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Three execs guilty in stock fraud case
A fugitive executive with a metro Atlanta firm, an accomplice from the area and another from Michigan were found guilty of running a multi-million-dollar stock ‘pump-and-dump’ scheme. A jury in federal district court returned guilty verdicts against Rufus Paul Harris, 43, now a fugitive, originally from Adairsville, Ga., and Benjamin Stanley, 48, of Kennesaw, Ga. A third defendant, Darryl Horton, 50, of Okemos, Mich., pleaded guilty to conspiracy while the jury was deliberating the case. Harris and Stanley were convicted by the jury on federal charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy in connection with a scheme to defraud investors of the publicly traded company Conversion Solutions Holdings…
Movie review: Depp keeps franchise afloat
Boy, how I wish I owned the eyeliner franchise on Disney’s newest treasure chest, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.” Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is, of course, already famous for his kohl-circled eyes, reminiscent of the cat’s eye look from the mini-mod ‘60s (check out an old James Bond movie or “Blow Up” if you don’t know what I mean). But now, his new leading lady, Penelope Cruz, lays on the liner as thickly as Depp does, as does Ian McShane as her father, the infamous Blackbeard, whose eye-rims are as black as his beard and his…
Rock-Tenn completes Smurfit-Stone acquisition
Rock-Tenn Co. on Friday completed its $3.5 billion takeover of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. The combined company will be the No. 2 North American producer of containerboard and the No. 2 producer of coated recycled board. The deal comes nearly a year after Smurfit-Stone emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The merged companies will have annual revenue of about $9 billion. Rock-Tenn (NYSE: RKT) will keep its headquarters in Norcross, Ga. Chicago-based Smurfit-Stone has manufacturing mill capacity of 7 million tons, and when combined, Rock-Tenn will have…
Amazon: Atlanta 20th most well-read city
Atlanta can be described as many things — add “bookish” to the list. According to a survey from online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), Atlanta is the 20th most well-read city in America. Amazon ranked the top 20 cities by compiling sales data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since Jan. 1, 2011, on a per capita basis, in cities with more than 100,000 residents. The top 20: Cambridge, Mass. Alexandria, Va. Berkeley, Calif.Ann Arbor, Mich. Boulder…
Braves fans can now choose exact seats
Atlanta Braves fans who have longed to be able to choose their seats and seating sections through online ticketing now have that option. “This has been a long time coming,” said Derek Schiller, the club’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “It’s a process and a technology that has been in development for a number of years, and we’re excited to make it available to our fans.” The Braves quietly rolled out the new ticketing technology May 9, and will begin advertising it soon, he…
Fidelity Bank raises $14 million
Fidelity Bank’s holding company on Friday completed a $14.4 million capital raise. Fidelity also said that it acquired a branch office in McDonough, Ga. Atlanta-based Fidelity is the 10th-largest bank headquartered in Georgia. Its holding company, Fidelity Southern Corp. (NASDAQ: LION), said it raised the funds in a private placement of common stock. Fidelity sold 2,167,666 shares for $6.65 per share. No investor acquired more than 9.9 percent of Fidelity’s stock. The fundraising improved Fidelity Bank’s capital ratios, the company…
ICSC Las Vegas 2011
Every ICSC national shopping center conference is different and surely this year’s was not disappointing in that regard. Unlike last year’s mostly neutral performance, a notable improvement over 2009’s dismal conference, this year’s meeting, with about 30,000 registrants, was more optimistic and surely more forward focused. There were projects to be built and leased, space to be filled (perhaps back filled) and a sense that rents were more realistic, enabling tenants to actually negotiate…
FDIC fines state legislator Greg Morris
The chairman of the Georgia House of Representatives’ banking committee has been fined $5,000 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in connection with unspecified rules violations related to a East Georgia bank where he’s a director. Rep. Greg Morris, R-Vidalia, entered into a consent agreement with the FDIC and agreed to pay $5,000 “without admitting or denying any violation of regulation,” according to an order issued Friday by the FDIC. The consent agreement that details the alleged violations was not immediately available from the…
Georgia had 5th most government jobs in past decade
Big government got even bigger in Georgia over the past decade, but the trend appears to be changing. Georgia added 57,000 government jobs between April 2001 and April 2011 — fifth-most in the United States, according to an On Numbers study of employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Peach State had 665,900 government jobs as of April 2011. But the trend looks to be changing. Georgia lost 22,700 government jobs between April 2010 and April 2011, ranking 48th for government jobs in that…
Security firm Reflex Systems raising $10M
Internet security firm Reflex Systems LLC has raised about a quarter of a planned $10 million round, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing. Atlanta-based Reflex develops management and security software products to protect virtual networks In April 2009, the company raised $8.5 million in a round led by RFA Management Company LLC, an Atlanta-based private investment firm. Using virtualization software, companies can run seven to 10 small servers inside a single large physical…