Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Twin Cities Business Magazine Article Repeats Tom Petters' Lies

A pathetic excuse for journalism - but if you must read it, here is the link.

I read the whole thing and it's the same old BS Petters told at his trial - here's the spoiler: Deanna Coleman was responsible for everything. Blame the woman.

Ho-hum.

I'm guessing this ridiculous article is part of the emerging counter-narrative I wrote about over a month ago.

 UPDATE: David Brauer at MinnPost reports that Twin Cities Business had a contract including a “pre-publication review” agreement with Tom Petters:
Getting a sensitive source to cooperate is often a matter of flattery, diplomacy and pressure; the challenge is not to sell out in pursuit of the story. Although Kurschner wrote a full-page editor’s note detailing the six-month saga of securing Petters’ cooperation, he did not disclose to readers the unusual provision that might have been the deal-clincher.
Pathetic.

Did Tom Petters Personally Lobby President Bush for Vennes Pardon?

Quote from Strib article about recent interview with Tom Petters:

"I was grateful for the good life I had. I had the opportunity to meet five U.S. presidents, I have an incredible amount of gratitude for the people who helped me," Petters said. "Not a day went by in which I ever knowingly defrauded anyone."


Tom Petters knew about the pardon.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Attorney for Palm Beach Finance Bankruptcy Trustee on Passage of HF 1384 "Unfair and Inequitable "

Statement by attorney Michael Budwick, representing Barry Mukamal Trustee of the bankrupt Palm Beach Finance hedge funds:

We believe it is unfair and inequitable to the victims of the Petters fraud to modify retroactively an existing statutory cause of action, particularly after we have invested substantial resources preparing and filing scores of lawsuits. In the coming weeks we intend to review the appropriateness of retroactive application.


According to the Strib, Doug Kelly is considering challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Developing...

Monday, April 2, 2012

Article About M&I Bank

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online business article titled "Lawsuit over Ponzi scheme seeks $1 billion from M&I".

The article quotes attorneys involved in the Palm Beach Finance Partners bankruptcy, but does not mention Frank Vennes. Quote from the complaint in the article:

"From Jan. 1, 2003, through Aug. 31, 2008, the astronomical sum of $35.35 billion was deposited into the M&I account"


Quote from the article:

The lawsuit, filed late last year, alleges that Petters could not have kept his Minneapolis-based fraud afloat had M&I enforced an agreement it signed that was designed to protect a Florida investor group that unwittingly helped finance the Petters scheme.


The MN DOJ had this to say about M&I and Vennes/Fry:

Accordingly, the first two false statements set out in the Bill of Particulars under Count 26 - “FRY testified that he believed that retailers paid the custodian bank directly until September 24, 2008" and “FRY later testified that he believed that retailers paid the custodian bank directly until he learned about the clearing account, but he was told by FRANK VENNES that the clearing account was controlled by M&I Bank not Petters” will both be proven false by the introduction of evidence, amounting to proof beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendant Fry knew from the earliest days of his involvement with Frank Vennes and Tom Petters that money to pay off promissory notes ALWAYS came from PCI and NEVER came from the retailers.


The complaint against BMO Harris Bank regarding M&I (PDF) at the PBFP bankruptcy website.

A report (PDF) by Kinetic Partners that mentions M&I bank.