BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A state judge on Thursday ordered former HealthSouth
CEO Richard Scrushy to pay nearly $2.9 billion to shareholders who sued
over a massive accounting fraud that nearly sent the rehabilitation
chain into bankruptcy.

Circuit Judge Allwin E. Horn, who heard the case without a jury, ruled
in favor of HealthSouth shareholders who filed a lawsuit claiming
Scrushy was involved in years of overstating the company's earnings and
assets to make it appear the company was meeting Wall Street forecasts.

Horn wrote in his ruling that Scrushy "knew of and participated in" the
faked reports filed with regulators from 1996 to 2002. He said the
HealthSouth founder also "consciously and willfully" violated his
financial responsibilities as CEO.

Scrushy was acquitted in a federal criminal case over related charges
and testified in the state civil case that he knew nothing about any
fraud. He is serving a nearly seven-year sentence for a 2006 conviction
in a separate state government bribery case.

The Alabama suit accused Scrushy of unethical dealings with the company
while it was going broke and complicity in $2.6 billion in fraudulent
reports it filed with regulators. The amount shareholders sought
included money they claimed he pocketed through sweetheart deals.

The final judgment from Horn totaled $2.88 billion.

While Scrushy is a multimillionaire, it was not immediately clear how he
could pay the judgment. Scrushy's lawyers did not immediately return calls.

An attorney for shareholders, John W. Haley, said Scrushy was "a man of
substantial means" who earned more than $266 million from the time the
fraud began until he left the company in 2002.



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"John H" wrote in message
...

Please note that Interstate 90 will be closed this weekend across
South Dakota. This closure will allow the Federal Government free
access to haul a 200 ton piece of coal to Mt. Rushmore so that
President Obama can be added to the Presidents on the monument.
--
John H

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John Herring, rec.boat's resident racist.