NotLarrySabato references this article on George Allen's position on the Board of Directors of Xybernaut- a seamy, sordid, discredited Enron-style corporation. http://68.49.181.247...
Allen: A Financial Gigolo?
Xybernaut was always clear about why its management wanted Allen on the board. He represented legitimacy and access. +óGé¼+ôGeorge Allen, the former governor of Virginia and candidate for Senate in 2000, is on Xybernaut+óGé¼Gäós board of directors and is very helpful in dealings with government,+óGé¼-¥ company CFO John Moynahan wrote to the Xybernaut Corp.
No proof has emerged that Allen did anything illegal. But there were plenty of illegal and unethical shenanigans going on at the company while he was on the board.
But three things seem clear. First, he did benefit in indirect ways from his association with the company: Allen+óGé¼Gäós law firm did work for Xybernaut while he was on the board, and its officers contributed to his campaigns. While Allen was serving on the Xybernaut board, he was also a partner at the prestigious Richmond-based law firm McGuire Woods LLP. In 1998 and 1999, the firm billed $315,925 to Xybernaut for legal work and was also granted 1,996 shares of stock ... Allen earned $450,000 from McGuire Woods from January 1999 through April 2000. ...... Xybernaut officers ... donated... $10,750 to Friends of George Allen in 1999 and 2000. After Xybernaut retained McGuire Woods to handle its more current legal problems in May 2005, McGuire Woods staff donated $32,500 to Friends of George Allen that very month ...
Second, Allen helped Xybernaut stay politically well-connected and in the good graces of the Virginia technology community -- despite its increasingly questionable associations in the finance and investment world.
... What sort of board was this -- and what sort of director was he -- to allow these shenanigans to go on while they were allegedly ... protecting the interests of the shareholders? Did Allen know that the company was selling far more stock than actual computer units? Was he aware of the reputations of the some of the firms that arranged financing? What did he know about the firing of PricewaterhouseCoopers after it had the audacity to tell the truth about the company+óGé¼Gäós financial health? Did he privately express any concern about the company+óGé¼Gäós actions? And how long did he continue to promote such an obviously shady operation?
Allen must have known what sort of people he was getting into bed with when he joined them. I guess he's comfortable working with white collar criminals.