BRIEFCASE MAN FACES PRISON FOR TONER SCHEME.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

TARZANA - Oren Ben Elkanah pleaded guilty Friday to telemarketing fraud and tax charges in which he failed to report more than $298,800 in income to the Internal Revenue Service.

The Tarzana resident operated a scheme that led businesses across the nation to buy overpriced and defective toner for their copy machines.

The victims include Sprint PCS, Toyota Tsusho America and Safeco Insurance Co. In total, Elkanah bilked three dozen businesses out of about $150,000.

Elkanah faces a maximum sentence of 18 years' imprisonment and a fine of $750,000.

Semtech will buy more stock back

CAMARILLO - Semtech Corp.'s board authorized the repurchase of an additional $50 million in stock under its current buyback program, raising the total amount available for repurchase to $200 million.

In a press release Friday, the maker of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors said it will repurchase common stock and convertible subordinated notes from time to time through open-market transactions.

Since January 2001, the company, which has about 73 million shares outstanding, has bought back about $143 million in stock and notes under this program.

This amount includes the repurchase of $40 million face value of convertible subordinated notes thus far in the third quarter of fiscal 2003 at a cost of $34 million.

Semtech will record a pretax gain of about $6 million due to the retirement of these notes.

A Thomson Financial/First Call survey of 10 analysts projected an average earnings estimate of 14 cents a share for the quarter ending October, which is in line with the company's previous forecast.

The company had about $88 million in cash and cash equivalents as of July 28.

Shares of Semtech closed Friday at $10.84, down 27 cents, or 2.4 percent, in Nasdaq trading.

Lawsuits threaten eBay's PayPal bid

SAN JOSE - Legal challenges by shareholders and a major credit-card company have thrown a shadow over PayPal Inc.'s $1.5 billion acquisition by online auction giant eBay.

PayPal has gotten so big, so quickly - growing to about 18 million members since it launched in late 1999 - that shareholders think the merger price undervalues the company, which uses e-mail to deliver payments between buyers and sellers on the Internet.

At least a half-dozen shareholder lawsuits have been filed. The shareholder vote on the merger is scheduled for Oct. 3.

Banks, meanwhile, see PayPal as a threat to the billions of dollars in interest and fees they get from credit-card users and merchants.

Almonds prompt candy bar recall

WASHINGTON - Chocolate bars distributed in California and elsewhere are being recalled because they contain almonds that are not listed on the label.

People who are allergic to nuts can have a severe or life-threatening reaction to them.

Carbolite Foods of Evansville, Ind., said the recall affects about 90,000 1.75-ounce candy bars and was initiated after consumers called to report the nuts in the candy, which does not normally contain them. Officials said they have no confirmed reports of allergic reactions.

The recalled chocolate, sold under the Carbolite name, carries the code T09002B on the wrapper. The company said it has corrected the problem and that no other products are affected.

Consumers can obtain a replacement or refund by calling the company at [phone].