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Federal Criminal Charges Brought Against Former Vann’s CEO Manlove

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Prosecutor’s Plea Deal with Co-Conspirator Appears to Have Fallen Through

Photo of George Manlove, now with Velodyne
George Manlove

George Leslie Manlove, former CEO of Missoula, Montana-based Vann’s, Inc. has been arraigned on federal criminal charges brought against him by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Labor. The charges, more than 200 of them in total, allege extensive criminal conduct, including: conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements. Manlove has pleaded ‘not guilty’ and was released on his own recognizance.

See more on this stunning fall from grace by a former tech retail star… [Read more…] about Federal Criminal Charges Brought Against Former Vann’s CEO Manlove

Toshiba Hit with Record Fine; Shareholders Sue

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Photo of Toshiba presidentDespite its best efforts to turn the corner after its forced disclosure earlier this year of one of the largest accounting scandals ever to jolt the Japanese financial community, Toshiba Corp. just keeps getting  hit with more and more bad news. This bad news includes Japan’s financial regulators assessing the largest fine ever in the history of the country for financial mismanagement – ¥7.37 billion or about $60 million.

And now, the very first wave of shareholder lawsuits against former Toshiba executives are filed…and they are big.

See more on Toshiba’s continuing waves of woes… [Read more…] about Toshiba Hit with Record Fine; Shareholders Sue

D&M Holdings Loses Its First Big Battle in Legal War with Sonos

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BREAKING NEWS

Sonos logoThe legal war between Sonos, Inc. and D&M Holdings, Inc. is really just getting started and already D&M Holdings has lost its first major battle – with U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews denying their motion to disqualify the attorneys representing Sonos. The matter, a patent infringement case filed by Sonos in late 2014 against D&M Holdings, Inc. dba The D+M Group, D&M Holdings U.S. Inc., and Denon Electronics (USA), LLC (D&M), is related to D&M’s HEOS line of wireless music systems.

See why the judge sided with Sonos in this particular matter… [Read more…] about D&M Holdings Loses Its First Big Battle in Legal War with Sonos

Try as It Might, Toshiba Can’t Seem to Turn the Page

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Toshiba signOn Monday, Toshiba released their twice-delayed final financial data for the last fiscal year (ended March 2015) in what it undoubtedly hoped would be the first step to turning the page from a scandal-racked year. But forces out of their control conspire to keep them in the hot seat – with a regulatory agency threatening large fines and a major shareholder demanding the company sue its former executives.

It looks like Toshiba’s troubles will continue… [Read more…] about Try as It Might, Toshiba Can’t Seem to Turn the Page

Toshiba Struggles to Get Past Troubles

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Toshiba FacilityToshiba Corp. has been subjected to almost daily press stories and analyses in the Japanese media on their continued struggles in the wake of a huge accounting scandal at the formerly blue-chip powerhouse company. The scandal was likely large in terms of financial losses, but even larger in terms of decimating the reputation of the company and its management. To turn the situation around, the company must start to build a new reputation for reliability. It isn’t going to be easy…

New President, new board, secret ballets…strange stuff… [Read more…] about Toshiba Struggles to Get Past Troubles

Is HydraConnect Out of Business?

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BREAKING NEWS

*STORY UPDATED* (See note below…)

HydraConnect logoIt started innocently enough when we received calls and email messages asking us what we knew of what was going on at HydraConnect, the manufacturer of unique and useful HDMI matrixes and other devices. Rumors were swirling that the company was out of business. The plot thickened when we visited the HydraConnect website and found that it was down. Now we had a bit of a mystery. Phones at the company went straight to voicemail and we weren’t getting called back.

More twists and turns at the HDMI specialist company… [Read more…] about Is HydraConnect Out of Business?

A Bad Day at the Office for Apple: Stock Goes Cold, Investigation Gets Hot

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Photo of Tim Cook at product launch.Apple, Inc. released the financial results of their fiscal third quarter Tuesday and by most measures, it was good news. Revenues hit $49.6 billion with net profits coming in at a robust $10.7 billion. These results were well over the $37.4 billion and $7.7 billion respectively booked in the same quarter last year. Unit sales of iPhones grew a remarkable 35%, with iPhone revenues increasing 59% to a new quarterly record; sales in China more than doubled; service revenues hit a new record; and cash reserves are at an astounding $203 billion.

How did Wall Street react to all of this “good” news? The stock tanked. At one point Apple’s market value collapsed $60 billion as the stock dropped 7% in just a matter of minutes after the announcement. Yesterday, the stock closed down 5.2%.

See why this is happening…and why government investigators are in high gear… [Read more…] about A Bad Day at the Office for Apple: Stock Goes Cold, Investigation Gets Hot

LG Relents, Will Reduce Height of New HQ to Preserve Historic Palisades

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Photo of the Palisades
Along the Palisades [Photo: New York Times]
It took the involvement of one of the oldest and most powerful families in the United States, but when Laurance Rockefeller reached out to LG Group Chairman Bon-Moo Koo, talks ensued that resulted in the global electronics powerhouse agreeing to alter construction plans for their new headquarters building in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, resolving a long-running dispute. The issue, not well-known in other parts of the country, has been the center of a firestorm here in the New York metropolitan market, with its almost pulp fiction-like storyline of greedy developers cutting backroom deals to despoil a pristine environment in a raw display of corporate hubris. But a story with a happy ending.

See more on LG’s decision to finally become a responsible corporate citizen… [Read more…] about LG Relents, Will Reduce Height of New HQ to Preserve Historic Palisades

Apple Faces the Music – Multiple Investigations Launched

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Apple Music logoJust days after Apple, Inc. announced its plans to attempt to reassert its leading role in the music distribution and streaming businesses, we learn from the New York Times that two powerful state attorneys general in New York and Connecticut have launched an investigation into Apple’s music licensing practices. The purpose of the investigation is to determine if Apple has broken any antitrust laws in cutting deals that allegedly restrict music industry providers from offering their content on a free basis with other services.

See why there is suspicion of anti-competitive practices by Apple… [Read more…] about Apple Faces the Music – Multiple Investigations Launched

Backing Beats – Apple Launches Retaliatory Attack on Monster

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BREAKING NEWS

Monster’s Noel Lee Talks to Us About Latest Lawsuit Developments

Monster logoAs many regular readers know, Strata-gee has been closely following the litigation between Monster, LLC and Beats Electronics, LLC. Although the matter is really just getting started, it appears to be getting really ugly, really quickly. Now we have learned that Apple, Inc. has taken several actions that, according to Monster CEO Noel Lee (who is known as the Head Monster), are pure retaliation over this lawsuit – even though Monster did not sue Apple.

See more on Apple’s actions against Monster that it says are retaliatory… [Read more…] about Backing Beats – Apple Launches Retaliatory Attack on Monster