U.S., other nations await Algeria death toll









CAIRO—





The U.S., Britain and other countries sought to learn the fate of their citizens Sunday after Algeria announced that the death toll from a hostage crisis at a remote gas refinery was expected to rise beyond a previous estimate of 23.

It was another painstaking day for security officials trying to determine how a band of Islamist militants overran the gas complex last week, and for families and nations awaiting word of new deaths. Britain confirmed that three of its citizens were killed and three are unaccounted for.


Algerian officials said security teams defusing mines and explosive booby-traps at the Sahara Desert site had found “numerous” bodies, according to the Associated Press. Algerian communications minister Mohamed Said Belaid was quoted by the state news agency as saying: "I am afraid unfortunately to say that the death toll will go up."





As many as seven U.S. hostages are missing, along with about 14 Japanese. Other captives included Norwegians, Malaysians and French. Algerian officials said a final death count would be released in the coming hours.


Nearly 700 Algerians and 107 foreigners had been freed or had escaped from the gas field in eastern Algeria during the four-day, bloody ordeal that ended Saturday. Officials said at least 23 hostages and 32 militants had been killed. But discrepancies remained over the nationalities of the dead and the exact number of those who died.


“The priority now must be to get everybody home from Algeria," said British Prime Minister David Cameron. "This is a stark reminder once again of the threat we face from terrorism the world over. We have had successes in recent years in reducing the threat from some parts of the world, but the threat has grown particularly in northern Africa.”


Cameron, who had earlier appeared irritated that the Algerians did not inform foreign capitals before troops first stormed the refinery Thursday, tempered his criticism.


"People will ask questions about the Algerian response to these events,” he said. “But I would just say that the responsibility for these deaths lies squarely with the terrorists who launched this vicious and cowardly attack. And I'd also say that when you’re dealing with a terrorist incident on this scale, with up to 30 terrorists, it is extremely difficult to respond and to get this right in every respect.”


 The natural gas complex at In Amenas -- near the Libyan border -- is operated by BP, Statoil and Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company. BP said four of its employees were missing.


Militants linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb raided the facility before dawn Wednesday. They claimed it was to avenge French airstrikes on Islamic rebels in neighboring Mali. But officials from the U.S. and other countries indicated the attack was planned ahead of this month’s French military action. 


Belaid said the militants were "nationals of Arab and African countries, and of non-African countries."


jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com


(Times staff writer Henry Chu in London contributed to this report)     





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Google says Wall Street estimates need adjusting






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Google Inc issued a rare advisory to Wall Street on Friday that analyst estimates for its fourth quarter financial results are flawed.


The world’s No.1 search engine, which reports its quarterly results on Tuesday, said most analysts have not adjusted their estimates to reflect the pending $ 2.35 billion sale of the Motorola Home business.






The business must be presented separately from the results of Google’s continuing operations under U.S. accounting rules, Google Treasurer Brent Callinicos wrote in a post on Google’s investor relations Web page on Friday.


“As of this writing, a majority of Wall Street analysts who cover Google have not reflected the Home business as discontinued operations in their estimates,” Callinicos wrote.


The discrepancy means the fourth-quarter net revenue that Google reports on Tuesday could appear to be less than the $ 12.34 billion average that analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S are expecting.


Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler says his fourth-quarter net revenue estimate includes nearly $ 900 million from the Motorola Home business.


“They’re saying that the headline number is going to be less than what most analysts have for Q4,” said Kessler.


The advisory is a rare move for Google, which does not provide financial forecasts and typically has limited interactions with analysts. The company has in the past provided accounting advisories to analysts about the Motorola Mobility business, which Google acquired for $ 12.5 billion in May.


Google bought Motorola Mobility primarily for its large portfolio of communications patents and its mobile phone business.


In December, Google agreed to sell the Motorola Home television set-top box business to Arris Group Inc for $ 2.35 billion in cash and stock.


Analysts expect Google to report adjusted earnings of $ 10.56 per share for the fourth quarter.


“It’s a little surprising that they’re doing this the Friday before the report,” said Kessler. “They should have put it out a week ago if they wanted analysts to change their numbers.”


(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic. Editing by Andre Grenon)


Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Will.i.am, Legend take part in young voters event


WASHINGTON (AP) — Will.i.am says though he's an active supporter of President Barack Obama, don't expect the Black Eyed Peas leader to become a politician.


"Nope. I like it from this angle," he said in an interview Saturday night.


Will.i.am attended an event for OurTime.org, a non-profit organization that encourages young people to vote. Several hundred people packed the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, where John Legend, Common and T-Pain performed.


The event was just one of will.i.am's inaugural appearances: He's attending the Candle Light Inaugural Ball and Green Inaugural Ball on Sunday and will be a guest at Obama's public swearing in ceremony Monday and at the Inaugural Ball later that day.


He said it "feels good" to lend his hand to the Obama campaign and that he wants to see young voters do more.


"This is important for the youth to realize how powerful they are and to stay active and stay informed, and go out when it's time to vote. And not just for a presidential candidate, but for local government, too," he said.


Common kicked off the live performances with songs like "The People" and "Testify." He even danced and kissed a fan onstage — and on the lips — while Beyonce's "Party" blasted in the background.


"Just be whoever you are no matter what they say," Common said to the crowd.


The rapper also hit the stage with John Legend, who played piano as Common performed "The Light." Legend slowed the night's upbeat mood, crooning on songs like "Green Light," ''Tonight (Best You Ever Had)" and "Ordinary People."


Newly crowned Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan, actress Sophie Bush and Arianna Huffington also attended.


Rapper-singer T-Pain closed the night, performing hits like "Bartender" ''5 o'clock," ''Good Life" and "Blame It."


___


Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin


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Well: Holly the Cat's Incredible Journey

Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown.

Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richter’s house in West Palm Beach.

“Are you sure it’s the same cat?” wondered John Bradshaw, director of the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute. In other cases, he has suspected, “the cats are just strays, and the people have got kind of a mental justification for expecting it to be the same cat.”

But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an implanted microchip to identify her.

“I really believe these stories, but they’re just hard to explain,” said Marc Bekoff, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Colorado. “Maybe being street-smart, maybe reading animal cues, maybe being able to read cars, maybe being a good hunter. I have no data for this.”

There is, in fact, little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.

Scientists say it is more common, although still rare, to hear of dogs returning home, perhaps suggesting, Dr. Bradshaw said, that they have inherited wolves’ ability to navigate using magnetic clues. But it’s also possible that dogs get taken on more family trips, and that lost dogs are more easily noticed or helped by people along the way.

Cats navigate well around familiar landscapes, memorizing locations by sight and smell, and easily figuring out shortcuts, Dr. Bradshaw said.

Strange, faraway locations would seem problematic, although he and Patrick Bateson, a behavioral biologist at Cambridge University, say that cats can sense smells across long distances. “Let’s say they associate the smell of pine with wind coming from the north, so they move in a southerly direction,” Dr. Bateson said.

Peter Borchelt, a New York animal behaviorist, wondered if Holly followed the Florida coast by sight or sound, tracking Interstate 95 and deciding to “keep that to the right and keep the ocean to the left.”

But, he said, “nobody’s going to do an experiment and take a bunch of cats in different directions and see which ones get home.”

The closest, said Roger Tabor, a British cat biologist, may have been a 1954 study in Germany which cats placed in a covered circular maze with exits every 15 degrees most often exited in the direction of their homes, but more reliably if their homes were less than five kilometers away.

New research by the National Geographic and University of Georgia’s Kitty Cams Project, using video footage from 55 pet cats wearing video cameras on their collars, suggests cat behavior is exceedingly complex.

For example, the Kitty Cams study found that four of the cats were two-timing their owners, visiting other homes for food and affection. Not every cat, it seems, shares Holly’s loyalty.

KittyCams also showed most of the cats engaging in risky behavior, including crossing roads and “eating and drinking substances away from home,” risks Holly undoubtedly experienced and seems lucky to have survived.

But there have been other cats who made unexpected comebacks.

“It’s actually happened to me,” said Jackson Galaxy, a cat behaviorist who hosts “My Cat From Hell” on Animal Planet. While living in Boulder, Colo., he moved across town, whereupon his indoor cat, Rabbi, fled and appeared 10 days later at the previous house, “walking five miles through an area he had never been before,” Mr. Galaxy said.

Professor Tabor cited longer-distance reports he considered credible: Murka, a tortoiseshell in Russia, traveling about 325 miles home to Moscow from her owner’s mother’s house in Voronezh in 1989; Ninja, who returned to Farmington, Utah, in 1997, a year after her family moved from there to Mill Creek, Wash.; and Howie, an indoor Persian cat in Australia who in 1978 ran away from relatives his vacationing family left him with and eventually traveled 1,000 miles to his family’s home.

Professor Tabor also said a Siamese in the English village of Black Notley repeatedly hopped a train, disembarked at White Notley, and walked several miles back to Black Notley.

Still, explaining such journeys is not black and white.

In the Florida case, one glimpse through the factual fog comes on the little cat’s feet. While Dr. Bradshaw speculated Holly might have gotten a lift, perhaps sneaking under the hood of a truck heading down I-95, her paws suggest she was not driven all the way, nor did Holly go lightly.

“Her pads on her feet were bleeding,” Ms. Richter said. “Her claws are worn weird. The front ones are really sharp, the back ones worn down to nothing.”

Scientists say that is consistent with a long walk, since back feet provide propulsion, while front claws engage in activities like tearing. The Richters also said Holly had gone from 13.5 to 7 pounds.

Holly hardly seemed an adventurous wanderer, though her background might have given her a genetic advantage. Her mother was a feral cat roaming the Richters’ mobile home park, and Holly was born inside somebody’s air-conditioner, Ms. Richter said. When, at about six weeks old, Holly padded into their carport and jumped into the lap of Mr. Richter’s mother, there were “scars on her belly from when the air conditioner was turned on,” Ms. Richter said.

Scientists say that such early experience was too brief to explain how Holly might have been comfortable in the wild — after all, she spent most of her life as an indoor cat, except for occasionally running outside to chase lizards. But it might imply innate personality traits like nimbleness or toughness.

“You’ve got these real variations in temperament,” Dr. Bekoff said. “Fish can by shy or bold; there seem to be shy and bold spiders. This cat, it could be she has the personality of a survivor.”

He said being an indoor cat would not extinguish survivalist behaviors, like hunting mice or being aware of the sun’s orientation.

The Richters — Bonnie, 63, a retired nurse, and Jacob, 70, a retired airline mechanics’ supervisor and accomplished bowler — began traveling with Holly only last year, and she easily tolerated a hotel, a cabin or the R.V.

But during the Good Sam R.V. Rally in Daytona, when they were camping near the speedway with 3,000 other motor homes, Holly bolted when Ms. Richter’s mother opened the door one night. Fireworks the next day may have further spooked her, and, after searching for days, alerting animal agencies and posting fliers, the Richters returned home catless.

Two weeks later, an animal rescue worker called the Richters to say a cat resembling Holly had been spotted eating behind the Daytona franchise of Hooters, where employees put out food for feral cats.

Then, on New Year’s Eve, Barb Mazzola, a 52-year-old university executive assistant, noticed a cat “barely standing” in her backyard in West Palm Beach, struggling even to meow. Over six days, Ms. Mazzola and her children cared for the cat, putting out food, including special milk for cats, and eventually the cat came inside.

They named her Cosette after the orphan in Les Misérables, and took her to a veterinarian, Dr. Sara Beg at Paws2Help. Dr. Beg said the cat was underweight and dehydrated, had “back claws and nail beds worn down, probably from all that walking on pavement,” but was “bright and alert” and had no parasites, heartworm or viruses. “She was hesitant and scared around people she didn’t know, so I don’t think she went up to people and got a lift,” Dr. Beg said. “I think she made the journey on her own.”

At Paws2Help, Ms. Mazzola said, “I almost didn’t want to ask, because I wanted to keep her, but I said, ‘Just check and make sure she doesn’t have a microchip.’” When told the cat did, “I just cried.”

The Richters cried, too upon seeing Holly, who instantly relaxed when placed on Mr. Richter’s shoulder. Re-entry is proceeding well, but the mystery persists.

“We haven’t the slightest idea how they do this,” Mr. Galaxy said. “Anybody who says they do is lying, and, if you find it, please God, tell me what it is.”

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The Five: Spotting garage sale treasures and reselling them









Can you make money buying hidden treasures at yard and garage sales, then reselling them? The experts say you can, but don't expect it to be easy. Some advice from the pros:


•Focus on a particular type of item. "Start with something you really like and have a strong interest in," recommended Aaron LaPedis, author of "The Garage Sale Millionaire." "This will ensure that the treasure-hunting process will be much more fulfilling, as well as more profitable for you." Research your specialty to see which items are most in demand.


•Check newspapers and Craigslist for sales listings, looking especially for neighborhood-wide sales where you can shop at multiple sites in a small area. "Plan your route to visit sales close together," advised Karen Harden, author of "Treasure Hunters' Guide to Yard Sales." "You do not want to run all over town backtracking and covering the same area over and over."





•Consider the neighborhood. "If it's a newer neighborhood with families, keep in mind the items for sale will be different than what you may find at a retirement community for empty-nesters," noted Lynda Hammond, the "Garage Sale Gal" of garagesalegal.com "So if you're looking for toys, go to the family sales. Is it antiques you're interested in? Check out older, more established areas and retirement communities."


•Shop early — or late. "If you want the best selection you have to get there before anyone else," Hammond said. "I've gone to sales at 7 a.m., asked for specific items and was told 'I just sold that.'" On the other hand, to get bargains, consider arriving late in the day, when homeowners just want to get rid of things, Harden said.


•When evaluating an item, consider condition, packaging and rarity, but don't assume something's valuable just because it's old. "Age is not the primary determining factor in assessing a collectible's level of value," LaPedis said.


scott.wilson@latimes.com





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7 hostages reported dead in 'final assault' on Algerian refinery









CAIRO — Algerian troops raided a remote natural gas refinery Saturday, killing 11 Islamic militants but not before extremists executed seven hostages who for days had been trapped in a deepening international crisis, according to media reports.


Algerian state media described the army mission as the “final assault” to end a hostage ordeal that began in the predawn Wednesday at a gas compound on the Algerian-Libyan border. It was not clear if the hostages killed were Algerians or foreigners.


"It is over now, the assault is over, and the military are inside the plant clearing it of mines," a local source familiar with the operation told Reuters.





The fate of as many as 30 foreign hostages, including an estimated seven Americans, remained unknown. Algerian forces discovered 15 burned bodies as they swept through the compound Saturday to rout heavily armed militants. The militants threatened to blow up the facility and a number of hostages were reported earlier to have been forced to wear explosive belts.  


The Algerian government had refused to negotiate with the extremists, who were linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and appear to include Algerians, Libyans, Egyptians and at least one commander from Niger.


Algeria’s state-run media earlier reported that 12 refinery workers, including Algerians and foreigners, had been killed since a government operation to retake the plant began Thursday. Unconfirmed media reports suggested that as many as 35 foreign captives may have been killed, including some struck by gunfire from the Algerian military.


The militants, some dressed in fatigues, were armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. The compound is encircled by army tanks, troops and special forces. A Mauritanian news agency that has been in contact with the extremists said the captors were holding two American, three Belgians, one Japanese and one Briton.


The Algerian government on Friday said 573 Algerians and nearly 100 of an estimated 132 foreign hostages had been freed or had escaped. But the chaotic scene at the gas compound at In Amenas has frustrated international officials who complained they were not consulted about the Algerian military’s operations at the plant.   


The natural gas refinery at In Amenas is also jointly operated by BP; Statoil, a Norwegian firm; and Sonatrach, the Algerian national oil company.


ALSO:


Bolshoi artistic director attacked with acid


Pentagon planning to ferry more French troops, gear to Mali


Algeria: Accounts emerge as nearly 100 foreigners reported freed


jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com





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Social media dispute resolution stumps some companies






(Reuters) – If HBO cuts out on you in the middle of the latest “Girls” episode, and you have Charter Communications Inc as your cable provider, don’t try tweeting your dismay to their customer service department. Nobody will hear your lament.


Charter, the fourth largest cable provider in the U.S. with 5.2 million customers across 25 states, closed up its social-media based customer service team in December. “Umatter2Charter,” as it was known, had been taking customer complaints over Twitter and Facebook and trying to resolve them, but the company says it is now done with working out customer service issues in social media forums.






The move, which might seem to conflict with the growth of social media, highlights the difficulty some businesses are having with free-flowing, round-the-clock social media, its public nature and the expectation of immediate responses.


With Facebook users numbering about a billion and Twitter drawing 200 million, it might be hard to believe that any retail enterprise would drop out of the fray, but Charter isn’t the only major company to announce such a move. Also in December, the largest single grocery store in New England – the Wegmans in Northborough, Massachusetts – shuttered its Facebook page despite having some 8,000 fans.


“It’s a tough sport,” says J.D. Peterson, vice president of product marketing for San Francisco-based Zendesk, which helps companies manage customer service. “The real-time nature of it – at times the volume that can come from it – it’s very new and different for businesses.”


While Peterson’s company recommends going where the customers are – and a big chunk are clearly on social media – Peterson says not all businesses share the same philosophy or have the ability to engage those consumers in these open forums. But any company that has a significant online presence doesn’t really have a choice, he says, working with consumers through social media is expected of them.


Advocates for the use social media say the challenge actually presents an opportunity for businesses – showing they are responsive to complaints and care about their customers can bring in revenue.


“I have seen this time and time again, and the end result is that the interaction often turns an irate customer into an advocate for the brand. And that is worth it’s weight in gold,” says Mike Rowan, chief marketing office for Atlanta-based Swarm, which manages social media for companies.


That’s certainly the way retailer Lands’ End, a division of Sears Holdings Corp, sees it.


“When we started using social media tools like Facebook and Twitter in early 2009, it gave us a new opportunity to do what we’ve done for 50 years, which is connect with our customers,” says Michele Casper, Lands’ End’s senior director of public relations. “Whether it is through social media, our call centers or online, we offer the same level of customer service through each channel.”


DIVERTING COURSE


Charter says it is not walking away completely from social media – just the idea of providing customer service via Twitter. The company says it has ample other avenues for consumers to get help – including telephone, customer service counters and live chat on its web page.


“We communicate with thousands of customers each day on the phone and in person, and that’s where we’ll focus our efforts,” says Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont. “While social media is a method some consumers choose to seek help, Charter offers phone and web-based contact solutions where all customers can access resources to provide assistance.”


The abandonment of the Facebook page at the Massachusetts Wegmans store, which caused a great fuss among the store’s “fans,” was, in large part, due to the inability to respond quickly enough to consumers. Store personnel couldn’t break off enough time from their other roles to constantly monitor the page, Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale says, allowing comments to sit unanswered – a no-no in the world of social media.


“Our top priority has always been, and will continue to be, providing incredible service to customers who shop in our stores,” she says. “And it isn’t as though there aren’t other avenues for folks to connect with us if they have a question or concern.”


As much as customers expressed surprise and dissatisfaction at the decision, Natale says, it came down to a decision that if the store couldn’t serve the Facebook page at a level it felt was expected that it shouldn’t do it at all.


“They quickly discovered, once the store opened and got very, very busy, that it wasn’t so easy to stay on top of comments or to find the time to post,” Natale says. “In a retail operation like ours, there isn’t anyone sitting at a PC or checking a mobile device throughout the day. It’s a fast-paced business that requires our people to be on the floor serving customers.”


(The author is a Reuters contributor. The opinions expressed are his own)


(Follow us @ReutersMoney or at http://www.reuters.com/finance/personal-finance; Editing by Beth Pinsker and Tim Dobbyn)


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Alicia Keys first Sundance as producer, composer


PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — It's a busy week for Alicia Keys.


The singer-songwriter is set to perform at three events during Barack Obama's presidential inauguration on Monday. She'll sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3. And meanwhile, she popped over to Park City, Utah, to debut her first film as executive producer and composer.


The 32-year-old entertainer is attending her first Sundance Film Festival to support "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete," which premiered Friday. Directed by George Tillman, Jr., the film tells the story of two young boys who survive the streets of Brooklyn on their own.


Keys said she was drawn to the film because of its "authentic" story and its setting in her hometown of New York City.


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Business Briefing | Medicine: F.D.A. Clears Botox to Help Bladder Control



Botox, the wrinkle treatment made by Allergan, has been approved to treat adults with overactive bladders who cannot tolerate or were not helped by other drugs, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. Botox injected into the bladder muscle causes the bladder to relax, increasing its storage capacity. “Clinical studies have demonstrated Botox’s ability to significantly reduce the frequency of urinary incontinence,” Dr. Hylton V. Joffe, director of the F.D.A.’s reproductive and urologic products division, said in a statement. “Today’s approval provides an important additional treatment option for patients with overactive bladder, a condition that affects an estimated 33 million men and women in the United States.”


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Cases of celebrities accused of financial crimes adding up









Call it the Securities and Exchange Commission's most wanted celebrities list.


Daniel Ruettiger, the Notre Dame football player made famous by the movie "Rudy," was on it. Baseball legends Eddie Murray and Doug DeCinces as well as football great Willie Gault made the list. Even good guy actor Larry Wilcox, better known as the motorcycle-riding officer in the TV series "CHiPs."


They are among the athletes and actors who have butted up against the nation's top securities cops in recent years. Experts say such high-profile cases send a message that nobody is above the law.





"Going after celebrities reinforces the view that our laws are being applied fairly, that the small investor has a champion to watch after him or her, and that those who cross the line will pay a heavy price if they do," said Harvey Pitt, a former SEC chairman who is now a private securities lawyer.


Since homemaking guru Martha Stewart's five-month stint in jail in 2004, there has been a steady stream of celebrities accused of financial chicanery. And most of the cases have played out in the media.


In November, DeCinces was indicted by a federal grand jury in California for alleged insider trading.


His troubles began in 2009 when a neighbor, James V. Mazzo, gave the former Angels third baseman a hot stock tip, authorities said. Mazzo, the chief executive of Advanced Medical Optics, allegedly told DeCinces that the Santa Ana company was going to be acquired by Abbott Laboratories.


Shares of the medical device maker skyrocketed 143% after the deal was announced. DeCinces pocketed more than $1.7 million in profit when the stock he snapped up soared.


Along the way, DeCinces also shared the inside information with friend and former teammate Murray, who used it to make more than $235,000 on the stock, the SEC said.


Both men denied wrongdoing and settled their cases with the SEC. They declined to comment for this story.


"Celebrities have developed the mentality that they're above the crowd and the rules don't apply to them," said Boyd Page, a partner at Atlanta law firm Page Perry, which represents investors in litigation. "Think about these guys, Eddie Murray, Doug DeCinces, to their entourage, they're gods. No one questions them."


Daniel M. Hawke, chief of the SEC's market abuse unit, said that celebrity status plays no role in the agency's decision to pursue charges.


He said the agency pursues cases based on an analysis of the evidence, and if the regulator would have a good case.


"We do not single people out based on their profile," he said. "We go where the evidence leads."


In August, the agency accused former football coach Jim Donnan of helping run an $80-million Ponzi scheme that involved other college coaches and former players as victims. The former University of Georgia coach allegedly promised investors they could earn substantial profits by buying leftover merchandise from retailers and then reselling it to discount retailers.


However, the SEC alleged, Donnan and his business partner pocketed a majority of the money, and the remaining cash was used to pay fake returns to early investors.


Gault, the former NFL wide receiver and Olympic sprinter, was accused of a "pump-and-dump" scheme in 2011. The SEC contended that he took part in a plan to artificially inflate the stock of a medical-device company at which he served as an executive.


The agency said in a complaint that Gault hyped millions of dollars in fake sales orders for Studio City-based Heart Tronics from 2006 to 2008. That good news sent the stock skyrocketing, and Gault was accused of sharing part of an $8-million profit from stock transactions. He denied wrongdoing in the case.


The agency went after Wilcox a few years ago for allegedly paying kickbacks to investors in classic pump-and-dump schemes: The cooperating investors would buy shares of the promoters' thinly traded penny stocks, with the goal of driving up the prices in hopes of luring other investors into the shares.


Wilcox, who lives in the West Hills area of L.A., eventually settled with the SEC. He declined to comment.





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