It would seen Mr. Grubman may have perjured himself.
quote.bloomberg.com
Salomon Gave Clients' Executives Stocks, New York Times Reports
By Vivien Lou Chen
New York, July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc.'s Salomon Smith Barney Inc. rewarded top executives of telecommunications clients with tens of thousands of shares from stock offerings underwritten by the firm, the New York Times said, citing former broker David Chacon.
Salomon analyst Jack Grubman played a key role in deciding which executives would get the hot new stocks, the paper reported. Chacon, who worked in the firm's Los Angeles branch and was fired in 2000, sued Salomon for wrongful termination last year, it said.
The practice described by Chacon allowed Salomon to reward favored executives for business their companies gave or could give the firm, the paper said. The executives were given stocks that more than doubled or tripled in value instantly, it said.
Salomon has looked into Chacon's claims and ``we are confident that they are without merit and contain gross factual inaccuracies,'' spokeswoman Arda Nazerian said in an interview. Chacon was fired for failing to comply with the firm's policies, she said.
Executives named in Chacon's lawsuit include Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom Inc.'s former chief executive officer; Joseph Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest Communications International Inc.; James Crowe, CEO of Level 3 Communications Inc.; Clark McLeod, former CEO of McLeodUSA Inc.; and Stephen Garofalo, chairman of Metromedia Fiber Network Inc.
Chacon's claims are the focus of a congressional inquiry into financial fraud on Wall Street, the Wall Street Journal reported separately, citing people familiar with the matter.
(New York Times, Wall Street Journal 7-18) |
