Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.law From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: law Thu, Jul 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 04:33:09 EDT Message-ID: 07-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Business Law USA TODAY Update July 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network VICTIM'S FAMILY AWARDED $9.3M: The first jury award for relatives of a Pan Am Flight 103 bombing victim came in at $9.3 million. The family of Pepsico executive Robert Pagnucco, 51, wanted $25.25 million. The New York award came in the first of 213 lawsuits against Pan Am by relatives of those killed when a bomb blew apart the Boeing 747 jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988. GE FINED FOR ISRAEL SCANDAL: General Electric pleaded guilty to criminal charges Wednesday and agreed to pay $69 million in fines in a bribery and fraud scandal involving the sale of military jet engines to Israel. GE employees allegedly bribed an Israeli Air Force general to influence his choice of a military jet engine contractor. GE was accused of filing false claims of more than $40 million. WHISTLEBLOWER REWARDED: General Electric pleaded guilty to defrauding the Pentagon and Israeli Defense Ministry of $26.5 million. Prosecutors also alleged GE gave Israeli Air Force Gen. Rami Dotan $7.9 million to influence decisions on jet fighter engine contracts. Chester Walsh, a GE employee who first reported the scheme to authorities, could get $14.8 million of GE's fines under a law to reward whistleblowers. SMOKE REPORT HEADS TO EPA: A federal panel concluded Wednesday that passive smoke is a toxic health hazard. The panel's report on passive smoke's link to increased risk of lung cancer and respiratory problems should get to Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Reilly by year's end. An approved report could cause state or federal agencies to ban smoking from workplaces and public areas. GROUPS WANT HALCION OFF MARKET: A national consumer group and leading Halcion researchers petitioned the Food and Drug Administration Wednesday to ban the popular sleeping pill from the market. The petition follows a permanent Halcion ban Monday in the United Kingdom. Among new data: even at low doses, the rate of adverse psychiatric effects are four times higher than with competing drugs. HOUSE MAY REGULATE CABLE TV: The House is expected to approve legislation Thursday to regulate rates and services of the $22 billion-a-year cable television industry and open it to more competition. The Bush administration threatened to veto the cable bill because it considers it too heavy on regulation. Some opponents say the measure could drive rates up - rather than down. IRS TARGETED FOR COVER UP: Nevada's senators - Democrats Harry Reid and Richard Bryan - and Rep. James Bilbray, D-Nev., claimed Wednesday the Internal Revenue Service is trying to cover up gross mismanagement of a Las Vegas gambling sting operation initiated by its Reno office in 1984. They want the Department of Justice to investigate a possible cover-up. About $600,000 from the sting is missing. P&G PATENTS PENDING: Procter & Gamble came a step closer Wednesday to getting patents extended for its revolutionary fat-substitute product olestra. The House Judiciary Committee passed legislation extending three olestra patents through 1997. A fourth patent that has expired was not part of the bill. P&G has been struggling for more than 20 years to get Food and Drug Administration approval for olestra. FOREST SUBSIDIES HURT JOBS: The federal government spends millions of dollars a year subsidizing forest products exports, draining the Pacific Northwest of thousands of timber-related jobs, Rep. Jolene Unsoeld, D-Wash., said to the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday. Unsoeld testified in support of legislation to eliminate the subsidies. GAO POINTS OUT OVERPAYMENTS: The General Accounting Office said Wednesday that the federal government is paying millions of dollars a year in excessive public housing subsidies because many renters understate their income to qualify for assistance. The GAO estimated overpayment was as much as $41 million in 1989 for less than 4% of 4.6 million households subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. CONTINENTAL REBOUNDING: MAXXAM Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware approved preliminary agreements calling for a $350 million MAXXAM-led cash investment in the airline. The proposed investment is to provide Continental with the financial resources necessary to enable it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. TOWN & COUNTRY RESTRUCTURING: Town & Country Corp., a maker of jewelry and high school class rings, filed a plan with the Securities and Exchange Commission to restructure $124 million of its outstanding bonds to relieve the company's debt, reports Bloomberg Business News. Town & County already has come close to defaulting on its debt. SUIT FILED AGAINST COMPUMART: Lotus Development Corp., Microsoft Corp., WordPerfect Corp. and Aldus Corp. have filed suit against a privately held Texas computer hardware dealer. CompuMart Inc. of McAllen, Texas, is accused of pirating their products for computers it was advertising for sale in Mexico. The suit says CompuMart systematically loaded software programs into the computers at no extra charge to buyers. Business Law Editor: Kate Coughlin. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM