Herb G., David E., will not be pleased

Controversial ‘business development company’ Allied Capital Corp (ALD) appears to have escaped from the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation with the most feathery of wrist-taps, as the company’s unprincipled accounting practices go unfined, and sanctioned merely by the imposition of processes that an honest business of its type would already have in place.

Long a regular feature in Herb Greenberg’s MarketWatch column, Allied recently conceded that it had, in 2003, hired a private investigator who illegally obtained Greenlight Capital principal David Einhorn’s personal phone records.

Another entry for ‘The Crooks Are Winning’ file.

In the matter of Allied Capital Corp
US Securities and Exchange Commission
Jun. 20 2007