Ex-BP engineer convicted on 1 obstruction charge

NEW ORLEANS — A former BP drilling engineer was convicted Wednesday of deleting text messages from his cellphone to obstruct a federal investigation of the company's massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

He was found guilty on one charge and acquitted of a second charge.

A federal jury deliberated for more than nine hours over three days before reaching the verdict on Kurt Mix's case. The count of obstruction of justice carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Mix will be released on his present bond, and sentencing is scheduled for March 26.

Mix hugged his friends and family members in the courtroom before leaving the courthouse hurriedly.

"I'm only going to speak through counsel," he said to a reporter trying to ask him a question.

Trailing behind her brother in the courthouse lobby, Bridget Mix called the verdict "just unbelievable."

"You can't wrap your head around any of it," she said.

Prosecutors argued that the 52-year-old engineer from Katy, Texas, was trying to destroy evidence when he deleted hundreds of text messages to and from a supervisor and a BP contractor. An indictment also accused Mix of deleting two voicemails from the same two people.

Mix's lawyers said their client didn't hide anything. He preserved other records containing the same information contained in the deleted messages, they told jurors.

"We remain as convinced as ever of Kurt Mix's innocence," defense attorney Joan McPhee said after the verdict. "We intend to continue to fight to ensure that justice is done in this case."

Juror Scott Galliano, 49, of Luling said: "It was just a very tough decision."

Mix, who didn't testify at his two-week trial, was one of four current or former BP employees charged with crimes related to the spill. His case was the first to be tried.

The April 20, 2010, blowout of BP PLC's Macondo well triggered an explosion that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill. Millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf while the company scrambled for weeks to seal the well.

Mix was on a team of experts who worked on BP's unsuccessful attempt to stop the gusher using a technique called "top kill." He had access to internal data about how much oil was flowing from the blown-out well.

On May 26, 2010, the day that top kill began, Mix estimated in a text to a supervisor that more than 630,000 gallons of oil per day were spilling — three times BP's public estimate of 210,000 gallons daily and a rate far greater than what top kill could handle.

That text was in a string of messages that Mix exchanged with his supervisor, Jonathan Sprague, before deleting it in October 2010. Investigators couldn't recover 17 of the messages in the string.

In August 2011, Mix also deleted a string of text messages that he exchanged with BP contractor Wilson Arabie. Several weeks earlier, federal authorities issued a subpoena to BP for copies of Mix's correspondence. The same count that charges Mix with intentionally deleting those messages also says Mix deleted a voicemail from Arabie and a voicemail from Sprague.

Galliano, the juror, said he and the other members of the panel were left wondering why Sprague didn't testify.

"We thought he was one of the key characters," he said.

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Janet Rowley, cancer genetics pioneer, dies at 88

CHICAGO — Dr. Janet Rowley, a pioneer in cancer genetics research, has died at age 88.

The University of Chicago, where Rowley obtained her medical degree and spent most of her career, says in a statement she died Tuesday of ovarian cancer complications at her home near the university.

Rowley did landmark research with leukemia in the 1970s, linking cancer with genetic abnormalities — work that led to targeted drug treatment for leukemia. She identified a genetic process called translocation, now widely accepted. By 1990, more than 70 translocations had been identified in various cancers, according to her biography on the National Library of Medicine's website.

She is a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

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JPMorgan Chase sues FDIC for more than $1B

JPMorgan is suing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to recover more than $1 billion tied to its purchase of Washington Mutual when that bank failed in 2008.

In a federal court complaint, the biggest U.S. bank said that the FDIC failed to honor obligations under the Washington Mutual agreement, and that has subjected JP Morgan to massive liability.

The FDIC became the receiver for Seattle-based Washington Mutual when it collapsed during the height of the financial crisis in September 2008. It was the largest bank failure in U.S. history. The FDIC brokered the sale of Washington Mutual's assets to JP Morgan for $1.9 billion. JPMorgan said the FDIC made promises to indemnify or protect the bank against liabilities if it stepped in.

New York-based JP Morgan Chase & Co. said in a court filing Tuesday that the FDIC later declined to acknowledge that government and investors' claims against JP Morgan for sales of Washington Mutual's risky mortgage-backed securities should have been claims against the receivership, not the bank.

Most of JPMorgan's mortgage-backed securities came from Washington Mutual and the investment bank Bear Stearns, which it also acquired in 2008.

The FDIC did not immediately return calls seeking comment from The Associated Press early Wednesday. The FDIC has said that JPMorgan should be responsible for any liabilities regarding the Washington Mutual acquisition.

The Washington Mutual receivership's assets are about $2.75 billion, according to JPMorgan.

JP Morgan has entered into a series of legal settlements over its sales of mortgage-backed securities in the years preceding the financial crisis. As the housing market collapsed between 2006 and 2008, millions of homeowners defaulted on high-risk mortgages. That led to billions of dollars in losses for investors who bought securities created from bundles of mortgages.

Last month, the bank agreed to pay $13 billion in a civil settlement with the Justice Department and state regulators over its sales of the mortgage-linked bonds. It was the largest settlement ever between the Justice Department and a corporation.

In addition, JPMorgan reached a $4.5 billion settlement in November that covered 21 major institutional investors.

The bank said in October that it set aside $9.2 billion in the July-September quarter to cover legal costs.

Shares of JPMorgan rose 7 cents to $55.79 in trading Wednesday morning. The shares have climbed nearly 27 percent so far in 2013.

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Delta: No voice calls on our planes

MINNEAPOLIS — Delta Air Lines won't allow passengers to make voice calls from its planes.

Right now, federal rules prohibit voice calls on planes. But the government is indicating that it might loosen those rules. If that happens, it could be up to airlines to set their own policies.

On Wednesday, Delta went ahead and said, in effect, hang up and enjoy the view from 40,000 feet.

CEO Richard Anderson told workers in a memo that the airline will not allow cell calls or internet-based voice communications on mainline or Delta Connection flights, which are operated by other airlines under contract for Delta.

"Our customer research and direct feedback tell us that our frequent flyers believe voice calls in the cabin would be a disruption to the travel experience," Anderson wrote. A "clear majority" of customers in a 2012 survey last year said the ability to make voice calls would make their experience worse, not better, he wrote.

Anderson also said Delta employees, particularly flight crews, are against allowing calls during flights. Atlanta-based Delta is one of the world's biggest airlines.

The Federal Communications Commission has barred calls. Now the FCC is taking public comments about the idea of relaxing the ban.

However, the Transportation Department is considering banning calls because, it says, the calls would hurt consumers.

A few weeks ago, the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its ban on using personal electronic devices such as iPads and Kindles below 10,000 feet, saying they don't interfere with cockpit instruments.

Delta shares fell 20 cents to $26.74 in morning trading Wednesday. Its shares have more than doubled so far this year.

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Calif. wine collector convicted of fraud in NY

NEW YORK — A California wine collector has been convicted of fraud at a trial in New York.

Rudy Kurniawan was expressionless as the verdict was rendered Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Kurniawan put on a "magic show" to fool aficionados into thinking he had access to the world's rarest bottles of wine. They say he made millions of dollars from 2004 to 2012 by manufacturing fake vintage wine in his Arcadia, Calif., kitchen.

The Indonesian-born defendant was arrested last year. He was accused of selling more than $1.3 million worth of counterfeit bottles to other wealthy collectors.

Prosecutors say money from the fraud funded a lavish lifestyle in suburban Los Angeles that included luxury cars, designer clothing and fine food and drinks

Defense attorney Jerome Mooney portrayed his client as a scapegoat.

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SABMiller announces death of its chairman

LONDON — Graham Mackay, the SABMiller PLC chairman who helped guide the company from a South African industrial conglomerate into one of the world's biggest brewers, died Wednesday after suffering from a brain tumor. He was 64.

Mackay helped lead the company, originally South African Breweries, through some of its most dramatic recent moments, beginning in the early 1990s when the late Nelson Mandela's release from prison led to a lifting of sanctions on South Africa and offered the potential for the company to expand internationally. It has grown to own such iconic brands as Miller and Foster's.

"He is the man who took South African brewing from being a parochial South African company, if you like ... and built it into being a first-class brewer," said Roy Summers, chairman of the advisory board for the International Center for Brewing and Distilling at Heriot Watt University in Scotland. "He knew the company would go nowhere if it just remained a South Africa company."

Though the beer sector was dominated in Europe by the likes of Guinness and Heineken, the company took advantage of the opening offered by the fall of the Berlin wall to sweep into eastern Europe and pick up assets on the cheap. Its growth also stretched to other African countries including Mozambique, and to Asia.

But Mackay recognized that South African exchange controls and a depreciating rand constrained the company's ambitions. The company opted to return its corporate center to London and he became chief executive of South African Breweries PLC upon its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1999.

Meanwhile, he just kept shopping. The company bought Czech Republic brewer Plzensky Prazdroj, maker of Pilsner Urquell, in 1999. He led the purchase of Miller Brewing Company in the United States and the company's subsequent re-naming as SABMiller PLC. He also was instrumental in the joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors in 2008; the purchase of the Andean brewer Bavaria in 2005 and the acquisition of Foster's in Australia in 2011.

The company now has 200 brands and 70,000 employees in 75 countries.

The rise of the company came parallel to the ambitions of many in South African business anxious to move past the stigma of sanctions and take a place among the international community. The low-key Mackay is credited with building a strong team, including several South Africans in senior roles.

"There would be the realization that they had to get on the world stage to achieve their ambition," Summers said. "By getting on the world stage they would make more money — and invest it into South Africa."

Mackay was born in Johannesburg in 1949 and raised in South Africa, Swaziland and the former Rhodesia. He earned degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1972 and the University of South Africa in 1977. He joined South African Breweries when he was 28, managing computer processing.

John Manser, who was appointed acting chairman when Mackay fell ill, was named chairman.

Mackay is survived by his second wife, Bev, and six sons.

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Ford shares drop 7 percent on profit outlook

DETROIT — Shares of Ford Motor Co. fell more than 7 percent Wednesday after the company warned that profits next year would soften from near-record levels in 2013, and its targets for profit margins in the middle of the decade could be at risk.

Ford said Wednesday that pretax profit for this year should total about $8.5 billion, which could be the best in a decade and among the strongest in company history. But the company warned profits could fall by as much as $1.5 billion next year, in a range of $7 billion to $8 billion, as price increases slow in North America and global costs rise, in part because of an ambitious launch of almost two dozen vehicles.

At a conference with analysts, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks touted this year's strong global growth and big gains in North America, but the company's outlook overshadowed the 2013 numbers and pulled down the share price.

Shares of Ford fell 7.3 percent, or $1.21, to $15.49 in late-morning trading.

Shanks told analysts that Ford could fall short of earlier guidance of 10 percent operating margin in North America this year because of a large recall of Ford Escape small SUVs with 1.6-liter engines. It now expects the margin, the percentage of revenue it gets to keep, to be 9.5 to 10 percent. Warranty costs from the recall will be $250 million to $300 million.

Before the recession, competitors typically would get far higher prices for their cars than Ford, but Ford has eliminated that gap now. That means any future growth in Ford's prices will have to come from introducing new models or getting people to add options, he said.

"Now it's more related to the equipment that we get or the newness of the product, or perhaps a weakness or the strengths of a competitor that's going to really give us the ability to price up to an extent that we can, or perhaps in some cases not price strong as we might have wanted to," Shanks told the analysts.

Prior to Wednesday, Ford shares had risen almost 30 percent this year, thanks to a strong financial performance. Shanks said Ford expects 10 percent revenue growth this year, improved market share in all regions except Europe and stronger cash flow than a year ago. In North America, where the company makes most of its money, the pretax profit is expected to be the highest in more than a decade.

Ford also said it nearly cut in half the underfunded balance of its global pension plans, compared with the end of 2012.

Ford plans to launch 23 global vehicles next year, including 16 in North America. It's the biggest single-year number in more than a century.

But Buckingham Research analyst Joseph Amaturo, in a note to investors after the analyst conference, said the 2014 guidance highlights his concerns about limited earnings leverage for Ford in the future. "We believe Ford's 2014 guidance fell short of consensus 2014 expectations due to deterioration in North American pricing and lower F-Series production," he said in the note.

Amaturo gives Ford an "Underperform" rating and has a one-year price target for the stock of $12.

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Report: $4.5 million seized from bank chief's home

ANKARA, Turkey — Istanbul police, who are leading a major corruption and bribery investigation targeting allies of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have seized shoeboxes stashed with $4.5 million in cash at the home of a state-owned bank's chief executive, a Turkish news agency reported Wednesday.

Dozens of people, including the bank's CEO and the sons of three key government ministers, were detained Tuesday for questioning in raids as part of the investigation which threatens to rock Erdogan's 11-year tenure.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters that 51 people were being questioned.

Many believe the police operation is the fallout of a deepening rift between Erdogan's government and a powerful U.S.-based moderate Islamic cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are reported to have a strong foothold within Turkey's police and judiciary.

Police searching the home of Halk Bank's CEO, Suleyman Aslan, discovered the shoeboxes containing money on his bookshelves, the Dogan news agency reported. It said Aslan's wife, who was also detained, was heard in a wiretapped telephone conversation as saying "the greens have arrived,' allegedly in reference to dollar bills. Arinc said Aslan's wife was released late Tuesday and no longer was in police custody.

Dogan, a reliable news source, cited unidentified judicial officials for its report. A national police official said he could not immediately confirm the report, while officials at the Interior Ministry refused comment. Arinc said he had no information on the money that had reportedly been seized. Halk Bank said police had requested information concerning their investigation but had no other comment on the case.

Analysts say the investigation is the latest round of a power struggle between Gulen and Erdogan's government. The cleric's movement long supported Erdogan's Islamic-based Justice and Development Party but has fallen out with the Turkish leader over his plans to close down private cram schools that are a major source of income for his group.

Arinc, the deputy prime minister, defended the government's record in fighting corruption and promised it would not impede the investigation.

"We believe that our friends are innocent," Arinc said. "This does not mean, however, that they will be protected if they have been involved in criminal activity."

Still, in a sign that Erdogan was fighting back against the probe, five senior police officials were removed from duty Wednesday. Turkish media reports said they included commissioners in charge of combatting organized crime, smuggling and criminal financial activity and oversaw the corruption detentions.

Erdogan has suggested that the probe is a politically motivated "dirty trap" to harm his government. The investigation comes before local elections in March that are largely seen as a vote of confidence in Erdogan's government.

Erdogan himself is expected to be a candidate in the presidential election in August.

Turkey's financial markets have been turbulent since Tuesday's raids, with the markets sliding and the Turkish Lira drifting downward against the dollar.

Police confirmed to The Associated Press that the sons of three government ministers have been held for questioning: Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar.

Opposition parties have demanded that the three ministers resign and criticized the dismissal of the five police chiefs, calling it an attempt to cover up the scandal.

Arinc did not say whether the ministers planned to resign or would be removed from their government positions.

"You will soon see what will happen," he told reporters.

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Global stocks rise on bet Fed won't taper yet

PARIS — Global stocks mainly rose Wednesday as investors appeared increasingly confident that the U.S. Federal Reserve won't announce a reduction in its economic stimulus later.

The Fed's $85 billion of monthly bond purchases have kept U.S. interest rates low to encourage economic recovery, but have also sent a flood of money into stock markets worldwide in search of higher returns.

There are concerns that this new money has inflated stock prices beyond their rightful value and so prices have been volatile as investors try to gauge the impact of any Fed 'tapering.'

"Tapering is likely the only thing on most investors mind today," said Alex Conroy, financial sales trader at Spreadex.

In Europe, investors were also encouraged by signs the Germany economy is picking up steam. The Ifo institute's closely watched business confidence index climbed to 109.5 points this month from 109.3 in November — a signal managers anticipate faster economic growth in the new year.

Germany's DAX rose 1.1 percent to 9,181.75 while France's CAC-40 closed up 1 percent to 4,109.51.

The FTSE index of British shares underperformed, closing only 0.1 percent higher at 6,492.08 after better than expected unemployment figures stoked speculation that the Bank of England may raise interest rates sooner than expected. That boosted the pound though, which was trading 0.7 percent higher at $1.6386.

In the U.S., trading was fairly muted in the run-up to the decision. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.2 percent to 15,898 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.1 percent to 1,779.

The dollar's near term fortunes will likely rest on what the Fed does. It was trading fairly flat in the run-up to the decision, with the euro down 0.1 percent at $1.3758.

Earlier in Asia, stocks mostly rose. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 2 percent higher at 15,587.80, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed 0.3 percent to 23,243.82.

China's Shanghai Composite index edged down 0.1 percent to 2,148.29 and South Korea's Kospi finished 0.5 percent higher, at 1,974.63.

___

Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano in Manila, the Philippines, contributed to this report.

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Investors wait for final Fed decision of 2013

NEW YORK — Stocks were flat on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors wait for the Federal Reserve to end its last two-day policy meeting of 2013.

Homebuilder stocks rose sharply after the government reported that construction of new homes surged in November. Micron Technology, a semiconductor maker, was among the biggest losers in the technology sector.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average was up 21 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,896 as of 12:10 p.m. Eastern. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 2 points, or 0.1 percent, to 1,779 and the Nasdaq composite was down 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,005.

FED DAY: Policymakers at the Federal Reserve will vote Wednesday on whether to keep up the bank's economic stimulus program. The central bank has been buying $85 billion in bonds a month to keep interest rates low and stimulate the economy. Investors widely expect the Fed will wind down the program within the next year. However few think the Fed would do it this week with the end of the year approaching and most of the country heading on vacation in the next two weeks. Many economists expect that the pullback is likely to come in March.

THE QUOTE: Alec Young, global equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ, says investors have been ready for the Fed to scale back its stimulus for weeks. "This is widely anticipated, so I don't think it will be the end of the world once it finally happens," Young says.

MEET THE PRESS: Outgoing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold his last press conference shortly after Wednesday's Fed decision is announced at 2 p.m. Eastern time. Bernanke's comments have often moved the market in the past, so there could be some volatility this afternoon.

TECHNOLOGY STUMBLES: Micron Technology fell $1.76, or 8 percent, to $21.16 on concerns that the company could face increased competition from overseas. Micron dragged other technology stocks lower, particularly memory storage companies Western Digital, Seagate Technology and SanDisk.

BUILDING BLOCKS: Markets are also reacting to good news on the housing front. The Commerce Department says builders broke ground on homes at the fastest pace in more than five years and 23 percent more than in October. Permits for single-family homes rose, indicating that builders are increasingly confident in the market. The homebuilder Lennar surprised Wall Street by reporting a 32 percent profit increase. The stock gained 90 cents, or 3 percent, to $36.09.

NOT SO FORD TOUGH: Ford slumped $1.44, or 9 percent, to $15.26 after the company issued a three-year profit forecast that came in short of investors' expectations. The company cited a large number of vehicle launches in 2014 as well as weakness in overseas markets. General Motors lost $1.57, or 4 percent, to $39.97.

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