Odd, that in a wek where the MCI takeover nearly falls apart and that the heads of tobacco co's admit that ciggarettes can kill, and that the dow moves over 100 pts each day, the cover of barron's is on a $6 company with 14MM shares outstanding with about 1000 share holders, just befor earnings. Hmmm, I wonder don't they proof read the things they print. below is par's response:
Osicom Technologies Cites Errors in Barron's Article; CEO Says HeTaped InterviewSANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 24, 1997--Osicom Technologies, Inc., in response to an article which appeared in the latest issue of Barron's, has made public a letter written by Par Chadha, its chief executive officer, to the editor of Barron's. In the letter, which contains specific examples of what Mr. Chadha calls inaccuracies, false and defamatory statements and inaccurate quotes or statements taken out of context, Mr. Chadha states, "As you are aware, I taped the interview. This is not a case of selective memory -- at least not on my part." The complete text of the letter follows: August 24, 1997Mr. Edwin A. Finn, Jr., EditorBarron's200 Liberty StreetNew York, NY 10281 Dear Mr. Finn: Your article, "Buyer Beware," contains numerous inaccuracies, false and defamatory statements and inaccurate quotes or statements taken out of context. As you are aware, I taped the interview. Thisis not a case of selective memory -- at least not on my part.
When I first learned that the reporter on this story was a formeremployee of a fund engaged in the short-selling of stocks, I expressed concern. As I mentioned when we met, the short-selling community has had a long running campaign of using innuendo and falseand misleading information in their attempt to discredit the company and its management and ultimately harm its shareholders. After reading the story, my concerns appear to have been justified. -- In the second sentence of your article, for example, your reporter states, "By early this year...the duo (Barry Witz and ParChadha) had transformed Osicom Technologies Inc. into one of California's fastest-growing companies..." The fact is that whilewe appreciate your recognition of our company's growth and the contributions Mr. Witz made to the company while a Director, he was neither a member of nor played a role in the management of the company. He was a director of Osicom from October 1, 1996 to May 5, 1997. During that time, he played the same role in the growth of thecompany as other Directors. -- The next sentence begins, "Chadha was being hailed as a visionary, and he boasted that Osicom had better technology for computer networking than its far-larger rival, Cisco Systems." While I am flattered at being "hailed as a visionary," I did not "boast" that we had better technology than Cisco Systems. What you will findif you review your tape of my discussion with your reporter is duringthe interview, when asked about the quality of our products, I responded that several of our products had won industry awards and were ranked at the top of their respective categories, ahead of competitive products including those produced by much larger companies, such as 3-Com, Ascend and Cisco Systems. Like much else in the story, your reporter's version of this conversation is distorted. I could continue to go through the article, paragraph-by-paragraph but won't due to space and time constraints. I do, however, want tohit a few of the more egregious errors. -- Early in the story, your reporter states, "...both are subjects of active criminal investigations on both sides of the Atlantic because of the pair's extensive dealings with one John J. O'Carroll, whom British investigators describe as a henchman for a guy who's been convicted of laundering $136 million for the Cali drugcartel." Later, the story states, "O'Carroll is ... the subject of a money-laundering investigation by the U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Services, according to a memo filed in federal court in May 1996 by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York...The memo further says that authorities are probing the involvement of some unnamed U.S. citizens with off-shore companies registered in the Channel Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Persons with knowledge of the investigation say that two of the U.S. citizens being studied for their dealings with O'Carroll are Chadha and Witz.(1) I have never had any dealings with John J. O'Carroll, let alone extensive dealings, nor do I know the man. (2) Neither I nor my attorneys have any knowledge of any criminal or other investigations.These same allegations were published several months ago by The DailyTelegraph in London, investigated by their attorneys and found to have no basis in fact. As a result, as we pointed out in our meetingwith you and your reporter, after investigating the matter, The DailyTelegraph published an apology and a retraction. Please rest assuredthat you will be receiving the |
