July 24, 1998

Cendant Brass Calls For Forbes' Dismissal

Executives at Cendant Corp. this week called for the dismissal of chairman Walter Forbes, who held the same position at CUC International during the three years that alleged accounting fraud took place. An ongoing audit has uncovered deliberate and systematic accounting breaches at the company, which merged in December with HFS Inc. to form Cendant. "We simply cannot go forward under these circumstances,'' states a letter from 44 Cendant executives that appeared in The Wall Street Journal. "The continuation of Walter Forbes' employment … represents the probability of substantial irreparable future damage to the company's respective business units." The letter asks for the board to call a special meeting to "vote to relieve" Forbes. A spokeswoman for Forbes said, "Walter believes this is an orchestrated campaign by [Cendant CEO] Henry Silverman to take control of the company." Forbes has canceled an appearance as keynote speaker at this week's National Center for Database Marketing Conference in Seattle.