A small group of Louisiana officials and contingent-fee lawyers picked a multibillion-dollar fight with the oil and gas industry on July 24. The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East alleged that a network of oil and gas pipelines have nearly destroyed the wetlands that naturally protect New Orleans from violent weather and storm surges. The defendants are more than 100 oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and Chevron Corp.
HEDGE FUND CHARGED
The hedge fund operated by embattled billionaire Steven Cohen was hit with white-collar criminal charges on July 25 that accused the fund of making hundreds of millions of dollars illegally, while a related government lawsuit said insider trading was pervasive and unprecedented at the firm. SAC Capital Advisors L.P. was charged in federal court in New York with wire fraud and four counts of securities fraud; prosecutors allege the crimes were carried out from 1999 through at least 2010.
