haliburton now accused of accounting fraud by shareholder

[nomorelies]

NEW YORK  — A new filing in a shareholder class-action lawsuit against Halliburton Co. (HAL) contends that the world's No. 2 oilfield services company and several top executives intentionally engaged in "serial accounting fraud" from 1998 to 2001, court papers show.

The filing accuses Houston-based Halliburton of systematic accounting misdeeds far more wide-ranging than those charged in a recent civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (search ).

Halliburton agreed on Tuesday to pay $7.5 million to settle SEC charges that it misled investors by not disclosing an accounting change that boosted profit in 1998 and 1999.

Among other things, the filing accuses Halliburton of inflating results, failing to disclose a big asbestos verdict in a timely manner, and being unable to account for $3.1 billion of profit and cash.

In a statement, Halliburton called the lawsuit an abusive attempt to extort money from current shareholders and smear the company and its employees.

The allegations in the 101-page filing and the SEC action cover two years when Vice President Dick Cheney (search ) was Halliburton's chief executive officer, though he was not named as a defendant in either proceeding.

[nomorelies]

Now does Cheney know more than he lets on? Should moveon.irg go and make a commercial using shareholders smearing Cheney the way that these swift boat liars have done for Kerry. DO note that the Swift boat men have been financed by Karl Rove and Mr. PERRY

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

This is symptomatic of the general economic anarchy that the Republicans love so much.  I don't think it's as damning to Cheney and the administration as it is to the whole philosophy of extreme liberalism.  There have to be controls somewhere, or this sort of thing will become normal business practice.

[Beefalow and the Consumer]

DO note that the Swift boat men have been financed by Karl Rove and Mr. PERRY

Please post evidence of this.

Not that I'm saying you're making it up, but it's a very damning claim, and not very believable without something to back it up.