ask and you shall receive :
It is rather interesting that this whole thing started with a quoted conversation between sicamore and MILL.
read on...
Subject: Monday Meeting
Date: Thu, Feb 5, 1998 14:08 EST
From: Bouhafa
Message-id: <19980205190800.OAA08905@ladder02.news.aol.com>
I think it would be worthwhile to review the series of events that led to the belief by some (myself included) that a meeting involving AIPC's Board of Directors did take place at the West Palm Beach Ritz-Carlton on Monday, February 2, 1998.
FACT: On Wednesday, January 28, a few days before GF was expected back from his trip according to MILL, a shareholder using the screen-name SYCAMORE had a 2-3 minute conversation with Gary. During that conversation, Gary indicated that he was busy contacting members of the Board for a meeting.
This information was posted publicly by SYCAMORE and soon led to speculation about the time, location and purpose of such a meeting. Many speculated that it would be over the weekend since, at that time, the word from MILL and those connected to Cohen & Co.was that GF would be back on Saturday and in the office on Monday. Some thought that a logical time for such a meeting might be Sunday.
FACT: On Friday, January 30, a couple of individuals (JWinno and Wcoogs) known to be in frequent contact with MILL and Gary in particular made a big issue in the AIPC chat room about there being no meeting on Sunday without, however, denying that there might be a meeting on some other day (they both carefully dodged that question). They tried every technique to get me to stand by the Sunday claim pointing out that "we'll see who is right on
Monday". Well, needless to say, Sunday came and went without a meeting.
FACT: On Monday, February 2, at around 7:30 AM JGiord informed the chat room that his friend the manager of the former Ritz-Carlton in NYC had told him that AIPC had booked a conference room on Monday morning at 10:00 AM. We all assumed that the room had been booked in NYC since AIPC is headquartered there. Call were made to the hotel which denied knowledge of any meeting. It was puzzling. JWinno came into the chat room to harangue everyone
about lying about a meeting, etc., etc. He said Gary had denied that there was any meeting. MILL, the company, and MILL's reps in the chat rooms were very busy trying to kill the rumor about a meeting....almost to the point of hysteria.
FACT : Later in the morning a shareholder using the screen-name "Invest" took the initiative to call the National Sales Office of the Ritz-Carlton which he found to be located in the same building as AIPC. The Ritz confirmed to him that AIPC had used its Corporate Account to reserve a business room from 10 AM to 2 PM on Monday but would not reveal the location due to a policy of confidentiality. Fair enough. Now the speculation was that we had
been wrong to focus on the NYC hotel. All investigations sometimes result in false leads. The NYC hotel as the location appeared to be just that and those who were in a position to know that the meeting was in another location took full advantage to try to discredit some of us.
FACT: On Monday afternoon, LMPITTS took the initiative to call the Ritz-Carlton in West Palm Beach thinking that that might be a likely location given its proximity to GF's home. To her surprise, the hotel employee with whom she spoke confirmed that AIPC officials were at the hotel in connection with a meeting of some sort.
FACT: On Tuesday, Feb. 3, another shareholder took the time to call the hotel around noon. He asked by name for each member of AIPC's Board and, each time, he was told that Mr. so-and-so had checked out thereby re-confirming the presence of the Board at the hotel.
Meanwhile, Gary and Co. were now spinning the story that GF had delayed his trip. On another front, I am told that another shareholder who had called MILL Tuesday afternoon had been told that Gary was on the phone with the Ritz furious at them for disclosing information about AIPC's executives having checked in.
FACT: At around 5 PM on Tuesday, I thought I would give the Ritz a call myself to see if I got the same information regardng the Board members having checked out. To my amazement, when I gave each name, I was told that the individual had not only not checked out but had never checked in!!! It would seem that Gary succeeded in persuading the hotel to place a "privacy" designation concerning all information about AIPC's activities there.
This would have been his oranyone else's right as a paying client of the hotel. Most people, though, request a "privacy" designation when making the reservation. He apparently forgt to do so leaving the receptionists free to acknowledge the presence of AIPC's Board members as they would any other customer.
Meanwhile, the denials were coming at a rapid and heated clip as everyone began to speculate as to where GF was and exactly when he arrived in the US. The most vehement denial of GF's presence at a meeting in Palm Beach used the weather in Istanbul as the excuse for yet another delay in GF's arrival.
FACT: On Wednesday, a shareholder named JT Wednesday posted the following on the SI thread:
<<Gary spoke with George Faris today for the first time in over a week. Dr. Faris had just arrived back in the states from Turkey (his connecting flight through Turkey had been snowed in and he had to sleep in the airport) and he was very tired. Gary plans to speak with Dr. Faris tomorrow regarding many things, with the warrants being one of the most pressing items.>>
FACT: This morning, JWinno, who acknowledges talking to Gary frequently made the following observation in the chat room:
Stock Buy: JW: Have you heard anything about GF being held up in Istanbul because of snow
JWinno: Thats what I heard. But he is back now.
Stock Buy: JW: Were did you hear that??
JWinno: Gary S. and AIPC.
So, the argument being put forth is that GF could not possibly have been at a meeting on Monday if his plane from Istanbul hadn't gotten in until Tuesday afternoon. Furthermore, a case was made by MILL that GF was delayed until Tuesday because of a snowstorm in Istanbul that presumably closed the airport and resulted in his having to crash at the airport. Well, it began to look like we "the rumor-mongers" or "psychotic internet nuts" (Gary's
favorite) had messed up again. How depressing!!!!.....until I looked at the New York Times weather page.
FACT: Daily weather report for Istanbul covering previous 22 hours with Temp high/low followed by precipitation measured in inches.
HIGH LOW PRECIPITATION
Saturday, January 31 44 30 trace
Sunday, February 2 49 43 0.00
Monday, February 3 45 39 0.20
Tuesday, February 4 47 39 0.43
Bottom line, folks, unless conditions for snow are different in Istanbul than in the rest of the world, the story about GF being delayed in Istanbul because of snow would seem to be bogus...not only was there not enough snow to close down the airport at the time when GF was allegedly forced to spend the night there but there was no snow at all!!!
To arrive at the conclusion that there was no meeting in West Palm Beach on Monday, one would have to assume that SYcamore, JGiord, LMPITTS, the National Sales Office of the Ritz chain, the clerk at the West Pam Ritz, the telephone operators at the hotel on Tuesday morning, and even Gary were all lying....oh, I forgot, you would also have to believe that it snowed recently in Istanbul.
Cheers...Faris
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