derram ago

https://archive.is/3RdWr :

Abbott’s No Good, Very Bad M&A Week - The New York Times

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ReadThatAlready ago

Thanks. I don't know how to archive yet. Just started Voating.

ReadThatAlready ago

Apparently some people aren't too happy a lot of these people's money is offshore. This article (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-companies-offshore-cash-1006-biz-20151006-story.html)) says "Illinois Fortune 500 companies have $135 billion stashed overseas:report". The article features a picture of the sign from the Abbott company,& the article says "AbbVie, Abbott,&Caterpillar among U.S. companies with most cash parked overseas," & "$135 billion in profits overseas that aren't subject to U.S. taxes." The study was done by Citizens for Tax Justice&Illinois PIRG which details offshore tax havens. But Apple was the company topping the list. "Combined, AbbVie, Abbott&Caterpillar have $64 billion in earnings reinvested indefinitely in foreign subsidiaries." AbbVie shareholder report says $23 billion earned from foreign subs have been "indefinitely reinvested for continued use in foreign operations."

"Other Illinois companies mentioned in the report as having at least some money held offshore include: Anixter, Archer Daniels Midland, Baxter, Boeing, CDW, Corn Products, Deere, Dover, Illinois Tool Works, Kraft, LKQ, McDonald's, Mondelez, Motorola Solutions, Navistar, Tenneco&W.W. Grainger." Well folks that's a lot of companies that are all headed up by the same people in the list given at Abbott's website. McDonalds, Illinois Tools, Motorola, Tenneco, Corn Products, etc.

So maybe somebody is trying to build a case for tax evasion here or at least trying to build a case for tax policy reform to repatriate that money. As the article says, "The U.S. is among a few developed countries that charge taxes on income gained overseas. Some companies have said the U.S. needs to change its tax policies if it wants companies based here to be competitive&to continue to build operations stateside. They also say they have extensive foreign operations&many options when making decisions related to expansion, new product sourcing,&mergers&acquisitions."

Another sets of articles by the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/business/international/abbott-india-suicide-inhuman-drug-sales-tactics.html & a blurb http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/business/dealbook/abbott-ausgrid-valeant.html)) is critical of Abbott's overseas operation in India alleging the demand for sales drove a worker to suicide in that he left a note saying that was his reason for killing himself. Two hundred&fifty workers went on strike for a day. But what seems more problematic is the Times found that managers told staff to holy "health camps" where reps. performed tests on patients to increase business for doctors who would prescribe Abbott drugs. These were held at doctor's offices&community events. This is a problem because it could be seen as practicing medicine without license, which is a crime,&there is a ethical quid pro quo that could have been violated. Vivek Gupta, manager of sales in Northern India claims he was fired after the company pressured him to make his reps. do more screenings to promote Abbott's new multivitamin for nerve damage. (Surbex Star is the product if I'm understanding the article correctly which is used for neuropathy in people with diabetes.) It was also said that management was pressuring employees to purchase drugs with their own money to meet sales targets.&there were allegations of discounts afforded to the government being offered to private wholesalers as a kickback. There's a note that Abbot acquired Solvay Pharmaceutical of Belgium for 6.2 billion in 2010.

Another problematic company listed as companies that at one time employed people working for Abbott now was Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). Wikipedia has the info (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine_price-fixing_conspiracy)) In the 1990s there was a conspiracy for price fix the animal feed additive lysine by companies that used high-tech fermentation techniques. The companies listed by wikipedia as being involved was Archer Daniels midland, the Japanese Ajinomoto&Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, the Korean Sewon America Inc.&Cheil Jedang Ltd. Apparently there were fined levied ($105 million plus a $30 million fines involving citric acid market as well)and three year prison sentence for three executives of AMD that colluded with the other companies. The foreign companies settled with the U.S. DOJ AntiTrust Division in 1996. The price of lysine had risen 70% in nine months during the conspiracy. Buyers of lysine in U.S.&Canada sued&got $80 to $100 million in damages back&ADM paid out $38 million to settle with its shareholders. Cities involved in the investigation included Tokyo, Paris, Mexico City,& Hong Kong. Some of the principal actors were Vice Chairman Michael D. Andreas&Mark Whitacre the informant who apparently had embezzled some money&so got pinched for that. The company paid out $400 million on part of the class action case involving high fructose corn syrup. "The ADM investigation, in turn, convinced antitrust prosecutors that price-fixing was a far more pervasive problem than they had suspected&led to prosecutions of cartels in vitamins, fax paper,& graphite electrodes. European&Canadian regulators have started to crack down on the problem, too.[9] Once a crime that rarely attracted the notice of federal authorities, price-fixing is now under attack by governments around the world. Billions of dollars have already been paid in antitrust fines to the U.S. government since Whitacre first blew the whistle in 1992." Vitamins?

They may be referring to this case (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-20/chinese-vitamin-c-makers-win-dismissal-of-147-million-judgment)). Apparently vitamin C is also an additive in feed. Customers sued in U.S. court&won, but it was dismissed as the Chinese companies (North China Pharmaceutical Group Corp.&its manufacturing unit, Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co) were acting under Chinese law. The companies which purchased the vitamin for use in their products were Animal Science Products Inc.& Ranis Co.,

Here's another animal feed vitamin case. Janet Reno was really pushing for this, "globalized economy" anti-trust stuff. (https://www.quackwatch.org/02ConsumerProtection/rochefine.html & http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-05-21/news/9905210013_1_roche-and-basf-price-fixing-and-bid-rigging-vitamin))

When doing random searches about companies that showed up in my reserach also noticed a program for hiring military officers for civilian work. (http://leadersinc.com/recruiting/military-officers-transitioning/current-clients/)) Some of the companies listed associated with people that work for Abbott, are participants like Motorola, Target, Tenneco, Caterpillar, Bayer, Abbott Labs. There seem to be a lot of medical&pharma companies like GE healthcare, Merck, Pfizer, Pharmacia, Bayer, The program is based in Florida, veteran owned&operated,&Buddy Webster is the President. Tom Quinn, a former Ranger, is a partner&worked for Tenneco, but the division he worked for was sold&he launched LEADERS, the program I found in doing my research. (http://leadersinc.com/about-us/our-team/tom-quinn/)) It indicates less than 24 employees&100 employees placed in six months, so it's a small operation. I have a feeling Tenneco was a place a lot of vets worked at when Tenneco was bigger. Probably Tom Quinn's previous experience with them helps him place vets into jobs at corporations where Tenneco people now work.

Additional story possibly related: The Chicago Tribune reported a jeep being stolen from the lot at Navistar that was then used in a theft. Navistar makes heavy trucks. (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/franklin-park/crime/ct-fhj-franklinpark-blotter-tl-1124-20161118-story.html & http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/business/transportation-industry/navistar-international-corporation-ORCRP010586-topic.html ). That's all I have for now, but it's a damn good start. Connect Board of Directors of Companies to Clinton Foundation and Obama when you do research.