http://www.tomcoyner.com/how_high.htm
EXCERPT:

How High-Tech Dream Shattered in Scandal at Lernout & Hauspie
By Mark Maremont, Jesse Eisinger and John Carreyrou
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNALDecember 7, 2000

John Duerden wanted his $100 million, and he wanted it now.
The chief executive officer of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV had come to South Korea to solve a mystery: why his Korean lieutenants refused to release $100 million in cash they had on their books. Amid a deepening accounting scandal, Lernout & Hauspie, a leading maker of speech-recognition software, desperately needed the funds to stave off bankruptcy.

Arriving at the Seoul office of L&H Korea on Nov. 17, he was kept waiting for an hour before being ushered into a room with a visibly nervous Joo Chul Seo, head of the subsidiary. Mr. Duerden began grilling him about the cash. "Suddenly," Mr. Duerden recalls, "the door was kicked open with a terrific crash and three guys ran into the room, shouting and gesticulating."
The CEO watched in shock as the men dragged Mr. Seo out of the room and into an adjoining office, from where loud shouts and bangs were heard. "I thought the guy was getting beaten up," Mr. Duerden says. After urging employees to call the police, he left the building and high-tailed it out of the country.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989304575503500899087566.html
EXCERPT:

BY CHARLES FORELLE AND MARK MAREMONT

BRUSSELS—The founders of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV, once a global leader in speech-recognition technology, were found guilty by a Belgian court of fraud violations in the accounting scandal that led to the company's downfall a decade ago.
Jo Lernout and Pol Hauspie were each given sentences of five years, of which they were expected to serve three, a court spokesman said.
Six other defendants in the case, including L&H's former chief executive, were also convicted. Several were acquitted, including Dexia Bank and L&H's former auditor, KPMG.
Lawyers for Messrs. Lernout and Hauspie couldn't be reached. Before the verdict ...

http://www.campusprogress.org/articles/the_fixer_lanny_davis_represents_union_busters_dictators_and_now_for-p/
EXCERPT:


When voice recognition software company Lernout & Hauspie was involved in an accounting scandal that got the Securities and Exchange Commission investigating its inflated revenue numbers, they called Davis. At the time, Davis explained his PR strategy to a reporter at Forbes: He would divert writers about to cover bad news surrounding the company with a positive, forward-looking pitch. Davis called this "bad-news padding." [Forbes, Nov. 27, 2000]


The Israel Project, which has come under scrutiny for pushing its pro-Israel views into the deepest corners of power in Washington, has also employed Davis as a lobbyist. The group advertised him as available to speak to the press, touting his connection to former President Clinton. [The Israel Project, Jan. 12, 2009]

Please watch second video (Geithner's chief of staff from Goldman Sachs)

http://my.firedoglake.com/frank33/2010/11/30/new-dee-cee-power-couple-melanie-sloan-and-lanny-davis-plunder-student-loans/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-01-27-lobbyist_N.htm
EXCERPT:

By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner picked a former Goldman Sachs lobbyist as a top aide Tuesday, the same day he announced rules aimed at reducing the role of lobbyists in agency decisions.

Mark Patterson will serve as Geithner's chief of staff at Treasury, which oversees the government's $700 billion financial bailout program. Goldman Sachs received $10 billion of that money.

PERSONAL WEALTH: Geithner's assets significantly lower than Paulson's

Treasury spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said Patterson "brings significant expertise to the job." Patterson, who left the investment bank in April, signed the administration's ethics pledge, which requires him to recuse himself from issues "directly and substantially related to my former employer."

http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Mark_Patterson
EXCERPT:
Patterson was allowed to join the Treasury despite President Obama’s executive order that banned hiring lobbyists to work in an issue area in which they have lobbied over the past two years.Obama Executive Order⁽¹⁾Obama Executive Order Patterson was considered the best man for the job, and he’ll recuse himself from Treasury duties related to Goldman, a company that has received $10 billion in government bailout funds.Yost, Pete, "Ex-Goldman lobbyist now Geithner's right-hand man," The Associated Press, Jan. 30, 2009⁽²⁾