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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skywatcher who wrote (274636)	7/13/2002 5:55:01 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 769670

Report: Thompson was director at Providian By CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 11:17 AM ET July 13, 2002 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- The leader of President Bush's financial crimes task force served as a director of a credit card company that paid more than $400 million to settle consumer and securities fraud allegations, The Washington Post reported on Saturday. Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson, who heads a multi-agency corporate crime task force created by Bush earlier this week, served as a board member and chairman of the audit and compliance committee at Providian Financial Corp. (PVN: news, chart, profile) from June 1997 until his Senate confirmation in May 2001. Thompson sold all his Providian stock, worth nearly $5 million, following his confirmation to comply with ethics rules, the newspaper said. The company subsequently disclosed problems with defaults in its credit card portfolio. The stock price collapsed and the firm laid off thousands of employees. The company last year settled charges it inflated its financial results through excessive fees and other practices that led state and federal regulators to accuse it of breaking consumer protection rules. The newspaper said Thompson didn't return phone calls seeking comment. Mark Corallo, a spokesman for the deputy attorney general, said Thompson "is proud of his service on the board of Providian. He only became aware of the [fraud] issues when regulators began to make inquiries." "He then personally took the lead in making the company do the right thing and it was his personal efforts that were a driving force in the company settling over $400 million and in implementing internal reforms and compliance measures," Corallo said Thompson served on the board at the time regulators said Providian engaged in fraudulent conduct. The company settled all complaints without admitting or denying wrongdoing. cc