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High court avoids dispute over highway crosses
Court News |
2011/10/31 03:42
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The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal of a ruling that 12-foot-high crosses along Utah highways in honor of dead state troopers violate the Constitution.
The justices voted 8-1 Monday to reject an appeal from Utah and a state troopers' group that wanted the court to throw out the ruling and take a more permissive view of religious symbols on public land.
Since 1998, the private Utah Highway Patrol Association has paid for and erected more than a dozen memorial crosses, most of them on state land. Texas-based American Atheists Inc. and three of its Utah members sued the state in 2005.
The federal appeals court in Denver said the crosses were an unconstitutional endorsement of Christianity by the Utah state government.
Justice Clarence Thomas issued a 19-page opinion dissenting from Monday's order. Thomas said the case offered the court the opportunity to clear up confusion over its approach to disputes over the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, the prohibition against governmental endorsement of religion.
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Chinese companies plan to invest $933 mln in Saab
Stock Market News |
2011/10/31 02:41
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A Swedish court ruled Monday that Saab can continue its reconstruction after reviewing two Chinese companies' plans to invest €660 million ($933 million) in the struggling brand and cut 500 jobs.
Vanersborg District Court made its ruling after reviewing the plans by Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co. and hearing comments by creditors, said court spokesman Peter Rosen.
The two Chinese companies said they can provide €50 million ($71 million) in immediate bridge-financing to the car maker while it is being reorganized. They also plan to inject €610 million ($863 million) to restart production, settle the company's debts and fund operations between 2012 and 2013.
The companies reached a tentative deal on Friday to buy Saab from Swedish Automobile, the Dutch company previously known as Spyker Cars, for €100 million ($141 million) — the latest rescue attempt for the company, which has been fighting for survival since it was sold by General Motors Co. in 2010.
If the deal is completed and approved by regulators it would mean that both of Sweden's car makers end up in Chinese hands. Last year, China's Geely Holding Group bought Volvo Cars from Ford Motor Co. for $1.5 billion.
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Pensions the latest political risk for RI governor
Topics in Legal News |
2011/10/31 02:41
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In 10 months in office, Gov. Lincoln Chafee has managed to anger an impressive assortment of constituencies: business leaders and organized labor, medical marijuana advocates and critics of illegal immigration.
It's been a bumpy ride for the nation's only independent governor, who insists he's only doing what is necessary to stabilize government finances and heal the state's frail economy. But so far Chafee is winning criticism faster than compliments, a risky move for a politician without a party elected by less than half of Rhode Island's voters.
"This is a tough year — there are no surprises there," Chafee told the Associated Press during a recent interview. "This year's budget was one of the worst. ... We're facing a very difficult economy. My belief is the status quo is unacceptable here in Rhode Island. Changes have to be made."
There's no question Chafee took office during one of the most challenging times in Ocean State history. The state's jobless rate remains stubbornly high at 10 percent. The financially troubled city of Central Falls was forced to seek bankruptcy protection. A state budget deficit that once stood at $300 million led to difficult spending cuts even as the state's long-looming pension crisis further destabilized government coffers.
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Chavez orders more land taken from British firm
Topics in Legal News |
2011/10/31 01:41
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Venezuela's president on Sunday ordered the expropriation of 716,590 acres belonging to a British-owned company amid a disagreement over compensation for earlier takeovers of ranchland from the firm.
President Hugo Chavez announced the latest seizure after saying that Venezuela refuses to pay compensation in foreign currency to Agropecuaria Flora, a local subsidiary of the British company Vestey Group.
Chavez said the government had received a demand from the company that it be paid in dollars for the previous seizure of tens of thousands of acres. But the government insists in paying in bolivars, Venezuela's currency.
It's difficult for foreign companies operating in Venezuela to repatriate profits and other income in bolivars due to foreign currency controls in the South American country.
Representatives of Agropecuaria Flora did not answer telephone calls seeking comment Sunday.
Venezuela's expropriation of farm and ranch lands began in earnest in 2005, with the government employing a 2001 law allowing it to seize lands deemed idle or not adequately used. |
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Koss Settles SEC Action and Shareholder Class Action
Court Watch |
2011/10/27 09:45
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Koss Corporation, the U.S. based high-fidelity stereo headphone company, and its Chief Executive Officer, Michael J. Koss, agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission without admitting or denying the Commission's charges in an action that stems from the previously reported embezzlement by the Company's former Vice President of Finance, Sujata Sachdeva. Ms. Sachdeva is currently serving an eleven year prison sentence for her crimes. The Company also announced that a settlement in principle has been reached subject to Court approval involving the claims that were brought against the Company and Michael Koss in a pending shareholder class action.
"The restated financial statements that we filed with the Commission back in June 2010 describe in detail the theft that occurred within our Company and the ways that the embezzlement was concealed from members of the Board and, in particular, from Michael Koss," said David D. Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Smith observed that, "Although as a smaller reporting Company, Koss was not required to have its internal controls attested to by the Company's auditors, it was clear that the auditors reviewed the Company's internal controls each year as part of planning their substantive testing, and the Company's financial statements were audited each year." Those audits failed to detect the embezzlement and underlying accounting fraud that was committed against the Company.
Immediately upon discovering the embezzlements in December 2009, the Company disclosed the occurrence to its shareholders, the securities markets, securities regulators and federal law enforcement authorities. Moreover, the Commission publicly acknowledged that the Company and Michael Koss cooperated throughout the course of its investigation.
"The Company and I entered into these settlements," said Mr. Koss, "in order to close an unfortunate chapter in our Company's history. The settlement with the Commission imposes no financial penalty on the Company and requires us to comply with the law, which is exactly what we've always sought to do."
On a personal level, Mr. Koss pointed out that he previously and voluntarily reimbursed the Company for excess bonuses that he received from the Company that were based on profits that were eliminated in the restatements. His agreement in the settlement to further reimburse the Company for the full amount of those bonuses reflects a decision not to enter into a debate over the SEC staff's interpretation of Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related provisions contained in the Dodd-Frank Act, and to put this matter behind himself and the Company. "Regardless of the differing interpretations of Section 304, I believe that reimbursing this additional amount is just the right thing to do given the circumstances," he said.
In a separate matter, the Company announced that it had reached a settlement in principle of the shareholder class action that involves a total payment of $1 million to the shareholders included within the class. This amount will be funded by the Company's insurance company, with any fee awarded to plaintiffs' counsel to be paid out of the $1 million settlement.
These two settlements along with the previously announced settlement from this past summer of the shareholder derivative lawsuit filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court conclude the major actions that the Company was defending as a result of Ms. Sachdeva's embezzlement. The Company still has pending certain actions that it filed against its former auditor, former bank, and former credit card company.
Koss Corporation markets a complete line of high-fidelity stereo headphones, speaker-phones, computer headsets, telecommunications headsets, active noise canceling stereophones, wireless stereophones, and compact disc recordings of American Symphony Orchestras on the Koss Classics label.
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Investment Fraud Litigation |
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Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
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The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Securities Law News as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case. | Affordable Law Firm Website Design by Law Promo |
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