The former president and chief operating officer of HealthSouth Corp., James P. Bennett, was indicted on Thursday for his alleged part in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud that occurred from 1996 to 2002. HealthSouth was the country's largest operator of rehabilitation hospitals.Prosecutors have accused Mr.

The Law News Network -- Five individuals have been charged in federal court with participating in a massive tax and insurance fraud scheme in connection with their operation of temporary employment agencies in Southeastern Massachusetts. They are accused of paying employees over $30 million in cash "under-the-table" in order to evade millions of dollars in payroll taxes and workers compensation premiums for their businesses. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Joseph A. Galasso, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; Kenneth W.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. has agreed to pay $850 million to settle civil fraud charges brought by New York state's attorney general and the state insurance department, the Wall Street Journal reported.The agreement also involves an apology to the clients of the New York City-based financial services company, which allegedly rigged bids for insurance contracts and directed business to insurance companies that paid lucrative “contingent commissions" to the Marsh Inc. insurance brokerage.

Back in October of 2004, Thomas Trauger pled guilty to falsifying records in a federal investigation in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. He admitted as part of this plea that he knowingly altered, destroyed and falsified records with the intent to impede and obstruct an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is one of the first cases of document destruction brought under the recently enacted Sarbanes-Oxley Act. U.S. Attorney Kevin V.

If fears of identity theft haven't sent you to the nearest office supply store to buy a shredder, a new law may be just the push you need.A law that goes into effect June 1 says that you must “destroy” personal information — shred it, burn it or pulverize it — of all people you employ, even if it's just one person and it's the gardener, USA Today reported.

Penthouse International Inc.

A federal judge has ruled that because contracts BDO Seidman LLP had with tax-shelter clients were fraudulent, the contracts' arbitration clauses are unenforceable, which means the case will be heard in court, the Wall Street Journal reported.U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin of New York signed the ruling on Jan.

Samuel Waksal, the former CEO of ImClone Systems Inc., and his father, Jack Waksal, have agreed to a final resolution of the insider trading case brought against them by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In documents filed on Wednesday with the federal court in Manhattan, Sam Waksal and Jack Waksal, without admitting or denying the allegations in the Commission's complaint, consented to pay more than $5 million in disgorgement and civil penalties from their unlawful trades in ImClone securities.

Richard Hatch might have been television's first “Survivor,” but the IRS has a different name for Hatch: alleged tax cheat.The Associated Press reported that Hatch, a resident of Newport, RI, was charged last week with failing to report his $1.01 million earnings from the show as well as some $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station for 2001 appearances.