List of corporate executives charged with crimes: Encyclopedia II - List of corporate executives charged with crimes - John Rigas

List of corporate executives charged with crimes - John Rigas

John J. Rigas was one of the founders of Adelphia Communications Corporation which at its peak was one of the largest cable companies in the United States. He was also the majority owner of the Buffalo Sabres NHL Hockey Team.

He was forced to resign from his position as CEO in May 2002 after being indicted for bank, wire, and securities fraud. Timothy J. Rigas and Michael J. Rigas, his sons, as well as Peter Venetis, his son-in-law, and Michael Mulcahey were also charged with participation in these crimes. The executives are accused of looting the corporation by concealing $2.3 billion in liabilities from corporate investors and of using corporation funds as their personal funds.

Rigas was convicted of the charges in the summer of 2004 and on June 20, 2005 was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Adelphia Corporation was forced to file for bankruptcy after it had acknowledged that the three Rigases had taken $3.1 billion in loans that were not recorded on the books.

In 2005 John Rigas and his sons, Timothy Rigas and Michael Rigas, and Ellen Rigas, were charged with tax evasion and pled not guilty in October 2005.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "John Rigas", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki