LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We’ll get a pause here in the next couple of days, but [gasoline prices] will still be higher
on St. Patrick’s Day than they are now.”
Tom Kloza, Oil Price Information Service chief oil analyst Article, 1D
4 indicted over deadly peanut butter
ATLANTA - A federal grand jury has indicted four former employees of a peanut company linked to a 2009 salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds, leading to one of the largest recalls in history.
The 76-count indictment was unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Georgia. It charged the former employees of Virginia-based Peanut Corp. of America with conspiracy, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and others offenses related to contaminated or misbranded food.
Named in the indictment were company owner Stewart Parnell, his brother and company Vice President Michael Parnell, Georgia plant manager Samuel Lightsey and Georgia plant quality-assurance manager Mary Wilkerson.
FDA inspectors found remarkably unsanitary conditions inside Parnell’s processing plant in Blakely, Ga., including mold and roaches, and the company went bankrupt after the recall.
“When those responsible for producing or supplying our food lie and cut corners, as alleged in the indictment, they put all of us at risk,” Stuart F. Delery, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a news release.
The indictment accuses the Parnells and Lightsey of conspiring to defraud customers and obtain money through false and fraudulent pretenses. Wilkerson faces a charge of obstruction of justice.
A phone call and e-mail to Stewart Parnell’s attorney, Thomas Bondurant Jr., was not immediately returned.
Reached by phone, Lightsey said he had no comment and referred questions to his lawyer, who did not return a call.
30-year mortgage rate rises slightly
WASHINGTON - The average U.S. rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rose this week but remained near historic lows. Low mortgage rates have helped support the slowly recovering housing market.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., said the average rate on the 30-year loan increased to 3.56 percent from 3.53 percent last week.
That’s still near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on record dating to 1971.
The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage stayed at 2.77 percent for a third-straight week. The record low is 2.63 percent.
The cheap mortgages that are encouraging more people to buy or refinance could also help sustain the economy’s recovery this year. Increased sales are helping lift home prices, which tend to make consumers feel wealthier and more likely to spend.
- The Associated Press
European bank chief’s pay: $493,694 European Central Bank President Mario Draghi was paid $493,694 last year, more than twice Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s $199,700 salary.
The Frankfurt-based central bank published details of Draghi’s pay in its 2012 annual accounts Thursday. Draghi, who succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet in November 2011, helped to dispel fears that the euro could fail last year by pledging to buy government bonds if needed.
While Draghi’s pay tops Bank of England Governor Mervyn King’s $465,869, it will be dwarfed by King’s successor Mark Carney. Carney, who currently heads the Bank of Canada, will earn a basic salary of about $732,000 when he takes over from King in July. That’s more than three times Bernanke’s pay.
The central bank’s accounts also showed that two former executive board members, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi and Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, opted to forgo their pensions in return for lump-sum payments totaling a combined $3.2 million when they departed.
Lawmen raid Scooter Store offices
NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas - Dozens of law enforcement officers have raided the Texas headquarters of a power wheelchair and scooter company as part of an investigation into fraud allegations.
Authorities with a search warrant entered the New Braunfels offices of The Scooter Store on Wednesday.
Company officials didn’t immediately return messages for comment Thursday.
Timothy Menke with the office of the inspector general says the investigation involves his agency, plus the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Texas attorney general’s Medicaid fraud unit. An FBI spokesman declined comment.
The Scooter Store earlier this month cut 150 jobs and blamed pending government changes in claims processing and reimbursement. The company in September laid off about 220 workers, citing a drop in Medicare reimbursements.
- The Associated Press
5 banks trim billions on mortgages
WASHINGTON - Five of the biggest U.S. banks have cut struggling homeowners’ mortgage balances by $19 billion, part of a total $45.8 billion in relief provided under a settlement over foreclosure abuses.
More than 550,000 borrowers received some form of mortgage relief between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2012, according to a report issued Thursday by Joseph Smith, the monitor of the settlement.
That translates to about $82,668 per homeowner, according to the report, which is based on the banks’ own accounts of their progress.
The report says $19.5 billion of the $45.8 billion in relief was in the form of short sales, in which lenders agree to accept less than what the seller owes on the mortgage.
- The Associated Press
U.S. wine exporters toast 2012 data
SAN FRANCISCO - New figures show U.S. wine exports grew for the third-consecutive year in 2012, setting a record of $1.43 billion in revenue.
The San Francisco-based Wine Institute released the figures Thursday and said 90 percent of those exports were from California.
The European Union remained the top market for California wines, accounting for about 34 percent of all sales.
But the state’s wineries also saw significant growth in Canada and Asia.
Sales in China reached $74 million in 2012, up 18 percent from the previous year. South Korea, at $16 million, was up 26 percent.
In Canada, the second-largest market for California wines, sales reached $434 million, up 14 percent.
- The Associated Press
Business, Pages 26 on 02/22/2013