NATIONAL BRIEFING
NATIONAL BRIEFING
Former Hollinger executive F. David Radler, right, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
(B7 Brian Kersey -- Associated Press)
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CORPORATE CRIME
Ex-Hollinger Official Pleads Guilty
Hollinger International's former chief operating officer, F. David Radler, pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge and agreed to cooperate with a Justice Department probe of his former boss, Conrad M. Black. Prosecutors will recommend that Radler serve 29 months in jail and pay a $250,000 fine for his role in a $32 million fraud at the newspaper publisher. He'll remain free on a $500,000 bond until all proceedings in the case are concluded.
Black is fighting a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission and a $425 million civil lawsuit by Hollinger that claims he looted the company through excessive, undisclosed payments to himself and associates.
HEALTH CARE
Tenet Expects Katrina Losses
Tenet Healthcare said it expects to suffer significant losses from Hurricane Katrina, which damaged six of its hospitals in Louisiana and Mississippi and caused the evacuation of five of them.
Tenet said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the extent of damage still isn't known but that it is insured for up to $1 billion for each "occurrence," and a spokesman said the hurricane and later levee breaks might be two separate occurrences. However, even in that case, coverage against flood losses is limited to $250 million, company officials said.
AUTOMOTIVE
GM Vows 20 MPG in New SUVs
General Motors will be the first automaker to average at least 20 miles per gallon in fuel efficiency with a large sport-utility vehicle, its sales executives said. Gary White, GM's vice president of North American truck operations, said GM has redesigned its Chevrolet Tahoe with a more efficient engine and aerodynamic shape. GM also plans to introduce hybrid versions of its Tahoe and Suburban SUVs that get 25 MPG in 2007.
LEGAL
Resentencing in HealthSouth
Former HealthSouth finance chief Michael Martin was sentenced to a week in prison for his role in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud. U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon had sentenced Martin to probation but imposed the week-long term after the case was sent back by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which ruled Clemon didn't adequately explain the sentencing.
The appeals court also sent back the sentencing of former senior vice president Richard E. Botts, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud and falsifying records, but Clemon sentenced him again to probation.
Clemon said he rejected prosecutors' request for substantantial terms for both Martin, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud and other counts, and Botts because the former executives had helped the FBI's investigation.
