W. P. Hickman Goes Belly-Up - as of October 2, 2008

Two weeks past it's founding 25 years ago, W. P. Hickman Systems and its' two wholly-owned subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in a Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court.

 Apparently, a creditor refused to renegotiate their terms of their debt, and W. P. Hickman had to file Chapter 11 in order to protect their assets.  

The Oct. 2, 2008 Bankruptcy filings also show that W. P. Hickman's new holding company, Serefex, and new management team in place since February, 2008, uncovered "certain accounting irregularities and potentially fraudulent activities in excess of $5.0 million by former insiders and subordinated debt holders of Hickman. Lawsuits against certain of these insiders are pending."


Of note in the timeline below is that the holding company Serefex acquired 71% of the shares of W. P. Hickman on October 20, 2007 - five days after the Hickman Employees' ESOP plan trustee files a lawsuit on behalf of that plan against W. P. Hickman.

Those Lawsuits include:
1. The Trustee of the W. P. Hickman ESOP Plan filed a suit Oct. 15, 2007 against W. P. Hickman, alleging that the former Chairman of the Board of Directors David D'Anza - also President, CEO and Trustee for the D'Anza Family Trust -
"systematically and fraudulently misappropriated millions of dollars from the company...
that
"Mr. D'Anza also falsified Hickman financial records,"and
"concealed blatant self-dealing by the D'Anza family"....
that
"the D'Anza family orchestrated this widespread and multifaceted scheme."

Since that filing, the original Trustee and the Counsel for the trustee has resigned and been replaced, David D'Anza was removed from his positions and resigned, and amendments to the Complaint and its defendants are being added.
(Court of the Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Case No. 07-6338870).

2. The former President and CEO of W. P. Hickman (1985-2002) Robert Jonas filed a wrongful termination and whistleblower lawsuit against W. P. Hickman ,approximately April 11, 2008. (Court of the Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Case No. 08-656375).

3. W. P. Hickman filed a counterclaim against Mr. Jonas approximately July 9, 2008, alleging that Mr. Jonas:
"...breached his fiduciary duty to Hickman and its shareholders";
"...converted and embezzled Hickman funds";
"...committed fraud and defamed Hickman after his association with them ended."

 4. WCode and Ohio common law." (Court of the Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Case No. 08-664148). Talk about Kashi Cooking! What a kettle of fish!!!! And oh how the Tremco practices of marketing and go. P. Hickman filed an action against David D'Anza, Donna D'Anza, D'Anza Family Trust, Christine B. Hooper, Aurgo Consultants, Brian D'Anza, Christopher D'Anza, Jessica D'Anza, and Paul Patchen/T&M Construction, approximately May 14, 2008, alleging that:
"...David D'Anza systematically and fraudulently misappropriated millions of dollars from the Company;"
"...David D'Anza also falsified financial records, and concealed blatant self-dealing by the D'Anza family;" and
"...the D'Anza family orchestrated this widespread and multifaceted scheme." (Court of the Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Case No. 08-659496).

5. W. P. Hickman on or about June 19, 2008, filed a complaint against Steve Harnish, alleging that he: "...breached his fiduciary duties to W. P. Hickman as its President and CEO since at least 2002;"
"...violated his non-compete, non-solicitation agreement;"
"...totuously interfered with hickan's customers and employees;"
"...defamed and disparaged the xompany afdter his association wtih Hicman ended;"
"...violated the Ohio Uniform Trade Secret Act and Ohio common law." (Court of the Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Case No. 08-662719). 

 6. Steve Hamish countersued W. P. Hickman approximately July 3, 2008, had the suit removed to Federal Court, had an injunction gained against him in State Court dissolved, and has alleged that "...W. P. Hickman owes him back pay."

 7. And in the continuing saga, W. P. Hickman filed yet another suit, this time against Simon Roofing and Sheet Metal Corp., for allegedly having:
"...hired Steve Hamish;"
"...tortuously interfered with Hickman's customers and employees;"
"...defamed and disparaged Hickman;"
"...violated the Ohio Uniform Trade Secret Act, the Ohio Rev.

Amazing to see how these guys are going after one another, forgetting how much of it came from overcharges in the millions or more to the taxpayer, schools, and education......what a mess! Seems the government ought to go after all that money in a Qui Tam suit (recovering overcharges to the government), and just get the scam stopped.....now!

Please see the following link for more detailed information:
http://www.hotstocked.com/10-k/serefex-corporation-SFXC-189069.html

Corruption Matters

For those of you wondering how Marxist Ideals have now and will drastically affect your future, here is how it has happened:

 Public officials get to feeling they are above the law, and stick their hand into the Public Till. Addiction to that ready pot o' gold sets in - and wa la! They are beholden to whomever will get them that gold!

Nothing is free....and just like the laws of chemistry, to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction...or the universe would fly apart.

So, consider:
Say you are trying to conduct your business - in your case, roofing consulting, sales or contracting - and you just can't seem to beat a "blank wall" of denial to even consider other products or competitive bidding - supposedly required by law to protect the overburdened taxpayers.

And say, like one major manufacturer's rep found in Santa Monica, CA less than ten years ago, he observed two of their school district officials driving Mercedes, got curious, he checked their records (somehow!) and found that they were leased by one of the three manufacturers named in the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation Report - allegedly. Sweet!

But he couldn't get anyone here in California to investigate.

Another - a roofing manufacturer - told me that a school district person in the Central Valley in California allegedly received a $20,000 boat for illegally sole-sourcing products produced by one of the three manufacturers named in the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation Report.

What can you do about it?

Well first, if you don't, you get what you deserve in politicians, laws, complicit judges...and the whole system goes down the tube. Unchecked corruption is the outward sign of a spiral downward into hopelessness...and dependency, not healthy independence that spawned the great ideas and businesses that built the US.

Well, then, if you care about this country and if it has any future at all....please report what you know to the authorities.

Without doing so, you are part of the cog in the wheel that has brought us to the point of losing our freedoms and ability to make a decent living or more.

I have included below information for you off the FBI website - so you don't have to get on the site and expose your information until you want to.
___________________________________________  

Where to report kickbacks you have been told by the person they are getting or you saw them get:

Report Corruption
 Please contact us if you come across evidence of public corruption activities: Submit an Online Tip (go to www.fbi.gov and click their link) Call our Local Corruption Hotlines

• Birmingham, AL: (877) 628-2533
• Cincinnati, OH: (614) 744-2139
• Columbia, SC: (803) 551-4200
• Knoxville, TN: (888) 678-6720
• Little Rock, AR: (501) 221-8200
• New York, NY: (877) 363-4723
• Puerto Rico: (877) FBI-SJPR
• Richmond, VA: (804) 627-4597
• Salt Lake City, UT: (866) 50-BRIBE
• San Diego: (877) NO-BRIBE
• San Francisco: (800) 376-5991
• Springfield, IL: (877) U-TIP-OFF
• U.S. Virgin Islands: (340) 774-9296
• More Local FBI Offices

And here is what the FBI Website states regarding specifically Corruption in Schools:

LESSONS IN CRIME? Why Protecting Schools Matters

08/23/06

It’s that time of year…when kids and families are gearing up for the coming school year. We’re gearing up, too, to help keep corruption out of the public school system.
That’s the FBI’s job? Yes, if the individuals involved are government employees, it falls squarely within our public corruption mandate.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of school teachers and administrators are fully and admirably devoted to their students. But even schools and universities are not free of graft and dishonesty…and it does nothing less than put the quality of our country’s education at risk. Corruption robs school budgets of millions of essential dollars…causes students to get inferior books, supplies, and facilities…and perhaps most importantly, sends the wrong message to our nation’s youth.
Here are some examples of cases we’ve worked with our partners in recent weeks and months:

• On Tuesday, a Maryland man was indicted for allegedly buying $1 million in educational software while head of Prince George’s County schools. Why is that a crime? Because, according to the charges, his live-in girlfriend worked for the software company, and the pair split a $20,000 commission on the sale. He is also charged with steering a consulting contract to a former employee in exchange for more than $100,000 in kickbacks.
• While state superintendent of Georgia schools, Linda Schrenko helped steal more than half-a-million dollars by fraudulently writing checks to a fellow conspirator. The money was supposed to pay for computer licenses and services for the Georgia and Atlanta Area Schools for the Deaf and the Governor's Honors Program. Instead, most of it went straight into Schrenko’s pockets: to help fund her ultimately failed campaign for governor and even to pay for her facelift surgery. On July 12, Schrenko was sentenced to eight years in prison for her crimes. (NOTE: this blogger was a Governor's Honors Student in Art in 1969, one year before the age most were chosen, a high honor....only 25 in the state in each subject in high school every year were chosen for the live-in summer program. This latest revelation is sickening to this blogger, knowing how great and expansive that program is for the best and brightest.)
• On June 15, a Maryland elementary school principal named Diane McFarland was convicted of embezzling some $18,000 that was supposed to pay for reading materials for her students and to reimburse teachers for training expenses.
• On April 3, Lorelle Dance, ex-business manager for D.C. public schools, pled guilty to taking nearly $40,000 in bribes from a contractor—including monthly mortgage payments on her house—in return for preferential treatment in obtaining work at several elementary schools.
• Brothers David and Guadalupe Vasquez, one the former superintendent of the Santa Rosa Independent School District and the other a former school board president, were convicted of corruption following an FBI sting. The brothers agreed to rig a contract for school bus tires…for a price—four car tires worth all of $500.
• Carl Coleman, a former risk manager for the New Orleans Public Schools, pled guilty to accepting some $300,000 in kickbacks in exchange for giving contractors favorable treatment on “emergency bid” work. Following this case, the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. Department of Education, FBI, and others created a working group to review and investigate alleged criminal violations in the New Orleans Public Schools. So far, the group’s work has led to over 25 convictions.

We’re doing our part to protect the integrity of the nation’s school systems. Please do your part, too. Help us stop fraud, waste, and corruption in schools and throughout government by submitting tips through our Report Corruption website…or by calling your local FBI office.
Directly copied from :
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/aug06/corruption82306.htm

Asbestos found during Tremco reroofing project while classes were in session - in a Pittsburgh, PA area Elementary School, Sept., 2008

UPDATE:

KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA (CBS) aired a news segment on the story below, with angry parents and school board members yelling at the Tremco Rep. You can see it here:

http://kdka.com/local/Elementary.school.asbestos.2.819273.html

___________________________

According to the articles referred to below in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 

A roofing contractor's workers on an elementary school job in Pittsburgh, PA discovered possible asbestos on the job while performing the work. 

Work continued while tests were made that proved positive for asbestos, with faculty and students left in place. 

A School Board member questioned the Tremco Rep as to why they had not tested the roof for asbestos prior to the start of work; their reply was that the School District had supplied them with documentation that there was no asbestos in the existing roof.  

According to the articles, so far, two School Board Members had not yet received a copy of that documentation said to have been supplied by the School District.

Updates as they happen…… From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, excerpts below: 
 

Park Elementary School remains closed

Thursday, September 18, 2008

By Mary Niederberger http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08262/912974-55.stm
 

"Park Elementary School in Munhall remained closed today as district officials await the results of air sampling tests taken at the school where asbestos was found Sept. 5 during a roof replacement project."



"The district was notified Sept. 8 that core samples taken from the roof tested positive for asbestos. Parents were notified Tuesday afternoon, and 350 students in grades one through five continued to attend the school until it was closed Tuesday night."



"Dave Zazac, a spokesman for the Allegheny County Health Department........said the type of asbestos found in the roof was compressed, rather than airborne, and was unlikely to pose any health risk to students or staff.



Similar comments were made by Bruce Mancini, of Tremco, the roofing project manger, at Tuesday's board meeting. But parents said they did not believe him and questioned why information about the asbestos was kept from them.


At the meeting, Park fourth-grade teacher Kevin Tomasic produced a chunk of the roof that he said a student had given to him. He said the chunk would be sent for testing.


Mr. Zazac .... described the material as 'foam that was bonded to the roof' and said it did not contain asbestos. The district release said contractor Phoenix Roofing notified the district Sept. 5 that workers suspected asbestos was present in the roofing material they were removing."


"When district administrators learned Sept. 8 that the materials tested positive for asbestos, the roofing project was stopped.


Despite those test results, Mark Cherpak, the district's director of operational services, told a Post-Gazette reporter Sept. 11 that the district was still unsure whether asbestos was in the roof.


On Monday, Mr. Cherpak acknowledged that he lied and confirmed that asbestos had been found in six of eight core samples taken from the roof. He said he did so because not all of the school board members knew and he didn't want them reading about it in the newspaper.


The district did not inform parents that asbestos was in the roof until after an article about it appeared Tuesday in the Post-Gazette. That afternoon, students took home a letter in their weekly information folder from the school."


"Mrs. Cannon and other board members questioned Mr. Mancini on Tuesday about why his firm didn't test roof samples for asbestos before embarking on the project. Mr. Mancini said the district provided him with an asbestos inspection report from 2005 that said the school was asbestos-free.


Board members told Mr. Cherpak they wanted to see copies of that report to determine who did the inspection. As of yesterday, neither Mrs. Terrick nor Mrs. Cannon had received a copy.


Mrs. Cannon expressed anger at Tuesday's meeting that the roofing project was still in process during the school year. She said the schedule for the project called for it to be completed before school started Aug. 28.


If the project had gone as scheduled, she said, the asbestos problem would have been discovered 'before the kids ever went into that building.' "



And excerpts below from:

Asbestos closes Munhall school

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

By Mary Niederberger

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08261/912686-55.stm
 
"Two days after Steel Valley school officials acknowledged asbestos had been found in the roof of Park Elementary School, district officials announced that the school will be closed until concerns over the asbestos have been resolved."

"The roofing contractor, Phoenix Roofing, has submitted an asbestos abatement plan to the health department, and board members said last night they also want to review that document. 

The discovery of the asbestos did not become public until yesterday, when it was published in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That disclosure, and a letter that was sent home with students yesterday, brought dozens of parents to last night's board meeting, many of them expressing concern for their children's safety.


On Monday, the district's director of operations, Mark Cherpak, confirmed for the Post-Gazette that repair work on the roof had stopped and that asbestos had been found in the core samples.


Mr. Cherpak also acknowledged that he lied to a Post-Gazette reporter when he was asked on Sept. 11 if there was asbestos in the school building's roof. At the time, he said the tests on the core samples had not been completed. However, the district received the report on the core samples on Sept. 8, and board members were briefed on the results the following day."



"At last night's meeting, Bruce Mancini, of Tremco, the firm that is supplying materials for the roofing project, told parents that the asbestos found in the roof was not friable, or airborne, and posed no health threat.



Acting board President Pam Terrick said students would not return to the school until officials were assured by county health officials that the school was safe."

Indiana State Attorney General rules the Educational Purchasing Agency Scheme Illegal

The Indiana State Attorney General has ruled as of November 3rd, 2008 that all construction contracts have to be competitively bid and that the roofing products specifically cannot be purchased through a Purchasing Association! 

For those in the roofing industry - this is a major step towards competitive bids required in school roofing - not to mention all other products. Here's to sense and sensibility - and good laws! 

The key parts of the ruling:?

"...the purpose of the public work statute and its bidding requirements is to protect the public by ensuring that the process is competitive." and "...the conclusion that roof repair/replacement projects are not subject to the public work statutes would be contrary to the spirit and purpose of the public works law." and "...Regardless of the cost, all public work projects have certain statutory requirements related to bids and quotes that must be observed before contracts are awarded for the project." and "...Upon declaration of an emergency, a contract for a public work project may be awarded without advertising for bids or quotes are invited from at least two (2) persons known to deal in the work required to be done." Note: Statutes govern who can specify construction products, particularly related to fire-rated products and on public buildings. 

 Further, as in the post below, the FBI has caught a New Orleans Administrator using "emergency" work in a way some of you are all too familiar with:
" Carl Coleman, a former risk manager for the New Orleans Public Schools, pled guilty to accepting some $300,000 in kickbacks in exchange for giving contractors favorable treatment on “emergency bid” work. Following this case, the New Orleans Police Department, U.S. Department of Education, FBI, and others created a working group to review and investigate alleged criminal violations in the New Orleans Public Schools. So far, the group’s work has led to over 25 convictions." 

 And here's the letter: You can see it also at Diana Vice's blog, at: http://diana-vice.blogspot.com/2008/11/breaking-news-attorney-general-steve.html