Sino-Forest independent committee appoints PwC [Reuters]
Canada’s Sino-Forest Corp said late on Monday that an independent committee set up to review fraud allegations raised by Muddy Waters, appointed accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to assist with the investigations. Sino-Forest, which operates plantations in over 10 provinces in China, accused short-seller Muddy Waters of defamation. A Muddy Waters report alleged that Sino-Forest had exaggerated its Chinese forestry assets.
HSBC in $62.5 Million Madoff Settlement [WSJ]
HSBC Holdings PLC on Tuesday said it has agreed to pay $62.5 million to investors in a fund it serviced that lost money from the Bernard Madoff fraud, without admitting any wrongdoing. In a regulatory filing, the bank said it has entered a settlement with Thema investors who brought a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and that it shouldn’t be construed an admission of wrongdoing or liability.
Does Busier Job Equal Happier Marriage? [WSJ]
Working moms tend to be happier with their marriages when they are shouldering heavy workloads on the job, says a four-year study of 169 couples published recently in the Journal of Family Psychology. One reason may be that when working moms’ workloads increase, their husbands tend to help out more at home, researchers suggest.
Man pleads guilty to selling counterfeit financial and tax preparation software [Fox19]
According to a court documents, Davis purchased software by download or on a CD, with accompanying label and packaging that was protected by copyright, namely Quicken and Turbo Tax software manufactured by Intuit, Inc. Davis copied each CD of original software multiple times without permission and created counterfeit packaging and labeling for the CDs.
Groupon Chairman Remarks May Require Company to Make New Filing Before IPO [Bloomberg]
Remarks by Groupon Inc. Chairman Eric Lefkofsky, who said the money-losing daily-coupon provider will be “wildly profitable,” may force the company to make new filings before it sells shares to the public. Lefkofsky, Groupon’s co-founder and biggest shareholder, made the comments June 3, a day after Chicago-based Groupon announced plans to raise $750 million in an initial public offering.
Family accused of stealing $13M from energy firm [HC]
Harris County prosecutors today said a former accountant and several members of her family stole more than $13 million from a Houston oil and gas company over 10 years. Nancy Moreno is accused of paying dummy accounts with company money while working at Davis-Lynch, an oilfield service company. Moreno set up the bogus accounts to funnel money to herself and several relatives. “She was a trusted employee,” said prosecutor Wendy Baker. “It took years to build that trust, and every single day when she went to work she stole money from them.”
