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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (4190)	7/3/2002 12:14:41 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 5185

GOING FOR THE JUGULAR Mephisto, WCON and MSO are merely distractions. The real action is here: Message 17688253 Message 17688296 Harken and Halliburton. Those are the scandals we need to expose to the light of day in order to "nail the Shrub to a CROSS OF GOLD!" They used to say that money was the root of all evil. And then along came Dubya. Remember that infamous Bush crime family plot, "The Silverado" follies? How about how their granddad traded with Hitler? And Cheney traded with Iraq? What's that all about? Patriotism at its finest, my dear. "We used cut-outs, it was perfectly legal!" - Dick Cheney

To: Mephisto who wrote (4190)	7/4/2002 2:30:40 AM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5185

Investors sue Merck over 'false revenue claims' July 4, 2002 London Times From Abigail Rayner in New York SHAREHOLDERS are suing Merck, alleging that the American pharmaceuticals company artificially inflated its revenues by $4.6 billion (£3 billion) in 2001 by including revenues that are actually retained by pharmacies. Investors who bought Merck shares between July 23, 1999, and June 20, 2002, allege that they were duped into thinking that the company was performing better than it actually was. In a lawsuit, they claim that Merck improperly included co-payments in its revenues. Co-payments are typically $10 to $15 per prescription, and are contributed by the patient to the price of their prescription drugs. The remainder of the cost is met by the patient's insurance company. The plaintiffs say that this artificially enhanced the company's apparent performance because the co-payments are actually paid to, and retained by, the pharmacy. The lawsuit, which is being brought by the US law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP, alleges that Merck filed "materially false and misleading" statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its financial performance. The complaint says Merck overstated its revenues by $4.6 billion "in 2001 alone". It adds that the company's financial statements were not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The accounting entries, which have no impact on the company's reported net income, were first disclosed by Merck in April in a filing to the SEC as it prepared for the initial public offering of Medco, its pharmacy benefits unit. Merck used Andersen as its external auditor until earlier this year, when it joined a raft of companies in firing the accountancy firm in the wake of the scandal surrounding its audit of Enron. Last month Andersen was found guilty of obstructing justice by shredding documents related to its audit of Enron. Merck now uses PricewaterhouseCoopers. Christopher Loder, a spokesman for Merck, said: "Merck is confident that its recording of retail co-payments is in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. "PricewaterhouseCoopers concur with this accounting treatment. This practice has no impact on net income because an equivalent amount is also included in our costs of revenues." timesonline.co.uk