PAUL B. FARRELL
20 reasons new megabubble pops in 2011
Greed blinded us to subprime meltdown, it'll blind us next time too
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:31 p.m. EDT June 2, 2008ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- You think I'm drinking that famous Beltway Kool-Aid, maybe because I'm predicting another meltdown coming in 2011? Well, you're being served from the same punch bowl, my friends.
Wall Street, Washington and the Fed are all praying the credit crisis is under control. Unfortunately, all their happy-talking is just a lot of hype, to hide their next bubble.
World markets are headed into another meltdown by the end of the first term of the next president ... and you won't even hear it coming under all the happy-talk.
Cycles happen. Bubbles blow, pop, meltdowns happen. Significantly, they're getting bigger and more frequent. Think 1987, 2000, 2007 -- the next in 2011. All the happy-talk from Washington and Wall Street gurus can't start the bull before it's time.
Nor will a lot of non-happy-talker warnings make a bubble burst early.
For example, two years ago I analyzed the 2000-2002 bear phase of "The Cycle." We reported on 16 reasons why all the happy-talk failed to restart the bull market during that 30-month recession, while investors slowly lost $8 trillion.
Now you'll see how all the warnings of a housing bubble and a coming meltdown also had no effect on the 2004-2007 bull phase of "The Cycle."
Why? Because bull/bear, bubble/bust, expansion/recession cycles have a natural pattern that ebbs and flows on their own time, making fools of all gurus predictions. And all the happy-talk and not-so-happy-talk in the world has no effect: Happy-talk won't restart a bull. Nor can not-so-happy-talk warnings puncture a bubble. Cycles have lives of their own, they mature and die unpredictable, age and pop when they feel like it.
Another will happen, soon. A busted bubble and a new meltdown coming by the end of the next presidential term. Why then? Because the last few occurred with increasing frequency, separated by thirteen years then seven, and the next will come within four years. These trends are obvious from studying the works of masters like former Commerce Department chief economist Ed Dewey's classics, including his Cycles, the Mysterious Forces that Trigger Events.
Here's my list of warnings from 20 not-so-happy-talkers. Notice how they were as unable to pop the 2004-2007 bubble before its time, as the happy-talkers were unable to restart a bull during the 2000-2002 recession:
2000: Fed governor warns Greenspan. Former Federal Reserve governor Ed Gramlich served 1997-2005. He was warning Alan Greenspan as early as 2000 about the coming subprime crisis. See his book "Subprime Mortgages: America's Latest Boom & Bust."
2004: Nixon's secretary of commerce. In "Running on Empty," Peter Peterson says: "This administration and the Republican Congress have presided over the biggest, most reckless deterioration of America's finances in history" creating a "bankrupt nation."
June 2005: The Economist. Cover story two years before collapse: "The worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history. ... Rising property prices helped to prop up the world economy after the stock market bubble burst in 2000." Values increased 75% worldwide in five short years. "Never before have real house prices risen so fast, for so long, in so many countries ... This is the biggest bubble in history."
January 2006: Fortune. Interview with Richard Rainwater. "This is the first scenario I've seen where I question the survivability of mankind." He's 112th on the Forbes 400, worth $2.3 billion: "Most people invest and then sit around worrying what the next blowup will be. I do the opposite. I wait for the blowup, then invest." He waited with a half-billion-dollar war chest.
February 2006: Faber's Market Newsletter. "Correction Time is Here!" was Faber's headline: "If we combine the overbought condition of the stock market, investors' sentiment high optimism, equity mutual funds' low cash positions, and also heavy foreign buying, we have all the ingredients for a stock market correction in the US getting underway very shortly."
March 2006: Forbes. Economist Gary Shilling wrote: "The current housing weakness will develop into a full-scale rout ... It's clearly a bubble and is nationwide ... The house-price collapse will induce a painful recession that will send U.S. stocks into a tailspin ... China will suffer a hard landing ... and weakness in the U.S. and China will spread worldwide."
March 2006: "Sell Now." Former Goldman Sachs investment banker John Talbott's book: "Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble." His statistics covered America's top 130 metropolitan areas. The top 40 were facing an average 47.2% decline.
March 2006: Pimco Investment Outlook. In the quarterly newsletter, "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight," Pimco's boss Bill Gross took a big swipe at a presidential economic report: "It's not so much that the report was a compilation of untruths or even half-truths. It's just that it failed to tell the truth," and hid the fact that Washington's "borrowed from the future to pay for today's party."
March 2006: Buffett in Fortune. Remember Warren Buffett's famous farmer story: "Our country has been behaving like an extraordinarily rich family that possesses an immense farm. In order to consume 4% more than they produce -- that's the trade deficit -- we have, day by day, been both selling pieces of the farm and increasing the mortgage on what we still own."
May 2006: Harper's magazine. Michael Hudson wrote an article, "Guide to the Coming Real Estate Collapse," analyzing 20 trends: "Taken together, these factors will further shrink the 'real' economy, drive down those already declining real wages, and push our debt-ridden economy into Japan-style stagflation or worse."
August 2006: Wall Street Journal. Countrywide's CEO Angelo Mozilo: "I've never seen a 'soft-landing' in 53 years, so we have a ways to go before this levels out. I have to prepare the company for the worst that can happen." He did little. A year later, he was in full denial mode.
November 2006: Fortune. Cover story asks: "Can the Economy Survive the Housing Bust?" They said "the correlation between current builder confidence and future stock market returns over the past 10 years is downright unnerving." The NAHB confidence index is a leading indicator because the stock market inevitably follows in lockstep a year later. The index had "plummeted 54%."
November 2006: The Economist. In a cover story: "The Dark Side of Debt," Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a Hong Kong speech: "The same factors that have reduced the probability of future systemic events, however, may amplify the damage caused by, and complicate the management of, very severe financial shocks. The changes that have reduced the vulnerability of the system to smaller shocks may increase the severity of the larger ones." Geithner later negotiated the Bear Sterns collapse.
January 2007: Los Angeles Times. Schwab "averaged 242,300 trades a day the first nine months of 2006. That was up 29% from the same period a year earlier, and a click above its 242,000 peak in 2000"and the last collapse.
April 2007. GMO Quarterly Newsletter. GMO manages $145 billion. CEO Jeremy Grantham wrote: "The First Truly Global Bubble: From Indian antiquities to modern Chinese art; from land in Panama to Mayfair; from forestry, infrastructure, and the junkiest bonds to mundane blue chips; it's bubble time. ... Everyone, everywhere is reinforcing one another. ... The bursting of the bubble will be across all countries and all assets ... no similar global event has occurred before."
June 2007: Shilling's Insight Newsletter. "Just as the U.S. housing bubble is bursting, speculation elsewhere will come to a violent end if history is any guide. ... Richard Bookstaber, who designed various derivative-laden strategies over the years, now fears that financial derivatives and hedge funds, focal points of today's huge leverage, will trigger a financial meltdown."
June 2007: Pop! Then it happened! And Dan Gross had a well-timed book: "Pop! Why Bubbles are Great for the Economy." He says bubbles work miracles, so just let them pop, Pop, POP!
July 2007: Fortune. As the contagion spread, Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson tells Fortune "this is far and away the strongest global economy I've seen in my business lifetime." He's repeated the same remark often since. Earlier, he and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the subprime crisis was "contained." Clueless, Bernanke assembled hedge fund managers, asking them to explain the global derivatives market.
August 2007. Wall Street Journal. Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt wrote on the Journal's Op-Ed page: "In terms of market meltdowns and the degree of pain inflicted on the financial system, the subprime mortgage crisis has the potential to rival just about anything in recent financial history, from the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s to the post-Enron turndown in the beginning of this decade."
August 2007: 60 Minutes. While Paulson and Bernanke were claiming the subprime crisis was "contained," the chief architect of the subprime-housing meltdown, Alan Greenspan, was on tour, making millions, hustling his new book, "The Age of Turbulence."
On 60 Minutes he made a totally incredulous denial that he "really didn't get it until very late." He "didn't get it?" Yes, and to this day Greenspan rigidly maintains his blind faith in the free-market myth.
His latest argument: Bubbles are a function of innovation, like the dot-coms and subprime derivatives. Regulators should trust the free markets, never micromanage innovation.
But what blinded Greenspan? His ideology? A brain quirk? Genetics? The president's reelection? It doesn't matter why: Whatever it was, it's bad news for America. Why? Because if the leader of America's monetary system for 18 years "doesn't get" that he was also the chief architect of the biggest economic blunder in American history since the 1929 Crash, can we ever trust any future leaders?
Scary, isn't it! How can we have faith in the next guy? Are our leaders the problem? Or is the system broken? Is capitalism itself at risk when the best and brightest are "blinded," unable to see disasters until it's too late?
But that is our "system," and in this system our leaders inevitably morph into bulls, ideologically blinded by their power. And like real bulls, all they see is red. So eventually ... they must run onto a sword, and self-destruct!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Acquires Crescent Real Estate Equities
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Acquires Crescent Real Estate Equities (CEI) for $22.80/Sh
May 22, 2007 5:04 PM EDT
Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate will acquire Crescent in an all cash transaction for $22.80 per share and the assumption of liabilities for total consideration of approximately $6.5 billion. Shares of Crescent Real Estate Equities closed at $21.62 today.
May 22, 2007 5:04 PM EDT
Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate will acquire Crescent in an all cash transaction for $22.80 per share and the assumption of liabilities for total consideration of approximately $6.5 billion. Shares of Crescent Real Estate Equities closed at $21.62 today.
Toxic Corporate Real Estate
This occurred in 2007?
Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (CEI) for $6.5 billion.
All of Crescent’s outstanding shares of common stock have been converted to the right to receive $22.80 per share in cash without interest and less any applicable withholding for each share of common stock.
“We are excited to acquire the unique portfolio of properties that Crescent put together,” said Michael Franco, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Real Estate. “We believe that the depth and breadth of our real estate investing platform will enable us to maximize the value of the diverse holdings of office, destination resorts and resort residential.”
With the acquisition of Crescent, Morgan Stanley Real Estate adds to its portfolio 54premier office buildings totaling 23 million square feet located in select markets across the United States with major concentrations in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Miami, and Las Vegas. In addition, it gains investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, AZ; Vail Valley, CO; and Lake Tahoe, CA and in the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch®.
Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Morgan Stanley Real Estate with Goodwin Procter LLP and Jones Day acting as legal counsel. Greenhill & Co., LLC acted as the financial advisor to Crescent with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP acting as legal counsel.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking and Lending. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $121.5 billion of real estate assets worldwide and currently manages $55.6 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. A complete range of market-leading investment banking services for real estate clients include advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. As a global leader in real estate lending, Morgan Stanley has offered approximately $156.0 billion of CMBS through the capital markets since 1997, including $35.5 billion in 2006. For more information about Morgan Stanley Real Estate, please visit www.morganstanley.com/realestate.
Morgan Stanley (MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 32 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit
www.morganstanley.com.
Contacts:
For Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Media Relations:
Alyson D’Ambrisi, 212-762-7006
Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced today that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (CEI) for $6.5 billion.
All of Crescent’s outstanding shares of common stock have been converted to the right to receive $22.80 per share in cash without interest and less any applicable withholding for each share of common stock.
“We are excited to acquire the unique portfolio of properties that Crescent put together,” said Michael Franco, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley Real Estate. “We believe that the depth and breadth of our real estate investing platform will enable us to maximize the value of the diverse holdings of office, destination resorts and resort residential.”
With the acquisition of Crescent, Morgan Stanley Real Estate adds to its portfolio 54premier office buildings totaling 23 million square feet located in select markets across the United States with major concentrations in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Miami, and Las Vegas. In addition, it gains investments in resort residential developments in locations such as Scottsdale, AZ; Vail Valley, CO; and Lake Tahoe, CA and in the wellness lifestyle leader, Canyon Ranch®.
Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Morgan Stanley Real Estate with Goodwin Procter LLP and Jones Day acting as legal counsel. Greenhill & Co., LLC acted as the financial advisor to Crescent with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP acting as legal counsel.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking and Lending. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $121.5 billion of real estate assets worldwide and currently manages $55.6 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. A complete range of market-leading investment banking services for real estate clients include advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. As a global leader in real estate lending, Morgan Stanley has offered approximately $156.0 billion of CMBS through the capital markets since 1997, including $35.5 billion in 2006. For more information about Morgan Stanley Real Estate, please visit www.morganstanley.com/realestate.
Morgan Stanley (MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 32 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit
www.morganstanley.com.
Contacts:
For Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Media Relations:
Alyson D’Ambrisi, 212-762-7006
Rainwater's 'Single Worst Investment' Toxic Real Estate
Renowned investor Richard Rainwater saw 70% of the value drain out of his $100 million investment in Thornburg Mortgage
by Christopher Palmeri
Sometimes even billionaires make bone-headed moves. Richard Rainwater, the legendary Fort Worth investor, has seen a 70% decline in just two months on some $100 million he put into troubled home lender Thornburg Mortgage (TMA). Rainwater calls it the "the single worst investment of my career."
The 65-year-old-financier, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion by Forbes magazine, told BusinessWeek.com he was watching TV last year when he saw Thornburg's chief executive, Larry Goldstone, speaking about the mortgage crisis. "He seemed like a bright guy," Rainwater recalls. Rainwater says he then checked with some of his investment industry sources who said they considered Thornburg a "capable group."
Buying into the Jumbo MarketIn January Rainwater plunked down about $100 million to buy roughly 5 million shares of the Santa Fe (N.M.) company's preferred stock. Rainwater bought shares both in a public offering that Thornburg had arranged and on the open market. He says his average cost was 21.45 a share. The preferred stock trades today at 6.25 per share; Thornburg common shares closed Mar. 13 at 2.26, down from 28 in May.
Filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission show that Rainwater and his wife, Darla Moore, own preferred stock convertible into 9.3 million shares of Thornburg's common stock, about 6% of the company's shares outstanding. By the time Rainwater invested, Thornburg was already in trouble. That was reflected in the fact that Thornburg was offering a dividend on the preferred shares of 10%. The company declined to comment on the issue.
Founded in 1993 by the current chairman, Garrett Thornburg, the company specializes in making "jumbo" single-family home loans to what it calls "superprime" customers. Those are individuals with credit scores of 744 or higher. Some 97% of its investments are in loans rated AA or higher by ratings agencies. Thornburg says just 0.4% of its loans are delinquent, compared to an industry average of more than 4%.
Rainwater says it was the high-end nature of Thornburg's business that attracted him to the company. "Housing values are suffering everywhere," he says. "But at the high end things are holding up better." On its Web site Thornburg is offering mortgage rates as low as 7.9%.
Crumbling Credit Markets
Last summer Thornburg averted greater financial difficulties by selling $20 billion of its assets. In recent weeks, though, its problems have escalated as lenders began requiring the company to put up more capital to back its mortgage investments. The company says it is presently negotiating with creditors who want $600 million in additional financing.
The problem, says Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst Bose George, is that Thornburg has been funding its business with short-term loans. That worked when capital was easy to find. "They have one of the best balance sheets on the asset side," George says. "The problem is in the market—it's hard to borrow money." George says he sees the market shifting away from independent lenders such as Countrywide Financial (CFC) and Thornburg. In the future, "mortgage lending is going to be done by banks," he says. "Nonbanks have turned out to be extremely vulnerable to this kind of downturn."
Win Some, Lose Some
Rainwater is famous for scooping up assets in troubled companies. As a chief adviser to Fort Worth's billionaire Bass brothers in the 1980s, he directed the family to invest in then-floundering Walt Disney (DIS). That company went on to great success under Chief Executive Michael Eisner. In the 1990s, Rainwater plunged into oil and gas companies then struggling with low commodities prices. He invested in the Hunt brothers' bankrupt Penrod Drilling, since merged into Ensco International (ESV), and T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Petroleum, now a part of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD). "Oil I understand," Rainwater says. "Interest rates…?"
Last August Rainwater sold Crescent Real Estate Equities to Morgan Stanley (MS) for $6.5 billion. Crescent was a big owner of office buildings. Rainwater sold at what now looks to have been the peak of the recent commercial real estate cycle. "It just seemed like the right time to do it," he says, with the prices paid for office property working out to yield just 4% to 5% for buyers.
Rainwater says his portfolio is still up for the year thanks to his energy holdings, which include blue chip oil and gas companies such as Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP).
Nonetheless, he says, the losses so far on Thornburg "still don't feel good."
Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau
by Christopher Palmeri
Sometimes even billionaires make bone-headed moves. Richard Rainwater, the legendary Fort Worth investor, has seen a 70% decline in just two months on some $100 million he put into troubled home lender Thornburg Mortgage (TMA). Rainwater calls it the "the single worst investment of my career."
The 65-year-old-financier, with a fortune estimated at $3 billion by Forbes magazine, told BusinessWeek.com he was watching TV last year when he saw Thornburg's chief executive, Larry Goldstone, speaking about the mortgage crisis. "He seemed like a bright guy," Rainwater recalls. Rainwater says he then checked with some of his investment industry sources who said they considered Thornburg a "capable group."
Buying into the Jumbo MarketIn January Rainwater plunked down about $100 million to buy roughly 5 million shares of the Santa Fe (N.M.) company's preferred stock. Rainwater bought shares both in a public offering that Thornburg had arranged and on the open market. He says his average cost was 21.45 a share. The preferred stock trades today at 6.25 per share; Thornburg common shares closed Mar. 13 at 2.26, down from 28 in May.
Filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission show that Rainwater and his wife, Darla Moore, own preferred stock convertible into 9.3 million shares of Thornburg's common stock, about 6% of the company's shares outstanding. By the time Rainwater invested, Thornburg was already in trouble. That was reflected in the fact that Thornburg was offering a dividend on the preferred shares of 10%. The company declined to comment on the issue.
Founded in 1993 by the current chairman, Garrett Thornburg, the company specializes in making "jumbo" single-family home loans to what it calls "superprime" customers. Those are individuals with credit scores of 744 or higher. Some 97% of its investments are in loans rated AA or higher by ratings agencies. Thornburg says just 0.4% of its loans are delinquent, compared to an industry average of more than 4%.
Rainwater says it was the high-end nature of Thornburg's business that attracted him to the company. "Housing values are suffering everywhere," he says. "But at the high end things are holding up better." On its Web site Thornburg is offering mortgage rates as low as 7.9%.
Crumbling Credit Markets
Last summer Thornburg averted greater financial difficulties by selling $20 billion of its assets. In recent weeks, though, its problems have escalated as lenders began requiring the company to put up more capital to back its mortgage investments. The company says it is presently negotiating with creditors who want $600 million in additional financing.
The problem, says Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) analyst Bose George, is that Thornburg has been funding its business with short-term loans. That worked when capital was easy to find. "They have one of the best balance sheets on the asset side," George says. "The problem is in the market—it's hard to borrow money." George says he sees the market shifting away from independent lenders such as Countrywide Financial (CFC) and Thornburg. In the future, "mortgage lending is going to be done by banks," he says. "Nonbanks have turned out to be extremely vulnerable to this kind of downturn."
Win Some, Lose Some
Rainwater is famous for scooping up assets in troubled companies. As a chief adviser to Fort Worth's billionaire Bass brothers in the 1980s, he directed the family to invest in then-floundering Walt Disney (DIS). That company went on to great success under Chief Executive Michael Eisner. In the 1990s, Rainwater plunged into oil and gas companies then struggling with low commodities prices. He invested in the Hunt brothers' bankrupt Penrod Drilling, since merged into Ensco International (ESV), and T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Petroleum, now a part of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD). "Oil I understand," Rainwater says. "Interest rates…?"
Last August Rainwater sold Crescent Real Estate Equities to Morgan Stanley (MS) for $6.5 billion. Crescent was a big owner of office buildings. Rainwater sold at what now looks to have been the peak of the recent commercial real estate cycle. "It just seemed like the right time to do it," he says, with the prices paid for office property working out to yield just 4% to 5% for buyers.
Rainwater says his portfolio is still up for the year thanks to his energy holdings, which include blue chip oil and gas companies such as Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP).
Nonetheless, he says, the losses so far on Thornburg "still don't feel good."
Palmeri is a senior correspondent in BusinessWeek's Los Angeles bureau
Here come the Real Estate Toxic Mortgages...
Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. (NYSE: CEI) has finally found a buyer, and one that seems to like its mixed-use approach. Morgan Stanley Real Estate has agreed to acquire the Fort Worth, Texas-based REIT for a deal that totals $6.5 billion, including the assumption of debt.
Crescent, a mixed-use REIT owned by Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater, was in the midst of morphing itself into a pure-play office REIT. After evaluating its strategic options, the company came to the conclusion that it could "take advantage of the void left by rabid industry consolidation" as a remade office REIT. More likely, it was positioning itself better for an outright sale.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal
Prior to the deal with Morgan Stanley, Crescent had set into motion a series of deals, including the $550 million sale of its six hotels plus the 343,664-square-foot Austin Centre office building for $75.5 million to Walton Street Capital LLC in March. It also struck a deal recently to sell a portfolio of Dallas-area office assets to a venture between Trimarchi Management and UBS for about $420 million, according to published reports. Crescent also sold the historic Exchange Building in Seattle for $80.6 million to a joint venture between GE Asset Management and The Ashforth Co.
The REIT was preparing to shop its resort and residential development business through JP Morgan and was still evaluating plans for Canyon Ranch, a wellness lifestyle company owned in partnership with Mel Zuckerman and Jerry Cohen.
It's not clear what Morgan Stanley will do with the various pieces of Crescent going forward. The financial services firm considers Crescent's "unique" platform complimentary to its own wide range of business lines.
Morgan Stanley has certainly cast a wide net for real estate acquisitions, gobbling up properties and real estate companies in all sectors of the industry, and has been a major force in the take-private deals that have fueled the hot investment sales market over the past two years.
Last year, it acquired Town and Country Trust, an apartment REIT, through a venture with Onex Real Estate and Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC, in a deal valued at $1.5 billion. Also in 2006, it paid $1.9 billion to acquire Glenborough Realty Trust, a San Mateo, CA-based office REIT. It recently acquired CNL Hotels & Resorts for about $6.6 billion, including the sale of a portion of the properties to Ashford Hospitality Trust.
The financial firm has also reached into its deep pockets for a plethora of property acquisitions lately. It recently paid about $2.43 billion to buy a portfolio of former EOP assets in San Francisco from Blackstone. It also acquired a 28-story office tower at 2 Park Ave. in Manhattan for $519 million. On the retail side, Morgan Stanley recently formed a joint venture with Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc. to acquire and manage retail properties in target markets across the U.S. with a goal of building a billion-dollar portfolio.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal counsel. Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Morgan Stanley Real Estate with Goodwin Procter LLP and Jones Day providing legal counsel.
Crescent, a mixed-use REIT owned by Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater, was in the midst of morphing itself into a pure-play office REIT. After evaluating its strategic options, the company came to the conclusion that it could "take advantage of the void left by rabid industry consolidation" as a remade office REIT. More likely, it was positioning itself better for an outright sale.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal
Prior to the deal with Morgan Stanley, Crescent had set into motion a series of deals, including the $550 million sale of its six hotels plus the 343,664-square-foot Austin Centre office building for $75.5 million to Walton Street Capital LLC in March. It also struck a deal recently to sell a portfolio of Dallas-area office assets to a venture between Trimarchi Management and UBS for about $420 million, according to published reports. Crescent also sold the historic Exchange Building in Seattle for $80.6 million to a joint venture between GE Asset Management and The Ashforth Co.
The REIT was preparing to shop its resort and residential development business through JP Morgan and was still evaluating plans for Canyon Ranch, a wellness lifestyle company owned in partnership with Mel Zuckerman and Jerry Cohen.
It's not clear what Morgan Stanley will do with the various pieces of Crescent going forward. The financial services firm considers Crescent's "unique" platform complimentary to its own wide range of business lines.
Morgan Stanley has certainly cast a wide net for real estate acquisitions, gobbling up properties and real estate companies in all sectors of the industry, and has been a major force in the take-private deals that have fueled the hot investment sales market over the past two years.
Last year, it acquired Town and Country Trust, an apartment REIT, through a venture with Onex Real Estate and Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC, in a deal valued at $1.5 billion. Also in 2006, it paid $1.9 billion to acquire Glenborough Realty Trust, a San Mateo, CA-based office REIT. It recently acquired CNL Hotels & Resorts for about $6.6 billion, including the sale of a portion of the properties to Ashford Hospitality Trust.
The financial firm has also reached into its deep pockets for a plethora of property acquisitions lately. It recently paid about $2.43 billion to buy a portfolio of former EOP assets in San Francisco from Blackstone. It also acquired a 28-story office tower at 2 Park Ave. in Manhattan for $519 million. On the retail side, Morgan Stanley recently formed a joint venture with Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust Inc. to acquire and manage retail properties in target markets across the U.S. with a goal of building a billion-dollar portfolio.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal counsel. Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to Morgan Stanley Real Estate with Goodwin Procter LLP and Jones Day providing legal counsel.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate - Corporate Real Estate Toxic Mortgages
January 2006: Fortune. Interview with Richard Rainwater. "This is the first scenario I've seen where I question the survivability of mankind." He's 112th on the Forbes 400, worth $2.3 billion: "Most people invest and then sit around worrying what the next blowup will be. I do the opposite. I wait for the blowup, then invest." He waited with a half-billion-dollar war chest.
One year later- look at the deal Morgan closed on May 22, 2007
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Acquires Crescent Real Estate Equities (CEI) for $22.80/Sh
Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate will acquire Crescent in an all cash transaction for $22.80 per share and the assumption of liabilities for total consideration of approximately $6.5 billion. Shares of Crescent Real Estate Equities closed at $21.62 today.
Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. (NYSE: CEI) has finally found a buyer, and one that seems to like its mixed-use approach. Morgan Stanley Real Estate has agreed to acquire the Fort Worth, Texas-based REIT for a deal that totals $6.5 billion, including the assumption of debt.
Crescent, a mixed-use REIT owned by Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater, was in the midst of morphing itself into a pure-play office REIT. After evaluating its strategic options, the company came to the conclusion that it could "take advantage of the void left by rabid industry consolidation" as a remade office REIT. More likely, it was positioning itself better for an outright sale.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley decided—while fearing for their own existence—to transform themselves into bank holding companies in September (bringing with it the ability to access the Federal Reserve's discount window), they essentially brought to an end the era of the standalone investment bank.
Bank of America said it couldn't even close its Merrill Lynch acquisition without substantial extra government help, and is likely to get billions of dollars in federal guarantees.
One year later- look at the deal Morgan closed on May 22, 2007
Morgan Stanley Real Estate Acquires Crescent Real Estate Equities (CEI) for $22.80/Sh
Crescent Real Estate Equities Company (NYSE: CEI) entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate will acquire Crescent in an all cash transaction for $22.80 per share and the assumption of liabilities for total consideration of approximately $6.5 billion. Shares of Crescent Real Estate Equities closed at $21.62 today.
Crescent Real Estate Equities Co. (NYSE: CEI) has finally found a buyer, and one that seems to like its mixed-use approach. Morgan Stanley Real Estate has agreed to acquire the Fort Worth, Texas-based REIT for a deal that totals $6.5 billion, including the assumption of debt.
Crescent, a mixed-use REIT owned by Texas billionaire Richard Rainwater, was in the midst of morphing itself into a pure-play office REIT. After evaluating its strategic options, the company came to the conclusion that it could "take advantage of the void left by rabid industry consolidation" as a remade office REIT. More likely, it was positioning itself better for an outright sale.
The Crescent deal just underscores the notion that the private equity boom is still in full swing. According to a New York Times article citing data from Thomson Financial, there have been $281 billion worth of private equity deals in the U.S. so far this year -- that's triple the amount compared to the same period last year, which ended up breaking all sorts of records.
There seems to be plenty of momentum left for REIT take-private deals, too. Year to date, 12 REITs have gone private for a total of $16.2 billion. But, there's still a ways to go to catch up to the lofty levels of 2006, when 23 deals totaling $64.3 billion, including the mammoth EOP buyout, took place, according to SNL Financial data listed in an article by The Wall Street Journal.
Greenhill & Co. LLC served as Crescent's financial advisor and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP provided legal
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley decided—while fearing for their own existence—to transform themselves into bank holding companies in September (bringing with it the ability to access the Federal Reserve's discount window), they essentially brought to an end the era of the standalone investment bank.
Bank of America said it couldn't even close its Merrill Lynch acquisition without substantial extra government help, and is likely to get billions of dollars in federal guarantees.
Rick Scott, Bigger then Enron
New Commercial for Richard Scott
Conservatives for Patients' Rights
Remember who Richard is:
The Epitome of Fraud- Waste-Abuse:
2009 - WSJ reported that Richard Scott, "the former CEO of HCA Inc," had formed the non-profit organization-
Conservatives for Patients' Rights
as part of a "lobbying campaign to derail or modify" health care reform.
non-profit? What a joke.
Not this thief: THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003; WWW.USDOJ.GOV;
HCA Inc. (formerly known as Columbia/HCA and HCA - The Healthcare Company)
LARGEST HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE IN U.S. HISTORY SETTLED; HCA INVESTIGATION NETS RECORD TOTAL OF $1.7 BILLION
Note: Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was acquired by Columbia in 1994.
He features a doctor from England. I wonder why?
HCA International
242 Marylebone Road London, NW1 6JL
News & Events Careers Sitemap Legal
2008-
Welcome to London's leading private hospitals
Text size: A A
With six world-class hospitals and four outpatient medical centres in London, we are the private hospitals of choice for the successful treatment of serious and complex medical conditions. We also achieve some of the highest patient outcome and survival rates in the UK and our hospitals are virtually MRSA-free*
Conservatives for Patients' Rights
Remember who Richard is:
The Epitome of Fraud- Waste-Abuse:
2009 - WSJ reported that Richard Scott, "the former CEO of HCA Inc," had formed the non-profit organization-
Conservatives for Patients' Rights
as part of a "lobbying campaign to derail or modify" health care reform.
non-profit? What a joke.
Not this thief: THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003; WWW.USDOJ.GOV;
HCA Inc. (formerly known as Columbia/HCA and HCA - The Healthcare Company)
LARGEST HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE IN U.S. HISTORY SETTLED; HCA INVESTIGATION NETS RECORD TOTAL OF $1.7 BILLION
Note: Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was acquired by Columbia in 1994.
He features a doctor from England. I wonder why?
HCA International
242 Marylebone Road London, NW1 6JL
News & Events Careers Sitemap Legal
2008-
Welcome to London's leading private hospitals
Text size: A A
With six world-class hospitals and four outpatient medical centres in London, we are the private hospitals of choice for the successful treatment of serious and complex medical conditions. We also achieve some of the highest patient outcome and survival rates in the UK and our hospitals are virtually MRSA-free*
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
"Tea Baggers" take note- Bigger than Enron
TruthDig
By Robert Scheer
April 15, 2009
Robert Scheer is the editor of Truthdig, where this article originally appeared. His latest book is The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened
One wonders if Phil Gramm has been made just a tad nervous by the news on Tuesday that one of UBS's super-wealthy private clients has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. That's the second case in two weeks involving the bank at which the former senator is a vice chairman, and 100 other clients are under investigation for possible bank-assisted tax fraud.
Gramm, the Republican former chair of the Senate Finance Committee, where he authored much of the deregulatory legislation at the heart of the current banking meltdown, has for the six years since he left office helped lead a foreign-owned bank specializing in tax dodges for the wealthy. These schemes by the Swiss-based UBS not only force the rest of us taxpayers to pay more to make up the government revenue shortfall but are blatantly illegal. In February, UBS admitted to having committed fraud and conspiracy and agreed to pay a fine of $780 million. Republican "Tea Baggers" take note: Offshore tax havens do not equal populist revolt.
In the UBS "deferred prosecution agreement" with the Justice Department, the bank agreed to turn over the names of its secret account holders to avoid a criminal indictment. The complicity of top executives in this far-ranging scheme to use foreign tax havens to cheat the US treasury of billions in uncollected taxes was noted at the time in a Justice Department statement: "Swiss bankers routinely traveled to the United States to market Swiss bank secrecy to United States clients interested in attempting to evade United States income taxes."
What did Gramm think all of those Swiss bankers from his firm were doing over here? Was he totally clueless? The Justice Department statement suggests otherwise: "UBS executives knew that UBS's cross-border business violated the law. They refused to stop this activity, however, and in fact instructed their bankers to grow the business. The reason was money--the business was too profitable to give up. This was not a mere compliance oversight, but rather a knowing crime motivated by greed and disrespect of the law."
Is it conceivable that this "knowing crime," so widespread within the UBS enterprise, was unknown to Vice Chairman Gramm--even though it primarily involved US tax evasion, and he had been hired by the company because of his expertise in American law, some of which he helped to write? As Gramm said when he was hired in 2002 by UBS, the position "will provide me with the opportunity to practice what I have always preached. I have been involved in every major financial debate since I've been in the Congress."
How could Gramm, who prides himself on expertise in these matters, have been unaware of the damage that the Swiss bankers who worked for him were doing to American taxpayers saddled with making up the shortfall in government revenue? As the Justice Department said: "In 2004 alone, Swiss bankers allegedly traveled to the United States approximately 3,800 times to discuss their clients' Swiss bank accounts.
The information further alleges that UBS managers and employees used encrypted laptops and other counter-surveillance techniques to help prevent the detection of their marketing efforts and the identities and offshore assets of their U.S. clients."
But then again, if you are Phil Gramm or his wife, Wendy, you might expect to get away with a great deal in the way of financial machinations. After all, neither has ever been held legally responsible for the Enron debacle, in which the Gramms played a major part.
As a top government regulator, Wendy Gramm changed the rules to make Enron's chicanery possible, and as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Phil codified those rule changes into federal law. While Enron execs like Chairman Ken Lay (a major Gramm campaign contributor) were indicted, the charmed couple that created the loopholes Lay and others jumped through escaped legal responsibility.
After leaving the government, Wendy Gramm joined Enron's board, where she headed the audit committee that managed to avoid auditing the company's disgraceful accounting procedures--just as her husband has apparently looked the other way during his stint in the private sector with UBS.
Sure, Phil Gramm lost his position as the co-chairman of John McCain's presidential campaign when he blamed the recession not on the banking deregulation he championed but rather the people of the United States, which he described as a "nation of whiners." But that was a sideshow compared with the serious charges now swirling around UBS, charges that may finally prove to be Gramm's undoing.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090427/scheer?rel=emailNation
By Robert Scheer
April 15, 2009
Robert Scheer is the editor of Truthdig, where this article originally appeared. His latest book is The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened
One wonders if Phil Gramm has been made just a tad nervous by the news on Tuesday that one of UBS's super-wealthy private clients has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. That's the second case in two weeks involving the bank at which the former senator is a vice chairman, and 100 other clients are under investigation for possible bank-assisted tax fraud.
Gramm, the Republican former chair of the Senate Finance Committee, where he authored much of the deregulatory legislation at the heart of the current banking meltdown, has for the six years since he left office helped lead a foreign-owned bank specializing in tax dodges for the wealthy. These schemes by the Swiss-based UBS not only force the rest of us taxpayers to pay more to make up the government revenue shortfall but are blatantly illegal. In February, UBS admitted to having committed fraud and conspiracy and agreed to pay a fine of $780 million. Republican "Tea Baggers" take note: Offshore tax havens do not equal populist revolt.
In the UBS "deferred prosecution agreement" with the Justice Department, the bank agreed to turn over the names of its secret account holders to avoid a criminal indictment. The complicity of top executives in this far-ranging scheme to use foreign tax havens to cheat the US treasury of billions in uncollected taxes was noted at the time in a Justice Department statement: "Swiss bankers routinely traveled to the United States to market Swiss bank secrecy to United States clients interested in attempting to evade United States income taxes."
What did Gramm think all of those Swiss bankers from his firm were doing over here? Was he totally clueless? The Justice Department statement suggests otherwise: "UBS executives knew that UBS's cross-border business violated the law. They refused to stop this activity, however, and in fact instructed their bankers to grow the business. The reason was money--the business was too profitable to give up. This was not a mere compliance oversight, but rather a knowing crime motivated by greed and disrespect of the law."
Is it conceivable that this "knowing crime," so widespread within the UBS enterprise, was unknown to Vice Chairman Gramm--even though it primarily involved US tax evasion, and he had been hired by the company because of his expertise in American law, some of which he helped to write? As Gramm said when he was hired in 2002 by UBS, the position "will provide me with the opportunity to practice what I have always preached. I have been involved in every major financial debate since I've been in the Congress."
How could Gramm, who prides himself on expertise in these matters, have been unaware of the damage that the Swiss bankers who worked for him were doing to American taxpayers saddled with making up the shortfall in government revenue? As the Justice Department said: "In 2004 alone, Swiss bankers allegedly traveled to the United States approximately 3,800 times to discuss their clients' Swiss bank accounts.
The information further alleges that UBS managers and employees used encrypted laptops and other counter-surveillance techniques to help prevent the detection of their marketing efforts and the identities and offshore assets of their U.S. clients."
But then again, if you are Phil Gramm or his wife, Wendy, you might expect to get away with a great deal in the way of financial machinations. After all, neither has ever been held legally responsible for the Enron debacle, in which the Gramms played a major part.
As a top government regulator, Wendy Gramm changed the rules to make Enron's chicanery possible, and as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Phil codified those rule changes into federal law. While Enron execs like Chairman Ken Lay (a major Gramm campaign contributor) were indicted, the charmed couple that created the loopholes Lay and others jumped through escaped legal responsibility.
After leaving the government, Wendy Gramm joined Enron's board, where she headed the audit committee that managed to avoid auditing the company's disgraceful accounting procedures--just as her husband has apparently looked the other way during his stint in the private sector with UBS.
Sure, Phil Gramm lost his position as the co-chairman of John McCain's presidential campaign when he blamed the recession not on the banking deregulation he championed but rather the people of the United States, which he described as a "nation of whiners." But that was a sideshow compared with the serious charges now swirling around UBS, charges that may finally prove to be Gramm's undoing.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090427/scheer?rel=emailNation
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Leo J. Wise, Staff Director & Chief Counsel
OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20515
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Leo Wise
April 15, 2009 oce@mail.house.gov
PRESS ADVISORY:
OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS RELEASES FIRST QUARTER REPORT
The Office of Congressional Ethics, established by the House of Representatives, is an independent, non-partisan entity charged with receiving and reviewing allegations of misconduct concerning House Members and staff and, when appropriate, referring matters to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly referred to as the Ethics Committee).
Consistent with the desire of the House for more transparency in these matters, the OCE released today a report of its activities for the first quarter, January to March, of 2009.
# # #
Leo J. Wise, Staff Director & Chief Counsel
1017 Longworth House Office Building
(202) 225-9739
(202) 226-0997 fax
David Skaggs, Chair Porter Goss, Co-Chair
Yvonne Burke Jay Eagen
Karan English William Frenzel
Allison Hayward Abner Mikva
In 1997, as part of Richard Scott's severance package from Columbia he was paid $5.13 million and given a five year consulting contract at $950,000 per year
1997 + 5 = 2002
Remember- 1997 Columbia just decided to sell its home health-care business.
In 2002 FBI raided the offices of National Century Financial Enterprises in Dublin, Ohio
“This case is one of the largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America,” said Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division.
Guess where those home health care units were found?
Yes- "...largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America,”
Why the need for ‘healthcare financial service’ i.e. (NCFE) National Century Financial Enterprises?
Home health - which was struggling under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997; about 1,400 agencies closed nationwide in 1998.
On Sept 8, 1998 Standard and Poors downgraded the bonds of Charter/HCA to negative bases on
poor earnings. Looks like Rainwater and his Crescent Cos' have finally stumbled. One source within the company said it would be a long while before any new high-ticket acquisitions would take place. A previous deal with Prudential is in danger of being jettisoned.
Part Four- Richard (aka Rick) Scott/Conservatives for Patients' Rights
A 2009 article from - The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Scott, "the former chief executive of HCA Inc," had formed the non-profit organization Conservatives for Patients' Rights as part of a "lobbying campaign to derail or modify" President Obama's health care proposals, but failed to note that Scott resigned from HCA in 1997 amid a federal investigation into the company's Medicare billing, physician recruiting, and home-care practices. HCA eventually pleaded guilty to fraud charges and paid approximately $1.7 billion in fines and penalties.
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003; WWW.USDOJ.GOV;
WASHINGTON, D.C.
HCA Inc. (formerly known as Columbia/HCA and HCA - The Healthcare Company)
LARGEST HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE IN U.S. HISTORY SETTLED; HCA INVESTIGATION NETS RECORD TOTAL OF $1.7 BILLION
Note: Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was acquired by Columbia in 1994.
Enron and National Century Financial Enterprises, one of the largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America.
On 3-9-2006 10-K SEC Filing, filed by J P MORGAN CHASE & CO: Enron litigation. JPMorgan Chase and certain of its officers and directors are involved in a number of lawsuits arising out of its banking relationships with Enron Corp.; the three current or former Firm employees are sued in their roles as former members of NCFE's board of directors
Friday, March 14, 2008 3:16 AM
Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty...
5 National Century executives face prison time for fraud
BY JODI ANDES AND KEVIN MAYHOOD
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
It seemed the jury had little doubt about the guilt of the former National Century executives accused of the nation's biggest private fraud.
After a day and a half of deliberation, the jury of eight women and four men came back with a determination of "guilty" for every one of the 40 charges against two of the Dublin company's founders and three of its former executives.
March 26, 2008; By Jodi Andes; THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nine other executives have been convicted or pleaded guilty in National Century's collapse.
Only Poulsen and executive James Happ still await trial.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--Friday, October 31, 2008--WWW.USDOJ.GOV
Former National Century Financial Enterprises CEO Convicted of Conspiracy, Fraud and Money Laundering
Fraud Cost Investors More Than $2 Billion
November 2008 - Only executive James Happ still await trial.
December 18, 2008 - The ONE AND ONLY acquittal; James K Happ!
By Jodi Andes THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Prosecutors' case fell short; juror says National Century fraud case produces 1st acquittal
The "not guilty" verdicts that came in federal court yesterday were not so much a vindication of the last National Century Financial Enterprises executive to stand trial, a juror said.
Instead, they were more a belief that:
‘federal prosecutors had not done their job ‘
the juror said after he and his fellow jurors acquitted James K. Happ of five counts after 12 hours of deliberation.
"He very well may have been guilty. A lot of us thought he was," said the juror
December 18, 2008 - the ONE AND ONLY acquittal- James K Happ
Who is James K Happ?
SEC Form September 9, 2003 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Med Diversified Inc.:
Previously, Mr. Happ served for three years as executive vice president of NCFE, during which time he restructured the servicer department to improve operational performance and accelerated the utilization of technology to increase operational efficiency.
Mr. Happ also served as chief financial officer of the Dallas-based Columbia Homecare Group, Inc.,
CFO of Dallas-based Columbia Homecare Group, Inc.?
James K Happ … In this role, he directed the company through the challenging reimbursement climate, known as the interim payment system, and participated in the divestiture of all of Columbia/HCA's home care operations
Richard Rainwater and Darla Moore in 1997, as part of Richard Scott's severance package from Columbia was paid $5.13 million and given a five year consulting contract at $950,000 per year
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20515
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Leo Wise
April 15, 2009 oce@mail.house.gov
PRESS ADVISORY:
OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS RELEASES FIRST QUARTER REPORT
The Office of Congressional Ethics, established by the House of Representatives, is an independent, non-partisan entity charged with receiving and reviewing allegations of misconduct concerning House Members and staff and, when appropriate, referring matters to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (commonly referred to as the Ethics Committee).
Consistent with the desire of the House for more transparency in these matters, the OCE released today a report of its activities for the first quarter, January to March, of 2009.
# # #
Leo J. Wise, Staff Director & Chief Counsel
1017 Longworth House Office Building
(202) 225-9739
(202) 226-0997 fax
David Skaggs, Chair Porter Goss, Co-Chair
Yvonne Burke Jay Eagen
Karan English William Frenzel
Allison Hayward Abner Mikva
In 1997, as part of Richard Scott's severance package from Columbia he was paid $5.13 million and given a five year consulting contract at $950,000 per year
1997 + 5 = 2002
Remember- 1997 Columbia just decided to sell its home health-care business.
In 2002 FBI raided the offices of National Century Financial Enterprises in Dublin, Ohio
“This case is one of the largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America,” said Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division.
Guess where those home health care units were found?
Yes- "...largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America,”
Why the need for ‘healthcare financial service’ i.e. (NCFE) National Century Financial Enterprises?
Home health - which was struggling under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997; about 1,400 agencies closed nationwide in 1998.
On Sept 8, 1998 Standard and Poors downgraded the bonds of Charter/HCA to negative bases on
poor earnings. Looks like Rainwater and his Crescent Cos' have finally stumbled. One source within the company said it would be a long while before any new high-ticket acquisitions would take place. A previous deal with Prudential is in danger of being jettisoned.
Part Four- Richard (aka Rick) Scott/Conservatives for Patients' Rights
A 2009 article from - The Wall Street Journal reported that Richard Scott, "the former chief executive of HCA Inc," had formed the non-profit organization Conservatives for Patients' Rights as part of a "lobbying campaign to derail or modify" President Obama's health care proposals, but failed to note that Scott resigned from HCA in 1997 amid a federal investigation into the company's Medicare billing, physician recruiting, and home-care practices. HCA eventually pleaded guilty to fraud charges and paid approximately $1.7 billion in fines and penalties.
THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003; WWW.USDOJ.GOV;
WASHINGTON, D.C.
HCA Inc. (formerly known as Columbia/HCA and HCA - The Healthcare Company)
LARGEST HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE IN U.S. HISTORY SETTLED; HCA INVESTIGATION NETS RECORD TOTAL OF $1.7 BILLION
Note: Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was acquired by Columbia in 1994.
Enron and National Century Financial Enterprises, one of the largest corporate fraud investigations involving a privately held company headquartered in small town America.
On 3-9-2006 10-K SEC Filing, filed by J P MORGAN CHASE & CO: Enron litigation. JPMorgan Chase and certain of its officers and directors are involved in a number of lawsuits arising out of its banking relationships with Enron Corp.; the three current or former Firm employees are sued in their roles as former members of NCFE's board of directors
Friday, March 14, 2008 3:16 AM
Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty...
5 National Century executives face prison time for fraud
BY JODI ANDES AND KEVIN MAYHOOD
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
It seemed the jury had little doubt about the guilt of the former National Century executives accused of the nation's biggest private fraud.
After a day and a half of deliberation, the jury of eight women and four men came back with a determination of "guilty" for every one of the 40 charges against two of the Dublin company's founders and three of its former executives.
March 26, 2008; By Jodi Andes; THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Nine other executives have been convicted or pleaded guilty in National Century's collapse.
Only Poulsen and executive James Happ still await trial.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--Friday, October 31, 2008--WWW.USDOJ.GOV
Former National Century Financial Enterprises CEO Convicted of Conspiracy, Fraud and Money Laundering
Fraud Cost Investors More Than $2 Billion
November 2008 - Only executive James Happ still await trial.
December 18, 2008 - The ONE AND ONLY acquittal; James K Happ!
By Jodi Andes THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Prosecutors' case fell short; juror says National Century fraud case produces 1st acquittal
The "not guilty" verdicts that came in federal court yesterday were not so much a vindication of the last National Century Financial Enterprises executive to stand trial, a juror said.
Instead, they were more a belief that:
‘federal prosecutors had not done their job ‘
the juror said after he and his fellow jurors acquitted James K. Happ of five counts after 12 hours of deliberation.
"He very well may have been guilty. A lot of us thought he was," said the juror
December 18, 2008 - the ONE AND ONLY acquittal- James K Happ
Who is James K Happ?
SEC Form September 9, 2003 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Med Diversified Inc.:
Previously, Mr. Happ served for three years as executive vice president of NCFE, during which time he restructured the servicer department to improve operational performance and accelerated the utilization of technology to increase operational efficiency.
Mr. Happ also served as chief financial officer of the Dallas-based Columbia Homecare Group, Inc.,
CFO of Dallas-based Columbia Homecare Group, Inc.?
James K Happ … In this role, he directed the company through the challenging reimbursement climate, known as the interim payment system, and participated in the divestiture of all of Columbia/HCA's home care operations
Richard Rainwater and Darla Moore in 1997, as part of Richard Scott's severance package from Columbia was paid $5.13 million and given a five year consulting contract at $950,000 per year
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
BUCKEYE, LLC ---
Detail by Entity Name
Florida Limited Liability Company
BUCKEYE, LLC
Filing Information
Document Number L08000084792
FEI/EIN Number NONE
Date Filed 09/05/2008
State FL
Status ACTIVE
Principal Address
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Mailing Address
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Registered Agent Name & Address
YINGLING, GREGORY
5290 SEMIONLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Manager/Member Detail
Name & Address
Title MGRM
YINGLING, GREGORY
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD STE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Title MGR
ALEPA, CHRISTOPHER J
63 WESTDALE DRIVE
HILLSDALE NJ 07642 US
Annual Reports
No Annual Reports Filed
Document Images
Florida Limited Liability Company
BUCKEYE, LLC
Filing Information
Document Number L08000084792
FEI/EIN Number NONE
Date Filed 09/05/2008
State FL
Status ACTIVE
Principal Address
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Mailing Address
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Registered Agent Name & Address
YINGLING, GREGORY
5290 SEMIONLE BLVD
SUITE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Manager/Member Detail
Name & Address
Title MGRM
YINGLING, GREGORY
5290 SEMINOLE BLVD STE A
SAINT PETERSBURG FL 33708 US
Title MGR
ALEPA, CHRISTOPHER J
63 WESTDALE DRIVE
HILLSDALE NJ 07642 US
Annual Reports
No Annual Reports Filed
Document Images
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
U.S. Seeks to Drop Case Against Former Sen. Stevens
Prosecutors did not do their job!
Well I hope the AG looks at his case-jurors said the prosecutor did not do their job in December 2008...
2002-The largest private financial fraud case in our country's history began to uncover itself back in 2002, and no one heard of it. Wonder why?
JPMorgan, Citi, Goldman, Merrill, Morgan were all involved in this scheme, for years and were found guilty of contributing to the largest financial fraud case in our history; the largest financial fraud case that just ended Dec 2008 and no one paid attention. Credit Suisse LLC is pending with litigation with its involvement in this case.
The last trial for this case, even after the CEO stood trial was James K Happ. The ONE AND ONLY acquittal James K Happ!
December 18, 2008 - THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH By Jodi Andes --Prosecutors' case fell short, juror says, instead, they were more a belief that federal prosecutors had not done their job…
The SEC places Happ at CFO of Columbia Homecare prior to arriving at NCFE. The years Happ was at NCFE were what the trial was focused on.
Guess what James K Happ did as CFO at Columbia? He used NCFE to finance HCA’s losing asset-homecare into a dumping ground, Medshares Inc in Memphis financed by NCFE. All the while Medshares was under multiple investigations for Medicare Medicaid fraud. Yet no one has heard of this case.
He was the ex-CFO of HCA-Columbia Homecare Group prior to arriving at NCFE and the only one not guilty.
Who is behind this fraud, really? Who are they covering up for?
Well I hope the AG looks at his case-jurors said the prosecutor did not do their job in December 2008...
2002-The largest private financial fraud case in our country's history began to uncover itself back in 2002, and no one heard of it. Wonder why?
JPMorgan, Citi, Goldman, Merrill, Morgan were all involved in this scheme, for years and were found guilty of contributing to the largest financial fraud case in our history; the largest financial fraud case that just ended Dec 2008 and no one paid attention. Credit Suisse LLC is pending with litigation with its involvement in this case.
The last trial for this case, even after the CEO stood trial was James K Happ. The ONE AND ONLY acquittal James K Happ!
December 18, 2008 - THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH By Jodi Andes --Prosecutors' case fell short, juror says, instead, they were more a belief that federal prosecutors had not done their job…
The SEC places Happ at CFO of Columbia Homecare prior to arriving at NCFE. The years Happ was at NCFE were what the trial was focused on.
Guess what James K Happ did as CFO at Columbia? He used NCFE to finance HCA’s losing asset-homecare into a dumping ground, Medshares Inc in Memphis financed by NCFE. All the while Medshares was under multiple investigations for Medicare Medicaid fraud. Yet no one has heard of this case.
He was the ex-CFO of HCA-Columbia Homecare Group prior to arriving at NCFE and the only one not guilty.
Who is behind this fraud, really? Who are they covering up for?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
