To: Janice Shell who wrote (1621 ) 5/27/1999 6:39:00 PM From: marcos Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 7056
Once upon a time there was a stamp collecting period on the VSE - "Wall Street Ventures Inc. was incorporated in British Columbia, Canada on February 28 1986 as 9006 Investments Ltd. The company changed its name to Wall Street Ventures before it began trading on the Vancouver Exchange on February 11 1988. Originally saying it was looking for gold, silver and other minerals in Nevada, by early 1989 Wall Street had announced it was going to acquire and market bulky collections of Middle Eastern postage stamps under the guidance of Reznikoff and a new board of directors. In total, Wall Street claimed to have entered into transactions giving it access to at least 713 crates of stamps - issued by governments in Aden, the Trucial States and similar Arabian locales - weighing about 100 pounds each. These stamps had been authenticated by assorted N.Y. and Connecticut-based appraisers found by the company who valued them at upwards of US$386 million. Wall Street announced to investors: "These transactions are thought to be among the largest in the history of the philatelic world, according to available information, and are believed to make Wall Street the largest holder of South and Southeastern Arabian postal issue stamps in the world, as well as in all likelihood the world's largest stamp company." Overseeing this philatelic treasure was a new management slate which included: a pair of Beverly Hills-based PR consultants and Scientologists, Michael Baybak and George Duggan (both of whom have been associated with other Vancouver penny stock promotions); a reputed "Sultan" Ghalib Bin'Awadh Al-Qu'aitl, said to be a "Self-employed consultant on Arabian history, Islamic art and business"; and Denis Potvin, the retired New York Islanders hockey star. Ex-NHLer Potvin was referred to in one promotional Wall Street article as a "retired professional hockey player and collector of Middle East stamps." And, it was claimed that, Wall Street officer Steven C. Rockefeller of Norwalk, Connecticut held "an informed appreciation of the unique and growing appeal of the South and Southeastern Arabian stamps represented in the company's inventory." John Reznikoff, who was Wall Street's Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice-President, was the only board member to have a professional background as a dealer in collectible stamps...... "imagen.net [big file, watch out, but worth it] ... from - imagen.net