From the Wall Street Journal:

In testimony this morning, Jerry Arnold, a defense consultant and accounting professor at the University of Southern California, testified that [tag]Enron[/tag] wasn’t required to [tag]write down[/tag] declines in the value of its international operations that weren’t slated to be sold and that Enron hadn’t determined were permanent. He said his review found no evidence of either.

Government witnesses had previously testified that several businesses had fallen sharply in value and that Messrs. Lay and Skilling choose not to write down the book value, [tag]misleading investors[/tag] during a time of heightened concern about the company’s operations. Mr. Arnold rejected their testimony as incorrect or incomplete. He said today that he was paid $600,000 for his work.

It was 1998.

As the end of the first quarter rolled around, the finance division was scrambling again. If nothing was done, Enron was going to miss its earnings projections. A little extra creativity was needed to close the gap.

The drug Ketek, made by the drug company Aventis (now Sanofi-Aventis SA) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early 2004. But recent reports of severe liver damage to those taking the drug have come to light.

The drug was approved after completion of study 3014, which included [tag]clinical trials[/tag] of over 24,000 people. The doctor who treated the most patients in the study, Maria “Anne” Kirkman Campbell is currently in federal prison after pleading guilty to [tag]defrauding drug companies[/tag] with fabricated data. Another doctor who participated with a significant number of patients in the clinical trials has since had his license revoked.

Study 3014 was commenced by Aventis in 2001 at the request of the FDA. The FDA was concerned about liver damage and other side effects of Ketek, and would not approve the drug without further testing. The FDA has since decided that the data from the study cannot be relied upon.

Aventis discovered [tag]irregularities[/tag] with more than one doctor in the clinical trials, but did not alert the FDA to any problems with study 3014. It is the FDA’s policy that if a drug company suspects [tag]fraud[/tag] during a study, the company should inform the FDA right away.

Ketek was formally approved by the FDA on April 1, 2004 as a treatment for sinusitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia. The FDA approved its use despite the problems with study 3014, citing other smaller studies that the FDA believes provided accurate data.

Read the whole story in the Wall Street Journal.

Believe it or not, family members are notorious for stealing more from companies than regular employees. Why? Who knows! It could be greed or entitlement. It could be lax controls around family members and their job duties. It could be an unspoken rule that managers overlook the theft.

Whatever the reason, it can cost the companies lots of money. Read my article about [tag]fraud[/tag] in [tag]family business[/tag] here.

The six week G-sting trial in Las Vegas will conclude this week with closing arguments. The trial has included tape from FBI wiretaps, undercover videos, and testimony about politicians and [tag]bribes[/tag]. Former Clark County commissioners Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey are on trial for federal charges of [tag]conspiracy[/tag], [tag]wire fraud[/tag] and [tag]extortion[/tag] under color of official right.

The witnesses included former commission Erin Kenny (who has pleaded guilty) and strip club owner Michael Galardi, who both testified for the prosecution. Galardi said that he gave bags of cash to politicians, in addition to sex from strippers, dancers, and other club employees.

Herrera admitted to having sex behind the bushes with one of Gilardi’s employees during a golf outing. He also said he received lap dances at one of Galardi’s clubs and had an affair with one of Galardi’s employees.

Galardi testified that he had sex with Kenny at least six times, which she denies. He also said that he paid Herrera $200,000 from 1999 through 2003 and $85,000 to Kincaid-Chauncey. Galardi’s goal was to make Jaguars, a strip club he was opening in 2002, the biggest and best in Las Vegas. He said he needed the county commission’s help to do that.