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Stockwatch: DataWave Systems Inc - Street Wire
DataWave faces $1.2-million finder's suit
DataWave Systems Inc DTV
Shares issued 40,120,041 Mar 29 close $1.13
Wed 29 Mar 2000 Street Wire
Also (U:TVCP)
by Brent Mudry
DataWave Systems and former director Clive Barwin face a $1.2-million
finder's suit from London-based technology promoter Michael Zwebner,
presumably related to the company's flagship Cardcaller Canada deal, run by
Charles Zwebner. In an endorsed writ of summons filed Monday in the Supreme
Court of British Columbia, Michael Zwebner claims DataWave owes him a
10-per-cent fee on a $12-million transaction.
A full statement of claim has not yet been filed. The allegations have not
yet been proven in court, and no statements of defence have yet been filed.
In the suit, Vancouver lawyer Robert Palkowski of Palkowski & Co. claims
breach of a contract made by Mr. Zwebner with DataWave, personally
guaranteed by Mr. Barwin. Mr. Zwebner claims the defendants agreed to pay
him a 10-per-cent "introductory fee/commission" for any benefit from a
party he introduced.
"The plaintiff introduced a party to the defendants which resulted in a
transaction taking place wherein the defendant Datawave Systems received a
benefit in the amount of $12-million," states Mr. Palkowski in the suit.
Mr. Zwebner claims his fee of $1.2-million is now due and owing, and
although he has demanded this amount, the defendants have refused to make
payment. The writ offers no more details on the deal.
"We don't have any comment. I am not aware of any agreement and Datawave is
not aware of any agreement," DataWave chief financial officer and director
John Gunn told Stockwatch. "From our perspective there is no merit to this
thing," says Mr. Gunn.
Mr. Zwebner currently serves as chairman of OTC Bulletin Board-listed Talk
Visual, formerly known as Legacy Software, which is based on Century
Boulevard in Los Angeles and issues press releases from Miami. "In February
of 1998, Mr. Zwebner negotiated the creation of a multimillion-dollar joint
venture between Cardcaller Canada Inc. with DataWave Systems Inc. of
Vancouver, Canada," states Talk Visual in an EDGAR filing last year.
Mr. Zwebner, 47, has had an eclectic entrepreneurial career, according to
Talk Visual. From 1974, at the age of 21, to 1986, he founded and ran a
travel and tourism company, as well as a charter airline, specializing in
air charter travel, wholesale ticketing and general business and tourist
travel.
In 1986, Mr. Zwebner jumped into real estate and restaurants, owning and
operating several real estate firms and managing a chain of five family
restaurants, with catering services, in England until 1990.
In 1991, he jumped into phone cards, founding and serving as vice-president
of Cardcall International Holdings Inc. (USA) and operating manager of
Cardcall (UK) Ltd.
"He designed and developed telecommunications and marketing concepts and
organized the extensive prepaid phone card operations (Cardcall having been
the largest such operation in both the UK and Canada)," states Talk Visual.
The versatile entrepreneur is also credited with co-ordinating corporate
finance activities for Cardcall.
In February of 1998, the same month he negotiated the Cardcaller deal with
DataWave, Mr. Zwebner left the Cardcall group for the videoconferencing
field, founding Videocall International Corp. The biggest shareholder of
Talk Visual in spring of 1999 was E.B.C. Trust Corp. of Monaco, with
219,500 shares. The stated beneficial owners of E.B.C. Trust's capital
stock were Richard MacLellan and Michael Woolf.
(c) Copyright 2000 Canjex Publishing Ltd. canada-stockwatch.com |
