Cendant Corp

Cendant Corp. submitted home loans worth about $110.9 million for federal insurance without properly investigating the borrowers, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said. New York-based Cendant attributed the improper processing to unprecedented volume. Shares of Cendant fell 2 cents to $11.59 on the NYSE.

Former Cendant Corp. Chairman Walter Forbes was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years and seven months in prison and ordered to pay $3.275 billion in restitution for leading the largest accounting fraud of the 1990s. In October, a jury found Forbes guilty of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and two counts of making false statements in a massive fraud scheme that cost the travel and real estate company and its investors more than $3 billion.

* Cendant Corp., a travel, leisure and real estate company founded in 1997, changed its name to Avis Budget Group Inc., completing its breakup into four parts. The company's shareholders approved the name change, to take effect Friday. * Microsoft Corp. will begin selling its new Windows Vista operating system for $100 to $399 and will make the program available Jan. 30, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s website.

Walter Forbes, the former chairman of Cendant Corp., was convicted Tuesday for his role in the accounting fraud that caused the company's market value to drop $14 billion in one day in 1998. Jurors in Bridgeport, Conn., convicted Forbes of one count of conspiracy and two counts of false reporting. He was found not guilty of securities fraud. Forbes was accused of overstating income by $252 million at CUC International Inc., the company that merged with HFS Inc. in 1997 to create Cendant.

Ronald Nelson of DreamWorks SKG has resigned to become chief financial officer at Cendant Corp., the largest U.S. travel and real estate services company. Nelson, 50, was chief operating officer at the film, music and TV production firm since its founding in 1994. He helped raise $5 billion in capital for closely held DreamWorks. He said he was looking for a new position after DreamWorks completed a refinancing last year, giving it access to debt through at least 2007.

Cendant Corp., whose brands include Century 21 real estate services and Days Inn hotels, said it filed with regulators to spin off by fall a previously announced new company. New York-based Cendant said the new company will combine under one roof such Cendant goods and services brands as Shoppers Advantage and Privacy Guard, which offer shopping discounts and credit card protection to their approximately 23.6 million members.

Cendant Corp., the largest U.S. travel and real estate services company, said first-quarter profit fell 9.6% as a slowing economy and looming war in Iraq led to a drop in its travel businesses. The firm also cut its forecast for 2003. Net income fell to $309 million, or 30 cents a share, from $342 million, or 34 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 56% to $4.1 billion. For 2003, Cendant said it will earn $1.35 to $1.37 a share. Cendant shares fell 11 cents to $12.98 on the NYSE.

Cendant Corp., a provider of travel and real estate services, swung to a profit in the fourth quarter, helped by acquisitions of residential brokerages and car rental company Budget Group Inc. The New York-based company's net income was $247 million, or 24 cents a share, contrasted with a year-earlier loss of $307 million, or 31 cents. Revenue rose 49% to $3.85 billion. Cendant fell 14 cents to $10.56 on the NYSE.

E. Kirk Shelton, a former vice chairman at Cendant Corp., testified at his criminal trial that he had no knowledge of fraudulent accounting at a predecessor company or of "cheat sheets" to track false financial results. Prosecutors allege that Shelton helped fabricate profit at CUC International Inc., which merged with HFS Inc. in 1997 to create Cendant, the world's largest hotel franchiser. Shares of New York-based Cendant rose 22 cents to $22.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.

A federal appellate panel upheld the record $3.2-billion settlement Cendant Corp. and its accounting firm made with stockholders. The ruling by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected assertions by some shareholders that stockholders should have received more money in light of a loss they pegged at $8.8 billion. A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit unanimously found that U.S. District Judge William H. Walls of Newark, N.J.

* Cendant Corp., a travel, leisure and real estate company founded in 1997, changed its name to Avis Budget Group Inc., completing its breakup into four parts. The company's shareholders approved the name change, to take effect Friday. * Microsoft Corp. will begin selling its new Windows Vista operating system for $100 to $399 and will make the program available Jan. 30, according to Amazon.com Inc.'s website.

Cendant Corp. has agreed to sell its travel services division to an affiliate of private equity firm Blackstone Group for about $4.3 billion in cash, scrapping plans to spin off the unit. The New York-based company said Friday that it expected to complete the sale of Travelport, which owns the Orbitz online travel agency and Cheaptickets.com, in August. Shares of Cendant rose 52 cents, or 3.3%, to $16.29. The move is part of a plan announced in October to split Cendant into four companies.

Cendant Corp. said Monday that it was considering selling its travel services division, including the Orbitz and CheapTickets websites, to help pay down debt. The unit could fetch as much as $4.5 billion, sources familiar with the situation said. A sale would be an alternative to a planned spinoff, part of a break-up announced by Cendant last year aimed at boosting the company's stock performance and reversing more than a decade of acquisitions.

Prosecutors said they planned to try former Cendant Corp. Chairman Walter Forbes for a third time on charges that he participated in a massive fraud that cost the company and investors more than $3 billion. Forbes' first two trials ended in mistrials after jurors could not reach a verdict. Forbes had argued that he did not know about the fraud. U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson, who heard both trials, said the third trial probably would take place before a different judge.

U.S. prosecutors told a federal judge they were preparing to try former Cendant Corp. Chairman Walter Forbes on accounting fraud charges for a third time after two trials resulted in hung juries. U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson declared a mistrial for a second time on Feb. 9 after jurors in Hartford, Conn., deadlocked on four counts against Forbes, 63. Thompson had a conference call Tuesday with prosecutors and defense attorneys for Forbes, who testified at both trials and denied wrongdoing.

Cendant Corp., owner of Orbitz and the car rental business Avis, said fourth-quarter net income rose 50% on the sale of a unit. The conglomerate cut its 2006 profit forecast, sending the shares down 2.9% after hours. Net income rose to $537 million, or 53 cents a share, from $357 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier. Sales increased 7.2% to $4.32 billion, New York-based Cendant said. Excluding costs and one-time gains, profit was 23 cents, matching analysts' estimates.

Cendant Corp., owner of Orbitz and the car rental business Avis, said fourth-quarter net income rose 50% on the sale of a unit. The conglomerate cut its 2006 profit forecast, sending the shares down 2.9% after hours. Net income rose to $537 million, or 53 cents a share, from $357 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier. Sales increased 7.2% to $4.32 billion, New York-based Cendant said. Excluding costs and one-time gains, profit was 23 cents, matching analysts' estimates.

Cendant Corp., whose businesses range from franchising Coldwell Banker real estate brokerages to direct marketing, said its first-quarter earnings would fall about 9% because of lower income from its diversified services unit and higher interest costs. New York-based Cendant expects to earn 14 cents a share in the first quarter of 2001, down from 22 cents a year earlier, the company said.

The retrial of Cendant Corp.'s Walter Forbes ended with another deadlocked jury, with panel members unable to reach a unanimous verdict on charges accusing the former chairman of leading a major accounting fraud in the 1990s. U.S. District Judge Alvin Thompson declared a mistrial when the 11-member jury said it couldn't agree on four counts after 27 days of deliberations in Hartford, Conn. In Forbes' first trial, Thompson declared a hung jury in January 2005 after 33 days of deliberations.

Cendant Corp., which built itself into a $20-billion conglomerate to please investors, said Monday that it was disbanding into four separate companies. The reason for the split: its unhappy investors. But Wall Street remained grumpy with the company. Shares of Cendant, which owns Century 21 real estate, Ramada hotels, Avis rental cars and Orbitz online travel service, fell $1.32, or 6.6%, to $18.77 after hitting a new 52-week low of $18.36.