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3P Networks Inc
Symbol TPNW
3P Networks's Kevan Garner dies at 53
2008-09-15 21:05 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Kevan Garner, a former Vancouver promoter whose affairs took an unfortunate turn several years ago, has died at age 53. He was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on Sept. 5, having taken his own life by hanging, according to a source.
The B.C. Coroners Service confirmed that Mr. Garner died, but would not say how it happened. "This case is still under investigation," said spokesman Kate Corcoran.
The Vancouver Police Department also declined to comment. "We don't give out information on suicides," said Laurel Kennedy, the communications co-ordinator.
In his later years, the years that brought Mr. Garner into the news, he was an associate of Martin Chambers, the Vancouver lawyer jailed in Florida on money laundering charges. The two men were arrested on Aug. 14, 2002, after they agreed to launder $500,000 (U.S.) for an undercover police officer posing as a front man for a Colombian drug cartel.
Before his arrest, Mr. Garner was active in several junior companies. He was a director of Featherstone Resources Ltd., HL International Inc., Brooks Resources Ltd., Maple Mark International Inc., Newcastle Minerals Ltd., Royal Bay Gold Corp. and Aztek Technologies Inc. They were unremarkable companies that gave no indication of what would unfold later.
Before taking up the life of a promoter, he worked in food service where he made many connections and met many promoters. He managed the Hotel Vancouver's lobby bar, the former Roof and the Timber Club, as well as the Hart House. He also worked at two restaurants, Le Grec and Dufour and Co.
The mistake
Mr. Garner and Mr. Chambers were arrested in Operation Bermuda Short, a joint RCMP-FBI sting that nabbed 58 penny stock players in 2002, and received considerable publicity. Mr. Garner pled guilty to money laundering charges and received seven years in jail. His sentence was reduced to 15 months after he agreed to testify against Mr. Chambers and another promoter, Jack Purdy.
The sting began when police lured the men to a luxury yacht in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and told them that a Colombian drug cartel needed millions of dollars laundered. They fed them prawns, served them alcohol and gave them duffel bags of money.
Mr. Garner went to the yacht on April 9, 2002, to accept $500,000 in cash consisting of $5, $10 and $20 bills. He took the cash to California, where he used $260,000 to buy a shell company named American Toy Vending.
Mr. Garner intended to flip the shell to some German investors, but the deal got bogged down and he could not return the FBI's money. Since the FBI was pretending to be a drug cartel, it had to send a phony collector to Mr. Garner's Vancouver office. The FBI eventually received $100,000 back.
Mr. Garner brought Mr. Chambers into the scheme early on. As he was filling a duffel bag with bills on the yacht, he mentioned to an undercover officer that he knew a Vancouver lawyer that could process much more money. His name was Martin Chambers.
The undercover officer, Bill Majcher, knew the name. Mr. Majcher was from the RCMP's Integrated Proceeds of Crime Unit in Vancouver, which paid regular attention to Mr. Chambers. He was convicted in 1981 for importing cocaine from Miami to Vancouver, but the Crown dropped the charges after the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a retrial. Mr. Majcher believed he had ties to the Hells Angels and to Russian mobsters.
On April 11, 2002, Mr. Chambers came to the yacht. Mr. Majcher taped him agreeing to launder $2-million (U.S.) a month through a bank in the Bahamas. The tapes became crucial evidence at his trial.
Four months later, the FBI arrested Mr. Chambers, Mr. Garner and Mr. Purdy, after luring them to U.S. soil. Mr. Garner spent three months in jail before he pled guilty and agreed to co-operate with the prosecution.
In spite of his co-operation, he initially received a seven-year sentence. He had expected prosecutors to recommend a brief time in jail, but was shocked when the judge gave him 87 months. "It was a pretty tough shot in the chaps," Mr. Garner told Stockwatch on March 27, 2003.
Prosecutors successfully applied to have his sentence reduced to 15 months. Mr. Garner had spent three days on the stand testifying against Mr. Purdy (who was later acquitted by a jury).
Mr. Chambers was not so fortunate. He received a 15-year sentence. He is now 68 years old, and is not expected to be released until 2016.
Life after Bermuda Short
Mr. Garner was released from jail on June 24, 2004. He returned to Vancouver and resumed promoting stocks.
He recently worked for a pink sheets listing called 3P Networks Inc. The company claims to be developing digital entertainment products for hotels, resorts and condominiums.
Using the name Kevin James, he pitched the company's stock between trips to the Caribbean. Not all of the company's investors were happy though. One was Kyla Lazaruk, a 19-year-old girl who invested a $100,000 inheritance after her father died.
"In late December Kevin 'James' Garner along with 3P management informed me of a zero risk investment in which I would triple my money," she said in an e-mail to Stockwatch. "They claimed that they needed the money urgently in order to carry the company through until the funds [from a financing] were received."
She said she only later learned Mr. Garner's real identity, and that the financing was being done by a company run by a former cell mate.
The stock traded at 66 cents when she invested, but it now trades at two-10ths of a penny.
Mr. Garner also promoted shell companies for fugitive Thai financier Rakesh Saxena, according to July 9, 2007, story by David Baines in The Vancouver Sun.
Community work
Mr. Garner was also known in Vancouver as an active charity fundraiser. "I've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the hungry and homeless," he told Stockwatch in 2002.
The charities Mr. Garner worked with included the Arts Umbrella's sand castle contest, the Taste of The Nation antihunger campaign, Food Runners, which delivers restaurant and grocery store surpluses to the Food Bank, and Kiwassa Neighbourhood House's hot breakfast program.
"Kevin had such a charm about him," said Patricia Witzke, a family friend. "He really was a kind-hearted person."
Mrs. Witzke rented him a house for many years, and later sold it to him. She said she had her disputes with him, but overall he was a nice man. "It's just really sad," she said.
Mr. Garner is survived by his ex-wife Michelle, two daughters, his mother Jacine, and his four sisters, Rosemary, Lorill, Lavone and Robbin.
With files from Brent Mudry.
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Reader Comments - Comments are open and unmoderated, although libelous remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Stockwatch.
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Jack Purdy is one UGLY person, inside and out! The sad thing is his sister Joan Purdy is just as UGLY. I think it's the same person but one wears a dress!
Posted by UGLYMAN @ 2008-09-15 22:39
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I want to thank Kevan for ratting me out, and since his credibility was so solid, the case was thrown out of court... Only in AMERICA!!!!! Glad to see that Kevan was fully reformed though from doing my time...
Posted by Jack Purdy @ 2008-09-15 22:43
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to kyla the moron:
you idiot.
'they told me that it was risk free and that i'd get triple my investment'
you deserve to lose everything.
same with any others in the same boat.
i hope the promoters went straight to umberto's and spent the whole bankroll on a party, which is about all you can do with a hundred grand nowadays anyhow.
what you haven't realized yet is that money is just basically walk around for buying gas for your bentley and paying off the odd credit card.
duh.
Posted by johnnycat @ 2008-09-15 23:27
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3P Networks is run by Chris Farnsworth and David Alexander, now its just an empty blown up shell of company.
Here is an example of the stories they were telling:
October 18, 2007 |
3P Networks Inc. (the 'Company') (Pink Sheets:TPNW), further to a company news release on August 20th, 2007 regarding the closing of a $12 million round of funding, today announced that it is negotiating to acquire a Caribbean-based telecommunications provider from which to establish its regional operations center and provide local digital voice, data and video services. Click Here
Chris Farnworth, CEO of 3P Networks, said, "We are very pleased to be entering the Caribbean Market. Once we conclude this acquisition it will provide 3P Networks with the satellite and fiber optic infrastructure to create a world-class network operations center and establish our regional presence."
Posted by Howe Street Scullduggery @ 2008-09-16 01:43
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whats Jack"hit the bid" purdy up to? Whats he touting? Back on the filthy streets of vancouver?
Posted by earl hope @ 2008-09-16 04:56
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johnnycat you are disgusting, they stole money from a 19 year old girl, just a year out of high school. Kevin Garner was a lowlife just like the others. The rest of 3P Networks' management should follow his path, this world is better off without them! I hope this is a trend he's set.
Posted by Howe Street Scullduggery @ 2008-09-16 09:50
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don't blame the kid Johnnycat. Time for Garner to do some real time and restitution is in order here.
Posted by Max @ 2008-09-16 10:07
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the person that made that offside comment about Kevan's daughters should get their head out of the sand!! they had NOTHING to do with how their father behaved!! Hey Dirtbag, you just showed how immature you are and you just brought yourself down to the level of the people in this article!!
Posted by john b @ 2008-09-16 10:20
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Max, Garner is doing time, he's in hell for eternity!
Posted by Howe Street Scullduggery @ 2008-09-16 10:35
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I did not post WHAT's Jack " hit the bid Purdy" up to. To the coward that did the post of 2008-09-16 04:56.
Don't do this again. Posted by the real. Earl Hope.
Posted by e hope @ 2008-09-16 11:03
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Furthermore I did not know Kevan Garner. E Hope
Posted by Earl Hope @ 2008-09-16 11:05
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"3P Networks is run by Chris Farnsworth and David Alexander, now its just an empty blown up shell of company."
So, Fats Farnsworth and The Knave strike again. Why am I not surprised.
Posted by Palmer Pilote @ 2008-09-16 11:25
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3P Networks Inc. management should all be in jail for issuing false and misleading news releases about corporate take overs and $12 million financings. This company is an outright scam stealing money from innocent investors. Why aren't these slimeballs banned from public markets?
Posted by Conky @ 2008-09-16 11:49
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I heard they are handing out I O U's at the funeral, And they even leined the coffin Kevan's in.
Posted by Collection @ 2008-09-16 12:02
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Someone dumped 2 million shares of TPNW today, its now bid at $0.0004, what a POS!
Posted by Compliance @ 2008-09-16 13:19
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I did not post "I want to thank Kevan for ratting me out" @ 2008-09-15 22:43.
I am truly offended by the person posting comments under my name and only wish to offer my condolences to Kevan's family. From the real Jack Purdy.
Posted by Jack Purdy @ 2008-09-16 13:52
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"I am truly offended by the person posting comments under my name"
Jack (or 'Joan' in drag) nothing offends you, so stop posing! I hear there will be a combination wake-dog and pony show up at Dave Alexander's house. Bring your check books as I'm sure 'Fats' will be there pitching. See you up there Joanie - and you don't have to bring a check book, as we'll take it out in trade you big smooshy bear, you.
Posted by Palmer Pilote @ 2008-09-16 14:29
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To the real Jack Purdy, you are a piece of crap! When are you going to hang yourself? We are all waiting for that day!
Posted by PIECEOFCRAP @ 2008-09-16 14:41
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As a public service the BCSC should setup a platform and noose in Robson Square, it could be self serve for all of the Howe Street criminals with no way out. Every Saturday at noon leaving Saturday nights free for celebration.
Jack Purdy, will you be next?
Posted by Hangman @ 2008-09-16 14:50
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