Art dug thus Great Article up on CTRN Etc. GREAT Investigative reporting - MUST READ,,,
Thanks Art...
Here's the link - apparently they have Pic's of Tosto and Madison GA storefront... Once again, nice work Art!!!
stacks.ajc.com
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THE MADISON CONNECTION: 5 firms penalized by SEC an enigma: Principal figure mum about his activities
Madison - A New Yorker came to this lovely Old South town in 1997,
moved into one of the largest homes in the historic district and started working out of an unmarked office on Main Street. Two years later, few in town seem to know what Peter C. Tosto, now known as Peter C. Lybrand, does there.
But the Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading last
week in five companies, all of which used a phone number at the 115 S.
Main St. address as a contact.
No draperies or shutters stop passersby from peering into the
storefront that faces the square. But all that's visible is a conference table scattered with copies of The Wall Street Journal and some business magazines. Seven wooden desks, some with computers, line the walls. Neighbors say never more than a few people worked there, and they didn't reveal much about themselves --- unusual in this small town where many families have lived in the antebellum and Victorian homes and run local shops for generations.
Knocks on the door of the office Monday brought a young man who
refused to identify himself, the company he worked for or what the
company did. On Wednesday the response was, "Leave a business card and
someone will get back to you."
No one has.
Lybrand, a short, dark-haired 34-year-old, although known by name and face by townspeople, could not be found to comment on the SEC action against companies for which he's listed as a contact.
The SEC threw a spotlight on the Madison storefront, and on Lybrand, by announcing the trading suspensions of the companies. They are Citron Inc., Electronic Transfer Associates Inc., Invest Holdings Group Inc., Polus Inc. and Smartek Inc. The companies describe their lines of business, in press releases, variously as Internet marketing, health products, menswear or housing. The companies are small enough to avoid filing reports with the SEC. Instead, the companies issued press releases and used Web sites to make claims about the businesses that the SEC has called into question.
The SEC, in halting trading, identified the companies by name but
disclosed little more. None of the SEC orders name Lybrand, but he is
listed as a contact by PR Newswire, the company that was paid to
distribute press releases on the five companies.
The trading halt --- which will run until 11:59 p.m. Feb. 11 ---
suggests how seriously the federal agency views the quick and dramatic
run-up in the stock prices of several of those companies. Citron's
stock, for one, jumped from $1.25 on Dec. 30 to as high as $21 on Jan. 25.
Two days later, an article on MSNBC's Internet site estimated that the share prices on just three of the companies had jumped high enough to create $1.2 billion of stock market value. MSNBC alleged the value was created ''out of nothing but hot air and press releases.''
SEC spokesman Duncan King in Washington said, "We suspend trading
in stocks as it's called for, but, to put it in perspective, over the
past five years, the highest number of trading suspensions in any one
year was 17, and last week we had six in one day."
Five of those six are linked to 115 S. Main St. in Madison.
Used to newcomers
This east Georgia town, about 30 miles south of Athens off I-20, has become used to newcomers attracted to the laid-back lifestyle, tree-lined streets and stunning architecture of the pre-Civil War homes. When he marched through Georgia in 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman did not burn Madison because Joshua Hill, a prominent Madison resident who later became a U.S. senator, was able to talk him out of it.
One of the newcomers is Lybrand.
"I see Peter almost every day and speak to him, but I don't know
anything about him. Nobody really does," said Mayor Bruce Gilbert, who
runs Madison Hardware & Supply, just around the corner from 115 S. Main. "A lot of people don't like small towns because they just assume
everyone knows everything about everybody."
Gilbert said most people in the town of around 4,000 get to know each
other through church or school.
"But it's not like we're watching every move," Gilbert said. "I don't look to see who's walking into the Edward D. Jones office investing money instead of paying on their account at my hardware store."
So Lybrand's low profile didn't stir up much interest.
Curiosity raised But locals are curious now. Ask merchants what they know about Lybrand, and you won't get much more than shrugs. Thanks to newspaper reports, townspeople are more aware of their quiet neighbor --- and leery about the media attention.
But they openly wonder about the Main Street office, which Lybrand
described in a 1997 Madison newspaper interview as a merger and
acquisition consulting business.
In July 1996, a company named Consolidated Asset Management bought a 5,300-square-foot home in Madison's historic district for $550,000.
Lybrand lists the home at 921 S. Main as his residence. A Thomas
Telegades is listed on the deed as president of the company.
In December, Telegades bought the building at 115 S. Main for $182,500. One month later, in January 1997, Lybrand, then known as Peter C. Tosto, applied for a business license with the city of Madison. The application was for a "management consultant'' business at 115 S. Main, called Tellerstock.
In March 1997, Lybrand, still known as Tosto, applied for a marriage
license at the Morgan County Courthouse in downtown Madison. In May he
married tall, blond, 34-year-old Karen Lybrand and took his wife's last name. But by July 1998, the marriage was apparently over. The couple filed for divorce, although it has never been finalized, according to Lybrand's Madison attorney, Allan Roffman.
Under a proposed divorce agreement filed in Morgan County Superior
Court, Lybrand would have kept the house and "all dogs owned by the
parties." He also would have received title to a Range Rover, a BMW 840 and a Chevrolet Corvair, but assume $12,000 of credit card debt.
Karen Lybrand would have received $5,000 a month for three years, and kept a BMW 325 convertible and "all horses and chickens."
Another incorporation
Earlier that summer, another company using the 115 S. Main address was
incorporated. One month later, the new company, Conversant enterprises, spent $247,000 for 70 acres of undeveloped land six miles northeast of town.
Despite the appearance of affluence, Peter Lybrand did not pay the
$85.80 business license fee for the Tellerstock company last year,
according to city records. The 1999 fee is due in March, the Madison
city clerk's office said.
City and county property taxes for the downtown building owned by
Telegades are past due and have accrued interest totaling $2,034.31,
according to the Morgan County tax assessors office.
Beyond public records, few personal details are known about Lybrand. Madison attorney Chip Brown said he played pickup basketball regularly with Lybrand at Morgan County High School. And Lybrand hosted a Halloween benefit for the Humane Society, according to Patrick Yost, editor and publisher of the Morgan County Citizen newspaper.
Brown said he asked Lybrand a few months ago what he did for a
living. Brown said Lybrand told him he owned several publicly traded
companies.
Roffman, whom the state lists as the registered agent for Conversant Enterprises, said he knew only that Lybrand was involved in "some type of financial enterprise."
One month after the January 1997 city business license application,
Lybrand gave an interview to the Madisonian, a Madison weekly newspaper.
His choice of Madison as his home, according to the article, appears to have been by chance.
"We came to Buckhead in Atlanta for a wedding," Lybrand told the
newspaper. "We took a ride out on Saturday to Madison, saw a house we
liked, and the next week we put an offer on the house."
Lybrand didn't say where the house was, but public records list 921
S. Main as his residence since March 1997.
Couldn't be found
Attempts to reach Lybrand at the house were as fruitless as those at
his office, about a mile down Main Street.
Last Saturday a woman who identified herself as Angie Benson answered the door at the Victorian mansion. Benson said Lybrand was out of town and could not be reached. Neighbors who were contacted would not comment.
One person who will comment is John M. Williams, senior vice
president of PR Newswire. "The company that set up the account was called Tellerstock," said Williams. "Three individuals sent copy to us: Seth Cayer (whose name is on several of the press releases as an information contact) Peter Lybrand, and a woman whose first name was Deborah. We don't have a last name. We sent the bills to 115 S. Main in Madison."
--- Staff writers Rob Chambers and Robert Luke contributed to this
report.
Graphic :
THE COMPANIES
These are the companies in which stock trading was halted by the SEC.
Each of them has listed a Madison phone number as a contact in press
releases. The information comes from press releases and the companies'
Internet sites.
Citron Inc:
Describes itself as an Internet marketing company
Lists corporate offices at 5 E. 59th St., New York, and at Little
Trewollack, St. Wenn, Cornwall, England
President: Armando Frusciante
Electronic Transfer Associates Inc.:
Describes itself as an Internet company
Lists corporate offices at 5 E. 59th St., New York
President: Thomas Telegades
Smartek:
Describes itself as a menswear wholesaler and developer of affordable
housing. Says it is based in New York. No address given.
Chief executive officer: Thomas Telegades
Invest Holdings Group Inc.:
Says it designs and sells hair regrowth and hair loss products
Lists headquarters at 4155 E. Jewell Ave., Suite 909, Denver
Chairman: Mark D.G. Lambert
President: Andrew Bryant
Polus Inc:
Describes itself as owning controlling interest in Smartek and in
Malibu Inc., a publicly traded construction company in New York.
No address or officers are listed. The Securities and Exchange Commission order suspending trading in its stock described the company as incorporated in Colorado.
Map :
Map shows properties associated with Peter Lybrand and his companies.
Inlaid map shows location of Madison within the state of Georgia. /
Paige Braddock / Staff |
