Spotlight on Tenet's Former CEO

Villwock, for one, finds it hard to believe that Barbakow had no clue what was going on.

"He didn't know anything?" Villwock laughs. "Give me a break."

In essence, however, Barbakow has claimed as much in the past. First, in a conference call held in November of 2002, Barbakow indicated that he had no detailed information about Tenet's outlier payments -- the subject of a UBS analyst report that had sent the company's stock plunging -- and doubted that it would prove material once he obtained it. Even a week later, when announcing a big management shakeup over the outlier issue, Barbakow continued to act clueless.

"Some of you asked if I'm comfortable with the certification I delivered in connection with our most recent Form 10-Q," Barbakow stated at the time. "The answer is: 'Yes, I am.'"

But investors, sending Tenet's stock below $20 a share for the first time in years, clearly doubted his word.

"The hostility, I think, on this call is well-justified," said Bear Stearns analyst Bob Wright. "I feel like I've been lied to by the management. ... How did [UBS analyst Kenneth] Weakley know this and you guys didn't? That's what I don't get."

Barbakow and former general counsel Christi Sulzbach acted as if they had just uncovered the information themselves. But in fact, the SEC claims, Sulzbach had stored away plenty of outlier data in a secret "binder" months earlier. Both Barbakow and Sulzbach, together with former executives named in the SEC complaint, got so-called Wells Notices signaling likely SEC enforcement action back in 2005.

Since then, Barbakow and his former operating chief have paid a combined $1.5 million to settle class action securities lawsuits pending against them. But the SEC has yet to slap Barbakow with any penalties itself.

"Jeff's already written a check," Villwock says. "So in some respects, he's already admitted culpability.

"Maybe, this time, they're actually going to hold a CEO responsible."