Business, Finance, & Economics: October 2009 Archives

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Hector Ruiz, the former chief executive of Advanced Micro Devices Inc., was the unnamed executive who federal investigators say disclosed confidential information about AMD's manufacturing plans to New York hedge fund executives last year. Ruiz has been linked to a wide-ranging insider trading case that led to charges of securities fraud against six people this month.  All six defendants in the case have pleaded not guilty. If they are convicted, they face prison terms of up to 20 years and penalties for any profits they made trading on the inside information.

Michael Perino, a professor and securities expert at St. John's University School of Law, said that generally speaking, the exchange of confidential information is often the result of hubris, but it can also come from a feeling of invincibility.  "Sometimes, people think there is a very low probability that they'll actually get caught," Perino said. "Sometimes, it's a matter of prestige, showing you're someone who knows what's going on."

Source: www.statesman.com.

A federal jury Monday convicted tax protester and author Peter Hendrickson on 10 counts of filing false documents.  Hendrickson, 54, of Commerce Township, MI, and the author of "Cracking the Code," could face prison when he is sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen on Feb. 9. Each count is a three-year felony.  Hendrickson's trial began Oct. 20 on charges he falsely reported zero or nominal income on his 2000-06 tax returns when he earned tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Testifying in his own defense, Hendrickson told jurors that income tax is an excise tax and excise taxes may only be levied upon those who benefit from a government privilege such as a government job. But the government called forensic accounting expert witnesses from the Internal Revenue Service who rejected Hendrickson's arguments. Hendrickson, who is free on bond to await his sentencing, was convicted in 1992 for failing to file a federal income tax return and for a conspiracy involving a fire bomb placed in a bin at a Royal Oak post office.

Source: detnews.com.

The Yearning For Zion Ranch trial begins today and will be the first of 10 criminal trials for men in the sect. The state claims FLDS members prey on their children by marrying girls to older men, often their blood relatives while FLDS leaders and members claim the state is persecuting it for practicing its religion.

Jessop, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the charge of sexual assault of a minor, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison. Defense attorneys have launched a variety of actions since the April 2008 raid, among them motions earlier this year to have the evidence seized at the ranch suppressed, arguing that the original search warrant was flawed, and in the past week a 25-page consolidated motion to have the original indictments against all the men quashed because of the 12 grand jury members only one was Hispanic, although the population of Schleicher County includes more than 37 percent Hispanic people.

One name on the witness list is John P. “Jack” Sampson, a University of Texas law professor who said Friday he had been called as an expert witness on Texas family code provisions regarding marriages.  Other witnesses on the list include numerous law enforcement officers, officials from the Department of Family and Protective Services, former sect member and author Carolyn Jessop, three sect members from the YFZ Ranch, a Denton attorney, forensic accounting experts and clerks from check cashing stores.

Excerpted from gosanangelo.com.