The EU has ruled that Apple has to pay taxes on the billions it laundered through Ireland by pretending that an empty room with no employees was the company's "head office," a move that has enraged the Business Roundtable, which has sent a letter calling on the EU to respect the "rule of law," whose five signatories have all presided over acts of shameless lawbreaking.
• Doug Oberhelman, the CEO of Caterpillar, is the Business Roundtable's Chairman. Caterpillar has paid over $3 million in fines since 2010, including $2.55 million for a large scale violation of the Clear Air Act.• Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox, is a Business Roundtable Vice Chair. Among various other misdeeds, Xerox engaged in a four-year scheme to defraud investors by overstating its pre-tax earnings by $1.5 billion.
• David M. Cote, the CEO of Honeywell, is a Business Roundtable Vice Chair. Honeywell has been fined by the federal government over 100 times since 2010, including an $11.8 million criminal fine for knowingly storing hazardous radioactive waste without a permit. In 2007 Honeywell pled guilty to negligently causing the release of hazardous chemicals that killed an employee, and paid an $8 million criminal fine plus $4 million in restitution to the employee's children and community.
• Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, is a Business Roundtable Vice Chair. Lockheed has an extensive rap sheet, and paid $27.5 million in 2014 and $15.85 million in 2012 to the U.S. government for overcharging it for tools for use on military aircraft. In 2007 Lockheed agreed to repay the government $265 million for "accidental" overcharges on the Joint Strike Fighter program.
• Andrew N. Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical, is a Business Roundtable Vice Chair. In addition to paying numerous government fines, Dow recently paid $835 million to settle a price fixing case. (Dow denied any wrongdoing.)
Throng of Corporate Criminals Demands "Rule of Law" in Apple EU Tax Case [Jon Schwarz/The Intercept]
(Image: Caterpillar)
