Company news: Online ad revenues are inflated
Federal regulators on Monday said eight former executives of AOL Time Warner Inc. fraudulently inflated the company’s online advertising revenues by more than $1 billion between 2000 and 2002.
Four executives have agreed to settle the civil charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission by paying a total of roughly $8 million in fines and returning allegedly ill-gotten gains. They are David Colburn, Eric Keller, Jay Rappaport and James MacGuidwin, who was controller of the media company. The other three were in its business affairs unit.
The SEC charges are pending against the other four: John Michael Kelly, former AOL Time Warner chief financial officer; Joseph Ripp, ex-chief financial officer of the AOL division; Steven Rindner, a former senior executive in the business affairs unit, and Mark Wovsaniker, former head of accounting policy.
The world’s largest media company by revenue, it is now called Time Warner Inc.
“Staples Inc. brought its $2.47 billion hostile takeover bid for Corporate Express NV directly to the Netherlands-based office products firm’s shareholders on Monday, as management continued to call Staples’ offer too low.
In announcing it was seeking to bypass Corporate Express’ management, Framingham, Mass.-based Staples did not raise its offering price from the 8 euros-a-share level that Corporate Express rejected last week.
Staples said it won permission from Dutch regulatory authorities to directly solicit Corporate Express’ shareholders with an offer to tender their shares in support of the deal – a clearance that Staples had said it expected when it raised its offering price last Tuesday from its original 7.25 euros-per-share bid.
“Federal regulators are looking into 130 complaints that fires occurred in the engine compartments of 1995-2003 Ford Windstar vans.
A preliminary investigation shows 65 of the complaints allege the speed control deactivation switch caused the fires, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In four cases, fires began after the switch allegedly leaked brake fluid onto the anti-lock braking system module. Two of those who complained said the fires damaged their homes, the agency saiud.
Ford Motor Co. said it doesn’t believe there is an elevated risk of fire in the vehicles and is cooperating with government’s investigation, spokeswoman Jennifer Moore said Monday.
Moore says the automaker has received no reports of deaths or injuries related to the alleged problems.
The automaker said there are 1.7 million of the vans and they are equipped with 3.0- or 3.8-liter V-6 engines.