29 Януари 2002 10:29

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MON JAN 28 2002 20:21:38 ET XXXXX
http://www.drudgereport.com/mattgcc.htm
GLOBAL CROSSING BANKRUPTCY: GOP INSIDERS QUESTION DNC CHAIRMAN MCAULIFFE PROFIT, TURNED $100,000 INTO $18,000,000

**Exclusive**

ENRON-stung GOPers are discreetly eyeing the collapse of GLOBAL CROSSING [which on Monday became the 4th largest bankruptcy in history] and its Chairman Gary Winnick, a top Democrat donor who helped DNC head Terry McAuliffe turn a $100,000 stock investment -- into $18,000,000!

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McAuliffe arranged for Winnick to play golf with President Clinton in 1999 after his cash windfall. Winnick then gave a million dollars to help build Clinton's presidential library.

A top White House source noted to the DRUDGE REPORT, with irony, the direct McAuliffe connection with Winnick and GLOBAL CROSSING.

"McAuliffe is a guy who made millions and millions and millions off this GLOBAL CROSSING stock? And the company goes bankrupt. And he has the gonads to criticize anyone on ENRON!" blasted the Bush insider who asked not to be identified.

"What did Winnick get for his money? Let's have congressional hearings! Stockholders should demand it! Will Mr. Clinton give back the money?"

McAuliffe, in his role as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has been a vocal opponent of the ENRON collapse, telling CNN this weekend: "The people out there who are hurt the most are the small people, and once again the wealthy special interests got to take their money off the table, and that's what we need to investigate."

"The Bush administration is running fiscal policy the way folks at ENRON ran their company," McAuliffe has said.

But with shares of GLOBAL CROSSING closing at just 30 cents on Monday, and trading suspended after the Chapter 11 deal was announced, McAuliffe faded from view.

For McAuliffe, GLOBAL CROSSING turned out to be a bonanza. The stock had soared in the late 90s, when Winnick once bragged that he was the "richest man in Los Angeles." McAuliffe operated out of an office in downtown Washington that belonged to Winnick -- to help the mogul "work on deals."

McAuliffe told the NYT TIMES's Jeff Gerth in late '99 that his initial $100,000 investment grew to be worth about $18 million, and he made millions more trading GLOBAL's stock and options after it went public in '98.

Top GOP insiders were also gloating over GLOBAL CROSSING ties to other ENRON obsessives.

A major fundraising dinner for Senator Tom Daschle was bought and paid for by GLOBAL CROSSING.

Winnick gave thousands of dollars to top ENRON cop Rep. Henry Waxman during the last election, according to public records.

But as everything blurs, and blurs again in the bankruptcy cycles of the fresh century, and in a twist that will ensure GOP operatives do not ride GLOBAL CROSSING all the way into shore: Former President George Bush once made a smart move by accepting stock in a start-up company instead of his usual speaking fee when he addressed an audience in Tokyo.

Bush agreed to take shares in -- GLOBAL CROSSING LTD. in lieu of an $ 80,000 fee!

McAuliffe's Winnick reportedly suggested that Bush take his fee in stock instead of cash, and Bush agreed. The Bush stock, at its high, was worth over $ 14 million.

It is not known if he is still holding the scraps.

Developing...

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Filed By Matt Drudge
Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
http://www.drudgereport.com for updates
(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2002
Not for reproduction without permission of the author

29 Януари 2002 10:31

Embarrassment for Andersen after Global Crossing files for Chapter 11
By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
29 January 2002
The accounting firm Andersen yesterday faced fresh embarrassment after Global Crossing, a Wall Street giant, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The global telecoms company's insolvency, the fourth-largest in US history, comes hot on the heels of the collapse of the energy group Enron. Both companies used the auditing services of Andersen.

The Bermuda-based Global Crossing had been struggling for months following the collapse of the dot.com bubble, and its share price lost 96 per cent of its value over the past year.

There is no suggestion of any impropriety by Andersen in this case, in contrast with the Enron collapse in which the accounting giant stood by inflated profit statements, despite misgivings about its client's off-balance sheet activities, and shredded documents once the extent of the company's hidden debts began to be made public.

Global Crossing's bankruptcy filing had been widely expected, because of mounting debts arising from its construction of high-speed transcontinental network links. The news nevertheless came as unwelcome publicity for Andersen at a sensitive time. Enron's collapse is said to be the largest corporate failure in US history.

Global Crossing, which owns Racal Telecom in Britain, said its worldwide operations – servicing 200 cities in 27 countries – would be unaffected by the reorganisation. The company is now relying on an injection of $750m (£532m) from two Asian business partners, Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong and Singapore Technologies Telemedia, which will receive a majority stake in the company in return.

Although jobs and customers' services do not appear to be at risk – Racal employs 600 people in the UK – common equity and preferred shareholders will be left empty-handed.

The company was forced to make the move after the collapse of its stock price over the past year. At the height of the telecoms boom, Global Crossing's founder Gary Winnick – a former colleague and confident of the disgraced financier Michael Milkin – boasted that he was the richest man in Los Angeles. The shares closed on Friday at just 51 cents, and yesterday trading was suspended as the Chapter 11 deal was announced.

Slack demand and declining prices for high-speed network access, particularly on undersea routes, was largely to blame for the slump in Global Crossing's fortunes. The company posted a third-quarter loss of $3.4bn, cut capital spending, agreed to sell its trading systems units to raise cash, and cut 3,200 jobs. Standard & Poor's in December downgraded Global Crossing's credit ratings to junk status.

The company's Asian arm said yesterday it had failed to meet listing standards for the New York Stock Exchange and hired the consultants Lazard Freres to help weigh financing and restructuring options. Global Crossing in December rejected its Asian unit's $400m loan request under a credit facility set up last year.

It did not immediately appear that the bankruptcy, filed in the federal court in New York in conjunction with the Supreme Court in Bermuda, involved any suspicious activities by Andersen.

Nevertheless, in accordance with relatively recent US regulatory procedures that have come in for blistering criticism in recent days, Andersen acted as both auditor and consultant for Global Crossing, as it did for Enron. According to official filings, Andersen billed Global Crossing $2.3m in auditing fees in 2000, and almost $12m for consulting and other services.

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29 Януари 2002 15:12

А бе я ги оставете тиа засукани цитати.
Те просто се срамуват от света. "Най-великата нация" - с най-голямата корупция.
Те ша ни каат да си гасиме печката в студа. ХА!

29 Януари 2002 17:28

WOW , imash pechka a s kakvo ija palish ? Mnogo si yme be DRYGAPIO. :-)))