Sam Sloan sued for federal anti-trust violations in go
Sloan
SAM SLOAN SUED FOR INTERNATIONAL GO MONOPOLY
Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder have filed
suit in federal court alleging a go monopoly by Sam Sloan. Case No.
C-95 20678 filed in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California, San Jose Branch, alleges that Sloan has
violated the federal Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 USC 1 & 2, and the
Cartwright Act, California Business and Professions Code, Section
16720 et seq.
The First Amended complaint filed by Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Snyder
alleges in paragraphs 44-50 and in paragraphs 70-74 that Sloan
maintains monopoly power over the go-related market in the United
States and that the acts of Sloan have been performed "in furtherance
of a combination or conspiracy to restrain the trade of" Berlekamp,
Berkowitz and Snyder and "to eliminate the competition in the
publication, marketing, distribution and sale of Go-related products"
and that these acts by Sloan have "constituted an unlawful trust and a
conspiracy against trade."
Furthermore, the first amended complaint, paragraphs 81-87, alleges
that Sloan has intentionally disparaged Berlekamp, Berkowitz and
Hartland Snyder's "professional integrity, honesty, dedication,
reputation, diligence, competence and good will" and that Sloan
published these representations without justification or privilege and
with reckless disregard for whether they were true and that they
expose Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder to "hatred, contempt,
ridicule, and obloquy in the Go-related and puzzle industry" and
further that Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder "have suffered
injury to their reputation, shame, mortification, and hurt feelings"
because of Sloan's publications.
Plaintiffs Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder demand treble
damages from the profits wrongfully taken by Sloan by these acts and
damages according to proof.
The complaint was filed on November 1, 1996 by Steven S. Miyake, Esq.
of the Law Firm of Howard D. Neal, 6200 Antioch Street, Suite 202,
Oakland, California 94611, tel. (510) 339-0233.
Paul Rubin
In article <32d1459...@nntp.best.com>, Sloan <sl...@ishipress.com> wrote:
>SAM SLOAN SUED FOR INTERNATIONAL GO MONOPOLY
>Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder have filed
>suit in federal court alleging a go monopoly by Sam Sloan.
Yikes, what is this suit about?
For those who don't know, Elwyn Berlekamp is a math professor,
game theorist, and combinatorial algorithms whiz and co-author
of "Winning Ways" with J.H.Conway and Richard Guy. He's also
done research with David Wolfe on some hard Go endgames (they
have an amazing book called "Freezing Gets the Last Point").
But I didn't know he was trying to market Go-related products.
What the heck are they?
Sloan
Sam Sloan
2420 Atherton Street, Apt. 6
Berkeley CA 94704
Tel: (510) 548-6815
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN JOSE BRANCH
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Bozulich,
No. C-95 20678
Plaintiff,
-against-
Date: January
7, 1997
Ishi Press International, James W. Connelley,
Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz, Ctrm:
Honorable Trumbull
and Hartland Snyder,
Defendants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ishi Press International, a California Corporation,
Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz, and Hartland
Snyder,
Counter-claimants
-against-
Richard Bozulich, individually, and The Ishi Press,
Inc., a Japanese Corporation, Samuel Sloan aka
Ismail Sloan an individual,
Counter - Defendants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Declaration of Samuel Sloan in Opposition to Motion for a Protective
Order
_________________________________________________
I, Samuel Sloan, declare:
1. I am the President of Ishi Press International, a California
Corporation. I was first elected president on October 26, 1994, the
same date that James W. Connelley was removed as president and
director. I was reelected President on November 7, 1994 at a meeting
of directors which took place immediately after a special meeting of
stockholders which took place on November 7, 1994.
2. In addition, I am the registered agent for service of process for
Ishi Press International. I have filed the last two annual reports
with the California Secretary of Corporations. I have paid the state
tax for the past two years.
3. I am aware that the defendants and counter claimants to this suit
contend that I am not the president of Ishi Press International, but
there is no legal doubt that I am. The forms notifying the defendants
that they had been removed as directors of the corporation were copied
directly out of Bender's forms of California Practice. Similarly, the
call for a special stockholders meeting, the minutes of the meeting
and all of the other documents where taken directly from Bender's
forms. In addition, the by-laws of Ishi Press International are
nothing more than the model California by-laws. They were not drafted
especially for Ishi Press International. They are the standard by-laws
which almost everybody uses. The legal commentary on these by-laws and
the California Corporation Code clearly explains that any ten percent
stockholder in a California Corporation can call a special meeting of
stockholders on ten days notice. In addition, it is well established
that a majority of stockholders can remove the entire board without
notice.
4. Of equal importance and perhaps even greater importance, the
defendants do not have a board. This is a point which I think that
this court kept overlooking. At the time of the deposition of Janis
Miller on November 20, 1996, Judge Trumbull asked Steven Miyake
directly: "Who is the President of Ishi Press International." Mr.
Miyake replied: "Not Mr. Sloan."
5. Later, I believe, Judge Trumbull asked much the same question and
got much the same answer.
6. In fact, Mr. Miyake does not have an answer to that question. Elwyn
Berlekamp states that he resigned as a director and sold all his stock
in Ishi Press International on July 7, 1995. Mr. Berlekamp states that
he has no further connection with the corporation.
7. Nathaniel Berkowitz states that he resigned as a director and sold
all his stock in Ishi Press International on July 7, 1995. Mr.
Berkowitz states that he has no further connection with the
corporation.
8. Hartland Snyder has never been a director of the corporation. This
was confirmed at a deposition of Martin Lowenstein who testified that
he was present at the relevant meetings and Hartland Snyder was not
made a director at any of those meetings.
9. James Connelley testified that he resigned as a director in about
March, 1995.
10. That leaves the only director, by their count, as Richard
Bozulich. Thus, even if the November 7, 1994 stockholders meeting was
invalid, Richard Bozulich is the only director of Ishi Press
International.
11. It is well established, as Judge Trumbull pointed out to Steven
Miyake on November 20, 1996, that a corporation acts through its
agents. Mr. Miyake kept making statements like: "The corporation did
this" or "the corporation didn't do that." Judge Trumbull wanted to
know "Who?" Mr. Miyake kept saying, "The corporation."
12. The fact is that none of the defendants want to be held legally
responsible for the corporation. They want to control the corporate
assets, the corporate bank accounts, the corporate mailing lists, the
corporate premises and so on but they do not to be held responsible
for anything the corporation does. The defendants have not filed
anything with the California Secretary of State. They have not filed
corporate income taxes. They have not filed federal income taxes. They
have not filed unemployment or social security. They have not
conducted a stockholders meeting since September, 1993, four years
ago. They have done none of the things which corporate officers are
supposed to do.
13. Hartland Snyder has been on the run since 1988. In October, 1988 a
judgment was entered against him in the Berkeley Albany Municipal
Court for what is now $32,000. He has been running from that judgment
ever since. At one point a bench warrant was issued against him. As a
result of his filing for bankruptcy, that bench warrant was lifted.
Hartland Snyder has been able to avoid going to jail ever since for
contempt by concealing his whereabouts. He has no known address. He
has no regular place of business. We have expended considerable time
tracking him down and serving him with process. He has been served
five times in this case alone. Every time he is served he makes a
bogus claim that the service was in some way improper. He has made the
same sort of claims to the Berkeley Albany Municipal Court. He does
not come to court any more and always defaults obviously because he
knows or at least believes that he is going to be arrested and put in
jail.
14. A lawyer in Oakland who has been following the career of Hartland
Snyder for the past nine years states that Hartland is "the best there
is" in evading the enforceability of judgments and the service of
process.
15. Hartland Snyder has been founded to be a perpetrator of domestic
violence and abuse. An Oakland woman has obtained a three year
restraining order against him after a full trial. The trial took place
on or about November 7-8, 1994, coincidentally the same time as our
special stockholder's meeting of Ishi Press International.
16. I have been contacted on the Internet by a cousin of Hartland
Snyder. She says that 20 years ago Hartland's father threw him from
the house and told him never to return and not to contact the family
any more. Until his family saw his name on the Internet, they had no
idea where he had been for 20 years.
17. The declarations of Elwyn Berlekamp and Nathaniel Berkowitz both
state that they sold all their shares of stock in Ishi Press
International to Hartland Snyder. Martin Lowenstein has testified that
he sold his stock to Hartland Snyder as well. The price Hartland paid
for Lowenstein's stock was only $250 (two hundred fifty dollars)
according to Lowenstein.
18. Hartland Snyder has been ordered by the Berkeley Albany Municipal
Court to surrender all of his shares in Ishi Press International to
the Sheriff of Alameda County. Hartland Snyder has not done so. We
spent a month chasing him down. After more than ten unsuccessful
attempts at service of process, he was finally served in October. The
process server nailed him by coming through the back door through the
office of another company.
19. Hartland Snyder has not complied with the court's order and has
not surrendered the shares. I understand that he has been saying that
he sold his shares in Ishi Press International to a person named
"Cavalier". He does not know the person's address. This person did not
pay him any money, says Hartland Snyder. He only promised to pay money
in the future.
20. Now the lawyer involved in that case (who has no connection with
this case) will have to file another motion to hold Hartland in
contempt and try to serve him with that motion. Hartland will continue
to wiggle. Ultimately, he will file for bankruptcy again, as he did in
1993. That 1993 bankruptcy was dismissed because Hartland failed to
pay the required fees, failed to show up at the creditors examination,
failed to file any of the required schedules and in short never did
anything beyond the initial bankruptcy filing. Yet, by filing for
bankruptcy, Hartland was able to get the bench warrant lifted and to
start this process all over again. It is an endless cycle.
21. This explains why Elwyn Berlekamp and Nathaniel Berkowitz have
named Hartland Snyder the "Acting President" of Ishi Press
International. Hartland is completely judgment proof. Any judgment
against him will be worthless. We need to be able to prove that
Berlekamp and Berkowitz are controlling and manipulating the situation
through Hartland Snyder. Both Berlekamp and Berkowitz are wealthy
people. Berlekamp has an estimated net worth in the mid-eight fingers.
However, Berlekamp will be trying to maintain plausible deniability.
He will say that he has nothing to do with this. In fact, it is
Berlekamp who has everything to do with this. Berlekamp brought in
Hartland Snyder. Berlekamp brought in Nathaniel Berkowitz. Berlekamp
brought in John Torode. Howard Neal is Berlekamp's personal lawyer.
Berlekamp is trying to steal our company by harassing us with
litigation because he is in a position to pay huge attorney's fees and
eventually burn us out.
22. I want to explain the gravity of this situation. Richard Bozulich
not only founded Ishi Press International, but he completely financed
it. Connelley never put in any money. (Connelley claims that he put in
$10,000 but there is no evidence of that. If he did put in that amount
he has long since taken it out.) Whenever Ishi Press International got
into financial trouble, Bozulich loaned it money to keep it going.
Bozulich also shipped $111,000 worth of goods which were never paid
for by Ishi Press International.
23. In order to make these loans and shipments, Bozulich mortgaged his
own house in Japan. Now because of the failure and refusal of the
defendants to pay this money, which comes to around $300,000 not
counting interest, the bank in Japan has foreclosed on his loan and he
is about to be evicted from his house in Japan. He has to move out of
the house within the next few weeks. His wife divorced him one year
ago in October, 1995 because of this situation. Meanwhile, Connelley
has obviously embezzled money from the company and is living in a
beautiful home on 970 Plaza Drive in San Jose which he very possibly
paid for with money embezzled from the company and from Richard
Bozulich.
24. Almost the entire counter suit filed by the defendants in based
upon oral agreements which they say that Bozulich made with Connelley.
I feel quite certain that Bozulich never made those agreements.
Moreover, such agreements even if he made them are barred by the
statute of frauds. They claim in essence that by oral agreement
Bozulich conveyed to them the rights to all the books he has published
since 1969, the rights to the Ishi Press trademark, the Ishi Press
name, the Ishi Press logo and in short that all of the corporate
assets of Ishi Press Japan now belong to them, they say.
25. Hartland Snyder has written letters to everyone he knows of that
Bozulich does business with among other things threatening them with
litigation if they do not stop doing business with Bozulich. Hartland
writes letters stating that he wants Bozulich to be "fired." Hartland
Snyder has written letters to John Power, Bill Franke, Jim Davies,
Sidney Yuan, Takashiro Yoshikawa, Ing Chang Ki and even to Sam Sloan
making such statements. Hartland Snyder claims not only the rights to
all books written or published by Richard Bozulich in the past, but he
has even claimed rights to the books that Richard Bozulich will write
in the future. Because of this harassment, Ishi Press Japan stopped
selling books. Richard Bozulich found a new publisher named Kiseido.
Hartland Snyder has written to Kiseido saying that he has rights to
those books as well.
26. In addition, because of this harassment, I can not market my own
book. I am the author of a book called "Chinese Chess for Beginners"
published by Ishi Press International. Nobody is willing to sell my
book because they are afraid of being sued by Hartland Snyder. Ishi
Press (Japan) has published about 100 publications. All of the authors
of those works find that their works are unmarketable because of this
situation.
27. At the same time, Hartland Snyder and his group refuses to pay any
royalties at all to any of the authors of these books. They print and
sell books but not one author has been paid. David Fotland is owed
$19,000. I obtained a judgment against them for $5020. Numerous other
authors are owed money by them. A printer named Griffon Printing has a
judgment against them. I have fairly recently found out that in 1995
they sold Sneaky Squares, a puzzle developed by Ishi Press
International while Richard Bozulich was chairman, to R & B
Acquisitions in Alexandria, Virginia for $75,000. With that money they
could easily have paid off me and Fotland and the other authors.
Instead, they used that money to pay off a line of credit which had
been guaranteed by Connelley. They are giving corporate insiders a
preference over legitimate creditors.
28. With the judgment I hold I obtained a writ of execution against
Summit Bank. The bank had the money and paid the full amount to the
Sheriff of Alameda County. However, Berkowitz filed a "third party
claim" in which he claimed that he had a prior right as a third party
to that money. He was able to get the money released. I requested a
hearing and Commissioner James Heath of Los Gatos Small Claims Court
ruled in my favor, but I was not able to collect the money because it
had already gone back. So, I obtained another writ and this time the
sheriff collected some more money, but not the full amount. Berkowitz
filed another third party claim. There was another hearing and then
another and then another. I have now been to court around six times
against Hartland Snyder and Nathaniel Berkowitz over just this one
item. (I have actually lost count.) I have collected some money but
meanwhile I have paid more than one thousand dollars just in process
server's fees. One and a half years have passed and I still cannot get
my money.
29. In short, these defendants are just playing a game. They are
chronic pro se litigants. Berkowitz has a dozen cases in San Francisco
Superior Court. Hartland Snyder has a similar number of cases in the
Alameda County Courts. They are having a jolly time giving us a run
around. They steal our company, loot our bank accounts, sell our
books, sell our assets, keep the money and we and a hoard of other
creditors just keep chasing them and never get anywhere.
30. Their complaints, pleadings and declarations are all filled with
lies and unverifiable allegations. For example, several times they say
that Bozulich was not a majority stockholder in Ishi Press
International. However, the facts are that Bozulich owned 197,000
shares. Towako Doi, the wife of Richard Bozulich, owed 30,000 shares.
All of the people on the stockholders list with Japanese names are
friends of Richard Bozulich and he held their proxies. In contrast,
Berkowitz only owned 10,000 shares. Berlekamp only owned around 36,000
shares and Connelley, the largest stockholder outside of Bozulich,
owed 120,000 shares. Thus, Bozulich could easily vote out the rest.
31. The claim by Berkowitz that Bozulich did not own the majority of
shares is based on the claim that Berkowitz was issued 158,000 shares
prior to the meeting on November 7, 1994. However, this was obviously
a fraudulent claim. Berkowitz told me at a meeting on or about October
22, 1994 that he only owned 10,000 shares. He later got Connelley, who
was working for Berkowitz, to "issue" him a 158,000 share certificate.
The claim by Berkowitz that he had a right to those 158,000 shares was
that he had purchased a note from John Torode who had loaned $40,000
to Ishi Press International (London). Berkowitz bought that note for
only $500 (he says) so he was clearly not a holder in due course. The
most important additional fact is that Berkowitz personally owned Ishi
Press International (London) which was a different corporation from
Ishi Press International, a California corporation. The note was an
obligation of Ishi (London), Berkowitz's company. It was not a note of
Ishi Press International, a California Corporation. Nowhere in the
corporate minutes of Ishi Press International, a California
corporation, is that note mentioned. It is apparent from the terms of
the note that Berkowitz had no right to "convert" that note into Ishi
Press International, a California Corporation's, shares.
32. Repeatedly, they quote from a letter Bozulich wrote to me in
October, 1994. However, this suit was filed in October, 1995, one year
later. What is the relevance of that letter written one year earlier?
Bozulich and Ishi Press (Japan) were owed $300,000. They were not only
stealing from him and from his company, but they were stealing the
entire corporation which he had spent a decade building up. Naturally,
he wanted me to help him to file a lawsuit to get his money back.
33. Berkowitz has done this at least once before. I understand that he
used similar tactics to get involved in InFerGene Corporation,
claiming that he had a right to shares to which he had no right. I do
not know the details, but I do Know that Berkowitz was criminally
indicted by the Solano County District Attorney. InFerGene filed for
bankruptcy in 1991 and is still in bankruptcy to this day.
34. Almost all of the "facts" set forth in the declarations of the
moving parties are actually issues in dispute to be resolved at trial.
Richard Bozulich vehemently states that he did not sign certain
documents that they say that he signed. He states that they will not
be able to product an original or even a faxed copy. We want to see
the originals of these documents. They claim that he agreed at a
meeting on November 10, 1994 that the shareholders meeting of November
7, 1994 was not valid. However, he states that he made no such
agreement. Moreover, even if he did, he had no power to do so, because
at that point in time I was the President of Ishi Press International,
not Richard Bozulich, and the defendants well knew that. They knew
that Richard had no authority to make such an agreement.
35. They state (also repeatedly) that I alleged that James W.
Connelley was the agent for service of process of Ishi Press
International. This is true, because on the days in question Connelley
was the agent for service of process. We left him as the agent and he
never resigned because we were trying to serve the corporation.
Connelley evaded service of process but finally he was caught at his
house late on Christmas Eve, 1995. After he had been served and
appeared, I filed with the Secretary of State that I was henceforth
the agent for service of process.
36. They keep arguing that I stated that I am not a party to this
action. They have reversed positions from before. Back when they were
trying to quash service of process, they alleged that I was a party to
this action. I believe that they were successful in requiring us to
serve them again. Now that service is no longer an issue (at least so
far as I am aware) they reverse positions and say that I am not a
party. I believe that sanctions would be in order here.
37. They keep saying that they dropped me as a defendant because I am
in bankruptcy. The fact is that I was discharged from bankruptcy by
the San Francisco bankruptcy court in March, 1995, one and a half
years ago. One confusing point is that the San Francisco bankruptcy
court issued two orders of discharge by mistake. It then vacated the
second order one week later. The first order remained in effect. I
explained this to Mr. Miyake and I am sure that he understands this.
The fact that he keeps alleging that I was dropped as a defendant only
because I am in bankruptcy shows that he plans to add me back on as a
defendant at the right time.
38. Mr. Miyake knows that I cannot afford to pay for all of these
depositions myself. His strategy clearly is to exclude me from
participating in the depositions. I will not be able to tell Mr. Craig
Mar what questions to ask. He alleges that I just became involved with
this case in 1994. This is not true. I have been involved with Ishi
Press since 1984. Perhaps one reason that some of the defendants did
not become fully aware of my involvement in this case until October,
1994 was that Connelley always insisted on keeping me out of the
picture. For example, Berlekamp came to Japan in April, 1992. I was in
Japan in the Ishi Press (Japan) office. Bozulich tried to introduce me
to Berlekamp. Berlekamp refused to meet me because Connelley had told
him not to meet with Sloan. This has always been Connelley's strategy
and Connelley's insistence. Connelley knows that Bozulich is a babe in
the woods when it comes to these financial matters and that Bozulich
can easily be taken to the cleaners but that I am the one with 18
years experience in corporate finance in Wall Street who won a
securities law case in the United States Supreme Court (436 US 103
(1978)) and who can protect the interests of Richard Bozulich. For
example, they insisted that I not attend the meeting of November 10,
1994. That is why they are now able to allege that Bozulich made
certain agreements at that meeting. They insisted that Bozulich not
bring me or any other witness to a meeting on November 6, 1994 either.
Connelley has written two letters to Bozulich recently implying that a
settlement can be made of this suit but only if Sam Sloan is kept out
of the settlement negotiations. Bozulich is not going to fall into
this trap any more and he immediately forwarded those letters to me.
The obvious reason is that every time he meets with them or even
speaks to one of them on the telephone, they later on allege that he
has made some oral agreement which he says that he never made.
39. During the telephone conference with Judge Trumbull on November
20, 1996, Steven Miyake stated that he has filed an amended complaint
dropping me as a defendant and that it would be arriving in the mail
soon if it had not arrived already. As far as I know, this statement
was not true and no such amended complaint has ever been filed. I am
still named as a defendant in the caption of the complaint. (I hope
that the court kept a tape recorded of that conversation.)
40. For all of these reasons and several more, this motion for a
protective order was not made in good faith and must be denied.
------------------------
Samuel
Sloan
VERIFICATION
I, Samuel Sloan, have read the foregoing declaration and know the
contents thereof. The same is true of my own knowledge, except as to
those matters which are stated upon information and belief, and, as to
those matters, I believe them to be true. I declare under penalty of
perjury under the laws of California that the foregoing is true and
correct.
January 7, 1997
--------------------------
Samuel
Sloan
Stijn van Dongen
sl...@ishipress.com (Sloan) writes:
[snip]
[yawn]
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940
I understand that it is cheaper to post this on r.g.g. than placing
ads in a paper or on the telly. Perhaps you feel that you serve your
case by tending to this particular audience, something that I severely doubt.
IMHO, it would be preferable if you stopped core-dumping on this group.
But I am very interested to know if someone is actually interested in
this stuff. In that case, I'll accept the heavy load :)
Regards,
Stijn
Michael Gosselin
Sam, why the heck was that posted here? I didn't ask for it, it has
little to do with CHESS (it's Go), and little to do with POLITICS (it's
business).
Please check which newsgroups are being posted to before posting. BTW,
all of you should be aware of that, not just Mr. Sloan.
As for this entire thread, doesn't this look like an attempt to just
discredit Mr. Sloan? Let's drop this thread from r.g.c.p now, thank you.
--
Michael Gosselin
Harvard Extension School
"No matter how deep you go, there's always another level."
- Bruce Coville, "The Search For Snout"
Harry Fearnley, Eng. Science, 273928
Yes -- this is the same Elwyn Berlekamp.
It appears that he is/was connected (perhaps as a shareholder) with Ishi
International (USA). Sam Sloan has filed several suits against the people
involved with this company, especially Hartland Snyder, it seems (from Sloan's
own many postings).
Sam Sloan has posted messages purporting to be copies of documents filed with
various courts. In addition, he has posted messages making a rich variety of
allegations about a number of people. These people seem to be in at least 2
distinct categories:
(a) people invloved in the world of Go, particularly those who have had
dealings with Richard Bozulich's company Ishi Press (Japan) -- unfortunately
Sloan's postings may sometimes have left the impression that he was speaking
for Richard Bozulich -- and
(b) people alleged to have kidnapped his mother, one (or more) of his children,
and one (or more) of his several wives, on different occasions.
Some of you will have noticed that Sam Sloan has recently posted messages from
the email address `sl...@ishipress.com', as well as from `ishi...@best.com'.
From this fact some people might infer that he is claiming some connection with
one of the various `Ishi Press' companies. Is this true? If so, which company
is he claiming connection with?
Some people will also have noticed that there is a WWW site at
"http://www.ishipress.com" -- again some people might be forgiven for inferring
that this is a site related to one of the various `Ishi Press' Companies. Is
this so, and if so, which company?
If you have visited this site in recent weeks, you may have had some difficulty
finding information about Go books. However you will have found out much about
Sloan's kidnapping claims (none by aliens yet, though); Sloan's various
lawsuits; his attitude towards women (with pictures!); and much more. In my
experience these are not the normal fare to be found on the home page of any
significant international publishing company -- perhaps times are changing?
Timothy Hanke
Stijn van Dongen wrote:
>
> IMHO, it would be preferable if you stopped core-dumping on this group.
> But I am very interested to know if someone is actually interested in
> this stuff. In that case, I'll accept the heavy load :)
>
> Regards,
> Stijn
Stijn,
I find Mr. Sloan's core dumps interesting in a morbid way. Despite his
eccentricities, he obviously has a sense of humor and a rich inner life:
two things desperately lacking in some of the other people who post
here.
Timothy Hanke
Dave Gomboc
#
#Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder have filed
#suit in federal court alleging a go monopoly by Sam Sloan. Case No.
#C-95 20678 filed in the United States District Court for the Northern
#District of California, San Jose Branch, alleges that Sloan has
#violated the federal Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 USC 1 & 2, and the
#Cartwright Act, California Business and Professions Code, Section
#16720 et seq.
#
#The First Amended complaint filed by Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Snyder
#alleges in paragraphs 44-50 and in paragraphs 70-74 that Sloan
#maintains monopoly power over the go-related market in the United
#States and that the acts of Sloan have been performed "in furtherance
#of a combination or conspiracy to restrain the trade of" Berlekamp,
#Berkowitz and Snyder and "to eliminate the competition in the
#publication, marketing, distribution and sale of Go-related products"
#and that these acts by Sloan have "constituted an unlawful trust and a
#conspiracy against trade."
#
#Furthermore, the first amended complaint, paragraphs 81-87, alleges
#that Sloan has intentionally disparaged Berlekamp, Berkowitz and
#Hartland Snyder's "professional integrity, honesty, dedication,
#reputation, diligence, competence and good will" and that Sloan
#published these representations without justification or privilege and
#with reckless disregard for whether they were true and that they
#expose Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder to "hatred, contempt,
#ridicule, and obloquy in the Go-related and puzzle industry" and
#further that Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder "have suffered
#injury to their reputation, shame, mortification, and hurt feelings"
#because of Sloan's publications.
#
#Plaintiffs Berlekamp, Berkowitz and Hartland Snyder demand treble
#damages from the profits wrongfully taken by Sloan by these acts and
#damages according to proof.
#
#The complaint was filed on November 1, 1996 by Steven S. Miyake, Esq.
#of the Law Firm of Howard D. Neal, 6200 Antioch Street, Suite 202,
#Oakland, California 94611, tel. (510) 339-0233.
Sam, many people in the rec.games.chess.* hierarchy appreciate your
posts.. but the one I quote above is probably not one of them. I
don't see anything to do with chess or chess politics in it.
Followups to rec.games.go.
Dave Gomboc
drgo...@a.stu.athabascau.ca
Sloan
Sam Sloan
2420 Atherton Street, Apt. 6
Berkeley CA 94704
Tel: (510) 548-6815
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN JOSE BRANCH
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Bozulich,
No.
C-95 20678
Plaintiff,
Ctrm:
Honorable Trumbull
-against-
Date:
January 7, 1997
Ishi Press International, James W. Connelley,
Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz
and Hartland Snyder,
Defendants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ishi Press International, a California Corporation,
Elwyn Berlekamp, Nathaniel Berkowitz, and Hartland
Snyder,
Counter-claimants
-against-
Richard Bozulich, individually, and The Ishi Press,
Inc., a Japanese Corporation, Samuel Sloan aka
Ismail Sloan an individual,
Counter - Defendants.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Declaration of Samuel Sloan in Opposition to Motion for a Protective
Order
_________________________________________________
I, Samuel Sloan, declare:
1. I am the President of Ishi Press International, a California
Corporation. I was first elected president on October 26, 1994, the
same date that James W. Connelley was removed as president and
director. I was reelected President on November 7, 1994 at a meeting
of directors which took place immediately after a special meeting of
stockholders which took place on November 7, 1994.
2. In addition, I am the designated agent for service of process for
Ishi Press International. I have filed the last two annual reports
with the California Secretary of Corporations. I have paid the state
tax for Ishi Press International for the past two years.
3. I am aware that the defendants and counter claimants to this suit
contend that I am not the president of Ishi Press International, but
there is no legal doubt that I am. The forms notifying the defendants
that they had been removed as directors of the corporation were copied
directly out of Bender's forms of California Practice. Similarly, the
call for a special stockholders meeting, the minutes of the meeting
and all of the other documents were taken directly from Bender's
forms. In addition, the by-laws of Ishi Press International are
nothing more than the model California by-laws. They were not drafted
especially for Ishi Press International. They are the standard by-laws
which almost everybody uses. The legal commentary on these by-laws and
the California Corporation Code clearly explains that any ten percent
stockholder in a California Corporation can call a special meeting of
stockholders on ten days notice. In addition, it is well established
that a majority of stockholders can remove the entire board without
notice.
4. Of equal importance and perhaps even greater importance, the
defendants do not have a board. This is a point which I think that
this court previously kept overlooking. At the time of the deposition
of Janis Miller on November 20, 1996, Judge Trumbull asked Steven
Miyake directly: "Who is the authorized representative of Ishi Press
result of his filing for bankruptcy in 1993, that bench warrant was
lifted. Hartland Snyder has been able to avoid going to jail ever
since for contempt by concealing his whereabouts. He has no known
residence address. He has no regular place of business. We have
expended considerable time tracking him down and serving him with
process. He has been served five times in this case alone. Every time
he is served he makes a bogus claim that the service was in some way
improper. He has made the same sort of claims to the Berkeley Albany
Municipal Court. He does not come to court any more and always
defaults obviously because he knows or at least believes that he is
going to be arrested and put in jail.
14. A lawyer in Oakland who has been following the career of Hartland
Snyder for the past nine years states that Hartland Snyder is "the
best there is" in evading the enforceability of judgments and the
service of process.
15. Hartland Snyder has been found to be a perpetrator of domestic
violence and abuse. An Oakland woman, Linda Louise Davenport, has
obtained a three year restraining order against him after a full
trial. Case No. 742260-50. The trial took place on November 8, 1994,
almost the same date as our special stockholder's meeting of Ishi
Press International. A copy of the order is annexed.
16. I have been contacted on the Internet by a cousin of Hartland
Snyder. She says that 20 years ago Hartland's father threw him out of
the house and told him never to return and not to contact the family
again. Until his family saw his name on the Internet, they had no idea
where he had been for 20 years.
17. The declarations of Elwyn Berlekamp and Nathaniel Berkowitz both
state that they sold all their shares of stock in Ishi Press
International to Hartland Snyder. Martin Lowenstein has testified that
he sold his stock to Hartland Snyder as well. The price Hartland paid
for Lowenstein's stock was only $250 (two hundred fifty dollars)
according to Lowenstein.
18. Hartland Snyder has been ordered by the Berkeley Albany Municipal
Court to surrender all of his shares in Ishi Press International to
the Sheriff of Alameda County. The name of the case is Wolok v.
Hartland Snyder, No. 62077. A copy of the order is annexed. Hartland
Snyder has not complied. We spent a month chasing him down. After more
than ten unsuccessful attempts at service of process, he was finally
served in October. The process server nailed him by coming through the
back door through the office of another company.
19. Hartland Snyder has not complied with the court's order and has
not surrendered the shares. I understand that he has been saying that
he sold his shares in Ishi Press International to a person named
"Cavalier". He does not know the person's address. This person did not
pay him any money, says Hartland Snyder. He only promised to pay money
in the future.
20. Now the lawyer involved in that case (who has no connection with
this case) will have to file another motion to hold Hartland in
contempt and try to serve him with that motion. Hartland will continue
to wiggle. Ultimately, he will file for bankruptcy again, as he did in
1993. That 1993 bankruptcy was dismissed because Hartland failed to
pay the required fees, failed to show up at the debtor's examination,
failed to file any of the required schedules and in short never did
anything beyond the initial bankruptcy filing. Yet, by filing for
bankruptcy, Hartland was able to get the bench warrant lifted and to
start this process all over again. It is an endless cycle.
21. This explains why Elwyn Berlekamp and Nathaniel Berkowitz have
named Hartland Snyder as the "Acting President" of Ishi Press
International. Hartland is completely judgment proof. Any judgment
against him will be worthless. We need to be able to prove that
Berlekamp and Berkowitz are controlling and manipulating the situation
through Hartland Snyder. Both Berlekamp and Berkowitz are wealthy
people. Berlekamp has an estimated net worth in the mid-eight figures.
However, Berlekamp will be trying to maintain plausible deniability.
He will say that he has nothing to do with this. In fact, it is
Berlekamp who has everything to do with this. Berlekamp brought in
Hartland Snyder. Berlekamp brought in Nathaniel Berkowitz. Berlekamp
brought in John Torode. Howard Neal is Berlekamp's personal lawyer.
Berlekamp is trying to steal our company by harassing us with
litigation because he is in a position to pay huge attorney's fees and
eventually burn us out.
22. Although Berlekamp appeared to be a "nice guy" at the beginning
and many believe that he is still a "nice guy" now, it is apparent
from a chain of events that it was Berlekamp's intention from the
beginning to steal this company. He wanted Ishi Press as a "trophy".
Why would Berlekamp, a famous mathematician, want this? He wanted it
because Ishi Press has a prestigious name, built up entirely through
the efforts of Richard Bozulich since 1969. While not well known
outside of intellectual circles, Ishi Press has a name among a certain
intellectual elite. Berlekamp had a virtually unlimited amount of
money and with it he felt that he could get that name. Perhaps he
wanted an outlet for his own publications. In any event, it is clear
that with the exception of Connelley, who was there before Berlekamp
got in, all of the people involved on that side of this court case are
Berlekamp's men. In addition, several former employees of Ishi Press
have stated that "Berlekamp is out to personally destroy Richard
Bozulich."
23. I want to explain the gravity of this situation. Richard Bozulich
not only founded Ishi Press International, but he completely financed
it. Connelley never put in any money. (Connelley claims that he put in
$10,000 but there is no evidence of that. If he did put in that amount
he has long since taken it out.) Whenever Ishi Press International got
into financial trouble, Bozulich loaned it money to keep it going.
Bozulich also shipped $111,000 worth of goods which were never paid
for by Ishi Press International.
24. In order to finance these loans and shipments, Bozulich mortgaged
his own house in Japan. Now, because of the failure and refusal of the
defendants to pay this money, which comes to around $300,000 not
counting interest, the bank in Japan has foreclosed on this loan and
he is about to be evicted from his house in Japan. He has to move out
of the house within the next few weeks. His wife divorced him one year
ago in October, 1995 because of this situation. Meanwhile, Connelley
has obviously embezzled money from the company and is living in a
beautiful home on 970 Plaza Drive in San Jose which he very possibly
paid for with money embezzled from the company and from Richard
Bozulich.
25. Not only have the defendants not paid the money which is owed to
Richard Bozulich and to Ishi Press (Japan) but they have the audacity
to claim that he is not even owed that money any more. Please look at
the so called "minutes" dated November 10, 1994 which are attached to
the declaration of Nathaniel Berkowitz. These "minutes" acknowledge
that Richard Bozulich made four loans to Ishi Press International. The
amounts included 3,639,800 yen on May 28, 1991, 2,000,000 yen on
February 3, 1992, and 2,150,000 yen on February 15, 1992. There was
also a promissory note made for $42,168 made on June 1, 1988. This
comes to a total of about $120,000 not counting interest. Then these
"minutes" go on to state that "Connelley said that these advances had
been repaid in the normal course of business."
26. When were they paid? We have been trying to get an answer to that
question for the past three years. Connelley has never produced any
documentation showing when and how this was paid, although he has
promised many times to do so. At a meeting in October, 1994, Connelley
told me: "It is all in the accounting." However, he said that he could
not get that accounting to me right away because he was in the middle
of the Christmas rush. The Christmas rush for 1994 is long since over.
We have never received the accounting. At the deposition of Connelley
on November 8, 1996, Connelley said that Janis Miller had done this
accounting. However, when we took the deposition of Janis Miller on
November 20, 1996, she denied that she had done any such accounting.
27. Obviously the claim by Connelley that these moneys had been repaid
to Bozulich is bogus. No money of any kind was paid from Ishi Press
International to Bozulich or to Ishi Press (Japan) during the relevant
period from 1992 to 1994. This also proves that the "minutes"
themselves dated November 10, 1994 are false and fraudulent. Bozulich
would never agree that these moneys have been repaid. He has
consistently demanded the repayment of these moneys. Please note that
several of the names are spelled wrong in these minutes. We have asked
every witness thus far who wrote these minutes. Nobody seems to know
or to be willing to take responsibility for them. 28. Almost the
entire counter suit filed by the defendants is based upon oral
agreements which they say that Bozulich made with Connelley. I feel
quite certain that Bozulich never made those agreements. Moreover,
such agreements even if he made them are barred by the statute of
frauds. They claim in essence that by oral agreement Bozulich conveyed
to them the rights to all the books he has published since 1969, the
rights to the Ishi Press trademark, the Ishi Press name, the Ishi
Press logo and in short that all of the corporate assets of Ishi Press
(Japan) now belong to them, they say.
29. Hartland Snyder has written letters to everyone he knows of that
Bozulich does business with among other things threatening them with
litigation if they do not stop doing business with Bozulich. Hartland
writes letters stating that he wants Bozulich to be "fired." Hartland
Snyder has written letters to John Power, Bill Franke, Jim Davies,
Sidney Yuan, Takashiro Yoshikawa, Ing Chang Ki and even to Sam Sloan
making such statements. Hartland Snyder claims not only the rights to
all books written or published by Richard Bozulich in the past, but he
has even claimed rights to the books that Richard Bozulich has not
written yet but will write in the future. Because of this harassment,
Ishi Press (Japan) stopped selling books. Richard Bozulich found a new
publisher named Kiseido. Hartland Snyder has written to Kiseido saying
that he has rights to those books as well.
30. In addition, because of this harassment, I can not market my own
book. I am the author of a book entitled "Chinese Chess for Beginners"
published by Ishi Press International. Nobody is willing to sell my
book because they are afraid of being sued by Hartland Snyder. Ishi
Press (Japan) has published about 100 publications. All of the authors
of those works find that their works are unmarketable because of this
situation.
31. At the same time, Hartland Snyder and his group refuses to pay any
royalties at all to any of the authors of these books. They print and
sell books but not one author has been paid. David Fotland is owed
$19,000. I obtained a judgment against them for $5020. Numerous other
authors are owed money by them. A printer named Griffon Printing has a
judgment against them. I have fairly recently found out that in 1995
they sold Sneaky Squares, a puzzle developed by Ishi Press
International while Richard Bozulich was chairman, to R & B
Acquisitions in Alexandria, Virginia for $75,000. With that money they
could easily have paid off me and Fotland and the other authors.
Instead, they used that money to pay off a line of credit at Summit
Bank which had been guaranteed by Connelley. They are giving corporate
insiders a preference over legitimate creditors.
32. With the judgment I hold I obtained a writ of execution against
Summit Bank. The bank had the money and paid the full amount to the
Sheriff of Alameda County. However, Berkowitz filed a "third party
claim" in which he claimed that he had a prior right as a third party
to that money. He was able to get the money released. I requested a
hearing and Commissioner James Heath of Los Gatos Small Claims Court
ruled in my favor, but I was not able to collect the money because it
had already gone back. So, I obtained another writ and this time the
sheriff collected some more money, but not the full amount. Berkowitz
filed another third party claim. There was another hearing and then
another and then another. I have now been to court around six times
against Hartland Snyder and Nathaniel Berkowitz over just this one
item. (I have actually lost count.) I have collected some money but
meanwhile I have paid more than one thousand dollars just in process
server's fees. One and a half years have passed and I still cannot get
my money.
33. In short, these defendants are just playing a game. They are
chronic pro se litigants. Berkowitz has a dozen cases in San Francisco
Superior Court. Hartland Snyder has a similar number of cases in the
Alameda County Courts. They are having a jolly time giving us a run
around. They steal our company, loot our bank accounts, sell our
books, sell our assets, keep the money and we and a hoard of other
creditors just keep chasing them and never get anywhere.
34. Their complaints, pleadings and declarations are all filled with
lies and unverifiable allegations. For example, several times they say
that Bozulich was not a majority stockholder in Ishi Press
International. However, the facts are that Bozulich owned 197,000
shares. Towako Doi, the wife of Richard Bozulich, owed 30,000 shares.
All of the people on the stockholders list with Japanese names are
friends of Richard Bozulich and he held their proxies. In contrast,
Berkowitz only owned 10,000 shares. Berlekamp only owned around 26,000
shares and Connelley, the largest stockholder outside of Bozulich,
owed 120,000 shares. Thus, Bozulich could easily vote out the rest.
35. The claim by Berkowitz that Bozulich did not own the majority of
shares is based on the claim that Berkowitz was issued 158,000 shares
prior to the meeting on November 7, 1994. However, this was obviously
a fraudulent claim. Berkowitz told me at a meeting on or about October
22, 1994 that he only owned 10,000 shares. He later got Connelley, who
was working for Berkowitz, to "issue" him a 158,000 share certificate.
The claim by Berkowitz that he had a right to those 158,000 shares was
that he had purchased a note from John Torode who had loaned $40,000
to Ishi Press International UK (London). Berkowitz bought that note
for only $500 (he says) so he was clearly not a holder in due course.
The most important additional fact is that Berkowitz personally owned
Ishi Press International UK (London) which was a different corporation
from Ishi Press International, a California corporation. The note was
an obligation of Ishi (London), Berkowitz's company. It was not a note
of Ishi Press International, a California Corporation. Nowhere in the
corporate minutes of Ishi Press International, a California
corporation, is that note mentioned. It is apparent from the terms of
the note that Berkowitz had no right to "convert" that note into Ishi
Press International, a California Corporation's, shares.
36. Furthermore, there was a posting on an Internet newsgroup entitled
rec.games.go yesterday from England which indicates that the entire
story being told above by Connelley and Berkowitz may be false and
fraudulent. I will try to obtain more verifiable information, but this
will be difficult because the English source of this information,
Harry Fearnley, refuses to cooperate.
37. Repeatedly, they quote from a letter Bozulich wrote to me in
October, 1994. However, this suit was filed in October, 1995, one year
later. What is the relevance of that letter written one year earlier?
Bozulich and Ishi Press (Japan) were owed more than $300,000. As shown
above, there was $120,000 in loans and notes. There was also $111,000
in shipments of go books and equipment which were never paid for.
There were also royalties and other items. Plus, there was interest on
all of the above. They were not only stealing from Richard Bozulich
and from his company, but they were stealing the entire corporation
which he had spent a decade building up. Naturally, he wanted me to
help him to file a lawsuit to get his money back.
38. Nathaniel Berkowitz has done this at least once before. I
understand that he used similar tactics to get involved in InFerGene
Corporation, claiming that he had a right to shares to which he had no
right. I do not know the details, but I do know that Berkowitz was
criminally indicted by the Solano County District Attorney. InFerGene
filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and is still in bankruptcy to this day.
This is a well known case, which has several times been mentioned in
the press.
39. Almost all of the "facts" set forth in the declarations of the
moving parties are actually issues in dispute to be resolved at trial.
Richard Bozulich vehemently states that he did not sign certain
documents that they say that he signed. He states that they will not
be able to product an original or even a faxed copy. We want to see
the originals of these documents. They claim that he agreed at a
meeting on November 10, 1994 that the shareholders meeting of November
7, 1994 was not valid. However, he states that he made no such
agreement. Moreover, even if he did, he had no power to do so, because
at that point in time I was the President of Ishi Press International,
not Richard Bozulich, and the defendants well knew that. They knew
that Richard had no authority to make such an agreement.
40. They state (also repeatedly) that I alleged that James W.
Connelley was the agent for service of process of Ishi Press
International. This is true, because on the days in question Connelley
was the agent for service of process. We left him as the agent and he
never resigned because we were trying to serve the corporation.
Connelley evaded service of process but finally he was caught at his
house late on Christmas Eve, 1995. After he had been served and
appeared, I filed with the Secretary of State that I was henceforth
the agent for service of process.
41. They keep arguing that I stated that I am not a party to this
action. They have reversed positions from before. Back when they were
trying to quash service of process, they alleged that I was a party to
this action. I believe that they were successful in requiring us to
serve them again. Now that service is no longer an issue (at least so
far as I am aware) they reverse positions and say that I am not a
party. I believe that sanctions would be in order here.
42. They keep saying that they dropped me as a defendant because I am
in bankruptcy. The fact is that I was discharged from bankruptcy by
the San Francisco bankruptcy court in March, 1995, one and a half
years ago. One confusing point is that the San Francisco bankruptcy
court issued two orders of discharge by mistake. It then vacated the
second order one week later. The first order remained in effect. I
explained this to Mr. Miyake and I am sure that he understands this.
The fact that he keeps alleging that I was dropped as a defendant only
because I am in bankruptcy shows that he plans to add me back on as a
defendant at the right time.
43. Mr. Miyake knows that I cannot afford to pay for all of these
depositions myself. His strategy clearly is to exclude me from
participating in the depositions. I will not be able to tell Mr. Craig
Mar what questions to ask. He alleges that I just became involved with
this case in 1994. This is not true. I have been involved with Ishi
Press since 1984. Perhaps one reason that some of the defendants did
not become fully aware of my involvement in this case until October,
1994 was that Connelley always insisted on keeping me out of the
picture. For example, Berlekamp came to Japan in April, 1992. I was in
Japan in the Ishi Press (Japan) office. Bozulich tried to introduce me
to Berlekamp. Berlekamp refused to meet me because Connelley had told
him not to meet with Sloan. This has always been Connelley's strategy
and Connelley's insistence. Connelley knows that Bozulich is a babe in
the woods when it comes to these financial matters and that Bozulich
can easily be taken to the cleaners but that I am the one with 18
years experience in corporate finance in Wall Street who won a
securities law case in the United States Supreme Court (436 US 103
(1978)) and who can protect the interests of Richard Bozulich. For
example, they insisted that I not attend the meeting of November 10,
1994. They did not want Bozulich to bring any witnesses. That is why
they are now able to allege that Bozulich made certain agreements at
that meeting. They insisted that Bozulich not bring me or any other
witness to a meeting on November 6, 1994 either. Connelley has written
two letters to Bozulich recently implying that a settlement can be
made of this suit but only if Sam Sloan is kept out of the settlement
negotiations. Bozulich is not going to fall into this trap any more
and he immediately forwarded those letters to me. The obvious reason
is that every time he meets with them or even speaks to one of them on
the telephone, they later on allege that he has made some oral
agreement which he says that he never made.
44. During the telephone conference with Judge Trumbull on November
20, 1996, Steven Miyake stated that he has filed an amended complaint
dropping me as a defendant and that it would be arriving in the mail
soon if it had not arrived already. As far as I know, this statement
was not true. No such amended complaint has ever been filed. I am
still named as a defendant in the caption of the complaint. (I hope
that the court kept a tape recorded of that conversation.)
45. For all of these reasons and several more, this motion for a
protective order was not made in good faith and must be denied.
------------------------
Samuel
Sloan
VERIFICATION
I, Samuel Sloan, have read the foregoing declaration and know the
contents thereof. The same is true of my own knowledge, except as to
those matters which are stated upon information and belief, and, as to
those matters, I believe them to be true. I declare under penalty of
perjury under the laws of California that the foregoing is true and
correct.
January 6, 1997
--------------------------
Samuel
Sloan
Christopher H. Yee
The number of people who care:
0.5
Mark
In article <32d1459...@nntp.best.com>, sl...@ishipress.com wrote:
> and that Sloan
> published these representations without justification or privilege and
> with reckless disregard for whether they were true
That seems to accurately define Sam Sloan, anyone will agree.