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

To: American Spirit who wrote (354696)	2/6/2003 1:10:32 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

OH ...you mean this George Soros....? ~French court finds George Soros guilty of insider trading Friday December 20, 1:52 pm ET By John Leicester, Associated Press Writer Associated Press (KLP Note: To get ths link, you have to go to the google casche.....look under George Soros...leftist) PARIS (AP) -- George Soros, the American billionaire financier and philanthropist, was convicted Friday by a French court of insider trading and fined 2.2 million euros (dollars). Soros, 72, said he was "astounded and dismayed" by the ruling and vowed to appeal "to the highest level necessary." He denied having had inside information about French bank Societe Generale when he traded its shares 14 years ago. "The charges against me are unfounded and without merit," Soros said in a statement. He was not in court for the verdict. Soros, a naturalized American born in Hungary, amassed a fortune and a reputation as a financial wizard by managing investment funds. Forbes magazine estimates his wealth at US$6.9 billion, making him the 37th richest person in the world. But his dealings have also, at times, drawn criticism. When Asian economies tanked in the late 1990s, some politicians blamed Soros' currency speculation for the crisis. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad called Soros a "criminal" and a deputy prime minister of Thailand suggested that gangsters should kill him. In Britain, Soros became known as the man who broke the Bank of England after he bet against the British pound in 1992, speculating that the government couldn't keep the currency in a European arrangement linking exchange rates. Despite a costly attempt to save the currency, the government was forced to pull it out of the grid. The 2.2 million euro fine demanded Friday from Soros was the minimum allowed under French law and matched the amount he was accused of making from buying and selling Societe Generale shares with insider knowledge in 1988. In France, the maximum penalty for insider trading is two years imprisonment and a fine of up to four times the amount earned. A spokesman for Soros, Michael Vachon, said it was the first time the billionaire has been convicted of a crime. He also said Soros has no other cases pending against him in France or elsewhere. Defense lawyer Bernard du Granrut said the Paris court that convicted Soros "did not acknowledge the essential elements of the arguments we presented." The court cleared two other men: Jean-Charles Naouri, former top aide to France's then-Finance Minister Pierre Beregovoy, and Lebanese businessman Samir Traboulsi. Prosecutors had sought fines of 290,000 euros (dollars) for Naouri and 1.98 million euros (dollars) for Traboulsi. Neither man, who both faced insider trading charges, was in court Friday. Societe Generale was privatized in 1987. A year later, its stock price went up during an unsuccessful takeover bid. In its judgment, the court said Soros had inside knowledge of the takeover bid because financiers behind it had asked him to take part. Soros declined, but then went on to buy 160,000 shares in the bank for his Quantum Fund and gained $2.28 million from their sale, the court said. Quantum evolved from a fund Soros created in 1973 with about $12 million. Today, Quantum manages funds worth about $7 billion, said Vachon, the financier's spokesman. Such funds bet on stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities worldwide with borrowed money. Soros also heads a philanthropic network that has funneled huge sums into education, public health, science and non-governmental groups, mostly in the former communist bloc. His foundation gives away about $500 million per year, Vachon said. French stock market regulators first noticed anomalies in the Societe Generale stock surge in 1989. Soros was put under judicial investigation -- one step short of being charged -- in June 1993. The one-week trial took place last month. In all, 13 people were placed under investigation in the inside trading case, which was one of France's biggest political scandals of the 1980s. But just three people went to trial and only Soros was convicted. Testifying in court in November, Soros denied having privileged information. Soros said he was interested in Societe Generale based on information he argued was widely known: that France's leftist government of the time favored takeovers to change leadership at major companies that had recently been privatized. Soros said he was buying stock in many companies and had no reason not to include Societe Generale. "I have been in business all my life, and I think I know what is insider trading and what isn't," he said.