ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 19, 1996 TAG: 9603190091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: How much has American Electric Power spent for advertising its name change from Appalachian Power Co.? I've seen it as much as five or six times per night.
W.C., Hillsville
A: The advertising budget is in line with other years, AEP says, but it's not telling anyone what that amount is.
So how do they keep ads on budget? By not running other ads, such as those for heat pumps that made lots of viewers either zap or lose their attention span.
Why does American Electric want to keep the dollar amount secret? Because power companies are preparing for competition - something they've never really had.
Deregulation will mean American Electric, Virginia Power, Duke Power and other electricity providers can compete with one another for us, the customers.
That's the thinking behind the reorganization that turned out the lights on the Apco name.
Turning the power companies loose to compete probably means we can expect more telemarketing solicitors like the ones who sell credit cards and long-distance services.
How's this for a sales pitch: If we'll do our cooking and laundry between midnight and 6 a.m., when generating capacity is in low demand, the juice will cost 30 percent less. Any takers?|
Accountants among indicted
Q: A couple of weeks ago, the paper reported that two or three doctors from Virginia participated in a tax-evasion scheme and one is going to prison. The evasion was masterminded by a New York accounting firm. What has been done with the firm?
G.G., Abingdon
A: Three of the principals in the accounting firm have been indicted; two of them have pleaded guilty.
Trial is scheduled Sept. 3 for Robert Abrams, a certified public accountant who is accused of masterminding the $24 million tax evasion over 20 years.
Abrams is named in a 13-count indictment that accuses him of setting up dummy bank accounts to conceal income for about 200 clients.
About a dozen people have pleaded guilty and their admissions can be used as evidence in Abrams' trial, should it ever be held. Lawyers almost certainly are negotiating to settle the case by dismissal or a plea agreement.
The two principals who have pleaded guilty are Robert Malfi and Virginia Diodato, who purchased the Abrams Associates accounting firm from Abrams in 1990. Malfi was an accountant, and Diodato was a bookkeeper in the firm.
Virginia doctors who have pleaded guilty are Dr. Salvatore Barranco and Dr. Eugene Strelka, Montgomery County orthopedists. Barranco was sentenced to 27 months; Strelka hasn't been sentenced.|
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