Summary - ASD Members Business Association Call 9-3-08Mike, with The Friedman Law Offices
gave an initial comprehensive
run down of what's happening with
the lawsuit as of the last
conference call - which was last
week.
August 29th - last Friday,
there were two motions filed and a reply
filed. Here are some of the highlights:
* First motion - Emergency
motion for release of property pending
forfeiture and
for evidentiary hearing. Filed by Clarence
Busby Jr
and Golden Panda
Ad Builder. They were seeking release
of seized
funds that are in
five different accounts in the BOA. They
assert that
the funds held in
those accounts, but do not identify 'how
much' in
funds they are talking
about, is not affiliated in anyway with
ASD.
That the two companies
are independently owned, operated and
controlled. They
assert that no funds from ASD or Andy
Bowdoin,
were ever deposited
in those accounts. Andy Bowdoin declared
publicly, weeks
before the seizure, his non-affiliation
with Golden
Panda. They contend
that all funds used for the operation
of the
business came from
Clarence Busby Jr. and the 34 founders.
None
of who were Andy
Bowdoin, or ASD. They also assert they
do not
run an illegal ponzi
scheme as the government alleges.
*Second Motion - Also
filed by Clarence Busby Jr and Golden
Panda
was a motion for
severance and transfer. In that they are
requesting
severance from the
governments case against ASD, so
there can be
two different law
suits. That there are two independently
operated and
owned Companies.
They requested it be transferred to the
Northern
District of Georgia,
a venue where Golden Panda's principles
and
assets are residence.
*Third Motion Filed
- Claimants Reply to opposition for return
of seized
funds and request
for motion to dismiss and evidentiary
hearing.
That ASD did in
fact comply with procedural requirements
before filing
an Emergency motion.
Also, that if they are to survive as a
business than
they need the funds
released. They are not seeking unfettered
release
of the funds, but
rather are seeking a compromise that will
allow ASD to
continue doing business
during litigation with oversight of a
court appointed
monitor. This assures
that the seized funds are being properly
used.
The computers are
critical, as they are an Internet Business,
and so they
request them back
to operate. They also request a guarantee
that the
funds that would
be brought back from the account in Antigua
would not
be seized. ASD Asserts
that the affidavit and complaint were
put together
on pure conjecture
and lacks any validation or substance.
ASD also
contends that the
nature of HOW the complaint was signed
by the Secret
Service agent, by
adding a qualifier, instead of "Under
penalty of perjury
what is stated
is true and correct",..instead
it says "To the best of his
knowledge and
belief",...makes it inappropriate
verification to file the
initial complaint.
Those are the three pleadings
that were filed as of August
29th, and as of this
afternoon there are no other motions
filed.
Q - What is the deal with the
Grand
Jury Subpoena?
A - This was entered by the US Attorney
issued to ASD, which is a request
for documents, or
to produce documents that it has in its
possession. It's
issued for the grand
jury as part of an official criminal
investigation if a
suspected felony.
Q - Can you give a brief overview
of the status of appearance in our case
against
the government and what is your best guess
as to when we will
be able
to file our notice for Appearance?
A - The local rules for the United
States District Court is that 'local
counsel' be
retained, in other
words, attorneys that are already
admitted and practicing
before that
particular court. Lead counsel, Friedman,
would remain lead counsel
but they are required
on behalf of the trust to retain local
counsel. They are in
the process of interviewing
several Law firms in the area. We are
looking at one
firm in particular
and if we retain them we could be filing
something as early
as Friday or early
next week.
Q - In simple terms, going
back to the motions filed by Golden
Panda, what are
they trying
to accomplish and what are they trying
to establish by filing.
A - They are trying to separate themselves
from ADS, they are asserting that at
least 5 accounts
that were seized are their funds, and
they have no affiliation
with ASD and are
not associated with them. They are trying
to do it because they
believe that the
false connection is not to their best
interest.
Q - Since Andy didn't say
anything about the Subpoena on the call
the other
night, a
lot of people are asking if it is real,
is it a factual document?
A - Yes,..it is definitely a real subpoena,
issued to testify before a Grand Jury
in a
criminal investigation.
Q - What is the purpose of
the Subpoena, and would could be the outcome
after the
grand jury hears the evidence?
A - I don't know what the grand
jury is even investigating, this is the
first inkling that
we even got that
there was a grand jury convened. The subpoena
is seeking to
secure is documents
in ASD's possession...and there is
a list of items on it.
The US Attorney
is requesting these documents be produced
and the custodian of
the documents to
fill out the paperwork. And that the documents
are current and
correct.
Q - A lot of people think the
two things kind of run hand in hand, but
in the
real world
these two things, the Civil Case against
ASD and the Grand Jury
Case are
two totally different things, correct?
A - They are two separate things, there
is a Civil Lawsuit filed by the department
of
justice and the
US Attorney, and there is a Criminal
Investigation that appears
to be related, but
it is a separate thing all together. It
is a Criminal proceeding as
opposed to a Civil
proceeding. And they have two different
penalties associated
with them.
That wrapped up the call with the Attorney
and the floor was opened to anyone
who had questions. The call was recorded,
there was a lot of information
shared, make sure you plug into
it.
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