Another story for the grandkids

Just missed this one, actually.

I have the "dot-bomb' story, but could have had a corporate scandal one, too. And they would have been connected, to boot.

From Motley Fool:

Homestore May Trip AOL

Until lately, the practice known as "round-tripping" was confined mostly to the energy industry. Companies [. . .] have been accused of selling energy and buying back similar amounts in order to artificially inflate revenue figures. But recently, Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) admitted to doing the same, by "swapping" capacity on its optical networks with other carriers.

Now we discover that round-tripping has occurred in other industries as well. Three former executives of Homestore (Nasdaq: HOMS), the real estate listings company that operates Realtor.com and HomeBuilder.com, will plead guilty to fraudulently inflating revenue -- and they may also implicate AOL Time Warner (NYSE: AOL). The U.S. Justice Dept. says Homestore was able to coordinate sham transactions that wound up funneling money back to itself through "a major media company," widely reported to be AOL.

The former execs -- COO John Giesecke, CFO Joseph Shew, VP John Desimone -- face anywhere from five to 10 years in prison. That may seem harsh compared to softer penalties meted out to other trippin' companies, but these three allegedly profited from the fraud by selling Homestore stock when it was near peak levels.

The final piece of this puzzle will eventually fall into place when the government announces the findings of its ongoing investigation into AOL's accounting practices. The media giant's stock, which is down over 60% this year, will not awaken from its slumber until that cloud has passed.

Homestore was,supposedly, in talks to buy the place I'd worked at. Had that happened, needless to say I'd currently be blackmailing commiting acts of extortion that would make your head spin. Or at least visiting every camera crew outside the company building screaming "I KNEW THE BASTARDS WERE DIRTY!"

'cause I'm just a hard working corporate slave.

Or, if you prefer, Corporate Whore.