Romney on Board: Marriott accused of cheating clients on his watch

[Octafish]

Lucy Komisar helped write the book on offshore tax dodging and control fraud artistry. Here's what she's found on Mitt.

Romney on Board: Marriott accused of cheating clients on his watch

100Reporters, Jan 19, 2012

Mitt Romney, who makes his hands-on business experience a talking point in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, was a member of the board of directors and audit committee of a global company when it paid millions of dollars to settle charges of extracting kickbacks that cheated clients.

The company is Marriott International and the accusers were hotel owners who had hired Marriott to manage their properties under the Marriott name.

SNIP...

As a board member, Romney held oversight responsibilities at a time when Marriott was repeatedly accused of obtaining secret rebates that enriched Marriott at the expense of hotel owners who had hired Marriott to run the hotels on their behalf. A series of owners also accused Marriott of falsifying financial statements to conceal the arrangements—charges that Marriott had denied, and yet still paid $24 million to settle.

SNIP...

These were not the only allegations of illicit kickbacks that Marriott faced while Romney was on the board. Another of Marriott’s partners, Strategic Hotel Capital of Chicago, also accused Marriott of double-dealing in kickbacks and rebates. Marriott ran a string of premier hotels in California for Strategic, including the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, the Rancho Las Palmas Marriott and the Renaissance Beverly Hills. Strategic sued Marriott in 2002, alleging that Marriott had failed to honor its January 2000 contract to provide services at a fair and honest price to the hotel owners.

CONTINUED...

http://www.thekomisarscoop.com/2012/01/romney-on-board/

The guy is toast.

PS: Hey, Mitt! Who's a "crony capitalist" now?

[Scurrilous]

1. Thanks.

K & R

[Octafish]

3. The man should have a statue named after him, for all those bridges he's sold.

The guy's a textbook case of how bidniss is done these days: Grab all you can as quick as you can when you can.

[siligut]

2. Ugh, that slimey smile of his.

I will never stay at a Marriot, never. The environment just smells of oppression and smarm.

[Octafish]

4. It's the Plastic Shrink Wrap of Smiles

When Romney resigned from the board to run for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr. praised him as “an extraordinarily effective director and visionary leader.” He credited Romney with “incisive analysis, unerring judgment, and a tremendous dedication to help our company become the world’s hospitality leader,” adding, “Mitt has been an active, hands-on director.”

Insider much?