#generalelectricco

Leslie Seidman, Basic Electrical board director and chair of the corporate's audit committee, informed @ on Thursday {that a} report from Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos accusing GE of fraud is "filled with deceptive, inaccurate and inflammatory statements." "That report doesn't mirror the GE that I do know," Seidman stated on "Closing Bell. "Earlier Thursday, Markopolos launched a 175-page report on an internet site claiming that GE issued fraudulent monetary statements to cover the extent of its issues.Markopolos known as it a "an even bigger fraud than Enron" after having analyzed the corporate's accounting for the previous seven months. He believes that GE has a protracted historical past of accounting fraud which provides as much as $38 billion.Seidman addressed the allegations of fraud and stated, "Fraud is such a powerful and inflammatory phrase, which means intent to willfully deceive. That isn't the GE that I do know. We're in full compliance with accounting requirements within the U.S."One of many areas that the report focuses on is GE's long-term care insurance coverage unit, the place the corporate needed to enhance reserves by $15 billion final 12 months. Markopolos claims GE is hiding huge losses and has filed false statements to regulators of the unit.In response to this accusation, Seidman stated: "As a part of our regular course of operations, we're going to be performing a present loss recognition take a look at within the third quarter, which is a standard a part of GAAP accounting. I believe we do have our arms across the accounting. I believe that the quantity at which we state the reserves presently is truthful and in accordance with GAAP."The board director additionally added, "I am undecided the writer of the report actually understands the accounting on this space." "I stand behind the monetary reporting of this firm."GE's CEO, Larry Culp, additionally informed @ that the accusations from Markopolos had been false and pushed by market manipulation.Culp additionally stated that Markopolos by no means talked to firm officers earlier than releasing the report, which "goes to point out that he's not all in favour of correct monetary evaluation, however solely in producing downward volatility in GE inventory in order that he and his undisclosed hedge fund accomplice can personally revenue."On account of these allegations, GE's shares dropped greater than 11% on Thursday. Read the full article