Douglas Norman... was indicted for allegedly scheming to boost the company's share price in 2000 and 2001... by paying a consultant to post misleading statements on Internet message boards...
I presume the SEC is referring to this:
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By: bostonmjf
15 Mar 2001, 01:56 PM EST Msg. 29621 of 58760
(This msg. is a reply to 29608 by marv19352.)
WTAI update, me and Doug Norman
First, my goal is to help the shareholders of WTA and the WTA company communicate to each other.
I am committed to not getting involved in the juvenile food fights on the board. Maybe we can all talk about stocks, WTA and making money and stay away from those issues which are inflammatory and personal.
I delayed my update because I wanted to speak directly to Doug Norman. At some point, you are going to have to trust me with these certain minor decisions.
Q. and A.
Q. Doug, what's new? How was the recent trip? The investors
are a little upset as I have not posted an update in awhile. Or, maybe they are just upset since the price of the stock is not $5 (tongue in cheek).
A. Well, the $5 price will happen (no tongue-in-cheek). This last trip, which was quite extensive, had very many positive developments. Some I can talk about here. Other developments will be released in news releases.
Q. So, when will we see some news releases?
A. They will begin to flow next week. We are preparing them now.
Q. Regarding your trip to Yugoslavia, is there a conflict with the plant that manufactures parts and the WTA engine and restrictions of our government from doing business with that part of the world?
A. No. First, WTA owns no parts. That is all handled by WroldStar Logistics. And, we decided to do it that way in order to comply with all sanctions and laws. I can go into the detail of how we do that legally and without violating any laws or expectations, but it would be showing our hand to our competition and be analagous to IBM showing Intel how they manufacture chips. We have an effective mechanism for dealing with these types of issues, all above board and 100% within the letter and intent of the law.
Q. The next leg of your trip was China, where you spent two weeks. That was a long time. Anything of substance?
A. Yes! During my time in Beijing, I met several senior leaders in China and was given a tour of many auto plants. I saw both China's crudest plants and their best. I also met with several busisess entrepreneurs of "non-state owned" businesses.
Q. You emphasized "non-state owned" businesses. Why is that key?
A. This is key as China is divorcing itself from losing money and investing in "non-profitable" state owned plants. The whole mood within China now is to make a profit. They will no longer finance losing operations. That approach is right up our alley and was the reason for the many days of high level business meetings.
As a result of China's interest in establishing profitable auto plants, I had the chance to meet the Chairman of China and several high level cabinet members. I attended a meeting in the People's Hall and had dinner in the Forbidden City. This was all set up to get our China deal moving. We were very successful.
At the end of our many business meetings, we extended six (6) invitations to key Chinese people to visit our facilities in the Philippines.
Q. Great, but at this point WTA has not received a deposit form any Chinese ML or any Chinese group.
A. Yes. At this point, that is correct. We are doing everything possible to make it easy for them to do business with us, and events are now unfolding which are very exciting.
Q. Yes, but we were expecting by now the Plant would be shipping micros left and right to China and cars would be rolling off of the Chinese assembly lines. That has not yet happened. India is much closer to getting that done.
A. That is correct. We at WTA are also concerned that there have been delays with executing the China plan. But, (at this point there was a considerable delay) ... let me just state that if investors knew everything, well (another delay). Let me just reiterate that news will be forthcoming. I'm very excited about what we accomplished on this trip. I have to be careful I do not divulge anything of importance which should be in a news release.
Q. The Plant in the Philippines, up and ready to fly when these huge China and India deals come in for micro-factories?
A. Absolutely. We have offices there, and a showroom, along with the Plant.
Q. Joe Parker is in India and he is determined that his visit will be a successful trip.
A. Correct. We told Joe to stay in India until he has the cash deposits. (There was no tongue-in-cheek laughter from Doug!)
Q. Will India meet expectations?
A. They will exceed expectations!
Q. What about the World Bank deal?
A. I'm not the guy to ask about that. You can cover that in subsequent updates.
Q. What about a shareholders' meeting?
A. Yes. Probably in late August timeframe.
Q. Anything else?
A. An observation. I happened to read RB yesterday and there is not much talk there about our company. It is all personal stuff. What is going on?
At that point we discussed the stock market, message boards and chat rooms.
bostonmjf
Note: bostonmjf is a paid Internet Consultant for KAHI, SYTE and WTAI
ragingbull.lycos.com
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By: bostonmjf
31 Mar 2001, 08:03 PM EST Msg. 32739 of 58760
(This msg. is a reply to 32736 by stonepadre.)
Change in Internet Consultant
I am terminating the agreement as Internet Consultant for KAHI, SYTE and WTAI effective, March 30, 2001. The reason for my termination is based upon my personal needs at this time. I have found that I am spending many more hours than anticipated monitoring the boards, responding to various message board posts and questions, posting updates and answering emails. This is seriously affecting my time with my family and friends. This decision has nothing to do with the share prices or the general "poor" market conditions. I will remain as in investor in all three companies.
I will recommend to WTAI a number of replacements, including stonepadre, island2K and Groovius. I truly enjoyed the experience.
Good luck,
bostonmjf
ragingbull.lycos.com |
