David Stockman, the former White House budget director under President Ronald Reagan, was indicted on several charges today as part of a criminal investigation into accounting practices at one of the U.S.'s largest auto parts companies before it went bankrupt almost two years ago.
Stockman, the former chairman and CEO of Collins and Aikman, the auto parts company based in Southfield, Mich., was indicted for conspiring to commit securities fraud, making false statements in financial reports, making false entries in books and records, lying to auditors, committing bank and wire fraud and obstructing an agency proceeding.
In a statement released shortly after today's charges were announced, Stockman denied any wrongdoing. "My actions were motivated by the goal of saving the company, its investors and thousands of employees from a brutal financial squeeze by the Big Three automakers," he said. "There is not a hint of wrongful gain. In fact, my fund and I took the largest single loss."
The Blotter on ABCNews.com reported last week that Stockman, famed for his role in developing what is known as Reaganomics, was to be indicted today as part of the criminal investigation of the now bankrupt Collins and Aikman, where he served as chairman and CEO from 2002 to 2005.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/criminal_charge_1.html