Ruth Madoff, the wife of convicted ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, agreed to give up nearly $80 million dollars in assets yesterday as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors.

Americans are drowning in a sea of debt, spending more than their payroll each month. Paying high interest credit cards instead of buying basic necessities.

Distribution Marks the Commission's Distribution of More Than $2 Billion of Fair Fund Monies to Injured Investors

Agreement with Centerbridge Capital Partners on Major Investment in Dana

Centerbridge Partners to play key role in restructured firm

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against five former Veritas Software Corp. executives, alleging they helped the company inflate revenue through sham transactions with America Online Inc., now part of Time Warner Inc., The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Mellon Bank has agreed to pay $16.5 million to the federal government to settle claims that it allowed overwhelmed employees to destroy thousands of federal tax returns and payments in 2001, The Associated Press reported.

Just a day after agreeing to an unconventional deal to go public, London-based hedge-fund giant GLG Partners LP settled U.S. accusations of illegal short selling, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Manulife Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries, including John Hancock, settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday for nearly $19 million for allegedly using mutual fund assets to pay brokers for preferred treatment, regulators said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Two officials at Salt Lake City-based Usana Health Sciences Inc. promised to stop representing themselves as certified public accountants, ending an investigation by Utah authorities into the vitamin maker, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

A prominent Washington lawyer yesterday settled civil charges that he misappropriated secret information to buy Vastera stock in advance of a merger, reported The Washington Post.

The Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation, formerly known as the Enron Corp., announced on Wednesday that the investment bank UBS had agreed to pay $115 million to settle litigation over the collapse of Enron, The Associated Press reported.