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Technology Stocks : Gemstar Intl (GMST) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DaYooper who wrote (6283)	1/15/2004 12:00:09 AM
From: Mike Buckley	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6516

Rory, Curious if Henry was ever charged with any crime I think he's still under investigation by the SEC. However, if I remember correctly, the SEC doesn't have authority to press criminal charges. I think it "only" has the authority to impose regulatory fines and prevent him from being a director or officer of a public company. I don't remember hearing of him being under criminal investigation. If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me. I'd like to know the thoughts of those impacted by Fastow's actions regarding the penalty he now faces. The rest of us cannot accurately judge imo. My thinking: Any of us that invest in a U. S. publicly held company, whether directly or indirectly (such as vis-a-vis a pension fund that we don't control), are impacted by Fastow's actions. That's because any time flagrant abuse of the system becomes public knowledge, it affects the credibility of all equities, the credibility of the SEC and the judicial system to do their job to protect investors, and thus affects investors' confidence in the system. I concede that I can't "accurately judge." I can only imagine that Fastow believed the prosecutors really had the goods on him. I have a bad memory for detail, but I don't remember anyone involved in a white-collar crime going to jail for a mandatory 10 years and giving up nearly $30 million. Considering that he copped a plea to ensure that he wouldn't get something far worse, that tells me that for once the system worked when it comes to white-collar crime. If we see more successful criminal prosecutions than the few there have been since Enron collapsed, it will help re-instill investor confidence. --Mike Buckley