In Brief
State office details trade-case settlement
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto's office said Monday that it reached a settlement in the deceptive trade case the state filed against Your Money Access Chief Executive Officer Tarzenea Dixon.
In a statement, Masto's office said Nevada and six other states joined the Federal Trade Commission in charging that Dixon, on Your Money Access' behalf, helped clients carry out illegal schemes by providing access to the banking system and the means to extract money from consumers' bank accounts.
YMA is charged with processing unauthorized debits and remotely created checks on behalf of deceptive telemarketers and Internet-based schemes, in violation of Nevada deceptive trade statutes and federal trade laws.
Between June 23, 2004, and March 31, 2006, the office said, YMA processed more than $200 million in debits and attempted debits nationwide. More than $69 million of the attempted debits were returned or rejected by consumers or their banks, a sign that, in many cases, consumers had never authorized the charges.
The settlement order permanently bans Dixon from any payment processing and bans her from substantially aiding any marketer when she knows, or consciously avoids knowing, that it is violating the telemarketing sales rule.
The order imposes a $22 million judgment that is stayed based on her inability to pay. The full judgment will become due immediately if she is found to have misrepresented her financial means.
American International Group to sell insurer
American International Group Inc. is selling a cornerstone of its business, Asia-based life insurer AIA Group, in a government-approved $35.5 billion deal. The sale to British insurer Prudential PLC could reduce by nearly one-fifth the amount of federal bailout money still invested in struggling AIG.
But officials and analysts say it's not clear whether taxpayers will eventually recoup all the money AIG drew from a $182.5 billion rescue package the government committed to at the height of the 2008 credit crisis.
In return for that package, the government got a nearly 80 percent stake in the insurer.
NEW YORK
Payback formula for Madoff victims upheld
The victims of Bernard Madoff's massive swindle are owed only the money they invested with his firm and not the $64.8 billion reflected on fictitious statements, a Manhattan bankruptcy judge ruled Monday.
The written decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Burton Lifland rejected the victims' arguments that they had legitimate claims based on "securities positions" listed in final Nov. 30, 2008 statements. It upheld a "net equity" formula being used by a trustee overseeing the liquidation and distribution of Madoff's assets.
The 71-year-old Madoff was sentenced last year to 150 years in prison for orchestrating a scheme that wiped out life savings and entire charities. He admitted that he never made investments, and instead used new investors' money to pay returns to existing ones.
Frugal customers help boost Dish Network
Dish Network Corp., the low-cost leader in a subscription-TV industry where growth comes from taking customers away from competitors, lifted fourth-quarter revenue by attracting budget-conscious customers with aggressive promotions.
As a result, the nation's second-largest satellite TV operator added 249,000 net subscribers during the quarter while several of its cable TV rivals lost ground. The increase in customers overshadowed a 17.5 percent drop in net income.
Dish said Monday that it earned $179 million, or 40 cents per share, in the quarter, compared with $217 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier. Thomson Reuters-polled analysts had expected earnings of 32 cents per share.
Revenue rose 1.4 percent to $2.96 billion.
WASHINGTON
Treasury sets sale date for BofA warrants
The Treasury Department said Monday it will auction 272 million warrants for Bank of America stock to recoup taxpayer money from the controversial financial bailout fund.
Treasury said the auctions will take place on Wednesday and will be divided into two classes of warrants. Warrants are financial instruments that allow the holder to buy stock in the future at a fixed price.
Bank of America Corp. repaid the government $45 billion in December as part of its efforts to sever ties with the $700 billion bailout program. The auction of the warrants is taking place because Bank of America and the Treasury Department could not agree on a price for the warrants.
SAN FRANCISCO
Apple describes labor violations by suppliers
Apple Inc. said it found more than a dozen serious violations of labor laws or Apple's own rules at its suppliers that needed immediate correction.
The findings were outlined in a company report on audits of 102 supplier facilities conducted in 2009.
Apple said it found 17 "core" violations, the most serious type.
Those included three cases of underage workers being hired; eight cases of workers paying "recruitment" fees that were above the legal limits in those countries; three cases in which suppliers used noncertified vendors to dispose of hazardous waste; and three others in which the companies gave false records during the audits.
