James Bernstein column:
November 2, 2009
By JAMES BERNSTEIN
james.bernstein@newsday.com
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CA Inc., the Islandia-based
software giant that was wracked by a $2.2-billion accounting scandal earlier
this decade, has decided to continue its court fight to regain about $500
million from its founder and former chairman, Charles Wang, who was blamed
in a blistering internal report for directing and participating in
fraudulent activities.
Wang, who left CA in 2002 and is now hoping to develop the proposed
Lighthouse project in Uniondale, has previously denied any wrongdoing and
said he was "appalled" by the report issued in 2007 by a committee of
outside CA directors.
In a letter last week to U.S. District Court Judge Thomas C. Platt, CA said
it wants to press its case against Wang and Peter Schwartz, CA's former
chief financial officer. Wang and Schwartz were never accused of any
criminal wrongdoing in the federal government's case against the company, in
which former chief executive Sanjay Kumar was jailed and other CA executives
cooperated with federal investigators. Spokesmen for Wang and Schwartz did
not return calls seeking comment.
Gary Lutin, who runs a shareholder forum on CA, said that a federal
appellate court ruling "made it very clear that it was the company's duty to
pursue these claims, so it should be reassuring to shareholders that they
are doing so." CA chief counsel for litigation Gary Brown said in a
statement, "CA will continue to vigorously pursue these matters to protect
the interests of shareholders as well as the company."
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