| From: StockDung | 4/21/2007 5:15:17 PM | | | | | | The High Cost of Kool Aid garyweiss.blogspot.com
Saturday, April 21, 2007
The High Cost of Kool Aid
The poster children of the naked shorting con men are dropping like flies. The latest is a pissant little delisted stock called CMKM Diamonds.
This "company," which has no assets to speak of, is the subject of grotesque speculation that somehow massive "naked short selling" has destroyed an otherwise delightful little diamond company, and that shareholders are owed immense damages "someday." Not by the people who ran the company -- management is always blameless in naked shorting mythology -- but by the dark forces that have driven down its shares.
It is a textbook example of how naked shorting con men have deluded desperate microcap stock shareholders. A few loud CMKM shareholders bought in to these wacko conspiracy theories and conducted demonstrations on Times Square and in lower Manhattan. They've authored Internet rants and SEC comment letters that read as if they were written by Cho Seung-Hui, news.aol.com and generally made asses of themselves.
The SEC seems to feel that the problem at CMKM is with management, not real or imaginary short-sellers. It halted trading in the company two years ago, and has launched an investigation of the company. The latter was disclosed by a Wells Notice that has come as a surprise to the company's new management, since apparently the old CEO just plumb forgot to tell 'em. I kid you not.
A press release yesterday biz.yahoo.com says that
As of March 29th 2007, the Company had 3 pending lawsuits, a Wells Notice from the SEC that was supposed to have been answered by March 9, 2007 (of which current management was totally unaware, until an official at the SEC contacted them on 4-10-07), and ongoing investigations by at least four government agencies. In addition there is documentation showing the forfeiture of all claims and mineral rights, no corporate records for the past 4 1/2 years of business and taxes that have never been filed. The only tangible asset is a 45 million share certificate of Entourage Mining stock.
Amazingly, some investors are still wasting time and energy expecting this dead dog to arise from its grave. To its credit, there is nothing in the latest missive from management that pushes the discredited "naked shorting" baloney. But the naked shorting con men are continuing to promote the idea that CMKM is a victim of nefarious forces, and not its former management.
The Baloney Brigade marches on.
© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.
-----------
Wall Street Versus America was published by Penguin USA on April 6.
Click here for its Amazon.com listing and here for more information on the book, from my web site, gary-weiss.com.
Labels: CMKM Diamonds, naked short-selling
posted by Gary Weiss @ 2:02 PM Comment (0) | Trackback (0) links to this post |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: StockDung | 4/21/2007 5:32:00 PM | | | | | | CMKM Diamonds CEO Addresses All Shareholders of Current Status
April 20th, 2007
cmkmdiamondsinc.com
Las Vegas, Nevada. “Dear fellow shareholders, I have information to share with you today that came to my attention just days ago. I received a delivery of several boxes of corporate records in the last couple weeks that have confirmed my very worst fears. In response to this new information, various legal actions will be a priority as we move to protect the best interests of shareholders. We were not able to finalize these necessary actions today as we had expected. We will put out another press release by mid next week to update you on this progress.
When I first accepted the position of Interim CEO, I made a promise to myself and my family and friends that if I found there was not a real plan in place for the benefit of all shareholders, then I would come forward with the information I found. Not only am I going to share this information with you, the shareholders, but will do everything in my power to make sure that these individuals and entities will never be able to harm others in this same way again.
The CEO continues, “When I started to work for CMKM in September of last year, I had high hopes and aspirations of making positive changes and forward progress in the evolution of this Company. Like so many of you, I believed that there was a plan in place that could not be revealed for one reason or another. However, after many months of failed promises, it was clear there was not a plan and no forward progress for our Company would ever happen until massive changes were implemented”.
“In early January of this year, I contacted Bill Frizzell for his help. Within less than a week, Bill flew out to Las Vegas on his own time and expense with one goal in mind, to
help me help the shareholders. Since that time, many changes have taken place up to and including the resignation of the former Chairman. Several days ago, the Company requested and has received several boxes of Company documents from an attorney that has held said records in safekeeping. These documents are very revealing and tell the story of what has taken place over the last several years. Had Bill Frizzell not acted quickly in response to my call, Our Company would have been forced into bankruptcy, essentially burying the evidence forever. As legal action proceeds, many of these documents will be made available for everyone to see on our Company website at www.CMKMdiamondsinc.com.”
Current Status of Company
As of March 29th 2007, the Company had 3 pending lawsuits, a Wells Notice from the SEC that was supposed to have been answered by March 9, 2007 (of which current management was totally unaware, until an official at the SEC contacted them on 4-10-07), and ongoing investigations by at least four government agencies. In addition there is documentation showing the forfeiture of all claims and mineral rights, no corporate records for the past 4 ½ years of business and taxes that have never been filed. The only tangible asset is a 45 million share certificate of Entourage Mining stock.
Current Actions
Since the Company has no available operating capital, Bill Frizzell has agreed to shoulder the current legal expenses. In order to handle the monstrous legal task at hand, Bill Frizzell has also agreed to interview, hire and direct a legal team that is now made up of several law firms from across the country. Because of the possibility of recoverable assets being brought back into the company, Bill is also hiring forensic specialists and professionals to file back tax returns, investigate past trading discrepancies, move the domicile of the company out of Nevada and audit the books, for the purpose of building a strong foundation to finally move our Company forward.
As mentioned previously, the Company is in receipt of a Wells Notice from the Security and Exchange Commission. The Company is currently in direct communication with the SEC and is cooperating fully with their investigation. Copies of documents recently provided to the Company as well as confidentiality waivers of former Company attorneys that are waiting to talk to the SEC are being provided as requested.
The Company has recently halted the transfer of a large bulk certificate to a major brokerage firm from a third party. A specialist will be hired to completely research and investigate both sides of this transaction along with the many recent transactions of possible insider sales of large bulk certificates
.
Rumors
Rumors of trust accounts with money and other assets that have been established for the benefit of shareholders or rumors of dividends to be paid to shareholders are absolutely not true. Those that are demanding the Company to pay out monies held for shareholders are feeding off of this false information. Rumors that our Company was set up as a sting on the markets are false. Any rumor that has not been identified by this press release should be considered to be untrue. The Company will only provide information to shareholders through an official press release on Business Wire or on the Company website at www.CMKMdiamondsinc.com.
Outlook for the Future
West continues, “I am 100% confident that no matter how things may look today, as a united front, we can rebuild this Company. We have to once again unite as shareholders to begin to make positive strides forward. As you can well imagine, there will be an even greater influence to try and divide us at this time, we have to become so united that nothing can stop us”.
“Once we have cleaned up our current legal matters, add value back into the Company and have prepared financials to be audited, it will be my intent to assemble a Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee made up of shareholders to locate, interview and recommend the most highly qualified Board of Directors to lead this Company back to trading and into the future”.
“I want to remind everyone that there are two ways to look at the above information. We can look at everything in despair and believe that there is no hope for the future of our Company, or we can quickly put the past behind us and know that we can now move forward and build a brand new Company, one that already has 40,000 - 60,000 shareholders, into something wonderful. This shareholder base is, and has always been, our strongest and most valuable asset. That said, I suggest that WE, as shareholders, choose to look forward with hope, strength and determination to build this shareholder base into a solid company.
Safe Harbor Statement:
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 27a of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section
21e of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although the Company
believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it can provide no assurance that actual results will
meet or exceed such expectations.
Contact:
CMKM Diamonds Inc.,
615 S. Broadway
Tyler, TX 75701
Kevin West, 702-946-9497 |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: StockDung | 4/23/2007 2:22:39 PM | | | | | | "In fact, Patrick BYRNE by himself managed to supply about $1 of every $20 given by Utah individuals to candidates or POLITICAL groups, according to a Deseret Morning News analysis of federal and state campaign disclosure data from 2003 to now."
============================================
Handful give lots of $$
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 22, 2006 by Copyright 2006 Deseret Morning News By Lee Davidson
In the 1932 movie "If I Had a Million," comedian W.C. Fields uses $1 million he inherits to buy countless cars to crash into any vehicles that cut him off while driving.
Utahns Patrick and Jack BYRNE, the president and chairman of Overstock.com, did a POLITICAL version of that recently. They combined to spend $1 million on ads designed to help crash John Edwards' vice presidential campaign two years ago.
They did not respond to inquiries about exactly why they did that. But it helped make Patrick BYRNE the top individual POLITICAL donor in the state (giving at least $676,500 since 2003), and make Jack BYRNE No. 3 (with $510,800.)
They are among a relative handful of Utahns who supply a huge share of the state's POLITICAL donations. Politicians have long complained that raising money here is difficult because most residents prefer to give any extra funds available to churches and charities, not politics.
In fact, Patrick BYRNE by himself managed to supply about $1 of every $20 given by Utah individuals to candidates or POLITICAL groups, according to a Deseret Morning News analysis of federal and state campaign disclosure data from 2003 to now.
The Top 10 POLITICAL donors gave about 21 cents of every $1 raised from individual Utahns. The Top 100 donors gave about 42 cents of every $1 raised -- meaning those few nearly equaled the total given by all of Utah's other 2.5 million residents combined.
That gives those few big donors extra POLITICAL influence -- which some of them acknowledge. It helps their businesses, promotes their personal agendas or even wins elections for friends or family - - or greases big POLITICAL appointments.
"Does giving enhance my influence? Politicians always listen to people from whom they want money. That does not necessarily mean they do whatever that donor asks. That is why I insist on knowing their position on this issue (gay rights) before I give them anything," says Bruce Bastian, the state's No. 2 donor.
Related contentDeseret Morning News
Utah's top 100 individual POLITICAL donors
He was a co-founder of WordPerfect, is an activist on gay rights and gave at least $657,000 POLITICALly since 2003.
As the current election year heats up, the following is a look at some of Utah's biggest donors who supply the money that fuels races.
Patrick and Jack BYRNE
The son-and-father BYRNEs, Utah's No. 1 and No. 3 individual donors respectively, in 2004 formed a POLITICAL communication group called Save American Medicine.
They each gave it $500,000. The resulting $1 million purchased ads nationally targeting John Edwards, the running mate of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry.
Edwards' career as a trial attorney before becoming a U.S. senator was unpopular with many doctors because he won many big malpractice suits. The ads asked viewers to call Edwards to ask him to support tort reform.
Patrick BYRNE also gave $2,500 to "Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth," a group that attacked Kerry's Vietnam War record.
But their efforts to derail Kerry and Edwards does not mean the BYRNEs dislike all Democrats. In fact, Patrick gave $25,300 to the Utah Democratic Party in 2003, $25,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $1,000 to Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah.
That helped make BYRNE the fifth largest individual Utah donor to Democrats since 2003. But he was also the state's fourth largest individual donor to Republicans. Like many businessmen nationally, he appears to seek friends in both parties.
While the BYRNEs did not respond to Deseret Morning News inquiries, an online blog that Patrick writes describes himself as "zig-zag moderate." His blog also says he gave an early $1,000 donation to Kerry (which Federal Election Commission records do not show) but then "changed my mind on Kerry" and gave to groups targeting him.
Big donations attract attention. When Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta looked for places nationally to visit to tout a plan to reduce transportation congestion, he chose Overstock.com. Other big donors -- such as former ambassador John Price -- have said that big donations have brought access to Cabinet members and other policymakers.
Mineta came to Overstock. com even though the Securities and Exchange Commission had just subpoenaed data about its accounting policies and financial projects, plus records of allegations made by Patrick BYRNE contending that hedge-fund managers, analysts and business journalists tried to drive down Overstock.com's stock price to benefit short-sellers.
Bruce Bastian
Bastian, the retired co-founder of WordPerfect and the No. 2 individual donor in the state, said his giving is "based almost exclusively on (candidates' and groups') positions on total equality for all Americans, but specifically for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community."
Bastian gave $364,000 to the Don't Amend Alliance, which fought a same-sex marriage ban amendment to the Utah Constitution in 2004. Bastian supplied about half the money raised by that group, but Amendment 3 passed anyway. |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: CBurnett | 4/30/2007 11:33:21 PM | | | | | | I think we know this was a sham from the beginning ?
I like the lawsuit...kinda explains the actions of the stock price. Urban is in Canada now....go figure. |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: StockDung | 5/1/2007 10:51:14 AM | | | | | | This is interesting. Mark Faulk is not listed in the Internet Off-Broadway database.
lortel.org
He must have meant "high school productions"
Mark Faulk, CEO & President of TOGI Entertainment
Mark Faulk has over 25 years experience in management, as the owner and president of a successful business with a client list that includes the biggest names in the music and film industry, major Broadway producers, high-ranking political leaders at all levels, and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. He has written and produced theatrical productions that have run off-Broadway, has an extensive background in music management, and has helped launch the careers of numerous musical artists currently with major record labels.
theownersgroupinc.com |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: StockDung | 5/3/2007 8:46:12 AM | | | | | | Recently I was reading through a lawsuit filed last week by a little mining company called CMKM Diamonds. CMKM, based in the all-American city of Las Vegas, was the subject of a vigorous stock promotion a few years ago, in which it accumulated $200 million from shareholders--60,000 small investors all over this great country. The company alleges in its lawsuit that all but $558 of that $200 million is gone, the rest having been "looted," the suit alleges, by the former management.
This kind of allegation, albeit with less massive numbers attached, has become lamentably commonplace in our society--which might explain why the CMKM suit has received zero publicity. Yet this is a real scandal, with tens of thousands of real people allegedly hurt, and not a trumped-up political circus.
=====================================================
Muckraker Defending Wolfowitz Gary Weiss 05.03.07, 6:00 AM ET
forbes.com
I'm having a hard time whipping myself up into a state of indignation over Paul Wolfowitz. Sorry. Could it be me? Could it be the onset of delightful weather? Or could it be that Paul Wolfowitz is being railroaded? Could it be that the World Bank, which Wolfowitz has used as an instrument of a significant anti-corruption crusade, would be better off if he stays on as president?
I know, it's tempting to pile on this former deputy secretary of defense, this architect of a vastly unpopular war, this unpretty man with the abrasive style. He is, after all, an official Washington piñata, who is snared in a controversy involving such mom-and-apple-pie concepts as "ethics" and "conflicts of interest." He arranged for a hefty compensation increase for his companion (horrible!), at precisely the same time that he was pushing a drive against corruption (hypocritical!).
In Pictures: Most Corrupt Nations
Forum: Tell us whether you think Paul Wolfowitz deserves to be snared.
Wolfowitz once said, "If you want to make poverty history, you have to make corruption history." Wolfowitz actually meant what he said, and upset countries such as China--the second-largest recipient of World Bank loans--by linking the Bank's lending policies to a country's record at fighting corruption. Yet this veritable Eliot Ness of development is now a subject of scorn, with the European Parliament proclaiming the other day, with unsuppressed glee, that Wolfowitz's "withdrawal from the post would be a welcome step toward preventing the bank's anti-corruption policy from being undermined.''
To make the whole thing even more of a "slam dunk" (pardon the expression) from the lynch-mob standpoint, it is increasingly apparent that Wolfowitz is being cornered into a forced resignation.
And yet, the more I look at this whole affair the more I think it stinks, and that Wolfowitz is being railroaded not because of lofty "ethical" issues but because of bureaucratic resistance to his anti-corruption drive--and that he is being punished for being the epitome of political incorrectness as a leading neoconservative and Bush administration official.
As best as I can tell, the man did absolutely nothing wrong. So it's hard for me to figure out precisely how his resignation would "restore the credibility of the institution," as his critics contend.
At issue is the very smallest of small potatoes. Let's dwell on it for a moment, because this anthill has been turned into an Everest by the people who want to kick him out. Did Wolfowitz bend or break the bank's ethics rules when he arranged a hefty pay increase for his girlfriend, bank staffer Shaha Riza? At the time, she was being forced to transfer to the State Department to avoid a conflict of interest. Riza didn't want to leave. She--rightly--didn't think it was fair that her career at the bank was being cut short. So Wolfowitz arranged for her transfer, and for her to get additional cash as recompense for the forced departure.
If Wolfowitz had been a rogue elephant, scheming behind everybody's back on behalf of his girlfriend, I could understand why this might be a slightly distressing incident. However, it has been known for weeks--since Rich Behar broke the story on FoxNews.com April 14--that the bank's own ethics committee "had known the terms of the settlement with Riza for at least a year." Fox found that while Wolfowitz "did indeed dictate the lucrative terms of Riza's salary to the bank's human resources chief, he also took steps to try and determine if what he was doing was right--seemingly trying to navigate his way through an arcane bureaucracy with a maze of unusual rules and procedures."
Wolfowitz has already apologized for what he describes as a "mistake"--about as severe a term as one can use--so he has already shown the requisite remorse. So why not let him stay?
The reason is that this whole, grotesquely exaggerated "conflict of interest" baloney is a ploy to remove a man who is actually fighting corruption. To me, that is the central irony--not that a corruption fighter engaged in corruption, as Wolfowitz clearly did nothing wrong, but that a corruption fighter is being forced out on trumped up charges. "Smears," as he rightly puts it.
Wolfowitz has made some powerful enemies who would be delighted to see him leave precisely because of his anti-corruption fight.
Let's not forget that in late March, word leaked out that China had threatened to stop borrowing if the anti-corruption drive wasn't watered down. "Making loans to developing countries is central to the bank's very reason for existence," FoxNews reported at the time, "so the threat to quit borrowing is a blow at its mission, and to the job security of some 26,000 World Bank bureaucrats, staffers and consultants around the world."
Not long afterward, word about the stale and insignificant "girlfriend affair" leaked out to the media. Wolfowitz became a full-fledged piñata, with the World Bank's staff association being among the chief voices calling for his head. A coincidence? I don't think so.
So let's stop the phony indignation. If you're in the mood to be indignant about real conflicts of interest or real corruption, there's plenty of raw material out there--and you don't have to go to developing nations or even Washington D.C. You can find plenty of examples right in the heart of middle America.
Recently I was reading through a lawsuit filed last week by a little mining company called CMKM Diamonds. CMKM, based in the all-American city of Las Vegas, was the subject of a vigorous stock promotion a few years ago, in which it accumulated $200 million from shareholders--60,000 small investors all over this great country. The company alleges in its lawsuit that all but $558 of that $200 million is gone, the rest having been "looted," the suit alleges, by the former management.
This kind of allegation, albeit with less massive numbers attached, has become lamentably commonplace in our society--which might explain why the CMKM suit has received zero publicity. Yet this is a real scandal, with tens of thousands of real people allegedly hurt, and not a trumped-up political circus.
Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between a nonscandal and the real thing. And sometimes--as in the case of Paul Wolfowitz and the World Bank--it is grotesquely easy. That is the tragedy of the Wolfowitz affair |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| From: StockDung | 5/3/2007 8:54:49 AM | | | | | | When lawyers sanction fraud By Floyd Norris
Thursday, May 3, 2007
NEW YORK: If you are going to commit fraud, you may need a good lawyer. In some cases, you have to have a lawyer to pull off the fraud at all.
So it was in one of the simpler cases of e-mail "pump-and-dump," a case that has now ended in guilty pleas from two men who created and made millions from selling worthless stock in four companies that had no operations or assets but were touted in millions of lying e-mails.
In a companion civil case announced this week, the Securities and Exchange Commission says that a crucial part of the fraud was securing a legal opinion that newly issued stock could be traded immediately, despite a general rule that bars such trading unless the shares are registered with the SEC.
The SEC says letters proffering such a legal opinion regarding all four companies were provided by David Stocker, a Phoenix securities lawyer, and that the letters were "used as a pretext" for companies to issue millions of shares of purportedly unrestricted stock. Those shares were then sold for millions of dollars to suckers who received spam e-mails touting the stocks.
The men who used those letters, Stephen Luscko of Sarasota, Florida, and Gregory Alphonse Neu, of Boca Raton, Florida, have each been sentenced to five years in prison.
The letters were important because stock transfer agents rely on them in allowing unregistered shares to be traded. Normally, such shares are subject to rules that keep them from being traded for at least a year. But there are exceptions, and Stocker's letters said the shares fell into one exemption.
The SEC disagrees with that opinion, but it has not charged him with any wrongdoing. Through his lawyer, Donald Christie of Las Vegas, Stocker declined to comment.
In some pump-and-dump frauds, a legal opinion is crucial to getting the scam going. But it appears that the only cases in which the SEC has brought civil cases against lawyers who provided the opinions came when those lawyers also directly profited from selling the unregistered shares. No cases have been brought against lawyers who simply issued such opinions.
In this case, as in most e-mail pump-and-dump schemes, the shares were sold on the Pink Sheets, a market largely used to trade stocks of companies that are not registered with the SEC
"In the Pink Sheet trading of emerging companies, the fraud risk is the primary risk, not the investment risk," said R. Cromwell Coulson, the chief executive of the Pink Sheets. Many companies traded on the Pink Sheets are legitimate, he said, but some "seem to exist just to issue shares and press releases."
Coulson said he was working to change that. Companies in which trading has been temporarily halted by the SEC, often because a pump-and-dump scheme appears to have been used, have a warning on the Pink Sheet Web site, although deciphering that warning is not easy.
More than 60 Pink Sheet companies that have been the subject of spam promotions now are blocked from having quotes posted, but that does not stop them from trading if investors put in orders.
Coulson said that by this summer he hopes to start putting a "skull-and-crossbones symbol" next to such stocks to warn investors off. He would also put a stop sign next to companies that do not make financial information available.
That could help investors who do their homework, but it is unlikely that group includes many of those who buy shares advertised in e-mails from people they do not know.
Coulson said the Pink Sheets had spotted eight lawyers with a history of submitting dubious opinions and told them they were no longer welcome to submit filings to the Pink Sheets on behalf of corporate clients.
But he would not name any of the lawyers. "They can do their own litigation for free," he explained.
Government action against lawyers who issue phony opinions but do not trade shares could be difficult, facing a defense that the lawyer acted in good faith even if the opinion was wrong. But such an action could serve as a deterrent to other lawyers tempted to make money by signing letters they know misstate the law.
That would not end fraud, but it might make it a little more difficult.
International Herald Tribune |
| | Casavant Mining Kimberlite International (CMKM) | Stock Discussion ForumsShare | RecommendKeepReplyMark as Last Read |
|
| |
