Halliburton faces NEW class-action lawsuit

[Bryan330i]

Yahoooooo...It’s about damn time, I have been waiting for this for what seems like forever. These guys were some of the biggest scam artists around. I have read every Halliburton report several times and I tell you what these people were doing is WORSE than organized crime IMO.

Now I can tell my accounting students-“see, crime in the financial markets still does not always pay.” I just hope some thieves get nailed hard and don’t walk away with another 7.5 million-dollar slap on the wrist.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1896&ncid=1896&e=1&u=/nm/20040806/us_nm/energy_halliburton_lawsuit_dc

 

[Tom]

hehe...Bryan, you catch this article yet? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5613296/

 

[Bryan330i]

Thats a good one!

 

[epj3]

Bryan - That whole thing pisses me off. I can't believe there are people out there who don't see the scandals going on -- Haliburton gives bush campaign funds. Bush picks haliburton's former CEO and current majority share holder as his VP, and then they 'win' the lowest bid for the war in Iraq which was starting using "INTELLIGENCE" from a unreliable CIA source (which was in charge, geesh!) and the RUSSIANS. We were told they had WMD and were an immediate threat, and we found NOTHING. The only thing we did was find Saddam which simply takes the WHOLE REASON FOR THE WAR being a FAILURE off of people's minds becuase we feel that we helped them. Then Haliburton charged THREE TIMES the quoted costs and then RECENTLY reportedly lost over 9 billion dollars of supplies, like computers, desks, etc.

All while haliburton made money, cheney's stocks went up, and bush will get more campaign money.

And people will still vote for this fool? Holy crap -- seriously, I've had 18 years to educate myself on politics (School didn't help much except help explain how everything works), and there are 50 year old people out there who some how can not SEE what is happening.

The point? People who are pro-bush are pro-tax cuts. We're using all this money right now - and having haliburton directly rip off tax payers. Taxes must be raised eventually to even everything out. I don't like paying taxes either, it's not like i'm PRO-Tax INCREASES! But they aren't going away. I'd rather pay an equal amount each year (obviously changing on my income), instead of getting a little break for 4 of those years, then having to make up for it the next EIGHT years.

 

[aNoodle]

Let's not get all conspiratorial. I don't think Bush intentionally invaded Iraq because he figured he could pay back his biggest campaign contributors with war. No doubt, Bush has shown he lacked the right leadership--there were no WMDs, the populous is not grateful, the oil field won't pay for reconstruction, our go-it-alone strategy has alienated us from our friends and allys--that's why it's a constant harangue of "leadership" and "making tough choices" blah blah blah. The PR machine is attempting to meet their greatest weakness with a strong offense. Gotta give 'em credit for some nice rhetoric.

Cheney was the head of an extremely large company. He never had any substantive executive experience in business and he wasn't hired really to do that. He was chosen by Haliburton cuz he was the former defense secratary and Haliburton's biggest business is the government. He did a good job. He couldn't know what was going on at every level of a huge company while he was its chief executive. Many companies were playing fast and loose with the financial reporting prior to Enron and Worldcom. It's not fair to hold Cheney out to a higher standard.

 

[epj3]

Let's not get all conspiratorial. I don't think Bush intentionally invaded Iraq because he figured he could pay back his biggest campaign contributors with war. No doubt, Bush has shown he lacked the right leadership--there were no WMDs, the populous is not grateful, the oil field won't pay for reconstruction, our go-it-alone strategy has alienated us from our friends and allys--that's why it's a constant harangue of "leadership" and "making tough choices" blah blah blah. The PR machine is attempting to meet their greatest weakness with a strong offense. Gotta give 'em credit for some nice rhetoric.

Cheney was the head of an extremely large company. He never had any substantive executive experience in business and he wasn't hired really to do that. He was chosen by Haliburton cuz he was the former defense secratary and Haliburton's biggest business is the government. He did a good job. He couldn't know what was going on at every level of a huge company while he was its chief executive. Many companies were playing fast and loose with the financial reporting prior to Enron and Worldcom. It's not fair to hold Cheney out to a higher standard.

I understand what you're saying and it's a good point. But most of what I said still holds true. How can the government not know, even after a month, that they were being ripped off? The largest financial institution in the WORLD and they can't control their money.

 

[Bryan330i]

I’m not sure who had knowledge and who did not. It’s only logical that the senior officer without question had to know this was going on unless he was a complete idiot. Realizing that this position is strategic and not hands-on operational is still not an excuse for the level of fraud present in the company. Sure, they can play dumb, but to be a good strategic player you must know facts.

No, the war was not about making profits for Halliburton. But if the case is allowed to proceed fully I think we will finally see who was involved. Enron is the same type of deal, it’s taken some time and despite efforts to keep things quite, more continues to surface.

For Chaney to not know what was happening he would need to be very oblivious or there was a very well planned method to keep very significant information from him. This would have required success for years without facts ever surfacing as most CEO’s know their situation very well as it is their responsibility to convey this to the world and certainly their shareholders.

Halliburton is not that big. Many CEO’s keep in touch with big litigation, significant accounting changes (and approve them), and other significant activity of companies that are much larger. They also sign off on annual reports, all of which I have for Halliburton and I see nothing about accounting changes or litigation or missing $$$$.

The simple fact is situations like this are almost always planned fraud. So many others are successful at running companies correctly and these situations are definitely the slim minority but we cannot ignore anyone when this happens.

 

[Bryan330i]

It's not fair to hold Cheney out to a higher standard.

But Chaney seems to be the only one getting away?

Do you know of another that has not been charged or pursued?

 

[Abdoman]

Halliburton is not that big.

Not that big??

Really?

http://www.halliburton.com/about/index.jsp

 

[Bryan330i]

I have sat through 3 presentations by CEO’s of companies with 3.5x or more employees than Halliburton. Like Chaney, they all referred to very intimate details of their respective companies. Interesting how such important things can escape someone though.


Yes, Halliburton is big. But are we saying so big it could not be managed? What about the many others that are MUCH bigger?

 

[Abdoman]

Look, I have worked for a few very large corporations, one in which which I know that one particular company would report shipped and billed inventory before we actually built or shipped it. Now, did the parent company know? NO, they did not. Is it reflected in our earnings - Yes.

When you have so many branches and 100,000 employees, it's impossible to know that some things are happening in 120 different countries.

 

[Bryan330i]

They changed accounting procedures and this was not disclosed! This is a CEO issue. They made large undisclosed settlements, again a CEO issue. Adjustments were made at the corporate level, not the operational level, to significantly influence the bottom line.

These are the reasons Halliburton is trying to settle so quickly-BECAUSE THIS IS FRAUD!

This is entirely different that what you are talking about. You are taking only about period revenue and profit and this is not uncommon. There is also not a net difference in the end because this would need to be adjusted; your company would not report negative inventory. But it's very different than what Halliburton was doing which is far less common because it's illegal.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 basically requires the CEO to take responsibility to prevent excuses.

If your company does what Halliburton did you (as the COE) are either a criminal or an extremely poor manager. Period. And this is why they are paying fines and settling cases ASAP. This one however may prove to be more difficult to buy their way out of.

 

[epj3]

Look, I have worked for a few very large corporations, one in which which I know that one particular company would report shipped and billed inventory before we actually built or shipped it. Now, did the parent company know? NO, they did not. Is it reflected in our earnings - Yes.

When you have so many branches and 100,000 employees, it's impossible to know that some things are happening in 120 different countries.

You think if a large company like that could not be correctly managed, that these governments would allow them to operate in their countries? No! Also, do you think a large company, writing that many pay checks... could possibly stay in business and make profits if it was not managed well? Nope. Now haliburton as a whole, was managed so well that those in charge -- being corrupt -- took advantage of the power, and commited fraud.

The U.S. government (yes, it IS a "Business"), employs more than 100,000 people in all of its branches, and you are letting George W. Bush be in charge of that company? Haha.

 

[MyHarley]

And people will still vote for this fool? Holy crap -- seriously, I've had 18 years to educate myself on politics (School didn't help much except help explain how everything works), and there are 50 year old people out there who some how can not SEE what is happening.

you dont have to get so personal........I'm only 43 and I can SEE perfectly.......and on election day, it will still be BUSH.........

I''m in South Korea now, how's everyone doing?? I just want to come home, I dont care what anyone says about the US, I miss it, I want it, I love it......anyway it comes.......

 

[Bryan330i]

Chaney was not named in the case.

The fact that this is happening and a case has been filed is good and will show that just like with Enron and Worldcom, these activities will not be tolerated and hopefully we can all operate in the financial markets more confidently.

 

[Bryan330i]

I''m in South Korea now, how's everyone doing?? I just want to come home, I dont care what anyone says about the US, I miss it, I want it, I love it......anyway it comes.......

WOW, thats a long trip. I bet it's interesting over there. How are they with businesswoman? We always hear things and never can tell if they are true or not.

Take care!

 

[MyHarley]

Its definitely a long trip as I have been gone already for two weeks......but it is great life experiences. The Asian society is very gracious to me and business is taken very seriously and they see no difference in male or female. I've looked around and have not seen one other American woman or any caucasian woman for that matter, I'm kind of a novelty here....... they're very protective as well......cant let something happen to the American woman during their watch......

cheers!!

 

[tool fan]

Its definitely a long trip as I have been gone already for two weeks......but it is great life experiences. The Asian society is very gracious to me and business is taken very seriously and they see no difference in male or female. I've looked around and have not seen one other American woman or any caucasian woman for that matter, I'm kind of a novelty here....... they're very protective as well......cant let something happen to the American woman during their watch......

cheers!!

Glad to hear that you are enjoying yourself. How is the Yaki-man-du and Kimchi? MMMM that is some gooooood stuff. When you comin home?

 

[Abdoman]

You think if a large company like that could not be correctly managed, that these governments would allow them to operate in their countries? No! Also, do you think a large company, writing that many pay checks... could possibly stay in business and make profits if it was not managed well?

You really should quit making statements about things you know nothing about. I think my point was very clear that CEOs don't always know what is going on in the smaller divisions. They don't have time to know because they aren't there. Scandal in other countries is much more wide spread than it is in the US. The police and government can easily be bribed into turning a blind eye to unfair business practices. The US business hire agents in other countries to do their "dirty work" and act like they don't know what is going on.

As Bryan explained it above, it makes more sense that Halliburton should pay the penalty and if Chaney was involved, the he should too.