Victor Posner

A federal judge in Cleveland has suspended financier Victor Posner from control of his holdings, which include Arby's and Royal Crown Cola, while auditors determine whether the company was plundered. U.S. District Judge Thomas Lambros, in a harshly worded order Friday, said the intervention was needed to keep the Miami Beach financier from draining assets from DWG Corp. Posner's son, Steven, DWG's vice chairman, was also suspended. Donald Glazer, an attorney for Posner and DWG Corp.

Leonard H. Roberts has been fired as president and chief executive of Arby's Inc., a few hours after announcing he had broken ranks with Miami financier Victor Posner over a $200-million buyout offer from a group of the fast-food restaurant chain's franchisees. Roberts, who indicated that he favored the buyout offer that was rejected by Posner, sent a sharply worded letter to Posner on Monday in which he resigned as vice chairman and a director of Posner's DWG Corp.

As competitors began trying to hire away some of its best stockbrokers, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. went on the offensive Thursday, declaring that it had weathered the first shock of the wide-ranging charges filed against the firm by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Reaction to Wednesday's civil charges of insider trading, stock manipulation and other violations was "a non-event," said Frederick H. Joseph, Drexel's chief executive, after a day of meeting with employees and outsiders.

A caller reaching a Miami Beach, Fla., telephone number listed as the headquarters of two well-known public companies is greeted by a recorded female voice announcing that the caller has indeed reached the number dialed, followed by instructions for using the phone mail system. Eventually, a live voice politely inquires: "May I help you?" At no time will anyone state exactly what office has been reached. The number is headquarters for DWG Corp., NVF Co.

Federal prosecutors are expected to seek indictments within four to six weeks in a criminal investigation related to the massive civil lawsuit that the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed against "junk bond" dealer Michael Milken and his brokerage house, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., sources close to the case disclosed Thursday. Attorneys for the SEC filed their civil action Wednesday only after receiving assurances from U.S. Atty. Rudolph W.

Here is a list of allegedly illegal securities transactions involving Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. or other defendants named in a Securities and Exchange Commission civil enforcement action Wednesday. The list includes transactions that involve the stock or merger activity of several prominent Southern California companies.