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FBI Expands AOL TIME WARNER Investigation
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FBI Continues to Probe AOL Deals
Posted: Feb 05 2003
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI (news - web sites) has sought to question several former PurchasePro.com Inc. officers in the past few weeks as part of an expanding criminal investigation into advertising deals made by America Online, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The FBI has contacted the former PurchasePro executives to schedule interviews but hasn't told them the nature of its inquiry, the article said.
Unnamed people familiar with the situation told the newspaper that the Department of Justice (news - web sites) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites) are focusing on AOL Time Warner Inc.'s America Online and some of its former executives, including Eric Keller and David Colburn. Keller, who reported to Colburn, crafted a controversial advertising deal with PurchasePro.com in March 2000, people familiar with the situation told the newspaper.
The investigation is continuing and prosecutors are expected to decide whether to bring charges later this year, the people told the Journal. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles are probing America Online's relationship with online real estate company Homestore Inc. Several former Homestore officials have pleaded guilty to roles in a scheme to falsely inflate Homestore's 2001 ad sales and have cooperated with prosecutors.
AOL declined to comment, according to the report. Keller's attorney did not return calls seeking comment, the newspaper said, and Colburn's attorney declined to comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Klein, the investigation's lead prosecutor, did not return a call seeking comment, according to the article. SEC officials declined to comment, the Journal said. Perfect Commerce, which bought bankrupt PurchasePro in January, and AOL were not immediately available for comment early on Wednesday morning.
story.news.yahoo.com
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