June 2009 Archives

Toronto Canada Mina Mar Group Inc (www.minamargroup.com) a privately held Canadian company today filed a lawsuit in Toronto Canada against Belmont Partners. www.belmontpartners.net and Joseph Meuse personally.

Amongst other things, the companies purchased by Mina Mar Group had the following names and trading symbols: Vsheild Software Corp. - VSHE, King Resources Inc. - KING and Aztec Technology Partners, Inc. - AZTC. In summary, Mina Mar Group takes the position that assets were removed from the 3 aforementioned companies which belong to all of the shareholders, however Joseph Meuse admitted to Miro Zecevic President of Mina Mar Group that these assets were distributed to only to some, but not all of the shareholders. Miro Zecevic said "Upon learning this, it just didn't sit well with us. That action exposed us and these Companies to law suits from dissenting shareholders, SEC inquiries, sanctions and other possible liabilities that Mina Mar did not anticipate and did not bargain for.

"We are extremely disappointed that Belmont and Mr. Meuse (The X management) simply refused to address these matters and other matters when brought to their attention. Moreover there are other serious irregularities that were discovered by our internal forensic research analysts that would seriously undermine any minority shareholder of these companies. In addition any company that merged with these issuers would have been in peril. Our team has worked very hard over the past several months by completing filings on Pink Sheets and increasing these issuers ranks from "STOP NO INFORMATION" to "YIELD LIMITED INFORMATION" and including introducing these issuers to substantial companies in Europe USA and China as per various past news releases. All of these pending deals are now off the table. We have a very strong presence in China with approximately 20 Chinese companies looking to enter the public markets with reverse mergers. In good conscience and as a good corporate citizen we can not recommend these companies to our clients nor provide any sort of meaningful investor relations to these issuers shareholders. We recently launched a shareholder advocacy division where we assist minority shareholders in cases where the issuers are abusive or where the issuers simply abandon the assets, and leave minority shareholders in the cold. This Belmont matter goes against the very principles we believe in."

Mina Mar Group acknowledges the efforts of Big Apple Consulting, a USA based company, who is also involved in a similar type of lawsuit with Belmont on a similar and unrelated transaction.

The entire Mina Mar Group law suit against Belmont Partners can be viewed at this link http://www.minamargroup.com/client_interests.php

SOURCE Mina Mar Group

William Cozzi, a Chicago police officer, was sentenced today to 40 months in federal prison for violating the federal civil rights of a man whom the officer struck repeatedly with a dangerous weapon while the man was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King for the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald for the Northern District of Illinois and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the FBI.

Cozzi, 52, of Chicago, pleaded guilty in January and admitted that he used excessive or unreasonable force while acting under color of law. He was ordered to begin serving his sentence on Aug. 6, 2009. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning, who also imposed a $2,000 fine, two years of supervised release and 200 hours of community service. Cozzi joined the Chicago Police Department in 1992 and was assigned to the 25th District at the time of the alleged incident. He was subsequently suspended from duty.

Cozzi was charged in April 2008 with depriving the victim of his civil rights. In pleading guilty, Cozzi admitted that on Aug. 2, 2005, while performing his duties as a police officer, he used a "sap" -- a dangerous weapon similar to a blackjack -- to repeatedly strike the unnamed victim, identified only as "Victim A," who was handcuffed and shackled in a wheelchair at Norwegian American Hospital in Chicago, resulting in bodily injury. At the time, Victim A was awaiting treatment in the hospital emergency room after being stabbed in the shoulder.

"Police officers are given tremendous authority and responsibility so that they can protect and serve the public trust. Those who abuse that authority face serious consequences," said Loretta King, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of federal laws prohibiting this type of misconduct by law enforcement officials."

"No law enforcement officer may use unreasonable force with impunity and every citizen, regardless of being in police custody, has a Constitutional right to be free from the use of excessive force," U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said.

Cozzi pleaded guilty while reserving his right to appeal a judge's rulings last year denying his motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that the prosecution was based in part on compelled statements he made to the Chicago Police Department's Office of Professional Standards and during a police review board hearing.

According to a plea agreement, Cozzi was dispatched to the hospital to respond to the stabbing and approached Victim A who was being loud and verbally abusive while awaiting treatment for the stabbing. Shortly after approaching Victim A, Cozzi placed him in handcuffs and left the emergency room to retrieve leg shackles, which he then placed upon Victim A. With the victim restrained, Cozzi used a sap to repeatedly strike him in the face and body. At the time, Victim A posed no physical threat to Cozzi or anyone else at the hospital, according to the plea agreement.

Cozzi also admitted that he subsequently prepared a false arrest report and misdemeanor complaints stating that Victim A attempted to punch him and two hospital security guards, as well as a false tactical response report stating that he used an "open hand strike" on Victim A but omitted that he struck the victim with a sap.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

The NAACP and nine class representatives today filed a motion for class certification in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division, on behalf of a nationwide group of current and former employees of Eli Lilly Company. At the same time, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging that the pharmaceutical giant discriminates against its African-American employees in pay, promotion and related promotional opportunities and that Lilly's discriminatory policies and practices deny these African Americans an equal opportunity to advance in their careers.

Accompanying the class certification motion and amended complaint were certified declarations by more than 100 members of the class throughout the United States regarding their adverse employment experiences at the company.

The legal actions were announced at 11 a.m. Tuesday on the steps of the U.S. District Courthouse in Indianapolis by Angela Ciccolo, National General Counsel of the NAACP; plaintiffs' spokesperson Cassandra Welch; and the plaintiffs' attorney and new Co-lead Counsel David Sanford, of Sanford Wittels & Heisler LLP.

Sanford Wittels & Heisler, a national civil rights firm with offices in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco, and the Morelli Ratner firm, a New York City-based plaintiff's firm have joined with Rose & Rose, a civil rights firm in Washington, DC, as Co-lead Counsel in the matter. The plaintiff's local counsel in Indiana is Rob Dassow of Hovde, Dassow & Deets, LLC.

The NAACP, Cassandra Welch in her individual capacity, as well as Raynard Tyson, Sheryl A. Davis, Clara Walker, Delores Ryan, Allison Carter, Lawanda Rutledge, Joy Mason, Kelly French and Jackie Colbert are named as class representatives on behalf of themselves and the class of current and past employees of Eli Lilly who experienced pervasive and longstanding racial discrimination as Lilly employees. There are an estimated 2,000 members of the class.

"More than 100 African American employees have filed declarations outlining the toll of Eli Lilly's discrimination on them and their families. Lost earnings and benefits coupled with the humiliation and distress of years of not being recognized for their merit and being held back because of the color of their skin," said Mr. Benjamin Jealous, President of the NAACP. "Companies like Eli Lilly who practice the anachronistic policies of racial discrimination harm not only the victims, but the competitiveness of U.S. business which must conduct business in an increasingly diverse marketplace."

The plaintiffs seek declaratory and injunctive relief, back pay, front pay, and attorneys' fees, costs and expenses to redress Lilly's pervasive and discriminatory employment practices.

All of the plaintiffs worked at Lilly locations in the U.S. over the past three decades and many continue to work there today: Mr. Tyson resided in North Carolina and was employed by Lilly from 1999 through 2004; Ms. Davis has been employed as a sales representative by Lilly in Memphis, TN, since March 2000; Ms. Walker resides in Indianapolis and has been employed at Lilly since 1988; Ms. Ryan resides in Indianapolis and has been employed at Lilly since 1977; Ms. Carter resides in Indianapolis and has been employed at Lilly since 2000; Ms. Rutledge resides in Olympia Fields, IL, and has been employed at Lilly since 2003; Ms. Mason resides in Indianapolis and has been employed at Lilly since 1998 and Kelly French resides in Indianapolis and was employed at Lilly from 1999 through 2008.

"Lilly discriminates against its African-American employees by advancing the company's white employees more quickly, and by denying African-American employees equal job assignments, promotional opportunities, training, compensation and other benefits of employment," said Mr. Sanford, Co-Lead Class Counsel. "These actions are part of Lilly's continuing pattern and practice of treating African-American employees differently from white employees. Such callous and unlawful behavior gives a new and warped meaning to the term 'lily white.' It cannot be allowed to continue."

Ms. Welch resided in Indianapolis during her employment by Lilly from 1992 until 2004. She is a long-time member of the NAACP, which is committed to the improvement of the social and economic status of minority groups, the elimination of racial prejudice and discrimination, and the attainment of civil rights and equal opportunities for its members and others. The majority of the members of the NAACP are African American.

"I have been subjected to blatant and persistent pay discrimination throughout my tenure at Lilly," said Ms. Welch. "I had to endure years of racist comments and threats -- including having a dark-colored doll with a noose around its neck left on my desk -- just to remain employed. My complaints to supervisors were never properly investigated, and I was ultimately let go by the company based on an untrue allegation by a co-worker."

Similar employment horror stories of the nine class representatives are described in the filing and in the more than 100 declarations.

"As these individual and collective employment experiences make clear, for several decades Lilly has intentionally engaged in discriminatory practices with indifference to the federally protected rights of its African American employees," said Ms. Ciccolo, General Counsel of the NAACP. "This company's longstanding policies and patterns of discrimination have injured and damaged these nine class representatives and all of the other African-Americans it employs. The legal actions we are taking in Indianapolis federal court are required to bring that injury and damage to a prompt and permanent end."

SOURCE Sanford Wittels & Heisler, LLP

Documents from all five cases of Brown v. Board of Education Presented for the First Time

The struggle for freedom is a recurring theme in the annals of American history, and it is the subject of a new exhibition of milestone documents opening June 16 at the National Archives at Atlanta.

To mark the 75th anniversary of the National Archives and Records Administration, the National Archives at Atlanta opens Documented Rights, a traveling exhibition of original documents from each of the 13 regional branches of the National Archives.

Documented Rights presents records that give voice to the national struggle for human and civil rights. It features more than 80 documents, facsimiles, images and sound recordings, including:

• Selected documents from all five court cases that comprised Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that ended school segregation -- exhibited for the first time together;
• Court records of the schooner Amistad, that tell the story of 53 Africans who resisted enslavement, overpowered the ship's captain and were found off the coast of Long Island;
• Court records from San Francisco in the 1890s chronicling the citizenship odyssey of San Francisco-born Wong Kim Ark;
• The official logbook recording the WWII evacuation and relocation of Aleuts in Alaska;
• Court records reflecting the efforts of white residents of Koinonia Farms, Georgia, to overcome various forms of discrimination;
• An early Montgomery Improvement Association booklet by Martin Luther King, Jr.; and
• A court martial order for Second Lt. Jackie Robinson who refused to move to the back of the bus on a military post.

Documented Rights is part of a nationwide series of commemorative events that includes a one-day symposium at the National Archives at Atlanta on June 13 on the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement; registration for the symposium is closed.

The exhibition is free and open to the public at the National Archives at Atlanta, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia. The facility hours are Tuesday - Saturday, 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Call 770-968-2100 for more information or see http://www.archives.gov/southeast/.

Source: National Archives