"HarryKrause" wrote in message
...
wrote:
It sounds like all you are looking for is a well spoken shyster who can
sweet talk and scam people out of their money and then write up a good
report of the transaction......sort of like your old job where you stole
money from union members....can you say Ullico?

Maybe you should recruit Chuck. He used to sell used cars and would be
perfect for your company.


Attempt to start snot fight noted. Again.

What's that whine-line you trot out when people take your bait,
something about obsession? I wish you'd revive that old chestnut you
used to rely on, "It must suck to be you!" A little variety would be
appreciated.

Cast elsewhere, a tiny nibble but no bite here.



Indeed. Incidentally, there were never any accusations ULLICO stole money
from union members. Au contraire; part of ULLICO's problem in its
insurance business was that it was using investment income to subsidize
health insurance premiums it charged member unions and their members.

No policyholder has lost a nickel because of ULLICO, nor failed to have
legitimate claims paid, and no one with any brains has made such a charge.
ULLICO's problem was that certain senior officers and board members took
advantage of corporate rules that allowed them to buy and sell privately
held shares on terms more advantageous than those offered the small list
of remaining shareholders. Ownership of ULLICO shares is limited to unions
and their financial agents, members of the board, and senior officers of
the company.


You've read Harry's spin about what happened. Now here's the truth from a
report issued by the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs:



( The 98-page majority staff report can be accessed on NLPC's website at
http://www.nlpc.org/pdfs/ULLICO%20Report.pdf.)



Key findings of the report include the following:



Although ULLICO (Union Labor Life Insurance Company) was a corporation
directed by leaders of organized labor, Georgine and other mgrs. structured
stock transactions largely for the benefit of insiders rather than the union
members whose unions and pension funds were the company's primary
shareholders. In the late 90s, ULLICO invested $7.6 million in Global
Crossing and realized an after-tax gain of about $305 million. These gains
temporarily masked operating losses in ULLICO's core businesses and created
the false impression that management was running the company successfully.
Senior executives used this illusion of success to justify unwarranted
increases in their compensation and benefits.



ULLICO insiders exploited the temporary windfall from the Global Crossing
investment to enrich themselves by orchestrating manipulative transactions
in ULLICO stock. ULLICO insiders received from company funds a net profit of
$10.6 million in stock transactions, which deprived other shareholders of
those gains. ULLICO's annually-fixed stock price combined with the
extraordinary growth of its investment in Global Crossing to create a
situation where merely observing Global Crossing's market price in December
provided a reliable indication of what ULLICO's price would be the following
May. Thus, ULLICO insiders were able to virtually guarantee profits from
transactions in ULLICO stock by manipulating the timing of their own
opportunities to buy and sell. When Global Crossing stock began to fall in
2000 and 2001, directors were allowed to sell their ULLICO stock back to the
company before its value was readjusted.



Most of the officers and directors held fewer than 10,000 shares, and each
year, ULLICO adopted a rule ensuring that those with fewer than 10,000
shares could sell all of their stock back to the company while other
shareholders, such as labor unions and pension plans, could sell only a
small portion of their shares back to the company.



The lack of oversight by the board of directors, including AFL-CIO pres.
John Sweeney and vice-pres. Richard Trumka, enabled Georgine to spend
company funds irresponsibly or for the benefit of himself and his relatives.
Examples include $380,000 in unsecured loans for his nephew, Patrick Mertz,
relatives on the payroll, and a $3.7 million lease for a corporate jet.



As he departed from ULLICO, Georgine attempted to give money to six sitting
directors. Committee staff attempted to interview all six board members
about this incident. However, four of them invoked their 5th Amendment right
against self-incrimination rather than answer questions from the Committee
staff about the attempted gift or any other ULLICO-related subject. Each
director who took the Fifth Amendment also refused ULLICO's request to
return his profits.



ULLICO spent nearly $14 million on legal, consulting, and lobbying fees to
deal with the multiple investigations spawned by the stock transactions.
"It shouldn't have taken the spotlight of a Senate hearing or grand jury
investigation for ULLICO to clean up its act," said Senator Collins.
According to the report, that grand jury is likely investigating a possible
mail fraud violation, involving a scheme to financially defraud a person or
organization through the mail.



"It is difficult to believe that it was only by accident that Robert
Georgine and other senior ULLICO officers created the conditions by which
they made millions of dollars at the expense of ULLICO's shareholders," acc.
to the report. "Rather, the facts in the ULLICO case suggest a series of
intentional acts by Georgine and other senior ULLICO officers calculated to
enrich them and other company insiders... [while] conceal[ing] from other
shareholders the extent to which they were loading up on ULLICO stock."
[U.S. Sen. Cmte. Governmental Affairs, 6/2/04]





I was never in any of those "illustrious" categories, and therefore never
owned a single share of its stock.



Maybe not. But you, Georgine, Terry McAuliffe, and others all illegally
profited from insider trading and stock manipulation of Global
Crossing...the stock which you have admitted to buying and selling at a huge
personal profit during the same time period Ullico was cheating its members.