SEIU's Andy Stern Breaks New Ground with Corporate Bankruptcy

SEIU's Andy Stern

Remember when Andy Stern, SEIU’s President Emeritus, pocketed thousands of stock options in a pharmaceutical company after billionaire Ron Perelman appointed him to serve on the company's Board of Directors?

Well… SEIU’s "maverick" leader has accomplished yet another "first" for a "labor leader."

Corporate bankruptcy!

That's right.  Stern’s pharmaceutical company -- SIGA Technologies -- recently filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy.

So how did Stern's corporate wet dream turn into a scene from Enron?

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Delaware's highest court ordered Stern's company -- SIGA Technologies -- to pay damages of $232 million or more for ripping off another company that helped to fund the development of SIGA’s main drug product.

“SIGA says it has grounds to appeal, but doesn't have the money to post the necessary bond for the full amount of the damages, plus interest,” says the WSJ. That's why SIGA is filing for bankruptcy.

 

SIGA's stock price: 99 cents

As these events unfolded, SIGA’s stock price plummeted to just 99 cents a share.

Ain’t karma a bitch!

When Stern was the President of SEIU, he abandoned thousands of low-waged security guards at AlliedBarton after he reportedly cut a backroom deal with their boss, billionaire Ron Perelman, according to the Huffington Post.

Next, only weeks after Stern resigned as SEIU’s president, Perelman returned Andy’s favor by placing Stern on the board of SIGA, where Stern has pocketed bags of cash.

Ron Perelman aka 'Sugar Daddy'

Stern quickly employed the D.C. political connections he acquired during his time atop SEIU to apparently lobby the federal government to award SIGA a massive no-bid, $433 million contract, which prompted investigations into illegal bid rigging by U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).

To help out his SEIU buddy, Perelman also created and funded a custom-made job for Stern – the Ronald O. Perelman Senior Fellow at Colombia University's Business School in NYC where Stern pulls down a handsome paycheck.

And now… the bankruptcy.

Like Tasty said… karma is a bitch!

Stay tuned for more...

Turkey Day for Andy Stern and SIGA Technologies

It looks like Andy Stern’s get-rich-quick scheme in the bio-warfare industry has hit a bit of a snag. Last week, the chairwoman of a U.S. Senate subcommittee asked the Inspector General to investigate a $433-million, no-bid contract awarded to Andy’s company, SIGA Technologies. 

The request from the Democratic senator was first reported in the Los Angeles Times. Here’s an excerpt from an ABC News article:

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., says the five-year contract from the Department of Health and Human Services to Siga Technologies –  a New York company run by a major Democratic donor — raises questions about a conflict of interest and the potential waste of precious taxpayer funds.

In a letter to HHS inspector general Daniel Levinson on Monday, McCaskill expressed worry over the hefty price of the drug (reportedly $255 per dose) because the company had not been not forced to compete for the contract. She also noted that the drug itself, known as ST-246, may not be effective since it has a short shelf-life and hasn’t been tested on humans.

What’s Andy Stern’s role in this unfolding scandal? Well, as Tasty reported in earlier posts, Stern was apparently appointed to the company’s board of directors so he could use his SEIU rolodex to “dial for dollars”… or in this case, a $433 million government contract.

So, as Andy sorts through the last of his Thanksgiving leftovers, Tasty is hoping he’ll soon find a shiny government subpoena in his mailbox! If so, here are a few questions that investigators might wanna ask:

• Did Andy use his position as “SEIU President Emeritus” to gain access to top government decision-makers in order to help SIGA win the massive no-bid contract?

• Did Ron Perelman, the main owner of SIGA Technologies, put Andy on SIGA’s board of directors (and give him 35,000 stock options) as payback for an earlier deal between the two men… when Stern reportedly sold out thousands of security guards employed by AlliedBarton, another company owned by Perelman?

• How much money does King Andy stand to make as a result of SIGA’s $433 million contract?
  

Stay tuned!