So I just phoned up the bank about my ridiculous bank statement I got in the post today. Got through to the complaints department at the bank and very calmly explained why some charges I'd received were their fault because my account doesn't even have an overdraft and how they should have cancelled the direct debit when I asked them to. Charges reversed and charges paid back. Like a bosssssss ;).
Music News: Game Cleared Of Charges
Last week, Game was in hot water over some tweets which contained the LA Sheriff Department’s phone number resulting in the lines getting bombarded with phone calls by fans trying to become the rappers intern. The charges however, have now been dropped after he apologised on CNN and explained that he wasn’t responsible for the tweet.
Mike Parker had original branded the tweet as “irresponsible” but released a statement last night saying:
“Based upon our investigation, as well as consultation with the Los Angeles County attorney’s office, the LASD consider the criminal investigation into this matter closed,”
Chile judge dismissed charges against abusive priest
onlywire.comSANTIAGO, Chile — Report states a Chilean judge on Monday dismissed a criminal case against a prominent priest, accused of molesting children, but also determined that the abuse allegations were truthful.
Judge Jessica Gonzalez said the statute of limitations had expired on the crimes that the Rev. Fernando Karadima allegedly committed against three youths. A fourth case was eliminated because the judge said it hadn’t been clearly established that the victim was underage at the time.
SEC to limit charges against Allianz in bribery case
* difficulties in getting documents from Germany at issueBy Aruna ViswanathaWASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not plan to charge Allianz SE (ALVG.DE) for activity at its private equity investments, according to two people familiar with the matter, in a case that could have tested the agency’s reach.Europe’s largest insurer has been under investigation in the United States for alleged corruption at a joint venture in Indonesia and at a German printing equipment maker it owns through a private equity arm.While the SEC is expected to settle the Indonesia piece of the investigation in the coming weeks, it will not bring charges related to the private equity holdings, in part due to German ownership laws that make it difficult to obtain information, one of the people said.”We confirm discussions with SEC on a settlement. It is our policy to fully cooperate with authorities. In the meantime we took the proper consequences in order to avoid such misbeaviours to happen again,” a spokesman for the company, Michael Matern, said.An SEC spokesman declined comment.The case involves allegations that an Allianz joint venture paid bribes to win contracts to insure big infrastructure projects in Indonesia, and whether the printing equipment maker paid bribes in Europe and elsewhere.The SEC’s decision marks a tough start to the agency’s efforts to hold private equity funds and other investors responsible for corruption at companies they have stakes in.The SEC and Justice Department have turned to financial services as a new area of interest as they have ramped up their enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The law bars U.S.-linked firms from paying bribes to foreign government officials.But complicated foreign investment structures and data privacy laws may make those cases difficult to bring.Allianz Capital Partners owns just over 60 percent of the voting rights of the company at issue, manroland AG, but the stake is a passive one.Allianz does not exercise day-to-day control over the company, and under German law, it cannot force manroland to turn information over to it or the SEC.The entity that allegedly paid the bribes is a Swiss subsidiary of manroland, making the link to the corporate parent at least three levels removed.The case gets even more complicated for the SEC because the parent firm, Allianz SE, used to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but removed its shares in 2009 citing a desire to focus on the German capital markets.The case began when a whistleblower at the company’s operations in Asia contacted the company’s outside auditors at KPMG with allegations of corruption. The auditors informed the board, which hired Claudius Sokenu, a partner at Arnold & Porter, to conduct an internal investigation.The allegations centered around Allianz’ business in Indonesia.The firm originally entered the market through a joint venture with a state-owned entity, and the projects let the firm get a foothold into the Indonesian insurance market.The investigation turned up evidence of bribe payments there, and in India and China.The manroland conduct turned up later, when German tax authorities began to investigate.Allianz is expected to pay between $7 and $10 million in penalties to settle the SEC’s case. German prosecutors continue to examine the manroland conduct.A lawyer for Allianz, Joel Cohen at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, declined to comment. Sokenu and a spokesman for KPMG did not respond to a request for comment.Whether the problems with getting documents will hinder future foreign bribery cases against investment funds remains to be seen. It may be easier for the agency to bring cases related to problems that should have surfaced during an acquisition.”They are always fact-based inquiries, but where a company has an ownership interest or a stake in a subsidiary, the SEC is going to be looking very carefully at what steps the firm has taken to ensure policies are compliant and what due diligence it did prior to that acquisition,” said Luke Cadigan, a former SEC lawyer who is now a partner at K&L Gates.
