Rumors and Propaganda....11/26

Not quite the latest rumor, but it is said that former CEO W. Hudson Connery Jr. was walked from Essent by security and that he is under investigation for embezzlement (a possible criminal charge, forthcoming?) I'd say that it qualifies as not "not unfriendly". What do you think? I can't say that this is first, or second, or third-hand (can you say anonymous?), but you never can tell.

Remember, this is dealing with a capitalization of over $200 million dollars. How tight is the cookie-jar lid? (Note: The real financials from Crossroads were never made available to the CT officials when they were considering Essent's purchase of Sharon Hospital. That was mentioned in the decision summary.)

An aside: In searching for records on Connery and CT, I ran across a house owned by Hud and an Ann Moore. It would appear that Ann Moore used to be in the clique of former Governor John G. Rowland, who pleaded guilty to a corruption charge (his administration approved the Sharon conversion from not-for-profit to for-profit, first in CT). I can follow Ms Moore's career through the CT governmental positions she held, as a lobbyist, and to a law firm (UPDIKE, KELLY & SPELLACY, P.C), after which she disappears (career-wise), apparently not practicing. They even hired an attorney to prepare a variance for submission on the house.

Looking at Hud's replacement, Mike Browder's duty description caused another series of questions, see if you can find and answer them:

"Michael Browder joined Essent in 2001, and is responsible for all traditional corporate financial functions including routine reporting and capital structure development. In addition, he is responsible for information systems development, corporate risk management/insurance and detailed acquisition support functions, including due diligence."

Did you see? Corporate risk management, insurance, and due diligence. Responsibility for due diligence puts him in the hot seat for failing to recognize PRMC's shortcomings, insurance for the gay couple's lawsuit, and risk management for the go ahead on the actual Essent-Doe lawsuit. You wonder why he wasn't out the door before Hud....