the night before this trial, which has been scheduled for over 2 years, was to begin, the defendants declared bankruptcy in order to stop the trial from going forward. For over 4 years we have been dealing with these spurious legal tactics, originating in the fraud perpetrated against Worddiamonds. They continue their same ‘bad faith’  [intent to decieve] modus operandi. Never straightforward or truthful, here again they attempt to twist the law to suit their own dishonest, dishonorable intention- to deceive quite frankly. Obviously these guys are far from bankrupt!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 25, 2012
Contact: Richard Lavinthal 202-596-1176

Daughter of CBS Founder William S. Paley’s Multi-Million-Dollar
Fraud Allegations Against Three High-Profile Silicon Valley
Venture Capitalists; Evri, Inc.; and Radar Networks, Inc.; To Begin
Monday, February 27th, In San Mateo Superior Court, Judge Rules

Kate Paley’s Fraud Lawsuit Names Steve Hall, a Managing Director
of Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, Which Controls Evri; Ross Levinsohn of Fuse
Capital, and Now Yahoo Inc.’s newly named interim CEO,
and Nova Spivack of Lucid Ventures

Superior Court Judge V. Raymond Swope Denied
Summary Judgment Motions by Hall, Levinsohn,
and Vulcan-Owned Evri, on February 23rd

SAN MATEO, CA (February 25, 2012) – In an open-court rarity a California jury will hear a fraud lawsuit against three high-profile Silicon Valley venture capitalists and two entities alleged to have defrauded CBS founder William S. Paley’s daughter, Kate, of her multi-million investment in a start-up.

Steve Hall, of Vulcan Capital (“Vulcan” at www.Vulcan Capital.com); Vulcan-owned Evri, Inc. (“Evri” at www.Evri.com); Ross Levinsohn, of Fuse Capital (http://fusecapital.com/partners/ross-levinsohn) and recently name interim CEO of Yahoo Inc. Nova Spivack of Radar Networks, Inc. (“Radar”); and Radar transferred assets with the intent to defraud Paley of her rights as a creditor, it is alleged.

Misconduct, self-dealing, and fraud allegations previously sealed will be aired publicly in the trial. Jury selection and opening statements will be scheduled at an initial conference with the San Mateo Superior Court trial assignment department on Monday at 9:30 AM.

(More)

On Thursday the court denied motions by Hall, Levinsohn and Evri to dismiss claims that they transferred assets with the actual intent to defraud Paley of her rights as a creditor to Radar, the now-defunct Silicon Valley start-up.

Paley’s Complaint alleges fraud, fraudulent conveyance, breach of contract and other claims related to her investment in Radar, an early-stage tech company focused on semantic search technology.

According to Paley’s lawsuit, the defendants actively conspired to cheat her out of her investment in Radar by (i) unlawfully converting her from a creditor to a shareholder; (ii) selling Radar’s assets for less than fair value to Evri, a business controlled by Vulcan, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s investment vehicle; and (iii) not sharing any of the sale proceeds with Paley, while each of the defendants received substantial benefits.

Hall, a managing director of Vulcan, was on the board of directors of both Radar and Evri at the time that Evri purchased Radar’s assets for less than fair value. Levinsohn’s venture capital firm profited from the sale, as did he, and Spivack also benefitted from the sale of Radar to Evri, it is alleged. Radar had only three directors, Hall, Levinsohn, and Spivack.

In their motions for summary judgment, Evri, Hall, and Levinsohn denied any misconduct, claiming Paley did not even have standing to sue as a creditor, an argument Judge Swope rejected. In his ruling, Judge Swope determined that the relevant contracts were not ambiguous and held that, as a matter of law, the defendants did not have the right to convert Paley’s loan to equity.

“I’m very pleased with the Court’s decision and look forward to presenting my case starting Monday,” Paley said.

Paley is represented by Mandel Bhandari, LLP in New York City; and Colt/Wallerstein LLP in Redwood Shores, California

Case Caption: Kate Paley and Word Diamonds, LLC v. Radar Networks, Inc., Nova Spivack, Steve Hall, Ross Levinsohn, and Evri Inc., Case No. Civ-494701, California Superior Court in and for the County of San Mateo.

# # #

Attention Credentialed Reporters and Editors: If you are unable to retrieve the Complaint or Thursday court ruling online from the clerk’s office please call PRforLAW, LLC at 202-596-1176. Both documents will be posted on the PRforLAW.com homepage by early Sunday.

Contact: Richard Lavinthal 202-596-1176; PRexpert@PRforLAW.com

the night before the trial was to begin, Ross Levinsohn of Yahoo and Paul Allen of Vulcan Capital declared bankruptcy to stop the trial from going forward. Obviously neither of them is bankrupt monetarily, but perhaps in other ways.

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Prominent atheist blogger converts to Catholicism

Leah Libresco, an atheist blogger, is converting to Catholicism.
By Dan Merica, CNN

Washington (CNN) – She went from atheist to Catholic in just over 1,000 words.

Leah Libresco, who’d been a prominent atheist blogger for the religion website Patheos, announced on her blog this week that after years of debating many “smart Christians,” she has decided to become one herself, and that she has begun the process of converting to Catholicism.

Libresco, who had long blogged under the banner “Unequally Yoked: A geeky atheist picks fights with her Catholic boyfriend,” said that at the heart of her decision were questions of morality and how one finds a moral compass.

“I had one thing that I was most certain of, which is that morality is something we have a duty to,” Libresco told CNN in an interview this week, a small cross dangling from her neck. “And it is external from us. And when push came to shove, that is the belief I wouldn’t let go of. And that is something I can’t prove.”

The ability to do something is not the license to do it. But without a moral compass, there are those whose only requisite is ‘can we or can we not get away with it’. That is not a moral compass.

The persistent attempts by the defendants to contort the law to bend it to their own purposes is the same bad faith modus operandi they consider perfectly acceptable. ‘Everyone does it’..? Really?

So you think its alright to declare yourselves bankrupt to stop the trial so that your fraud will not be exposed in public? Obviously you consider that fine, that’s why you are doing it.

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(stats are for 1/2 day)

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Worddiamonds is a sincere, modest effort to simply publish the Bible in a new way for the internet. It’s truly stunning the lengths the defendants Steve Hall of Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, Ross Levinsohn of Yahoo, Nova Spivack et.al. have gone to, to prevent Worddiamonds from being developed and moving forward, even to the extent of having it dismantled, destroying its functionality for some bizarre notion that this would impel us to “freak out and throw more money at it” (Spivack).

This is the company that they stole all the development funds from and tried to publicly blame to cover their own efforts to simply cash in while publicly saving face, by appropriating Radar Networks- which they still own, in the form of Evri, ( although they are trying to force the courts to accept their declarations of bankruptcy.)

BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD GET AWAY WITH IT. We seemed to them so vulnerable and naive- a female president- so guileless, honest, so WEAK..that it would be like swatting away a miniscule ‘obstacle’ as they referred to us.

For  years these men have told us in every way they can think of, that we are worthless, that they could care less, that we are underserving of being treated with any consideration, that they have dignified us by stealing our funds and destroying our website, because it gave them the appearance of making a ‘soft landing’ by their peers, and an opportunity to get a tax write off on an $85 million dollar investment gain of another investment.

That they have value whereas our small company is a blip, so negligible, that their actions are perfectly justifiable as seen from their point of view, and that they will bury us with lawyers, delays, every trick in the legal book, as well as with slander, with that disparaging buzz, along with the multitude of lies with which they seem to believe everyone does business.

.                     .                .              .               .               .                .                .                   .                  .                 .

Is that true? Is this what happens in Silicon Valley? Wasting the courts time and limited budget.. it’s not just Worddiamonds they could care less about… why would an American register one of his yachts in the Cayman Islands? Is tax evasion by one of the richest Americans a good enough reason for fraud, as was perpetrated against Worddiamonds by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital just to gain a tax write-off on a capital gain of $85,000,000? It is evidence of this as well as other questionable practices that these defendants are so frightened will come to light. Tax evasion is just the tip of the iceberg.

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Defendant Ross Levinsohn has resorted to every delay tactic in the book to prevent public exposure of his insider dealings.

For example, Radar Networks declared for bankruptcy on Nov. 2, 2011, yet defendants Hall [Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital] and Levinsohn waited until February 26, 2012- literally the eve of the trial- to assert bankruptcy claims and delay the suit at the last possible moment.

In an attempt to further disrupt the trial schedule, defendants now claim that after they liquidated Radar Networks and sold it to a company controlled by defendant Hall, they are nonetheless entitled to endemnity as directors and are therefore creditors of the corporation.

Having finally vaulted to his new position atop Yahoo, Mr. Levinsohn is testing this new position of power  by retaining new lawyers to embroil the case of fraud against himself, and others, in even more confusing, circuitous, legal semantics. This is done almost reflexively, as if truth were a concept of so little consequence, compared to his personal ambition and gain, that it could simply be brushed aside, and that there is nothing wrong with doing so. It is not enough to simply not be the initiator of fraudulent activities- if you go along with a fraud you in fact did not initiate, but colluded with- if you did not initiate a fraud but still went along with it- you in fact are as guilty of fraud as the original perpetrator(s).

Mr. Levinsohn’s new filing includes his complaint about having to spend so much money to prevent the trial of his fraudulent activities from going forward!

If successful, Mr. Levinsohn and Mr. Hall will have succeeded in lowering the bar of ethics and contributing to the decay of business standards which is crippling to the foundation of justice and laws needed to sustain a strong economy.

Despite defendants efforts, this case cannot be delayed indefinitely, and the true nature of the defendants conduct will eventually be aired before the public, which is nevertheless also on display by this latest filing.

This is not the first time those who have attempted to publish the Bible in a new way, have been persecuted, and many, martyred, as a result. And so it goes.

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The continued attempts of the defendants to delay the trial proceedings, and to have evidence of their wrong-doing excluded from being presented in open court, is for the simple reason, that it clearly exposes their premeditated efforts of oppression with malice to wrongfully defraud those they considered incapable of withstanding their combined efforts to do so.

Worddiamonds is a small company with the modest goal of publishing the Bible in a new way.

The obvious and prolonged suffering the defendants continue to inflict in the face of the courts rulings and the evidence against them, captures what kind of men they really are. They are oblivious to the effects of their own cruelty against a small company they ganged up on, in the belief that we could easily be buried under of their combined onslaught of harassment, hacking, disparagement, slander, mocking, threats and lies. They are so invested in destroying us that their same strategy of bullying against all sound wisdom and legal requirments remains unchanged.

Their attorneys fury- visceral, personal anger, expressed towards us, so visibly demonstrated in the 3 days of deposition they conducted against Kate Paley and Worddiamonds- cannot be other than extensions of their clients attitudes.

Because any new publication of the Bible is accompanied by various forms of persecution we were prepared for some resistance…but, this has been truly overwhelming, life-threatening, and excruciating, and it seems, never-ending.

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The response from defendants Ross Levinsohn of Yahoo and Steve Hall of Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, has been to delay, at every step of the way,  [ case # CIV494701 San Mateo County Superior Court ] this case from going forward, and to keep out evidence of their misdeeds from being aired in a public court of law.

Instead of taking responsibility their only thought is to shirk responsibility.

Again this week another new attempt on their part to delay the proceedings has been disallowed by the judge. [the next week they tried this same ploy to delay the trial going forward- see June 16 post].

We know from experience that these men consider themselves smarter and more clever than anyone else. Their arrogance and patronizing attitude which extends even to their view of the court system is wearying on everyone.

Their indifference to anyone’s interests beyond their own is remarkably consistent. It is the same indifference with which they carried out their fraudulent conveyance, the same sneering contempt with which they caused the theft and destruction of Worddiamonds for their own convenience and monetary gain, in the hopes this would somehow compel us to “freak out and throw more money at it” to somehow fix it.

Although Mr. Levinsohn saw what was going on, and said it was “evil”, he nevertheless threw in his lot with helping orchestrate the fraudulent conveyance, which could not have been accomplished without his complicity.

The defendants in this case truly cannot conceive of anyone else’s interests holding a candle to their exalted view of their own. They sincerely do believe their interests are far more important than other peoples. This is their world view, and they conduct themselves and treat others from this point of view.

They truly believe they are above being held accountable for anything or having to answer to anyone. They refuse  to take responsibility for their actions, and are affronted as well as dismissive towards anyone that dare ask them to do so, even a court of law.

Their continued attempts to stop the trial and keep the evidence out of the public view, more than anything, demonstrates this very attitude. The obvious and prolonged suffering they continue to inflict in the face of the courts rulings and the evidence against them really captures what kind of men they truly are. They are oblivious to the effects of their own cruelty- their deliberate ‘oppression with malice’ of others.

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The defendants Ross Levinsohn of Yahoo and Steve Hall of Vulcan Capital claiming, in this case, to be creditors of a company they shut down and own themselves, was another ploy to stop the trial that would expose their misdeeds- their serious, fraudulent activities. Essentially Mr. Levinsohn and Mr. Allen ( owner of Vulcan Capital ) and Mr. Hall are in denial that they haven’t been able to get away with what they thought would be a slam dunk fraudulent conveyance.

and so have thrown in a claim that they are the one’s who need to be repaid for the fraud they conducted..sweet, huh?

They feel they can commit fraud, but, they don’t feel they can afford to be exposed for doing so.  Yet, what is unusual in this case, is the continued determination of M. Hall, Mr. Levinsohn, and Mr. Allen, to insist on pretending this is not what they have done, in the face of such overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

They have here gone so far as to put forth the argument, that if anyone has been defrauded, it is themselves, and they present themselves in all guileful sincerity as the parties to whom monies are owed.

It begs the question, how often has this worked for the defendants in the past, as they seem so startled and frustrated not to be getting away with it on this occasion? How many others have been bullied into silence, outspent and out maneuvered, threatened, maligned, slandered, in efforts to prevent anyone from ever being able to hold them accountable? Their efforts persist to this day. We are faced with their same fury and scorn as we try to hold them accountable at this present moment.

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“There is no real development without integrity, that is- a love of truth” Frank Lloyd Wright

Silicon Valley has no adult supervision at this time. It would benefit from a few grown ups.

“You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” John 8:19

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Here we go again- Silicon Valley at its sleaziest. Yet again Steve Hall of Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital seeks to delay a court date that has been on the calender for months, saying he has been ‘sandbagged’..really? So, on the eve of anything meant to be discussed in an open court of law involving the fraud perpetrated by Mr. Hall and Ross Levinsohn, these defendants seek to stop the proceedings. This is your strategy, gentleman, to avoid facing the music and owning up to your seriously sleazy conduct?

After sandbagging the trial that had been scheduled for over 2 years from proceeding this past February, by all of a sudden declaring bankruptcy of a company they engineered the shutdown and sale of to themselves, again, on the eve of a court date now we are accused of sandbagging them by simply responding to their filing for bankruptcy? Mr. Hall and Mr. Levinsohn, what is wrong with both of you? This evidence has been available for your reveiw for over 2 years.

Are you both ostriches?

It’s business as usual for you both, that’s certainly clear.

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Tomorrow there is a court date to see whether or not ethical standards apply to those determined to hoodwink the law.

Clearly Ron Levinsohn of Yahoo and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital feel that it is perfectly ok to try to do so- to use the law against itself by contorting its intent to justify their actions. If the defendants succeed, they will have succeeded in establishing the legalization of fraud. I’m not sure if this is a legal precedent.

As a litmus test of the Silicon Valley community this in and of itself is cause for dismay. And make no mistake- this  is  a litmus test of the Silicon Valley community.

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