Adelphia to pay $715M to settle charges with DOJ, SEC News
Adelphia to pay $715M to settle charges with DOJ, SEC

[JURIST] The Justice Department [official website] and the SEC [official website] are close to announcing a settlement with bankrupt cable television provider Adelphia Communications Corp. [corporate website] over the company's accounting issues. Under the terms of the settlement, Adelphia would pay $715 million into a compensation fund. The Rigas family, the founders of Adelphia, will also settle with the DOJ and SEC by giving up 95 percent of their assets. Adelphia collapsed in 2002 after allegations were made that the Rigas family siphoned millions of dollars of company funds for personal use and misrepresented its financial condition. Adelphia's founder, John Rigas [Wikipedia profile], and his son, Timothy, the company's former chief financial officer, were convicted of fraud and conspiracy last year [JURIST report; SEC complaint]. Just last week, Adelphia announced it has accepted a buyout offer from joint bidders Time Warner Inc. [corporate website] and Comcast Corp. [corporate website] valued at $17.6 billion in cash and stock [Time Warner press release]. The settlement payout would be among the highest ever paid by an American corporation. WorldCom, now MCI Inc. [corporate website], paid the largest fine of $750 million [SEC press release] in 2003. Reuters has more.

4:15 PM ET – The SEC press release on the Adelphia settlement is now online.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.