New York Times (NYT) pays for bad karma over fraudulent ad

When The New York Times ran an ad by corporate sleaze-ball/naked shorting poster child Universal Express in June, the paper came under harsh scrutiny from Gary Weiss (here and here) and even its own chief financial correspondent, Floyd Norris.

The ad, a self-serving rant about the evils of the imaginary naked short selling scandal, had no particular connection to reality and, as Weiss reported, contained at least one complete lie. The ad made a reference to Universal Express's "hundreds of employees." But according to its last 10-K, the company only has 37 employees.

Fast forward to September. After a long legal battle with the SEC, which had charged the company with selling unregistered stock and issuing false and misleading press releases, CEO Richard Altomare has been tossed and a court-appointed receiver has shut down the company's operations.

And The Times got stiffed for the ad -- In the receiver's report, the newspaper is listed as a creditor in the amount of $173,416.32.

The New York Times compromised its integrity to run an ad it never got paid for. Karma's a bitch.