Dick Cheney and shareholder fraud - heraldblog

Dick Cheney and shareholder fraud

Josh Marshall wonders why the press isn't all over this one: The SEC has fined Halliburton $7.5 million for misleading investors in 1998, at which time Dick Cheney was the company's CEO.

The case involves accounting changes which are legal, but must be disclosed to shareholders. They weren't. Under the new, undisclosed changes, Halliburton's profit appeared to be 46 percent higher than they were under the old accounting practices. As Marshall puts it, it's like switching from fahrenheit to celcius without telling anyone.

So the big question is: Did Cheney know about the accounting changes in 1998 that had led to higher than expected profits, and did he know the changes were being kept from shareholders? This is not nitpicky stuff. We're talking about the kind of fraud that sends naught CEO's off to federal prison for 18 months of forced golf course maintenance.

And yet, when Cheney's lawyer was asked if his client was aware of the accounting changes, the lawyer declined comment.

5.8.04 14:53

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To date 4 Comment(s) TrackBack-URL

john (5.8.04 15:46)
This seems to be a no-brainer to me. If Cheney ran Halliburton in any way like he runs the government (has his hand in most decisions, etc.) then he would have to have known this was going down. Not to mention that he has a huge stake in profits as his salary is directly linked to how much profit Halliburton makes.
Off topic, but did you see The Daily Show last night? They had a really good part on the fact that you now have to sign "loyalty oaths" to go see Cheney speak on the campaign trail.

(5.8.04 17:09)
I don't get cable TV, because if I did, I would spend 75 percent of my waking hours watching it. I've seen the Daily Show clips on the web, and Stewart does a great job.
I think it's up to the blogs to keep this story alive until mainstream media take notice. We did it with the Trent Lott story, thanks to Josh Marshall and others, and not Lott is no longer Senate Majority leader.
Mainstream media is either in the administration's pocket (Fox), or too afraid of looking biased against Bush to act on a legitimate story (CNN, NY Times, and others). Cheney was already cleared of legal wrongdoing by the SEC, but he is still morally culpable. But moral culpability is a tougher thing for a shamed presss to write about than a clear cut issue of legal impropriety.

(6.8.04 18:30)
found a great comment on http://www.20six.co.uk/theshadowboxer/ site
"Abstinence in 2004 - No Bush. No Dick."
Truly funny)
did you read about the GWB's foot in the mouth today:
he said
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," George Bush told an audience of military brass and Pentagon chiefs. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/silly/story/0,10821,1277768,00.html
As they say - the truth will always come out)

(6.8.04 23:22)
I think I know what he was tryng to say: "Our enemies never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and we never stop anticipating what they might come up with."

George has problems with compound sentences.