With Jefferson Parish in an uproar over justice delayed, the time seemed right to post two stories I noticed reading news online today.
First, from the Sun Herald – Contractor pleads guilty to wire fraud:
A contractor who served time in state prison for home-repair fraud after Hurricane Katrina pleaded guilty today to wire fraud in federal court…An FBI probe led to an indictment in June accusing Deveny of defrauding at least 10 homeowners in Harrison and Hancock counties and enticing investors through false and misleading real estate contacts.
The second story comes from Yahoo Finance – Goldman Sachs earns $1.74B, easily tops forecasts:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s earnings easily beat analysts’ forecasts again…Goldman’s results are closely watched because they…[are]… considered the strongest bank on Wall Street and regularly exceed forecasts…Beating expectations was enough to drive Goldman’s shares higher, despite a broad decline in the stock market. They rose $3.02, or 2 percent, to $156.72…While low interest rates hurt the trading business, they benefited the investment banking division, which reported a 24 percent jump in revenue. With borrowing rates so low, many companies were eager to issue new debt.
The New York-based bank continued to reduce compensation costs. The bank was strongly criticized during the financial crisis for doling out big paychecks even after it received government aid and while the broader economy suffered. Goldman set aside $3.83 billion for compensation and benefits during the quarter. It has now set aside $13.12 billion for compensation during the first nine months of the year, a 21 percent drop from the same period last year.
Compensation totaled 43 percent of the company’s revenue for the year so far, down from 47 percent last year.
No doubt the contractor’s revenue would have increased, too, had the authorities looked the other way.