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To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53398)	6/30/2002 5:29:36 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

SEC Chief Promises to Get Tough Sunday June 30, 2:49 pm Eastern Time WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. financial market regulator, Harvey Pitt, on Sunday promised to get tough with corporate America as it tries to win back investor confidence after a string of accounting scandals, and said politics would not stand in his way. Pitt's comments came after a week of turmoil in world financial markets rocked by revelations that telecoms giant WorldCom Inc., had hidden $3.85 billion in expenses. He also warned there may be further punishment for Xerox Corp., another company embroiled in accounting irregularities, and said corporations with political ties like oil and energy giant Haliburton Co. would not be escape regulators' attention if mistakes are found to have been made. "People are going to pay heavily," the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman said on ABC's This Week show. The string of scandals, that kicked off with the collapse of Texas-based energy giant, Enron Corp., has put the cleanup of corporate America back on the political agenda. President Bush injected a new note of urgency to the subject last week by denouncing corporate "fudges" and Congress is preparing a bill that would impose tough new oversight on the U.S. accounting profession. On Saturday, U.S. President, George W. Bush, in his weekly radio address, called for rules and laws to "restore faith in the integrity of American business." He added that no violation of the public's trust will be tolerated, and the federal government would remain vigilant in prosecuting wrongdoers . Xerox rattled already unnerved investors last week by restating five years of results to reclassify more than $6 billion in revenues. The SEC had already fined the copying company $10 million in April after it admitted misappropriating about $3 billion in revenues, but Pitt warned that discovery of this latest and much larger number could mean more fines. "We're not finished with the Xerox case...we knew there were problems," he said. "We told this company, not only must you disclose and restate what we know, we want to know everything. And that's what they've now done. And now those who are responsible will pay." NO FREE PASSES And nobody will be exempt from punishment, Pitt promised. The SEC has launched an investigation into accounting policies at Halliburton Co. which were adopted in 1998 while Vice President Dick Cheney was chief executive. But the involvement of a prominent politician will not make any difference to the investigation, Pitt said. "I head an independent regulatory agency," he said. "We don't give anyone a pass. If anybody violates the law, we go after them." New York Stock Exchange Chairman, Dick Grasso, speaking on the same show, backed Pitt's tough stance. "We've got to root out the bad people, punish them," he said. "We've got to make certain that the accountants and the independent directors that oversee the more than 12,000 publicly traded corporations in America perform their job." But he said he would not be demanding the resignation of the embattled chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia from the board of the New York Stock Exchange. Stewart is entangled in an alleged insider trading scandal involving the sale of shares in biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. The home decorating expert, a close friend of Sam Waksal, the former Chief Executive of Imclone Systems Inc., has been under scrutiny for selling nearly 4,000 shares on Dec. 27, just one day before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected the biotech's experimental cancer drug. She has said she did nothing wrong. "Ms. Stewart has both publicly and privately asserted her innocence. This is still America, innocent until proven guilty," Grasso said. "If in fact the circumstances change, obviously she knows she has an obligation to this board...to do the right thing."

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53398)	7/2/2002 6:31:18 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 65232

jpgill: Milberg Weiss is even going after one of the more famous blue chip drug companies (my first employer)... biz.yahoo.com Milberg Weiss Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Merck & Co, Inc. and Certain of Its Officers and Directors milberg.com <<...Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Seattle and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of World War II and other human rights violations, and has been responsible for more than $30 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Milberg Weiss Web site (http://www.milberg.com) has more information about the firm...>>

To: Cactus Jack who wrote (53398)	7/2/2002 7:11:29 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 65232

Achieving Corporate Governance Enhancements Through Litigation enronfraud.com This is a keynote address by William Lerach...I see his firm is hot on the trail of the former Enron Execs...they have set up a special website too... enronfraud.com The ENRON Lawsuit <<...On April 8, 2002, Milberg Weiss filed a consolidated class action lawsuit against Enron Corp. in the U.S. District Court in Houston. On behalf of its clients, Milberg Weiss is seeking relief for purchasers of Enron publicly traded equity and debt securities between October 19, 1998 and November 27, 2001. The consolidated complaint charges certain Enron executives and directors, its accountants, law firms, and banks with violations of the federal securities laws and alleges that defendants engaged in massive insider trading while making false and misleading statements about Enron's financial performance. These false statements caused Enron's stock to trade as high as $90.75. Defendants sold more than 20 million shares of Enron stock for approximately $1.19 billion. In late 2001, Enron revealed it would incur losses of at least $1 billion and would restate its financial results for 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and the first two quarters of 2001, to correct errors that inflated Enron's net income by $591 million. The impact of this restatement was enormous as Enron's stock dropped 91%. Soon after, the attempted acquisition of Enron by Dynegy Inc. fell through, Enron's debt was downgraded to junk bond status and its stock dropped to just $0.26 per share. On December 2, 2001, Enron filed for Chapter 11. Working on behalf of its clients, Milberg Weiss has demonstrated an unparalleled commitment to the investigation, development and prosecution of this case. The firm brings to this action a securities litigation team which consists of more than two dozen attorneys, investigators, forensic accountants, analysts and corporate governance and accounting experts. Milberg Weiss moved swiftly to freeze over $1.1 billion in insider trading proceeds. The firm interviewed more than 100 witnesses with knowledge concerning the numerous organizations within Enron including over 3,000 related entities and partnerships. Milberg Weiss sought expedited discovery from both Enron and Enron's auditors, Andersen. Just 24 hours after Andersen revealed it destroyed an untold number of relevant documents related to Enron; the firm went back to court seeking to preserve all evidence. Milberg Weiss' factual investigation also uncovered Enron's recent and extensive document destruction at its Houston headquarters...>> *** Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of World War II and other human rights violations, and has been responsible for more than $30 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Milberg Weiss Web site (http://www.milberg.com) has more information about the firm.