John Rigas

John Rigas and the Derailment of Adelphia Communications John Rigas, patriarch of the Rigas family and founder of Adelphia Communications Corporation (Burke, Harrington, & Leonard, 2002), began life as the son of Greek immigrants in Wellsville, N.Y. (Rigas, 2006). Rigas moved to the small town of Coudersport, Pennsylvania and in 1952, along with his brother Gus, bought a local cable franchise for $300 (Funding Universe, n.d.). Adelphia, Greek for “brothers”, was born (Burke et al., 2002). John

the United States and, with various subsidiaries, gives services of cable television and local telephone service to customers in 32 states and Puerto Rico. Adelphia means "brothers" in Greek. It used to be one of America's largest cable companies. John Rigas established the company and served as CEO and chairman. John's son Tim was CFO, and Tim's brothers, Michael, and James were Vice Presidents. All four were council members, along with John's son-in-law Peter Venetis. The Rigases also had 100% possession

expenses, such as a $12.8 million golf course. The firm has been accused of hiding business relationships between Adelphia and entities tied to the founders and for inflating its financial results. Who's Who: • John J. Rigas, Adelphia's founder • Timothy Rigas, former CFO • Michael Rigas, former executive VP • James R. Brown, former vice president • Michael C. Mulcahey, former vice president and assistant treasurer What's happened: All were indicted on federal fraud charges. The SEC filed

In one case listed in the complaint, in August of 2000, Timothy Rigas and his friends used an Adelphia jet to fly to Africa for a safari. Timothy Rigas prevented Adelphia employees from keeping records of family's air travel and the company's board never approved family used of the planes, the complaint said. The company also paid for two apartments in Manhattan

paying for most of it (Beebe & Michel, 2002). John built the family home on a large plot of land he named Wending Creek. Although it was considered a commerical farm, Wending Creek’s primary source of income was the $2 million a year it received for performing general maintenance and landscaping for Adelphia offices (Beebe & Michel, 2002). The company also paid $26 million for the 3,600 acres adjacent to the farm to preserve the view for the Rigas family (Associated Press, 2004). When the Rigases

Running head: Forensic accountant 1 Forensic Accountant Dr. Gina Zaffino Bus 508, Contemporary Business 11/16/2012 Running head: Forensic Accountant 2 Determine the most important five (5) skills that a forensic accountant needs to possess and evaluate the need for each skill. Be sure to include discussion regarding the relationship between the skill and its application to business operations. Although forensic accounting is not a new field, it has become more talked

Another son, Michael, only got 10 months under house arrest. In 2008, John and Timothy Rigas were back in appeals court, where one of their 23 fraud sentences was thrown out. Their lawyer argued that their prison terms were unfair. Rigas, 86, had his sentence dropped to 12 years. I find it very interesting that white collar criminal punishment, many incidents involve vast sums of money, seem to get small punishment. Mr. Rigas only was sentenced to 12 years in prison. However, I do think that laws

Adelphia Scandal The Dawn of Adelphia Adelphia was founded in 1952 by John Rigas and his brother Gus Rigas in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with the purchase of their first cable franchise for $300. After 20 years, the Rigas brothers incorporated their company under the name Adelphia which derived its name from a Greek word which means brothers, an apt corporate title for a business that would employ generations of the Rigas family. Adelphia was a cable television company and built its success

Sympathy From the Judge and Received a Light Sentence for Stealing From Old Folks. ________________________________________ The Adelphia Communications scandal broke in 2002 when a footnote in a routine quarterly earnings statement revealed that the Rigas family had borrowed more than $2 billion from the company. But they didn't pay it back. Warning bells started ringing because of the huge amount of cash involved and because of a reference to a peculiar arrangement with Adelphia that made the family

John Rigas founded Adelphia Communications Corporation (“ACC”) in 1952 for $300. The company was fittingly named Adelphia, Greek for brother, as it employed generations of Rigas family. Skip ahead twenty years; Adelphia officially became incorporated. Roughly ten years later, John Rigas bought out his brother Gus’ stake, and his three sons became employees of Adelphia. His son-in-law was also the head of the board of directors. This positioned the Rigas family into all of the senior executive