Saturday, May 16, 2015

Ford/Fischer; How deep does the rabbit hole go?

Louisville, KY - For over a year now I have been investigating Mayor Greg Fischer and Ford Motor Company for what I believe to be collusion in a criminal act against former Ford employee Jay Morgan. You can read all of the stories here. Unfortunately, as usual, the stories just keep coming the more I delve into the research.
As always whenever you find malfeasance or suspicious behavior the first thing you do is follow the money. Who has the most to lose or gain? You begin research and let it lead you to the answers.

In my opinion, I believe there has been illegal behavior between Greg Fischer and Ford Motor Company. On Thursday I outlined why I felt it was so important to Ford to cover up an alleged insider trading scandal and outlined just one way that they profited.

The one thing that has been so hard to understand throughout all of this is just why in the world Greg Fischer would not answer a simple question. Did he make derogatory comments to Ford Motor Company about Jay Morgan.

Those alleged comments were the stated reason Ford ended Morgan's employment after 23 years and led to the current lawsuit against Mayor Greg Fischer for libel/slander.

Kevin Cosby was accused of the same thing by Ford and immediately went on record with an affidavit, signed under penalty of perjury rules, that stated Ford lied. If Cosby falsified that document he can go to jail, just as Mel Ignatow did, for perjury.

In the meantime, Greg Fischer has spent hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars in his quest to avoid answering the same question Kevin Cosby immediately answered.

But why?

The Sarbanes/Oxley Act of 2002  (or "SOX")makes it illegal to fire or otherwise discriminate against an employee for providing information or assisting an investigation regarding what the employee “reasonably believes” to be a violation of a rule of Securities and Exchange Commission, the federal criminal laws regarding mail, wire, and bank fraud, or any provision of federal law relating to fraud against shareholders. 

The link provided above is to a published and publicly recognized legal paper written by one Eugene Scalia, son of current U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Normally just linking the source is sufficient enough to give due credit, but in this case I wanted to specifically mention the author. Why?

Because Eugene Scalia was the attorney representing Ford in the SOX complaint filed by Jay Morgan in 2013 against Ford Motor Company.

Eugene Scalia, along with Thad Keal, was also the attorney representing Ford as they tried, and failed, to interject themselves into the lawsuit against Mayor Greg Fischer by Jay Morgan for libel/slander.

Scalia's published works goes on to state that:

The Act also makes it illegal to retaliate against an employee for commencing or participating in a proceeding related to alleged federal securities violations—testifying in a securities case, for example. 18 U.S.C. § 1514A(a)(2) (2004). And, the Act amends the federal obstruction of justice statute to make it a crime to “interfere[ ] with the lawful employment or livelihood of any person” in retaliation for “providing to a law enforcement officer any truthful information relating to the commission or possible commission of any Federal offense . . . .” § 1107, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1513(e) (2004). 

The Act’s remedial provision states that a prevailing employee “shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make the employee whole,” including reinstatement, back pay, and compensation for any “special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs, expert witness fees, and reasonable attorney fees.” 18 U.S.C. § 1514A(c) (2004).

Having a published work in the professional world is a big deal. Scalia presumably would be considered an utmost expert on the SOX Act accordingly by his peers.

The question has always been, why did Ford try to claim standing in a libel/slander lawsuit against Greg Fischer that they were never named in?  It defies logic. Their case was settled and they had no more skin in the game.

Or did they?

The alleged lies by Fischer gave Ford the right to terminate Morgan for cause, and not as a whistle blower, thereby letting Ford off the hook for an investigation into potential illegality that would destroy their credibility.

Ford and Fischer colluded on a lie, in my opinion anyway, so that Ford could terminate Morgan for claimed cause instead of the clear whistle blower retaliation. It makes no sense otherwise, but now it begs another question that needs an answer.

Scalia has clearly, at least publicly, portrayed himself as an expert on SOX. He also, while working for Ford, was fully aware of the charges brought forth by Morgan of insider trading.

He would also know that if the claims made by Ford about Greg Fischer were false that he was committing an illegal, or at the very least unethical, act that could lead to serious repercussions by the bar against him.

Since Scalia was the Ford attorney during the mediation, he is fully aware of Ford's statements regarding the alleged lies made by Greg Fischer about Morgan. Did he knowingly allow false claims by Ford? Is this why he worked with Ford to try to interject themselves into a case that had nothing to do with them?

These questions need to be asked and answered. Only one thing makes sense.

Scalia either allowed false claims by his client Ford Motor Company, which is a serious offense that could lead to repercussions including possible suspension or removal by the bar, don't hold your breath, his dad IS a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, or Fischer made the statements he is accused of.

Since Kevin Cosby has already sworn that Ford lied about the statements they attributed to both him AND Greg Fischer, then it would appear that Scalia knowingly allowed false statements. Unless Ford lied to Scalia which opens yet more doors.

Personally, at this point I would file an immediate bar complaint against Scalia and seek legal counsel for a potential lawsuit against him.

Why does it all matter?


Since Morgan could then be fired for cause, it ended any investigation into the insider trading charges alleged in the SOX complaint. Ford dodged a major bullet.......until now.

Ironically, thanks to Greg Fischer and his taxpayer funded county attorneys' legal staff blunder, that investigation is underway anyway.

Why was it so important to make sure they stopped the investigation?  

Ford was on the verge of bankruptcy until the U.S. stepped in and bailed them out. Read this story for why I consider it a bailout, but they recovered in large part because they were able to convince Americans of the lie that Ford was an 'all American company' that didn't rely on the government 'auto bailout' and America fell for it.

America had pride in Ford for doing 'the right thing' and started buying Ford products again. They started investing in Ford stock again, all of which saved the company.

All of which made the company massive profits.

All of which returned a robust taxpayer subsidized profit sharing to Ford employees.

All of which, according to the allegations of insider trading, aided top management at Ford, perhaps all the way up to the Ford family itself, to reap a massive return on illegal insider trading.

All of which came from our pockets.

And all of it based on a lie.

Instead of coming clean about the possible cover up that appears to have involved current Secretary Deputy of Commerce Bruce Andrews and his wife, former SEC Chief of Staff Didem Nisanci, that would have resulted in a short term hit, they doubled down and tried to force the matter out of existence. 

Remember the Firestone recall that Ford agreed to a settlement for? with no admission of any guilt?

Whether they had guilt or not, admittedly I believe they had little to none in the Firestone case, the market share for Ford was roughly 25% at the time of the allegations.

The Ford Explorer was one of the hottest products they had going. Louisville Assembly Plant couldn't work enough hours to keep up with production. There were not enough hours in the day. Overnight it all disappeared and suddenly the Louisville Assembly Plant was on the short list to be closed.

The Firestone allegation practically destroyed Ford at a time they could least afford it. 

The market share tanked immediately, the stock price began to decline, and the sales never recovered.

Ford currently has roughly 15% market share and that is after the lie. Stock hovers around $15-$17 per share. They have never fully recovered. Lost jobs and lost market share will never return to the pre Firestone days.

But that is one heck of a payday for the alleged insiders who bought stock at $2 a share isn't it?

What would an insider trading scandal have done? Finish the gradual then decline of Ford?

At the risk of completely destroying consumer faith in this all American lie, in order to save decreasing market share, in order to protect the stock share prices and preserve the Ford fortune, they had to cover up what only Jay Morgan had the guts to challenge.

An insider trading scandal would have wiped Ford out.

And they had to have someone like Greg Fischer to help shut the scandal down. What was the payoff?  

Based on the SOX complaint, I believe the evidence is clear that Ford's Ziad Ojakli harassed and intimidated Morgan, even going so far as to demote him and send him to Louisville, all because Morgan dared do what he was trained to do by Ford itself...... and reported what he believed to be insider trading by his colleague.

Ford's own hired attorney, Eugene Scalia, through  his own written words, said that behavior such as this is illegal.

The truth appears to be that Ford, Fischer, both, or even possibly including Eugene Scalia, colluded in a lie to stop a potential SEC investigation that could potentially cost Ford billions.

Ford has profited billions on the lie. And if the insider trading charges prove out, Ford should have to pay the highest fine in history given against a company.

That is why Greg Fischer refuses to talk.

If Fischer admits he made the comments then he is on the hook personally for libel/slander. Since Ford apparently did not do due diligence and investigate those comments, choosing to act immediately with no evidence, then Ford will be guilty of mediating in bad faith and the settlement agreement, as well as the non disclosure agreement is null and void and Ford will face serious repercussions.

If Greg Fischer verifies Kevin Cosby, and claims Ford lied about him as well, then Ford is on the hook and faces serious repercussions.

Ford has everything to lose either way. I believe, and the evidence proves it to me, that Fischer is in collusion with Ford because our county attorneys' who are working on the lawsuit worked with Ford attorneys to try and get the case against Fischer thrown out. Fischer's taxpayer funded county attorney Joel Frockt, requested the SOX complaint and made it part of the public record.

They had to have been told about it by Ford. To me that is the only logical explanation as to why they requested it. The non disclosure at this point should be null and void.

They tried at least three times to have the case dismissed losing all three times. They lost on appeal as well. Ford hasn't been heard from since but guaranteed, in my opinion anyway, they are still the ones pulling the strings in the Fischer case.

Scalia now has a credibility problem, Fischer and Ford are between a rock and a hard place, and all because their arrogance and egos led the way. 

Evidence of other settlements on insider trading suggests that the SEC typically settles for penalty/fines that double whatever financial benefit the individual, and company received.

Ford currently has $17 billion cash on hand that they did not have prior to the bailout or the lies. Insider trading would have proven very profitable to all involved.

Based on my rough estimates, Ford could be facing penalty fines approaching $2 billion, with a B, and maybe more. That's a good start but there has to be more.

Someone should be going to jail over this. The only question for me is, who will it be?


Listen daily from 7-8pm at The Ed Springston Show. Also visit Louisville Politics for more details and in depth coverage of local political and news issues.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for reading LNP. Open and honest discussions of local politics and relevant issues is important to voter understanding. Please listen to the "Ed Springston Show". We broadcast Monday through Thursday evenings at 7 PM on local media outlets. Please check for the links.
Yours truly,
Ed Springston

9/11 Twenty-One Years later....

This will not be the post you expect from the headline. Fair warning..... Most remember the events of 9/11. How anyone could forget I have n...