We recently presented a look at some of the most notorious financial felons of contemporary times.

Since then, news has included the indictment of Mark Cuban for insider trading in a case that is somewhat reminiscent of Martha Stewart's case. According to the SEC, the billionaire entrepreneur asked his broker to sell all his shares of Mamma.com after the company's CEO confidentially told him of an impending stock offering that would dilute the value of all existing shares. By selling before the information became public, Cuban is said to have sidestepped losses of more than $750,000. Cuban insists, though, that no agreement existed to keep the information confidential.

And then there was the indictment in Texas of Vice President Dick Cheney, along with former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others. There seems to be a conflict of interest between the vice president's influence on the federal agency that oversees federal immigration detention centers and his substantial holdings in Vanguard Group, which invests in private prison companies. But does the lame-duck county district attorney, who was a no-show in court, have the authority to bring charges against federal officials with regard to federally run institutions?

Continue reading Financial Felons: Where are they now and is there a next generation coming?

Financial Felons: Where are they now and is there a next generation coming? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Drawing upon inspiration from its successful Fox Entertainment division, we hear that a number of new programs are under consideration:

• Homer Nose Business -- a "Simpsons" take on making 'd'oh' in the food and beverage industries, with field reporters Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Jr. and Moe Szyslak.
• 24:00 Stocks -- Kiefer Sutherland hosts a new studio show in which CEOs of tanking corporations are subjected to waterboarding and other amusing non-torture interview techniques in order to extract crucial investor information.
• American Idle --The 'idle rich' report by Paris Hilton, featuring the latest exposés directly from the wellspring of the trickle-down economy.
• Prison Break-- Five-minute updates hosted by Andrew Fastow, Conrad Black and Lou Pearlman, live from their offices in U.S. Federal government facilities.

Continue reading Here's how Fox Business Network can get viewers

Here's how Fox Business Network can get viewers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst of 2006. Vote for it as the Money Story of the Year or check out the other nominees in the category.

The demise of Enron will likely turn out to be the biggest business story of the decade -- maybe even the century. The once $60 billion market cap energy trading giant dissolved into worthlessness in an ugly morass of accounting fraud and human greed in late 2001.

But 2006 was the year in the long, sad saga that some justice was finally meted out to Enron's top executives. Former chief executives Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were both convicted in the spring on charges including securities fraud, making false statements, and conspiracy. Enron's former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow was sentenced to six years in jail after he pleaded guilty to several charges of securities fraud and agreed to testify against his former bosses.

But the Enron story continued to provide shocking twists, even at this stage. Ken Lay died suddenly of a heart attack in July. BloggingStocks readers not only doubted that he had died of natural causes (many suspected suicide), but others doubted he had died at all.

Lay's conviction was vacated in October because he died before his sentencing. That seems to have preserved his wealth for his heirs.

Jeff Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in jail in late October. When we wrote about the sentence, 64% of readers responding to a poll said the jail time was too short. Skilling, at his sentencing, continued to profess his innocence.

Best & Worst: Enron's ugly end game: Skilling's sentencing, Lay's untimely death originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Dec 2006 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

'Enron: The Musical' opens today in Houston originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.