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GLOBAL CROSSING UNDER INQUIRY OF PANEL: Reps query bankrupt telecoms' accounting practices
NY TIMES ^ | 3/21/02 | Simon Romero

Posted on 03/21/2002 1:34:03 AM PST by Liz

The House Financial Services Committee is scheduled to hold the first Congressional hearing today on fallout from the bankruptcy filing of Global Crossing, whose financial collapse has fueled concerns about accounting practices at some telecommunications companies.

Global Crossing, which is based in Bermuda but is managed from offices in Madison, N.J., and Beverly Hills, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection in late January. The company, which says it has more than $22 billion in assets, has been accused of using questionable transactions to inflate its revenue improperly.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the F.B.I. are investigating Global Crossing's accounting practices. At the heart of the inquiries are accusations that Global Crossing used its elaborate worldwide fiber optic network to engineer questionable swaps of communications capacity with other carriers.

"Global Crossing's downfall has helped to inhibit capital formation and investor confidence across the telecommunications industry," said Peggy Peterson, a spokeswoman for Representative Michael G. Oxley, the Ohio Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee.

The hearing is one of a series of meetings by the committee responding to questions raised by the financial collapses of Enron and Global Crossing. John J. Legere, the chief executive of Global Crossing, and Dan Cohrs, its chief financial officer, are scheduled to testify.

Executives from Qwest Communications of Denver and Cable and Wireless of Britain, two communications companies whose dealings with Global Crossing are part of the S.E.C. investigation, are expected to testify. Also scheduled to testify are an executive from WorldCom, the long-distance carrier whose accounting practices are under S.E.C. investigation, and John Morrissey, a deputy chief accountant at the S.E.C.

A second House panel, the Energy and Commerce Committee, has begun an investigation of Global Crossing, focusing on its accounting practices, executive stock sales and the role of its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen.

The committee, whose chairman is Representative Billy Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana, is asking Global Crossing and its business partners for documents. It is expected to hold its first hearing on Tuesday.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: accountingatissue; globalcrossing; gx; hearings

1 posted on 03/21/2002 1:34:03 AM PST by Liz
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To: Bayou City;Black Jade;ernest_ at_ the_ beach;d14truth;dog;grampadave; tumbleweedconnection
ping
2 posted on 03/21/2002 2:27:47 AM PST by Liz
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To: Liz
Have you noticed how the Dems interest in Enron seems to be declining as more info about GC and Enron and the Clintons starts to surface.....
3 posted on 03/21/2002 2:46:06 AM PST by ken5050
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To: ken5050
Yup. Trying to pin it on the Repubs has not worked. Clinton and the DemonRats are up
to their eyeballs in Enron slime, Global Crossing (and God knows what else will come out).
4 posted on 03/21/2002 2:53:49 AM PST by Liz
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To: Liz
And the economic terrorists are still freely moving about the country. Where is the Justice Department when you need it? Or should I say JUST US?
5 posted on 03/21/2002 3:11:04 AM PST by PGalt
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To: Liz
Didn't Carville advise Terry McA to release his trading records.......and have you noticed how low-profile Terry's been lately?
6 posted on 03/21/2002 3:14:40 AM PST by ken5050
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To: ken5050
...... have you noticed how low-profile Terry's been lately?

Yup. And remember the one question we need to have answered is ....
....where did McAwful get the $100 thou to invest in GX?
When we have the answer, a lot of the criminalty will surface.

Any guesses?

7 posted on 03/21/2002 3:46:04 AM PST by Liz
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To: PGalt
And the economic terrorists are still freely moving about the country.
Where is the Justice Department when you need it? Or should I say JUST US?

Another Clinton legacy. The conniving Clintons' decade of excess brought all of this on us.
Personally, I'd exonerate the Enron-GX crooks in exchange for the indictment of just one Clinton.

8 posted on 03/21/2002 3:52:00 AM PST by Liz
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To: ken5050

With apologies to and much empathy for those who have lost so much in the Enron debacle, this is a MUCH BIGGER story than Enron.

The DEMS are in this up to their freakin' eyeballs and if the Chicoms get their hands on the most extensive fiber network on the planet, the results could be serious beyond our imagination.

9 posted on 03/21/2002 4:18:51 AM PST by Dick Bachert
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To: Liz
A Wall Street Journal editorial page column has a funny take on this, posted here.
10 posted on 03/21/2002 4:29:57 AM PST by Petronski
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To: Petronski
Thanks for the link......great story.

C-Span did a segment on GX Wednesday. Forbes Ntl Editor said to the extent, most if not all
of GX transactions were criminal enterprises, for the express purpose of pumpimg stock prices.

11 posted on 03/21/2002 5:06:15 AM PST by Liz
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To: Liz
Does anyone want to make any bets on if the media will pay as much attention to this as they did ENRON?
12 posted on 03/21/2002 5:17:06 AM PST by Piquaboy
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To: Piquaboy
Nah.......there's so few "sure things" lately......
13 posted on 03/21/2002 5:20:34 AM PST by Liz
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To: Liz
Good find and post, Liz!

The NY Slimes does its spiking and dry cleaning of the news on Global Crossing as usual.

There was not a single mention of the $'s dumped into the Rats, including their chief rat $ collector, McA!

Here are the only two mentions of party affliation, two repubies, who had nothing to do with the current Double Crossing Demise:

"Global Crossing's downfall has helped to inhibit capital formation and investor confidence across the telecommunications industry," said Peggy Peterson, a spokeswoman for Representative Michael G. Oxley, the Ohio Republican who heads the House Financial Services Committee.

The committee, whose chairman is Representative Billy Tauzin, Republican of Louisiana, is asking Global Crossing and its business partners for documents. It is expected to hold its first hearing on Tuesday.

The NY Slimes working 24/7 to spread the agenda of the Rats and to protect the Rats when caught in crimes and wrong doings!

14 posted on 03/21/2002 9:36:14 AM PST by Grampa Dave
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To: Grampa Dave
The Slimes strikes again....you nailed it Gramps. They've completely buried McAwful's role.
Betcha boots if Pubbies turned $100 thou into $18 mill it'd be trumpeted to kingdom come.

I've said it before. I'll say it again, we need to know once and for all........
........where did McAwful get the $100 to invest in GX?........
......when we get the answer to that...........baby, watch out....

15 posted on 03/21/2002 10:00:26 AM PST by Liz
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To: *GlobalCrossing
Check the Bump List folders for articles related to and descriptions of the above topic(s) or for other topics of interest.
16 posted on 03/21/2002 11:35:23 AM PST by Free the USA
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