The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "option to buy" ...
-
Ameristar/Stack
A Las Vegas-based gaming company purchased an option to buy a plot of river-front land partially owned by a Pennsylvania state senator and his family. Controversy ensued when it was found that the state had sold water rights valued at $1.5 million for $100,000. Federal prosecutors subpoenaed documents on the sale, and real estate option from the state government and the gaming commission. The company reconfigured the option to exclude the senator and his family and then dropped the deal altogether.
Tags: real estate; controversy; water rights; state government; state public records laws; Ameristar Casinos; SEC
-
Medicine's Middlemen
An investigation by the New York Times revealed that "just two companies could determine which life-saving drugs and other medical products most of the nation's hospitals bought and at what price. As national gatekeepers for billions of dollars in hospitals supply contracts, these two companies used their unregulated power to enrich themselves through pervasive conflicts of interest and self dealing... Until the Times examined them, these two for-profit companies, Premier and Novation, operated as they wished. They claimed they saved hospitals money by buying in bulk -- but never had to prove it. As private companies with no government oversight, they refused to disclose how they did business, including how much money the makers of the drugs and medical devices were paying them to get supply contracts. In this environment, Premier executives collected millions in personal stock options from the very manufacturers whose company products they were supposed to evaluate objectively. The buying companies steered thousands of hospitals to manufacturers in which the buying companies themselves had a financial interest."
Tags: Premier; Novation; drugs; medical; medicine; conflict of interest; private business; stock options
-
Anatomy of a Deal
"'Anatomy of a deal' and the series that followed covered the operation of the Fort McClellan Joint Powers Authority (JPA) in its mission to transform the former Fort McClellan Army base into part of the city of Anniston. The title story examined the specifics of the sale of the fort's prime real estate, the Buckner Circle area, to a group of developers with inside connections at the JPA. The story revealed the JPA gave the groups favorable treatment especially in neglecting to have the property appraised. The series that followed covered the JPA's response to the public fallout over the deal. Most residents of the area consider the redevelopment of the Fort McClellan of premier import, and the backlash over the deal reflected their concerns. Eventually the JPA was forces to open its meetings and records to the public."
Tags: real estate; historic preservation; former military base; development; option to buy; loophole of unincorporated nonprofit not subject to fair market value; property appraisal; cronyism; conflict of interest