Published on May 07, 2005
A class-action lawsuit was filed in New York’s Southern District Court on behalf of all purchasers of the common stock InVision Technologies Inc from March 15, 2004 through July 30, 2004 inclusive.
The complaint charges InVision with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, it alleges that the company failed to disclose and misrepresented the following facts, which were known to defendants or recklessly disregarded by them: (1) that the company’s foreign distributors were engaging in questionable and potentially illegal activities; (2) that its foreign distributors made improper payments in connection with foreign sales activities, which were in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; (3) that InVision improperly accounted for the funds used in these payments; and (4) that as a result, InVision’s improper accounting for such payments allowed InVision to enter into a definitive merger agreement with General Electric at US$6.39 (Bt252) per share.
On July 30, 2004, InVision announced that it had met with the Justice Department and the SEC concerning its voluntary disclosure of an internal investigation of certain possible offers of improper payments by distributors in connection with foreign sales activities. The news shocked the market. Shares of InVision fell 12.87 per cent on August 2. This is one piece of information we can easily find out from past media reports in the US, and it was happening at almost the same time as when Thaksin was forcing construction work at the new airport to speed up. So far, the media in Thailand are mostly reporting about how distributors were allegedly engaging in questionable and potentially illegal activities. I would be really interested to learn the details of this case. If the Thai government is so confident that it is innocent of bribery allegations, why did it not reconsider the supply source of the machines at an earlier stage? If this case causes serious delays with the opening of the new airport, we must say that it is because of the big mistakes they have made in handling this case. KT Bangkok The US is no model for corporate wrongdoing cases I was perhaps as bemused as Songdej Praditsmanont was about my letter regarding duplicitous standards likely to be applied in the trial of Enron chief Kenneth Lay, when I read his response (“US sets stronger example with corporate wrongdoers”, Letters, April 26). While I was initially hopeful that Songdej might restore some hope in the system of justice in his letter, he added the caveat “the standards of punishing a senior executive who has misbehaved in the US have improved”. The words “have improved” are often used in relation to developing nations who are trying to catch up with modern standards. So, when Songdej states: they “have improved”, may I ask – in relation to what? I am sure that Songdej is sincere in his beliefs, but he should nonetheless understand we are now in the age of denial and scapegoat-ism. This is an age when the person who assured the US government that he had enough “slam dunk” information to start a war, which has cost hundreds of thousand of lives, is awarded a medal of freedom, while the blame is passed onto a mystery man called “Curveball”.This is the age when a government speaks of human rights, but has its own grotesque catalogue of abuses practised by its pressurised and incited military personnel, who only believe they are acting in a patriotic manner. The list goes on . . . But watch, Kenneth Lay will have a comfortable future, and apart from the inconvenience of the court case, he has not yet played his last game of golf with the Bushes. The poor standards and example shown by the US are only a reflection of the current leadership, which has used every available means to hide behind “presidential privilege” while asking bravery of others. A Warner Bangkok ----------------------------------------------------------- US is striking out with its policies on the junta Is it a double or a triple standard when Condi and her cohorts at the US State Department crow over who has what, and when she belittles the junta in Burma. Now, I’m no junta lover but if you can compromise, surely it’s the better approach. What the US needs to do is give Burma a way to save face. After all, the US needs more friends and not enemies, as the score in the bottom of the fifth inning is not in your favour worldwide.That’s Bush baseball talk. Now Thailand, shame on you! Not a peep from the oh-so proud Thai media which prides itself on hitting anyone, anytime, anyhow – including the fearless Thaksin. As the world news highlights the UN oil-for-food scandal, Thailand is silent. As you complain over the Thai airport scandals, Thailand looks the other way when it comes to UN scandals. Have you any idea of how many Iraqi kids died for these scandals that were in the billions of dollars, and The Nation is silent? You complained about the war, but why no complaint on the food scandals? Are you being censored by Thai politics? Be fair and balanced. When you hit, hit all of them. Billy Bob USA ----------------------------------------------------------- Interpretation of Koran can justify extreme measures Re: “Why is Islam always linked to violence?”, Letters, April 28. Thank you for helping me understand why Islam is often (not always) linked to violence. You quote the Koran: “Whoever killed a human being, except as a punishment for murder or other wicked crimes, should be looked upon as though he had killed all mankind . . .” So the Koran basically condones killing as a punishment for murder (the US has murdered many in Afghanistan and Iraq) “or other wicked crimes” (bin Laden accused the US of many “wicked crimes” before 9/11). John Heim Bangkok ----------------------------------------------------------- TRT’s handling of InVision intimidates whistleblowers The Thai Rak Thai’s demand that InVision do business its way or face being barred from doing business in Thailand is nothing short of extortion. The worst effect of that is not the millions of dollars in public funds that the TRT will hand over in penalties to InVision for its tearing up the contract, but the message it will send to other companies that might be inclined to blow the whistle on payments extorted by government officials and their cronies for doing business in Thailand in the future. Extortion, corruption, is not a “victimless” crime. The Thai people are its victims for it is they, not the foreign companies, who pay the inflated prices extorted by corrupt government officials and their cronies. If successful, this shakedown of InVision will be the harbinger of future such shakedowns of whistleblowers, institutionalising corruption in Thailand. John Francis Lee Chiang Rai ----------------------------------------------------------- Pockets are being lined at the public’s expense How can the Thai people stand for this blatant corruption by politicians to line their pockets at the expense of the populace? It would appear that this equipment [for Suvarnabhumi Airport] is costing Thai people almost double the price than if the equipment had been bought directly from the producer, with most of the extra money going into someone’s pocket. How much other equipment has been bought this way? Thai Lover Bangkok ----------------------------------------------------------- Only jalopies seem to be present at airport taxi queue An airport should be the figurehead of a city. Whenever I arrive in Bangkok I notice travellers are pushed by official-looking “guides” towards a so-called “taxi-counter”, which actually sells limousine transfers at a minimum of Bt600 to the unaware guest (Bt300 over what the taxis just outside the exit charge). In the queue, the scam doesn’t stop as it seems only the oldest and most beat-up taxis queue. The licence holder maximises profits with the oldest fleet of cars I have ever seen in Bangkok. Throughout the city you see bright and shiny Japanese cars, but at the airport only the worst seem to be good enough. The only way to avoid all of that is to walk two floors higher upon arrival, where good cabs who bring departing clients can easily be hired. But again, their drivers have to pay a fee of Bt20 if they collect passengers. I wonder to whom . . . Peter Ha-Emm Bangkok ----------------------------------------------------------- Smart cards should employ bio-metric authentication I am not sure, what is the objective of the smart card? To store information, but information that can be made available to whom? Instead, why not store the info and make it available only after bio-metric authentication (verifying a user’s identity by means of a physical trait)? Why not have the social security, personal, health, education, employment and bank transaction information stored for each employee and make it available against bio-metric authentication. Make bank transactions mandatory and ban currency circulation to create a level playing field, eradicate corruption, alleviate poverty, etc. We from the Transparency and Accountability Network could assist in achieving the above at the minimum cost to the government and citizens. Kris Dev Bangkok
Post your comment to this story here