Phone scam is largest ever, IRS says
WASHINGTON » More than 20,000 taxpayers have been targeted by fake Internal Revenue Service agents in the largest phone scam the agency has ever seen, the IRS inspector general said Thursday.
Thousands of victims have lost a total of more than $1 million.
As part of the scam, fake IRS agents call taxpayers, claim they owe taxes and demand payment using a prepaid debit card or a wire transfer. Those who refuse are threatened with arrest, deportation or loss of a business or driver’s license.
The inspector general’s office started receiving complaints about the scam in August. Immigrants were the primary target early on, but the scam has since become more widespread.
TW Cable execs may get $135M package
LOS ANGELES » Departing Time Warner Cable Inc. executives are in line to receive "golden parachute" compensation totaling around $135 million as part of Comcast Corp.’s $45 billion acquisition of the cable operator.
Shareholders are being asked to vote on the packages in a nonbinding advisory vote.
Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Rob Marcus is in line to receive $79.9 million, Chief Financial Officer Arthur Minson Jr. is set to get $27.1 million, Chief Technology Officer Michael LaJoie would get $16.3 million and Chief Operating Officer Philip Meeks is to receive $11.7 million.
The amounts include cash, stock and benefits that the executives were to receive for the next two to three years, and the final totals could change.
11% of long-term unemployed find jobs
WASHINGTON » A new study found that of Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months, just 11 percent of them will ever regain steady full-time work.
The findings by Princeton University economists show the extent to which the long-term unemployed have been shunted to the sidelines of the U.S. economy since the Great Recession.
During any given month from 2008 to 2012, barely more than 1 in 10 of the long-term unemployed had found full-time work.
Their troubles were similar in states with high as well as low unemployment rates.
Nearly all major banks pass Fed stress test
WASHINGTON » All but one of America’s 30 largest banks are better able to withstand a severe U.S. recession and global downturn than at any time since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has determined.
Results of the Fed’s annual "stress tests" showed Thursday that only Zions Bancorp failed to meet the Fed’s minimum level of capital to withstand a crisis. The results showed continued improvement in banks’ financial positions since the 2008 crisis, building on positive results last year.
The 30 banks tested included Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
The Fed will announce next week whether it will approve plans by some of the banks to increase dividends or buy their own stock.
ON THE MOVE
Pulama Lanai has announced:
>> Lesley Kaneshiro has been appointed senior vice president of operations. Before joining the company, Kaneshiro was chief executive officer at Island Air as well as director of treasury services for Aloha Airlines and controller for Aloha Shoyu and Aloha Bottling.
>> Garret Tokuda was named senior vice president of finance. He has been senior vice president of finance at Scheduling.com, finance director at Huala Lai Development Co. and in public accounting at Deloitte.
