This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Investors in a company have some control over how it operates.Shareholders can vote on some issues. They can also go to court ifthey believe their interests are being harmed.

Last week, investors brought legal action against the energyservices company Halliburton. The investors accuse four former orcurrent top officers of misleading them.

The latest legal action says that Halliburton lost a legal casein Texas in September, two thousand one. A court ordered the companyto pay one hundred thirty million dollars. The decision was keptsecret. At the time, Halliburton told investors that the case hadgone well. But three months later, the company's stock price droppedforty-two percent on the day that news of the judgement becamepublic.

Four former Halliburton employees also told legal investigatorsthat the company did not keep honest records of its sales and costsfrom nineteen ninety eight to two thousand one. They said thecompany claimed to collect more money than it received. They saidworkers were expected to change records to make the company appearmore profitable. The charges cover two years when Vice PresidentDick Cheney was its chief executive officer. He was not named in thecase.

In a statement, Halliburton said the latest legal action is anattempt to turn public opinion against the company. Halliburton saida federal court in Dallas, Texas, approved a settlement of twentysimilar cases on June seventh. The company agreed to pay six milliondollars. Halliburton said the court ordered that no more shareholdercases be brought against the company.

On August third, Halliburton reached a settlement with theSecurities and Exchange Commission. The S.E.C. said the company hadsecretly changed its method of financial record-keeping in nineteenninety-eight and nineteen ninety-nine. The new method madeHalliburton's earnings appear almost fifty percent higher.Halliburton paid seven million five hundred thousand dollars withoutadmitting any wrongdoing.

Halliburton faces other problems. The Justice Department isinvestigating Halliburton's projects in the Balkans and in Nigeria.

Halliburton is based in Houston, Texas. It is the world's secondlargest oil services company. The largest is Schlumberger Limited.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by MarioRitter. This is Gwen Outen.