HealthSouth

As expected, ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy appears to be moving quickly on his plan to get his old job back. The Wall Street Journal reports that Scrushy plans to contact large shareholders in an effort to convince them he should be brought back on. The HealthSouth board has said it has no intention of allowing him to return. At an investor meeting in New York, current CEO Jay Grinney attempted to reassure shareholders saying, "the board has made it absolutely clear he will …

The acquittal of ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy on federal fraud charges dominates healthcare news this morning. Most legal observers had predicted a guilty verdict on the strength of the evidence against Scrushy. A Birmingham, Alabama jury was not convinced, however. The Wall Street Journal notes that "the acquittal casts a long shadow on the Sarbanes-Oxley law in its first test."

The ex-CEO will now try to enforce a clause in his employment agreement which his …

Healthsouth CEO Richard Scrushy has just been found not guilty on 36 counts of orchestrating one of the largest frauds in the history of American healthcare. For nearly a decade HealthSouth misstated earnings and revenues by up to $3.9 billion. Shareholders saw their stock value obliterated when the fraud was discovered in 2003, and Scrushy was one of the first CEOs tried under the new Sarbanes-Oxley regulations.

In deeply related news, HealthSouth filed restated earnings …

Prosecutors said they want a review of light sentences handed out to two former HealthSouth executives who pled guilty to participating in the giant fraud at the company. Mike Martin and Richard Botts received $10,000 fines and sentences of home confinement for their role in the conspiracy last year. Prosecutors will ask for jail time for both men. "It's appropriate that they go to jail," said US Attorney Alice Martin.

- see this …

HealthSouth said it will pay a $100 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges stemming from the $2.7 billion accounting fraud uncovered by government investigators in 2003. The Birmingham, Alabama-based chain of rehabilitation hospitals still faces a series of shareholder lawsuits filed after the scandal broke. Wall Street analysts believe the HealthSouth case may be one of the last big corporate fraud cases we'll see for some time. The departure of SEC …

The US government's case against Richard M. Scrushy appears to have run into serious trouble. On Friday, after two weeks of deliberation, the 12 jurors in the trial of the former HealthSouth CEO said they are deadlocked and unable to reach a verdict. US District Judge Karen Bowdre has ordered the jury to press on and reach a decision. There is considerable skepticism, however, that they will be able to do so.

Prosecutors allege Scrushy was the mastermind of an attempt to defraud …

Reports are strongly suggesting that the jury in the fraud trial of former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy may not be able to agree on a verdict in the case. The Wall Street Journal reports that yesterday jurors sent the presiding judge a note asking what would happen if they are unable to reach a unanimous decision. A mistrial in the four-month trial would be a surprising turnaround, as most legal experts had felt the evidence against the former CEO was compelling. The latest …

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Prosecutors made their closing arguments in the fraud trial of ex-HealthSouth CEO Robert Scrushy, who stands accused of leading a massive conspiracy to inflate the company's earnings. Prosecutors said Scrushy was motivated by greed, ego and a desire to please Wall Street in directing the $2.7 billion accounting fraud. Defense attorney Jim Parkman responded by blaming HealthSouth executive William Owens for the conspiracy, calling him "a big rat." Scrushy has been preaching …