi_te/napster_copyright_2



Detroit Free Press 03/08/02
U.S. tells Federal Reserve not to destroy Enron files
BY MILES MOFFEIT
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
HOUSTON -- The Justice Department is investigating contacts between the Federal Reserve Board and Enron Corp. and has told the central bank not to destroy any documents related to the collapsed energy-trading giant.
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/enron8_20020308.htm


MSNBC 03/08/02
IRS seeks to get credit-card records to thwart $70 billion-a-year scam
American Express, MasterCard in talks with government
By John D. McKinnon
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
http://www.msnbc.com/news/721109.asp?0si=-&cp1=1


New York Times 03/09/02
U.S. Said to Be Ready to Indict Audit Firm Over Enron Papers
By KURT EICHENWALD and JONATHAN D. GLATER
Federal prosecutors have prepared a multicount criminal indictment charging Arthur Andersen & Company with obstruction of justice in the Enron (news/quote) case, people involved in the matter said yesterday.
The prospect of criminal charges — coming just months after the Enron investigation
began — is presenting Andersen with an enormous challenge that insiders admit could
ultimately put its future at risk.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/business/09AUDI.html



New York Times 03/09/02
Plea to Clinton Long Weighed for Fugitive, EMail Shows
By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Marc Rich's advisers debated whether to seek a presidential pardon as early as February 2000 but deliberately held off lobbying the White House until "the closing days" of the Clinton administration, their private e-mail messages show.
The messages, among documents recently shared with prosecutors, shed further light on the months leading up to President Bill Clinton's last-minute decision to pardon Mr. Rich, a financier who had long been a fugitive from justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/politics/09PARD.html





Peter A. Kurilecz CRM, CA
pakurilecz@aol.com
Richmond, Va