Lehman probe stalls; execs may escape charges: report

[cory777]

Source: Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A government probe into the fall of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc has hit so many snags that enforcement officials fear they may never be able to bring civil or criminal charges against company executives, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

According to the paper, Securities and Exchange Commission officials have begun to doubt they can prove that Lehman broke U.S. laws by moving nearly $50 billion in assets off its balance sheet to make it appear that the securities firm had lowered its debt burden.

Quoting people familiar with the situation, the Journal said SEC officials are also worried they might not win any lawsuit against former Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld Jr accusing him of improperly accounting for the value of a large real estate portfolio acquired with the takeover of Archstone-Smith Trust, or to hide losses to investors related to that deal.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110312/bs_nm/us_lehman_probe

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Activist News http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110312/bs_nm/us_lehman_probe

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. " I am shocked! I tell you"

[Bozita]

5. Your winnings, sir ...

:toast:

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Love your Bierce quote.

[aquart]

2. Stalls? You mean they aren't turning over evidence?

Grab some marshalls and tear apart every fucking thing they own. It works wonders.

[somone]

3. We gotta move forward

so we can innovate the next bubble

[Bozita]

4. SEC and DOJ are fucking cowards. Here's the full WSJ piece...

Banksters sure do seem to get a free pass. Just ask Martha Stewart.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597804576194871565429108.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

-snip-

A year ago, it looked as if the SEC and federal prosecutors had a road map to use against Lehman's former top executives. Last March, the Repo 105 transactions were condemned by court-appointed examiner Anton R. Valukas, who said in a report that they enabled Lehman to "paint a misleading picture of its financial condition."

In the transactions, Lehman swapped fixed-income assets for cash shortly before the securities firm reported quarterly results, promising to buy back the securities later. The cash was used to pay down the company's debts. Emails sent by executives at the company referred to Repo 105 as a "drug" and "basically window dressing."

Mr. Valukas concluded there were "colorable," or credible, legal claims against Ernst & Young, Mr. Fuld and former finance chiefs Ian Lowitt, Erin Callan and Christopher O'Meara.

All four former Lehman executives have been scrutinized by the SEC, according to people familiar with the matter. Their lawyers didn't respond to calls seeking comment. They previously have denied any wrongdoing related to Repo 105.

-snip-

more...

[western mass]

7. Cowards? no. Partners in Crime.

[chill_wind]

9. SEC Chief has ethics issues herself to answer for to Lawmakers this week:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/was-sec-appointment-of-fo_n_834110.html

Whatever happens, it's good that they revisited the broad nature of that FOIA exemption they didn't seem to know they gave her and SEC when they passed FinReG Reform-- heh.

She fought for less transparency, needless to say.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/data_mine/entry/2464/?utm_source=publicintegrity&utm_medium=related_heds&utm_campaign=side_v1

[truthisfreedom]

6. Surely there will be a sternly-worded letter.

Oh wait, don't call me Shirley.

[rooboy]

8. Oh it will be more serious than that...

they'll probably have them over for lunch.

[stockholmer]

10. "Is modern crime too complicated for the modern jury?" (and this article is from 5 years ago)

Wall street has signed up 95% of the lawyers who have Supreme Court level skills.



http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Is+modern+crime+too+complicated+for+the+modern+jury%3F-a0175164831

[JDPriestly]

11. Cover up. Pure and simple.