BRENT BAKER IS ALSO OVERSTOCKS ATTORNEY. I TAUGHT HIM ALOT ABOUT USING SEARCH ENGINES AND HOW TO USE THEM TO TRACK DOWN CROOKS. THE OTHER SCAM HE TALKS ABOUT WAS NEW TEL BTW. IMAGINE THAT. CALLING IT A SCAM COMPANY WAS YET NO CHARGES AGAINST NEW TEL, THOMAS HEYSEK OR RAY DIRKS. IF HE WENT AFTER HEYSEK IT WOULD HAVE SAVED INVESTORS MILLIONS. YOU CAN READ ABOUT IT AT junkfax.org
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24 Q. Sir, let me ask you. Are you familiar with an
25 individual by the name of Floyd SCHNEIDER?
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter
BAKER - Direct/Burke
5751
1 A. I am.
2 Q. And who's Floyd SCHNEIDER?
3 A. Floyd SCHNEIDER is what I would call a tipster as
4 well. And, I know a little bit more about him just
5 because he has sent me some newspaper articles about
6 himself.
7 He is a mortgage broker in New Jersey.
8 Q. Okay. When did you meet him?
9 A. Some time in 2001.
10 Q. How did you meet him?
11 A. He was providing tips to someone in our office whose
12 name is also, ironically, Floyd and I believe that that
13 person referred me to one of Floyd's e-mails to me and
14 that's how I was initially introduced to Floyd.
15 Q. And, have you been dealing regularly with him since
16 that time?
17 A. Have I been dealing with him?
18 Q. Let me ask you a question --
19 MR. BREEN: Maybe he can answer the question.
20 Q. Go ahead.
21 A. I have to purge my inbox daily from Floyd e-mails.
22 Q. Floyd. Well, you're familiar with his name as
23 Truthseeker.
24 Correct?
25 A. I am now, yes.
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter
BAKER - Direct/Burke
5752
1 Q. When you talk about articles, you're talking about
2 there's been articles written about him in Business Week
3 and other places, correct?
4 A. Probably multiple articles, I don't recall them all.
5 Q. Did you understand that he is an investor or someone
6 who just investigates these companies?
7 MR. BREEN: Objection, hearsay.
8 THE COURT: Overruled.
9 A. I don't know one way or the other, but my impression
10 is that he is just an Internet sleuth, self-supposed
11 Internet sleuth.
12 Q. When you say "self-supposed" this was something
13 that's self-taught as far as you understand?
14 A. That's how much he represents himself.
15 Q. Now, he sends you e-mails daily, correct? Almost
16 daily.
17 A. Daily or almost daily, I have to clean out my inbox
18 every day. I can be, you know, he may miss a day here or
19 there.
20 Q. You don't tell him not to send you e-mails, do you?
21 A. I don't think so.
22 Q. And, am I right that he has given you tips that have
23 led to investigations?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Do you recall some of the investigations that he
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter
BAKER - Direct/Burke
5753
1 started by his e-mails to you?
2 MR. BREEN: I would object if it doesn't involve
3 investigations in this case.
4 THE COURT: Let's hear it.
5 Do you recall any?
6 THE WITNESS: I don't recall any. I have so
7 many investigations that come from so many different
8 sources I don't recall and Floyd is one of many tipsters
9 who e-mail me on a regular basis.
10 BY MR. BERKE:
11 (Continuing.)
12 Q. Right, but he has -- but he started, it's fair to
13 say, that he started a number of investigations based on
14 things that he discovered through his sleuthing?
15 A. I couldn't tell you that, I honestly don't know.
16 Q. Do you know about investigations he started?
17 A. Do I know about investigations that he started? No,
18 I don't know about any investigations that he started.
19 Q. You know about information that he gave you about
20 companies for which there was later an SEC investigation,
21 correct?
22 A. Not that I -- not investigations that I have.
23 Q. I understand other people at the SEC had?
24 A. No, sorry, no specific examples that I can recall.
25 Q. Let me ask you this. You find some of his e-mail to
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter
BAKER - Direct/Burke
5754
1 be valuable, correct, valuable information?
2 A. Floyd, yes, has provided me with some good research
3 tools. He first told me about Google before it was
4 popular. That kind of thing.
5 Q. Did he help to you search the Internet to look for
6 specific information on individuals who may be committing
7 frauds as not otherwise obvious?
8 A. It seems like he spends most of his time doing that.
9 Q. Did he teach you of some of those tools?
10 A. He has given me a few tools, yes.
11 Q. Would it be accurate to say that you have been having
12 contact with him for four to five years?
13 A. Boy, again, to the best of my recollection, it would
14 have been around 2001, some time in 2001.
15 Q. I don't know if you recall when you were interviewed
16 previously describing it as four to five years?
17 MR. BREEN: Objection, form.
18 THE COURT: Overruled.
19 A. I may have said four or five years.
20 Q. Are you sure of the exact date that you started
21 dealing with him?
22 A. I'm not sure. Seems like forever.
23 Q. He said he is a very passionate about sleuthing for
24 scam companies, correct?
25 A. Yes, he is very passionate about that.
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter
BAKER - Direct/Burke
5755
1 Q. Seems as if he is on a mission to try to identify
2 companies that are committing frauds?
3 A. I think he would like to hear that about himself,
4 yes.
5 Q. Have you ever doubted his sincerity?
6 A. I have to doubt the sincerity of everybody who
7 provides me information, that's my job.
8 Q. Have you ever had reason to doubt his sincerity,
9 specifically?
10 A. Apart from the laws that I'm bound by, no specific
11 reason.
12 Q. And your personal experience just as a person dealing
13 with him, am I right, that he does seem to be genuinely
14 passionate; he's looking to uncover frauds in companies?
15 A. That's my personal experience.
16 THE COURT: Let's move there along.
17 Q. Have you met him before?
18 A. Yes, I have met him on one occasion.
19 Q. What was that occasion?
20 A. It was something completely unrelated to the facts of
21 this case. It was another scam.
22 Q. Could you describe those circumstances?
23 MR. BREEN: Objection, 403.
24 THE COURT: Folks, we have to take a very short
25 break. I'm sorry to interrupt. I don't think it will be
Anthony Frisolone, CRR
Official US District Court Reporter |
