ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997 TAG: 9704250054
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
Bond trader accused of faking diary entries
NEW YORK - The former Kidder Peabody & Co. bond trader accused of scheming to falsify profits and earn millions in bonuses faked entries in a diary crucial to his defense, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged.
The SEC made the allegations in final documents filed as part of its administrative case seeking to punish Joseph Jett for the trading scandal that led to Kidder's demise.
The SEC asked Administrative Law Judge Carol Fox Foelak to ignore Jett's diary - which differed from a version the government obtained from Kidder - in deciding whether he is innocent or guilty of the civil securities fraud charges.
The diary was used to corroborate defense contentions that Jett's superiors knew about his trading strategy, which created almost $350 million in phony profits and masked hefty losses.
Kenneth Warner, a lawyer for Jett, said the SEC's assertions were ``completely false and desperate.''
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
HCA officials reportedly sold high just before stock price tumbled
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. executives and directors sold 252,572 shares near 52-week highs in the month before the federal government raided company facilities in Texas and the stock tumbled, records show.
Leading the selling was Chairman and Chief Executive Richard Scott, who on Feb.25 exercised options to buy 90,000 shares at $13, then sold them for $42.48 each, netting $2.65million. Scott still has 9.4million Columbia shares.
On March 19, the health care facilities company disclosed that its four El Paso, Texas, hospitals and the offices of 20 affiliated doctors had been served with search warrants. Since then, the stock has fallen 17percent to 35 from 423/8. It touched a 52-week high of 447/8 on Feb.18.
-BLOOMBERG NEWS
Mortgage rates dip
WASHINGTON - Interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages slid to 8.08percent this week, remaining above 8percent for a fourth consecutive week, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday.
Fifteen-year mortgages averaged 7.62 percent, down from 7.71percent last week. On one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 5.86 percent, down from 5.89 percent.
-ASSOCIATED PRESS
Accounting firm to volunteer; would you like to be a beneficiary?
The Roanoke office of KPMG Peat Marwick, a New York-based accounting and consulting firm, is seeking requests from community service organizations that could benefit from its day of volunteerism in September.
KPMG is one of 100 companies participating in the President's Summit on volunteerism starting Sunday in Philadelphia. Its offices will close Sept.22 so that its 20,000 partners and employees can volunteer to help groups in their communities. The 40-person Roanoke office is targeting youth groups, Douglas McQuade, the managing partner, said Thursday.
-STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB