What's this? AOL financial shenanigans continue.
Company Shuts Down, Blames America Online's Unpaid Bills
BALTIMORE (AP)--A company that mailed computer disks to potential America Online Inc. (AOL) customers says it is being forced out of business because AOL refuses to pay $2.2 million in bills.
America Online claims it hasn't paid PTP Industries Inc. because the packaging company falsified U.S. Postal Service records.
''We were obviously concerned about paying outstanding invoices to a vendor that admitted to falsifying official Postal Service records for almost a year,'' said Tricia Primrose, an America Online spokeswoman.
PTP denies any fraud. The company said said it has produced packages and mailed roughly 150 million computer disks for AOL since August 1994.
Postal Service spokesman Doug Bem said a preliminary review of PTP's mailings found that ''no fraud was conducted against the post office, and there was no misappropriation of funds involving the AOL account.''
Provident Bank of Maryland has filed a federal lawsuit against America Online, saying the ''breached contract'' forced PTP to default on a $3.45 million loan.
PTP also had contracts to package Eveready batteries and Seagram Co.'s (VO) liquor, but AOL had become PTP's only source of recurring revenue, company officials said.
''AOL was their bread and butter. When they lost AOL, we knew we would lose our jobs,'' said Jackie Littlejohn, a machine operator who was laid off from PTP in January.
PTP was the second-largest creator of jobs in the Baltimore empowerment zone, part of a $100 million federal program to create jobs in blighted areas. But in the last month, PTP has laid off
more than 500 employees, sold off equipment and made preparations to shut down.
-from today's WSJ Interactive interactive4.wsj.com
Another day, another suit against AOL. Since a federal program is involved, I hope there is a congressional hearing concerning AOL's role in the shutdown.
Regards |
