Multivision's Nazerali calls 2002 articles "outlandish"
2015-04-20 20:46 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Aly Nazerali continued to testify Monday afternoon in the defamation case he is pursuing against the Deep Capture website, answering questions about what he called "outlandish and sensational" articles that appeared in Stockwatch and the New York Post in 2002. The articles, as read by defence lawyer Roger McConchie, insinuated that Mr. Nazerali had connections to terrorists or terrorist organizations. They also linked him with Irving Kott, a notorious Canadian promoter from the 1970s.
The testimony is part of a lawsuit Mr. Nazerali is pursuing against Deep Capture and others for a series of chapters that appeared on the Deep Capture website in 2011. He complained that the chapters accused him of being a drug dealer, terrorist, fraud artist and gangster, among other things. The defendants include Patrick Byrne, the short-selling conspiracy theorist who runs Overstock.com Inc. and Deep Capture. Also a defendant is journalist Mark Mitchell. The men contest the allegations and are fighting the case.
Monday afternoon featured Mr. McConchie, who represents most of the defendants, taking Mr. Nazerali through media coverage that mentioned him and Imagis Technologies Corp., a lively promotion from the early 2000s. Mr. McConchie focused on two articles that appeared around Dec. 16, 2002. One was written by Lee Webb in Stockwatch and the other by Christopher Byron in the New York Post. Mr. Nazerali confirmed for the court that he had read the two articles, and made it clear that he did not agree with their contents. Throughout his testimony he described them as being unfounded, outlandish and sensational.
The portions of the articles Mr. McConchie read contained references to Yasin al-Qadi, a man Mr. Webb called a money-laundering conduit for arms deals. Mr. Webb's article, as read by Mr. McConchie, also stated that Mr. al-Qadi had purchased shares in MIT Ventures Corp., a diamond company somehow connected to Mr. Nazerali. The article further stated that some of Imagis's backers had connections to supporters of Osama bin Laden.
Mr. Nazerali said he could not remember the specifics of the article, but did recall reading "unsubstantiated allegations" by Mr. Webb. He testified that he did not correspond with Mr. Webb about his writing. He did approve a news release from Imagis to respond to it, however. In the news release, dated Dec. 16, 2002, the company denied being associated with any terrorist organizations and called the assertion "ridiculous."
Mr. Nazerali also testified about portions of Mr. Webb's article that referred to Mr. Kott. (Mr. Kott was a well-known Canadian in stock market circles. He pleaded guilty in Quebec to charges of conspiracy to defraud investors in a company called Somed Mines Ltd. He received a $500,000 fine. The Deep Capture posts that Mr. Nazerali complains of stated that he had negotiated with Mr. Kott to acquire a boiler room in Amsterdam which sold "securities of negligible value.") Mr. Nazerali confirmed that Mr. Webb's article did link him with Mr. Kott.
Mr. McConchie questioned Mr. Nazerali about what he did in response. Specifically, Mr. McConchie asked him if he sued or threatened to sue. Mr. Nazerali testified that he did not sue over either article. He said his lawyer from the time, Howard Shapray, had been in contact with Mr. Webb. He was not sure, however, if that contact included the threat of a lawsuit.
During the questioning, Mr. McConchie went through two somewhat lengthy sidetracks related to the authenticity of the articles he presented. The New York Post article was a copy that had been posted into an investing forum. Mr. Nazerali would not confirm that it was the same article that the New York Post had published around Dec. 16, 2002. As for the Stockwatch article, it was not clear to listeners in court where Mr. McConchie's copy came from, but Mr. Nazerali questioned its authenticity as well. He said a proper copy would be readily available on the Stockwatch website.
The trial is scheduled to continue Tuesday morning. |
