Business briefs for May 29, 2002

Wednesday, May 29, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

Testimony damaging to firm

HOUSTON -- Under strong cross-examination by the government, a high-ranking partner with Arthur Andersen testified on Tuesday that the firm maintained a policy to destroy extraneous documents in part so the records could not be used against the firm in litigation.

The statements by Richard Corgel, the firm's practice director for North America, came in Andersen's criminal trial on a charge of obstruction of justice for its destruction of thousands of documents related to its work for Enron. Corgel's testimony was damaging to Andersen, which has argued that the records destroyed under the firm's policies were largely irrelevant and contained no information that it would have wanted to keep from the government or plaintiffs.

In essence, by acknowledging that the firm considered the possible use of such records in litigation, Corgel -- perhaps inadvertently -- gave support to the government's contention that such records could have been useful to gain a full picture of the events at Enron, which was an Andersen client before it sought bankruptcy protection in December.

CEO takes pay cut

Vestin Group Inc. of Las Vegas, a big real estate lender, said Chairman and CEO Mike Shustek voluntarily took a pay cut -- from $840,000 per year to $150,000 per year -- as a gesture to shareholders.

"Given the company's success to date and the growth we anticipate for the future, I believe this gesture aligns my interests as company founder and a major stakeholder more closely with those of our shareholders," Shustek said in a statement. "If we continue to be successful, the market will reward our company by enhancing shareholder value."

SEC probing oil driller

DALLAS -- Halliburton Co. shares fell 5 percent this morning after disclosure that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating how the oilfield services company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney accounts for cost overruns on construction jobs.