Ann Woolner

February 19, 2010 | Daily Report Online

Hiding clever little accounting tricks deep inside corporate tax returns can save companies big sums, as long as no tax agent finds the golden nuggets. It's a game of hide-and-seek that taxpayers take for granted. If a creative interpretation offers a tiny space for wriggling through a rule, squirm away. Concoct an arguable defense for paying the lighter tax the interpretation allows, and hope you never have to argue it.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

July 06, 2009 | Daily Report Online

Bernard Ebbers stood before a federal judge in New York in 2005 to learn whether he would be spending the rest of his life in prison. The judge already had a stack of letters from friends and family members, even a Mississippi sheriff, attesting to Ebbers' good deeds, good heart and generous contributions. To needy students, he anonymously gave scholarships.

By Ann Woolner

4 minute read

April 29, 2010 | Daily Report Online

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

November 20, 2007 | Daily Report Online

Say you have $20,000 idling in a money-market account at my bank. Your cash earns 5 percent while you decide how and when to invest it. The year is 2001, and my bank wants to move your money to a deposit account earning a paltry 1 percent. You would make less. We-the bank, that is-would make more. We would lend out your money and get, say, an 8 percent return, while we pay you a pittance.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

July 23, 2010 | Daily Report Online

Someone sues you and wins a big ruling. Surprised at your loss, you then learn the judge owns shares in a company that will benefit from his decision. That's supposed to be impartial There has got to be a rule against that, right There is. And it should have prevented U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman of New Orleans from deciding whether to lift the Obama administration's six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

May 27, 2003 | Daily Report Online

Ann WoolnerTo understand the extent of the judicial revolution President George W. Bush is attempting, look no further than the name over the door of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals courthouse in Atlanta. Then consider Bush's nominee to that court. The courthouse is named for Elbert Parr Tuttle, a leader among the legendary federal judges who forced the South to desegregate.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

May 17, 2005 | Daily Report Online

Ann Woolner Walter Shurden lives in Macon, a region where the future of your soul matters more than whether ivy grew on your alma mater's walls. This is a region where liberals are few, gay rights are rare and abortion is loudly condemned. No one can honestly doubt Shurden's credentials as a man of faith, and a conservative faith at that.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

April 09, 2008 | Daily Report Online

Here is a little story about a big man who embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from his employer, cheated the U.S. Treasury and will serve not a day in jail for it. If Thomas Coughlin, Wal-Mart's former No. 2 executive, has learned anything from his encounter with the law, it is how to manipulate the justice system.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

February 08, 2011 | Daily Report Online

A hedge fund billionaire who soon will face a jury wants to know whether people hate Wall Street. Of course they do, and no wonder: A money manager stands charged with threatening to kill regulators. Attorneys collecting money for victims of Bernard Madoff accuse hedge fund honchos of knowingly profiting from his Ponzi scheme.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read

March 04, 2011 | Daily Report Online

Just when the Securities and Exchange Commission might hope to shed some of the shame of missing the biggest investment scam in U.S. history comes news that its own top lawyer profited from the scheme. He didn't do it knowingly because, embarrassingly enough, the SEC didn't know it was a scam. Still, David M. Becker, the agency's former chief counsel, wound up profiting from Bernard Madoff's investment pyramid.

By Ann Woolner

5 minute read