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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Rat dog micro-cap picks... -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bucky Katt who wrote (10661)	2/19/2003 12:15:14 PM
From: xcr600	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 48461

You mean this one? btw, doesn't anyone at the co's do any hardcore research before lending someone a couple billion? The idea of lending someone your own money so they can buy your product.. recipe for disaster. Turkish family accused of $4.7bn fraud by telecoms February 19 2003 After more than a year of pre-trial manoeuvring, an effort by two of the world's largest phone equipment companies, Motorola and Nokia, to paint themselves as victims of a huge fraud by a secretive Turkish family is scheduled to go to trial this week in a federal court in New York. The two phone giants are trying to recover as much as possible of the $US2.8 billion ($4.7 billion) they lent Telsim, a Turkish cellular start-up controlled by the Uzan family, to buy equipment and enter the fast-growing Turkish market. The battle is being waged on multiple fronts, including courts in Britain and Turkey, and in Washington, where Motorola has sought the support of the Bush administration. On Thursday, armed with a British court order, Motorola seized one of the Uzans' private jets when it landed in Germany. Meanwhile, Motorola and several of its top executives are facing a growing number of shareholder lawsuits complaining that the company inflated its stock price in 2000 and 2001 by announcing the sale of more than $US1.5 billion in equipment to Telsim without disclosing that it had provided even more than that in loans to finance the sales. The Uzans, who were not available for interview, have argued that the entire conflict reflects their suppliers' unwillingness to face up to the losses stemming from the global crash in the telecommunications markets, recession in Turkey and a large devaluation of the Turkish lira. They say the main issue is whether Telsim's problems were beyond their control and say that the terms of the agreements call for arbitration of such issues in Switzerland. But the Uzans are being sued in New York under state fraud laws and the federal racketeering law originally designed to attack organised crime. If Motorola and Nokia win, they will ask that the damages be tripled, as the racketeering law allows. The problem, the phone companies say, is not one of contract interpretation but of deliberate deception, manipulation of the Turkish courts and financial skulduggery. Although American courts tend to support arbitration clauses strongly in business contracts, Federal District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan has ruled that Telsim's contracts do not apply because the suits are against the people who control Telsim and not the company itself. Judge Rakoff also ruled that the contract allowed the suppliers to go to court rather than arbitration. The trial is expected to end quickly and decisively in the companies' favour. Last May, when Judge Rakoff froze the Uzans' New York assets, including eight apartments, he said "every preliminary indication" pointed to "repeated acts of fraud and chicanery", adding up to "a rather massive swindle". Since then, the Uzans have defied additional orders by Judge Rakoff. They have obtained a Turkish court ruling ordering that the New York suit be halted. None of the defendants or their lawyers plan to attend the trial. Judge Rakoff last year imposed contempt fines starting at $US100 million a month and doubling each month, but that ruling was stayed on appeal. The New York Times This story was found at: smh.com.au