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The Irish Independent reports that a "cashback" scheme for computers was part of an international multi-million euro scam. Victims of the scam had been told they would be refunded half the cost of computers they bought after five years under a special insurance policy. Britain's Department of Trade and Industry uncovered the fraud, which was mostly operated by a now-liquidated insurance company called Intervest SA. The scheme was also found to be part of a USD22 million embezzlement scam that came to light during a dispute between customers of Dublin computer firm Beyond 2000, the Small Claims Court in Dublin heard.
The paper also says that three UK technology firms were ejected from the FTSE 100 on Wednesday to make room for more traditional stocks. ARM Holdings, Logica and Electrocomponents lost their places in the top index to make room for mining company Estrata, platinum refiner Johnson Matthey and Bunzl, which makes products including cigarette filters and ink wells.
According to the Irish Times, Samuel Waksal, former chief executive of troubled biotechnology company ImClone Systems, has been charged with insider trading. Waksal was arrested after the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of trying to sell shares in ImClone on 26 December 2001, two days before it became public knowledge that the company's experimental cancer drug, Erbitux, would not be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. He has been charged with nine criminal counts of conspiracy, securities fraud and perjury.
The Financial Times reports that shares in the UK financial services software group AIT fell 50 percent on Thursday after it admitted it was up for sale. The move to sell the firm came as another shortfall in revenues and profits forced it to delay the publication of its full-year results. After a provision of up to STG300,000 on its investment in a consultancy business, AIT expected a shortfall of STG4 million in revenues and STG4.3 million in profits.
The FT also says that Hewlett-Packard has announced it will cut about 10 percent of its workforce, or 2,000 workers, in Asia outside Japan, as part of a global consolidation following last month's merger with Compaq. HP said the job cuts, to be finalised by the end of July, would be in line with the plans to slash 15,000 jobs worldwide that were already announced by chief executive Carly Fiorina.
The Wall Street Journal says the PC market should bounce back slowly this year and return to double-digit gains next year, according to new reports. IDC is expected to boost its estimate for world-wide unit shipments this year to a 4.7 percent gain. The research firm originally forecast a 1.8 percent gain for this year but in March revised its projection to a 3 percent gain. Gartner has also lifted its forecast for 2002 PC shipments to a 5.4 percent gain compared with last year, up more than 1 percent from its last forecast.
The same paper reports that Microsoft has admitted there is a serious flaw in its Internet server software that could allow attackers to take control of Web sites, steal information and use vulnerable computers to attack others on-line. The Internet Information Server software, which runs about one-third of the world's Web sites, is used by millions of businesses and organisations. Microsoft made available a free patch for customers using versions of the software with its Windows NT or Windows 2000 operating systems.
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