Airleaf Victims Update September 13, 2009

Dear Airleaf Friends,

Some news has recently transpired, and I wanted to update you about this information.
On August 21, 2009, a letter was sent out to the 120 of our authors who part of the cohort of the judgment filed by the Indiana Attorney General against Airleaf last year. This is what it stated:

Dear Consumer,
As most of you know, on June 30, 2008 the Office of the Indiana Attorney General entered into a Consent Judgment with Airleaf and its owner, Carl Lau. Among other things, the judgment contained a provision regarding restitution for your particular loss. For those of you who do not already have a copy of the judgment, please feel free to access a PDF version via www.IndianaConsumer.com. Our ongoing investigation since that filing was made revealed that Airleaf and its owner are insolvent and any attempt at formal collection activity would therefore be fruitless.

On August 3, 2009 Carl Lau and his wife filed a join ‘no asset’ Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana, under Case Number 09-11308-AJM-7. The filing again confirms our conclusion that further attempts to secure restitution are inadvisable.

Enclosed you will find a Notice of Bankruptcy Filing the Bankruptcy Court recently sent to my Office. Please note that the due date for “objections to discharge” is November 20, 2009. Bankruptcy law allows creditors (which you are by virtue of the Consent Judgment) to file a lawsuit within the bankruptcy proceeding to prevent discharge of the debt at issued if the creditor can prove fraud.

The State has concluded that such a lawsuit, even if prosecuted successfully, will not be collectable. Therefore, we will be unable to obtain restitution for your loss. If you believe you might wish to pursue such a lawsuit on your own, please consult a private attorney.

Sincerely,
Tom Irons, Deputy Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division

Okay, I wasn’t surprised—and I’m not quite sure why I felt upset. I expected the bankruptcy to be filed a long time ago because I heard it was in the process last year. But yet, I still felt a sense of anger because I know that Carl Lau has been collecting unemployment compensation benefits since going out of business. I also know that he did have some assets that were never really checked into like his yacht. Proof of those assets came the following week after I contacted our reporter friend Ron Hawkins at the Martinsville Reporter who dug up some interesting information. Here is a copy of his article:

August 29, 2009
By Ronald Hawkins
rhawkins@reporter-times.com

MARTINSVILLE

The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has ended its efforts to collect money from Carl Lau, the owner of the now defunct Airleaf Publishing and Book Selling, following his filing for bankruptcy.

A Martinsville-based marketing and self-publishing firm, Airleaf shut its doors in December 2007 following multiple complaints to the state attorney general, the Martinsville Police Department and Better Business Bureau of Central Indiana alleging that the company failed to pay royalties, publish books and deliver other promised services.

In May 2008, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter announced the state had filed a lawsuit against Airleaf alleging it had taken money without providing the promised services in return. The lawsuit sought consumer restitution for at least 120 customers.

In June 2008, the state announced it had reached a consent judgment with Lau that provided for restitutions to the consumers.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition, however, filed by Carl and Deborah Lau — who list a Carmel address as their home — in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis, has led the state to believe that further efforts to collect money from Lau would “be fruitless,” according to a letter sent by Tom Irons, deputy attorney general, to the consumers.

“Our ongoing investigation since that filing was made,” Irons wrote in a letter dated Aug. 21, “has revealed that Airleaf and its owner are clearly insolvent and any attempt at formal collection activity would be fruitless.”

The individual consumers, however, if they can prove fraud may file a lawsuit within the bankruptcy before the Nov. 20 due date to prevent the discharge of the debt, Irons wrote.

When contacted about the letter, Irons confirmed that it was his letter and “my signature.”

Bonnie Kaye, a Philadelphia-based counselor who organized an Airleaf victims group, said she wasn’t surprised by the state’s action, but that it reinforces her displeasure with the state’s efforts. She said her organization has more than 600 members.

“This is just another example of how the government of Indiana allowed a tragedy to happen to our authors whose lives have been shattered by the fraudulence of this company,” she said. “While Airleaf was alive and prospering, the AG’s office turned a blind eye when the complaints started pouring in.

“It was only after our actions forced Airleaf to close down that the judgment was handed down six months after the fact.”

Bankruptcy filing details

In the bankruptcy filing dated Aug. 3, the document lists $1,594,771 in total claims against Lau and $160,217 in assets.

Of that debt, the filing claims that $1,472,588 is in unsecured, non-priority claims.

The largest secured claim is $25,125 owed to Citizens Bank of Cumberland County in Burkesville, Ky., although there are several larger, unsecured claims.

The Lau’s debt list includes $74,445.81 owed to the Internal Revenue Service in employment taxes, $16,601 in state employment taxes plus $2,152 in state sales taxes and a $69,100 debt to the state for violations of the deceptive consumer sales act.

In addition to the dozens of debts to consumers listed in the 134-page document, the debts range from an American Express debt of $116 to $230,62 to Premier Capital Corp. of Indianapolis and $273,825 owed to CIT Lending Services of Livingston, N.J.

The bankruptcy also includes $19,999 owed to Author House of Bloomington, a self-publishing firm, and $4,600 to the Morgan County treasurer.

The filing states Carl Lau has no average monthly income, but Deborah Lau has an average income of $3,537 per month. He, however, has received $3,308 in unemployment compensation this year and received $13,192 in 2008.

Their monthly expenses, the document states, are $4,700 including $1,500 in taxes, but they have no rent or home mortgage payments.

Ronald Hawkins
News editor

My frustration comes from seeing that there is still over $160,000 in assets that could have been sought on our behalf. Also, the fact that Carl Lau owes the IRS and the State of Indiana payroll taxes really upsets me because he has received over $16,000.00 in unemployment compensation in spite of his criminal actions. Go figure! Also, as you see in the article, the Lau’s have no rent or home mortgage payments. This is because they moved in with Deborah Lau’s parents. While I used to feel somewhat sympathetic to Mrs. Lau, I don’t anymore. I would tell her the same thing I tell my women that I counsel—“If you don’t know the truth about your husband and he is doing the wrong thing, then you are a victim. But once you learn the truth and you choose to stay there, you are a volunteer.” And I don’t feel sympathy for volunteers.

The article states that Carl Lau owes money to Authorhouse. He owes it to them for stealing their database when he left there to start his own company. He had to make a payoff agreement with them out of court which of course was never paid off. So that shows Deborah Lau that her husband had a lack of scruples before she even knew about any of us. In addition, Carl Lau was forced to pay money for a sexual harassment suit that one of his former female employees contacted me about to let me know about her settlement. It was general information from all of the previous Airleaf employees that spoke with me that Lau was a sleazy guy watching porn on his computer and making sexual overtures to a number of the female employees or even groping them. And yet, his wife still remains with him. So now she is a volunteer, aiding a criminal. No, I don’t feel sorry for her at all. Deborah Lau is helping him avoid his responsibility of standing up and making amends to his victims. She obviously has no concern for us.

Don’t think that our efforts have been for nothing. Carl Lau will have a legacy that will follow him forever. Every time he goes for a job and someone looks up his name on the Internet, they will know what a crook he is—and this has already happened. His road will never be an easy one again thanks to our standing up and fighting back.

I called the Bankruptcy Trustee, Mr. Elliott Levin in Indiana, and spoke to him about our options late last week. There is a hearing for Carl Lau’s bankruptcy on Monday, September 21 at 1:30 p.m. in Indianapolis. Mr. Levin said any of us could show up at the hearing, but without an attorney, it’s hard to do much because an “objection to discharge” has to be filed. However, if any of you would like to go there to stake your claim, I encourage you to do just that. The hearing will only last 15 minutes, so it won’t be very long. But at least you can have a say. If you would like to go, or you would like more information, feel free to call Mr. Levin at 317-634-0300.

Although you know that I don’t have faith in the State of Indiana, I would like to thank Mr. Tom Irons for taking the Jones Harvest fraud seriously. This past week, at least five authors who were victims of Brien Jones in his scamming of authors received back money from the Indiana Attorney General’s office, and there may be more who haven’t contacted me yet. I have tracked 72 complaints from authors who were taken in by this company. If you have been scammed by Brien Jones in his new publishing company, Jones Harvest et. al, there is still hope for you to retrieve some compensation before he goes bankrupt. If you need help with this, just let me know. I will be glad to send you the information on how to file a complaint form or call you to walk you through with it.

I just wanted to give you an update. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

One last announcement—we are accepting new authors for our Books of Excellence Coop. Visit our site at www.BooksofExcellence.com to see how nice the site is. This year, we will be starting Blog Radio for our group with lots of advertising and marketing. We have a monthly newsletter where we provide marketing and publishing tips to help our authors. Write to me if you are interested.

Love, Bonnie Kaye
Organizer, www.Airleaf Victims.com

AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE AUGUST 23, 2008

AIRLEAF VICTIMS UPDATE AUGUST 23, 2008

Dear Authors and Friends,
I wanted to send you an update to let you know that I am still diligently working on our case. I am in touch with the Attorney General’s office through our representative Tom Irons. The case against Airleaf was filed in civil court several months ago when I wrote to you about the judgment. This is still in the early phases of being resolved. Most likely, Carl Lau will be declaring bankruptcy; however—we do have a chance that this will NOT happen based on some information I obtained this week.
On the website Go Big Network, a website that tries to hook people up with investors, I found this advertisement:
Carl Lau

Company: 2nd Century Films
Industry: Entertainment
Location: Greenwood, IN (USA)
My Focus: Startup;


Startup Company Profile
Startup Name 2nd Century Films
Location Greenwood, IN (United States)
Industry Entertainment
Year Founded 2008
Legal Status Unspecified
Business Stage Unspecified
Number of Employees Unspecified
Company Description A startup company with lots of projects to put into movies, Hollywood likes the screenplays and we have the right actors and directors to produce. Great investment for the long term or short term investor.

It also said Carl is looking for:
Entertainment $1,000,000.00

I found this very amusing. One million dollars to start his own film company—amazing! Well, I can always hope that he’s planning to use that money to pay for the judgment against him by the Attorney General’s office.
It seems that Carl Lau has no shame. After scamming hundreds of us, he’s looking to find new victims. I was happy to forward this information to the authorities who are investigating our case. I wanted them to know that sleeping dogs don’t seem to lie—or rather—lay still for very long.
I am staying in touch with the United States Attorney’s office in Indiana, as well as the FBI to keep pushing them for help. As soon as a decision is made, I will notify you and let you know next steps. This week marks one year since I started our Airleaf Victims group. We’ve made excellent progress in view of the obstacles that have been placed in our way. We must remain vigilant and not give up!
Here’s some very exciting news for our authors. I am always looking for ways for authors to boost their books. I looked into book reviews because some of our authors feel that having a book review will help with their book promotions.
I was excited to find that Barnes and Noble on line does FREE book reviews without charging authors. To make doubly sure, I wrote to them directly. Here was their response:
Thanks for your interest in the Barnes & Noble Review.
Publishers, authors, or publicists interested in having a published or forthcoming book considered for review by the Barnes & Noble Review can mail a galley/advance reading copy or finished copy of the book, along with a cover letter including appropriate contact information, to:
Deirdre Sonsini The Barnes & Noble Review
Barnes & Noble.com 76 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Best wishes,
The Barnes and Noble Review
Just to be sure, I wrote to Barnes and Noble to double check if there is any charge at all for this review and the answer was NO!!
Another excellent source of FREE book reviews is Midwest Book Reviews. You can visit their website at http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/url_sub.htm
There is great information on there about publicizing your book as well. Directions on how to subject your book for a review is also found there.

In September, I will officially be launching our author’s co-op Books of Excellence. If you haven’t seen our site lately, please check it out at www.BooksOfExcellence.com. We are happy to have any of our Airleaf Victims join the group. We will be promoting it at an upcoming book fair in New York in a few weeks. I have started Google advertising for the site, and our members have started buying books of other members in support. If you would like to join this innovative group, please drop me a note and I will send you the details.

Remember, as you pursue your republishing or promotional futures, make sure NOT to repeat the mistakes of your past. Thoroughly investigate any publisher who offers you anything beyond publishing your book. If a publisher is charging you money for a review, please let me know and I will check it out for you to find out if there really is a cost for the review. Also make sure that you have a signed contract. Many of our Airleaf Victims never received back a signed contract. No matter how “friendly” you are with your publisher, business is business. Also make sure you receive quarterly statements which is standard and promised. And if you buy a promotional package, make sure to ask for a regular accounting of where your book is being sold. For instance, one woman wrote to me recently to tell me that she was told by her publisher that her book is in 33 bookstores. When I questioned her about where these stores are, I couldn’t get a response. Make sure you find out the bookstore and call them to verify this information. And if you are told that your book is being solicited to all of your area media, ask for a list of the media and who was spoken to. Learn from your marketing mistakes of the past. Don’t allow yourself to be a victim again like a number of the Airleaf Victims who have come to me a second time. And if you feel you have been cheated by any book company, please let me know so I can help you retrieve your money.

Several of our authors have recently asked me about the credibility of the Better Business Bureau. In checking out a reliable publisher, don’t assume that you will get a reliable rating from the Better Business Bureau because of the long and difficult process involved. One of our victims recently tried to file a report on line, only to be frustrated because the site froze when she tried to submit it. When I tried to help her with the form, it froze on me as well. In frustration, I called the Indiana Better Business Bureau and explained my frustration. I also asked them what it takes on their part to remove a company that less than reputable from their list. I explained that so many of our Airleaf Victims complained to the Indiana Better Business Bureau, but yet Airleaf remained in good standing with them until the end. They explained that it is a long process to do an investigation on a company once they are a dues paying member. There are a number of steps that have to be taken, and this takes time. They were able to send me the form via email to be printed out and done manually, so that was a help. But as I’m watching the process of this specific complaint, I see the company in question has sent back a response which isn’t responding to the complaint. This means more time and more correspondence and more delays. It becomes a “he said—she said” ordeal with lots of delays. So it’s certainly possible for a company to keep that BBB Accreditation for a long time regardless if their reliability. This is why so many of us were misled by the Better Business Bureau when we checked out Airleaf in the past.

Bottom line—investigate, investigate, investigate before you make your next mistake!
I’m happy to check out any company that you are considering for feedback. Just send me a note.

I will be in touch soon. Please feel free to write to me for help with anything you need or any questions you have.

With love and hope,
Bonnie