What does this mean to N.P. energy ?
Medinah's legal whiz Price in new Miami allegations
Medinah Minerals Inc U:MDMN
Shares issued 249,475,716
Feb 12 close $0.004
Thu 13 Feb 2003
Street Wire
by Brent Mudry
In the latest setback for veteran Vancouver stock promoter Les Price,
indicted last August in the Bermuda Short bribed fund manager sting, the
U.S. Department of Justice now claims that Mr. Price made numerous false
statements and press releases relating to the flagship Chilean properties
of his flagship promotion Medinah Minerals. Mr. Price, 65, may be well
equipped to sort out this misunderstanding, as he was named Medinah's
manager of legal affairs last November, an apparent vote of confidence from
the board of the tiny North Vancouver company he headed until his arrest on
Aug. 14.
The unflattering allegations were recently filed in United States District
Court for the Southern District of Florida by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Richard Hong, who served notice of intent to introduce "inextricably
intertwined evidence" that Mr. Price's wire fraud and conspiracy charges in
the Bermuda Short were not isolated events. Mr. Price, of course, remains
presumed innocent until proven guilty of anything. This is the first
further-bad-acts filing as Mr. Price gears up for his criminal trial in
Miami on March 24.
"The United States is continuing with the investigation, but at this time,
the United States provides as follows:
1. The United States intends to present evidence that
defendant Les Price made false statements in connection
with in the mining claims that Medinah Minerals
(formerly Medinah Mining) owned or held in Chile
allegedly in the name of in or about January, 2000, and
2. The United States intends to present evidence that
defendant Les Price, as CEO of Medinah Minerals,
authorized for issuance or issued false and/or
misleading press releases in 1999 regarding the
acquisition of titles to mines in Chile in April and
May, 1999," states prosecutor Mr. Hong.
"The foregoing will is consistent with the defendant's alleged false
representations and misleading omissions in the indictment. The evidence
provides shows the context and background, as well as the intent, motive,
plan, knowledge, identity (modus operandi), and absence of mistake or
accident."
Looking for the positive in Mr. Price's situation, the latest allegations,
particularly the "absence of mistake or accident" almost seems like a
compliment on Mr. Price's management skill, reason perhaps for his
appointment as manager of legal affairs for the penny stock.
Next year, April 14, 2004, to be exact, Mr. Price will celebrate the end of
his 15-year trading, officer and director bans, imposed in 1989 by the
British Columbia Securities Commission for his stock manipulation prowess.
The ban stemmed from Mr. Price's lead role in the 1986 rig job of Carepoint
Medical Services Ltd. on the former Vancouver Stock Exhange.
In 1988, the year before his BCSC ban, Mr. Price made British Columbia
history as the first accountant to be suspended by the Chartered
Accountants Institute of B.C. before a hearing. The professional body
deemed Mr. Price as presenting an "imminent danger to the public," soon
after a judge found he defrauded several investors in Cumo Resources Ltd.,
his best known VSE promotion.
Mr. Price's notoriety dates back to 1984, when he won a one-year ban from
acting as as director or officer of a VSE promotion, stemming from the
stock manipulation of Starburst Energy Corp.
By the time Mr. Price's current BCSC ban expires next year, the experienced
promoter will have spent 20 years in the B.C. dog house, but no time in the
big house. If convicted, U.S. authorities may change that. Mr. Price's best
defence may be his age. He is the most senior (elderly) Canadian caught up
in Bermuda Short.
bmudry@stockwatch.com
(c) Copyright 2003 Canjex Publishing Ltd.
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