Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott was sued for insider trading

[babylonsister]

Rick Scott once sued by Fla. for insider trading, records show

The state of Florida sued Rick Scott for insider trading in 1997 when he was CEO of hospital chain Columbia/HCA. The case was later dismissed.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND MICHAEL C. BENDER
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau


Rick Scott wants to be governor of a state that once sued him for insider trading.

In 1997, as the FBI unleashed a massive criminal investigation of Scott's hospital chain, Florida's State Board of Administration filed a civil lawsuit accusing Scott and his fellow hospital directors of profiting from a culture of corruption and selling stock 23 days before federal agents raided the company's offices in Texas.

Ultimately, the insider trading complaint was dismissed by a judge without trial, but not before an appeals court said that there was a chance that Scott should have known ``of the arrangements that allegedly violated health care laws and regulations.''

The Florida civil suit, which was separate from the federal investigation of Columbia/HCA that led to $1.7 billion in fines, was filed in Tennessee state court. But it was shelved in favor of a larger federal case that leveled many of the same claims as the Florida state suit. The list of defendants in the federal case also included Scott, who had been forced out as the company's CEO on July 25, 1997, about two weeks before the civil actions were filed.

The suit was settled six years later for about $14 million. Scott was never criminally charged.

The old lawsuits, which the Herald/Times obtained Thursday as part of a state public records request, add another detail to the governor's race between Scott, a Republican, and Florida's Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, a Democrat.


more...

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/14/1874171/rick-scott-once-sued-by-fla-for.html

[malaise]

1. Jeb Bush's dear candidate

Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are

[DrDan]

2. he fits the Florida Governor's mold - Jeb's wife was a smuggler

http://www.mail-archive.com/[e-mail]/msg16671.html

[Ineeda]

3. And yet, the polls are at 47 for Sink and 41 for Scott

It boggles the mind. Yes, she's ahead, but still, how can it be even this close? It should be a landslide for Sink. Politically, Florida sucks. It's the same locally - actual criminals outspending and out polling good, decent candidates. (But I sure love the weather!)

[babylonsister]

4. I can only hope this story, along with all the other negative ones

about Scott, gets some legs and informs.