Ex-HealthSouth COO Has Charges Dropped

Stephen Taub
CFO.com
July 20, 2005

Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment of former HealthSouth Corp. president and chief operating officer James P. Bennett for his role in the company's $2.7 billion accounting scandal, according to press reports. The one-sentence motion did not provide a reason for the request, according to the Associated Press.

Bennett was indicted in February — shortly after former chief executive officer Richard Scrushy went on trial — on 39 counts of insider trading; conspiracy to commit wire, mail, and securities fraud; making false statements to HealthSouth's auditor, Ernst & Young; money laundering; and lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, reported the Birmingham Business Journal.

According to the Journal, Bennett was the only former employee formally charged with insider trading in connection with the HealthSouth scandal. Knowing that fraud was taking place, the government alleged, Bennett sold 960,000 shares of HealthSouth stock, for $17.4 million, the newspaper reported...

The full CFO.com piece appears here.

-- MDT

Labels: 2006, Health South, insider trading, money laundering