Senators Call on AG DOJ to Investigate Transocean Ltd. Money Transfers

[kpete]

Source: Senate Press Release

Senators Call on AG DOJ to Investigate Transocean Ltd. Money Transfers

Owner of Destroyed Oil Rig in Gulf of Mexico to Move $1 Billion out of Company Accounts – Action Could Limit Company’s Liability

Monday, May 24, 2010

Washington, D.C. – After reports that Transocean Ltd., the owner of the destroyed oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, intends to distribute $1 billion to private shareholders, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote a letter with 17 of his Senate colleagues to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking that the Department of Justice look into the corporation’s financial transactions. The announcement came only hours after a closed-door meeting of company executives and weeks after the Transocean-owned Deepwater Horizon oil rig was destroyed, pumping massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

Senators Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Michael Bennet (D. Colo.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and Robert Casey (D-Penn.) joined Wyden as co-signers.

In the letter, the Senators argued that the move by Transocean could further enhance the company’s protection from lawsuits and may make it harder for those negatively affected by the spill to seek claims against the company.

“We are concerned that such action to quickly move money out of corporate coffers to individual investors may make it more difficult to pursue liability claims against the company,” Wyden and his colleagues wrote. “Families of those who died in the disaster, the fishing industry that has been devastated by the oil spill and the governments that have worked full-time to clean up this spill deserve better.”

Read more: http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=ac62582e-dbb5-487e-bbe7-241abc42247e

[HCE SuiGeneris]

1. K & R

[wordpix]

2. "$1 billion to private shareholders"---wonder who they are? BushCheneyCorp?

These fucking thieves just keep coming back.

http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/Our-Management-7.html
Board of Directors

Robert E. Rose Chairman of the Board of Transocean Ltd.

Edward R. Muller Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mirant Corporation
W. Richard Anderson Former President and Chief Executive Officer of Prime Natural Resources, Inc.

Robert M. Sprague Retired Royal Dutch/Shell Executive
Thomas W. Cason
Former Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Baker Hughes Incorporated

Ian C. StrachanFormer Chairman
Instinet Group Incorporated

Victor E. GrijalvaRetired Vice Chairman of the Board
Schlumberger Limited

J. Michael TalbertFormer Chairman
Transocean Inc.
Richard L. George President and Chief Executive Officer
Suncor Energy Inc.

John L. Whitmire Chairman of the Board of Directors of CONSOL Energy Inc. and CONSOL Inc
Martin B. McNamara Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP

[bertman]

9. I don't know any of those guys. How could that happen??

:eyes:

[aquart]

3. My, my, my.

Well, I feel full of trust in their competence.

[drm604]

4. Amoral, unethical ASSHOLES!

:grr:

[wordpix]

5. Transocean will hold investor conference call May 28

for all you investors and intrepid reporters wanting to listen in. Would love to hear what they say about "going forward."

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?dsid=2541&dekey=1&company_name=Transocean+Ltd&id={2D698A31-6F04-49F1-99F5-50D5EC79F23B}

ZUG, SWITZERLAND, May 24, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Transocean Ltd. (SIX: RIGN) today said it plans to conduct a teleconference call for its investors at 10:00 a.m. ET (4:00 p.m. CET) on Friday, May 28, 2010. Individuals who wish to participate in the teleconference call should dial 913-312-0980 and refer to confirmation code 4913727 approximately five to 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the call.

In addition, the conference call will be simulcast through a listen-only broadcast over the Internet and can be accessed by logging onto the company's Worldwide Web address at www.deepwater.com and selecting "Investor Relations." It may also be accessed via the Worldwide Web at www.CompanyBoardroom.com by typing in the company's New York Stock Exchange trading symbol, "RIG."

A telephonic replay of the conference call should be available after 1:00 p.m. ET (7:00 p.m. CET) on May 28, and can be accessed by dialing 719-457-0820 and referring to the passcode 4913727. Also, a replay will be available through the Internet and can be accessed by visiting either of the above-referenced Worldwide Web addresses. Both replay options will be available for approximately 30 days.

[wordpix]

6. this wonderful company also relocated to Switzerland 2 yr. ago to evade US taxes

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/amanda_lang/2010/05/transocean-to-give-shareholder.php

snip: Transocean to give shareholders $1 billion while trying to cap its responsibility for Gulf spill at $27 million

Transocean, Ltd., the giant oil contractor that leased its Deepwater Horizon rig to BP, held a "closed-door meeting" with shareholders Friday, "just days after" executives appeared before Congress to explain the company's role in the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. As ThinkProgress noted, the meeting took place at the company's headquarters in Zug, Switzerland, where Transocean relocated two years ago to avoid paying taxes. Though CEO Steven Newman "ignored questions from reporters," the company said in a statement that it would distribute $1 billion in dividends to shareholders...

[Nihil]

14. Smells of serious damage control ...

Wonder if they've found one of the "missing" data files and it points
right back at them ...?

:think:

[bluesmail]

7. HA! The 28th is Friday Newsdump Day. It could be an EXTRA news day. (eom)

[defendandprotect]

8. Another honest and forthright corporation . . . oil Mafia . . . !!

[bertman]

10. Rec and kick. Just when you thought you'd seen it all. nt

[Bryan Sacks]

11. unfortunately they only "deserve" what the law permits

This scumbag corporation is only doing what it is biologically configured to do, and Senator Wyden's complaint sounds like grandstanding.

He's part of a legislative body that has helped create the environment in which companies like Transocean act with virtually complete impunity in matters like this.

It's no use complaining when a corporation moves to save its own skin, Senator Wyden. If you're complaining, that simply means you can't do much else about it, and whose fault is that?

You can't SHAME it into paying damages. You have to FORCE it to. Either move to seize the company's assets for its role in this disaster, or shut your fucking mouth when it behaves precisely as you and your colleagues have permitted them to behave.

[LuckyLib]

12. The rats are deserting the sinking oil rig and taking their $$$$$ with them.

Corporate criminals, one and all.

[drm604]

13. Is there any legal way to sieze their assets?

Would this be useful?: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Emergency_Economic_Powers_Act

International Emergency Economic Powers Act...
The IEEPA authorizes the president to declare the existence of an "unusual and extraordinary threat... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States" that originates "in whole or substantial part outside the United States." It further authorizes the president, after such a declaration, to block transactions and freeze assets to deal with the threat. In the event of an actual attack on the United States, the president can also confiscate property connected with a country, group, or person that aided in the attack.

It doesn't appear that it's ever been used against corporations but it has been used against groups of individuals.

This isn't an attack but it's certainly an unusual and extraordinary threat to the economy.

[dmosh42]

15. You will need a competent AG as a first step!

Holder, like his predecessors, Mukasey and Gonzalez, only goes after pot growers in Calif. The whole financial disaster went by without any big prosecutions by DOJ. Good luck!