Billions of Whispers: A History of Goldman-S.E.C. Settlement Rumors
    When the Journal and the Financial Times sent Wall Street into a bit of a tizzy today by reporting that Goldman may avoid fraud charges in its settlement with the S.E.C., it was just another chapter in the colorful history of gossip on Sachs settling. But, so far, the scuttlebutt has been pretty wrong.
    Today's Journal story declared that the fraud-less settlement would set the stage for a "rebound from the public-relations and stock-price hits" the firm has suffered. Talk of that rebound goes back to at least late April, just a little while after Goldman's now-famous appearance in front of a Senate committee, and less than two weeks after the suit itself: That's when "sources familiar with the matter" told the Post that Goldman "may soon settle."
    On May 6, Fox Business' Charlie Gasparino, citing "legal experts, rival CEOs and even people inside Goldman," reported that Goldman would settle for somewhere between $1 to $5 billion, which very quickly became part of the lore. Wonderfully, one reporter wrote about the range while admitting he'd only heard about the Fox report. That day, the Times' excellent Peter J. Henning wrote a 1,400-word piece on what a settlement would look like; the next morning, the Journal reported that Goldman's chiefs had held their first settlement talks with the government, "a sign that executives are scaling back their combative stance."
    Then the fun started. Last Friday, a story on the Bloomberg wire reported that analysts "predict Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $1 billion or more." Linking to that story, the Journal had an item whose headline said, "Are Goldman and the SEC Heading Toward a $1 Billion Settlement?" The paper asked, "a little smart prognostication never killed anyone, did it?" The influential blog Zero Hedge reported that the rumor that Goldman had settled was "taking the street by storm." That was picked up by Reuters--and then, in a splendid bit of irony, by the Journal, who was later blamed by Zero Hedge for sparking the rumor in the first place. Goldman hadn't settled, but the hubbub sent its stock up 5 percent.
    Yesterday, leading up to today's new round of rumors, the analyst Brad Hintz pinned the settlement number at a pleasantly specific $621 million.Despite what one might think after all this, settlements sometimes do actually happen. After four years, the hedge fund titan Arthur J. Samberg and his Pequot Capital Management just agreed to pay $28 million to settle fraud charges. Mr. Samberg neither admitted nor denied guilt.

    PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY PAYS $42.5 MILLION TO RESOLVE ALLEGATIONS OF FRAUD...
Oregon will receive $145,000 under the national settlement with Alpharma, Inc.
   Oregon Attorney General John Kroger today announced a national settlement with a pharmaceutical company accused of making false prescription drug claims to Medicaid.
   "It is not acceptable for pharmaceutical companies to defraud the Medicaid program," said Attorney General Kroger. The agreement with Alpharma, Inc. settles allegations that the company took a variety of steps to illegally induce health care providers to prescribe Kadian to Medicaid patients. Kadian is a sustained release morphine sulfate product used to treat moderate to severe pain.
   The agreement with Alpharma requires the company to pay participating states and the United States $42.5 million plus interest. Medicaid programs nationwide will receive approximately $19.2 million of the total settlement; the remaining will go to other federal health care programs. Oregon will receive $145,244.79. Medicaid is funded jointly by federal and state governments.
   The investigation was led by South Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, Florida and Texas. The investigation looked into allegations that during the period of January 1, 2000, through December 29, 2008, Alpharma offered and paid for training programs, consulting forums, research grants, speakers' bureaus and made or disseminated false statements about the safety and efficacy of Kadian to induce health care providers to prescribe Kadian.
   Oregon participated in the settlement through the Oregon Department of Justice Medicaid Fraud Unit. In addition to recovering money for the Oregon Health Plan, the Medicaid Fraud Unit investigates and prosecutes billing fraud, physical and financial abuse in Medicaid-funded facilities and fraud committed by Medicaid program employees.
   Oregon is a national leader in the fight against health care fraud. In 2009, the Department of Justice secured settlements that brought more than $20 million in health care fraud cases to reimburse the Oregon Health Plan, enhance state consumer protection efforts and help balance the state budget.
   Attorney General John Kroger leads the Oregon Department of Justice. The Department's mission is to fight crime and fraud, protect the environment, improve child welfare, promote a positive business climate, and defend the rights of all Oregonians.