Judd Bagley has colluded with other persons such as Evren Karpak (a contributor to antisocialmedia.net and Overstock.com shareholder) to intimidate critics with threats, blackmail, and smears. In addition, Judd Bagley has colluded with the delusional Edward Manfredonia (an overt anti-Semite and Judd Bagley's admitted advisor), to use anti-Semitism, false accusations, innuendo and smears to harass critics of Patrick Byrne. Judd Bagley's, Evren Karpak's, and Edward Manfredonia's efforts have received the encouragement, endorsement, and support of Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
Many journalists and bloggers have followed Patrick Byrne's self styled "Jihad" of harassment, intimidation, threats, blackmail, and smears against his critics on the internet and else where. I have written extensively about about Patrick Byrne's "Jihad" against critics in this blog. I have pursued Patrick Byrne and his cronies with "deposition style questions" on InvestorVillage only to get kicked off as Patrick Byrne orchestrated a campaign to silence me.
Other journalists, bloggers, independent financial analysts, and I have documented Patrick Byrne's vendettas against his critics and deceptive statements regarding Overstock.com's financial disclosures. These efforts have resulted in a combination of intimidation, harassment, threats, blackmail, litigation, smears, anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and innuendos directed at people who dare to expose Patrick Byrne's activities. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, and others for possible violations of securities laws.
Patrick Byrne has been carrying out his personal vendettas through a smear campaign of lies, distortions, false accusations, innuendos, threats, blackmail, and anti-Semitism on his antisocialmedia.net smear web site, internet message boards, blogs, and Overstock.com's web site. In particular, Patrick Byrne has used his antisocialmedia.net smear web site, administered by his henchman, Judd Bagley, Director of Communications at Overstock.com, and the InvestorVillage Overstock.com message board to carry out his campaign to silence and discredit his critics by continual harassment, intimidation, and smears.
Judd Bagley has colluded with other persons such as Evren Karpak (a contributor to antisocialmedia.net and Overstock.com shareholder) to intimidate critics with threats, blackmail, and smears. In addition, Judd Bagley has colluded with the delusional Edward Manfredonia (an overt anti-Semite and Judd Bagley's admitted advisor), to use anti-Semitism, false accusations, innuendo and smears to harass critics of Patrick Byrne. Judd Bagley's, Evren Karpak's, and Edward Manfredonia's efforts have received the encouragement, endorsement, and support of Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
Many journalists and bloggers have followed Patrick Byrne's self styled "Jihad" of harassment, intimidation, threats, blackmail, and smears against his critics on the internet and else where. I have written extensively about about Patrick Byrne's "Jihad" against critics in this blog. I have pursued Patrick Byrne and his cronies with "deposition style questions" on InvestorVillage only to get kicked off as Patrick Byrne orchestrated a campaign to silence me.
Other journalists, bloggers, independent financial analysts, and I have documented Patrick Byrne's vendettas against his critics and deceptive statements regarding Overstock.com's financial disclosures. These efforts have resulted in a combination of intimidation, harassment, threats, blackmail, litigation, smears, anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and innuendos directed at people who dare to expose Patrick Byrne's activities. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, and others for possible violations of securities laws.
Patrick Byrne's vile and malicious smear campaign against his critics is a violation of Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Patrick Byrne's vile and malicious actions are in effect waivers or implicit waivers from Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and are required by the company to be disclosed in Form 8-K to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Apparently, Overstock.com has not complied with that requirement.
Baby steps have been taken by Overstock.com's Board to reign in Patrick Byrne, since the appointment of Joseph J. Tabacco to Overstock.com's Board of Directors on June 6, 2007. However, make no mistake about it, Patrick Byrne is a tyrant and a bully CEO unable to handle exposure of his deceptions and smears. His vile efforts in concert with others to deflect from his evil actions still continue.
I call on the following independent members of Overstock.com's Board of Directors, Allison H. Abraham, Clay Corbus, and Joseph J. Tabacco to take steps to fire Patrick Byrne and his Director of Communications, Judd Bagley. Overstock.com General Counsel Jonathan Johnson who has apparently stood idly by as Patrick Byrne and Judd Bagley have engaged in rampant acts in violation of Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics should be fired, too. Do the independent Board members wish to be associated with the vile and malicious smears and anti-Semitism used by Patrick Byrne, Judd Bagley and their cronies to silence critics? Do they approve of the actions of their evil CEO, Patrick Byrne? So far, their efforts have been piece meal and inadequate to rein him in.
If Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne, Judd Bagley believe that my actions constitute libel, then sue me. I welcome the subpoena power that comes from discovery that goes both ways. Truth is always a defense.
Under pressure as a result of the fallout from his activities Patrick Byrne is now consolidating his smear campaign against critics on Overstock.com's web site
Retreating from the fallout he has received resulting from his posts on internet message boards in furtherance of his vendettas against critics, Patrick Byrne will no longer be posting any new messages on them. However, he apparently will continue to smear his critics by posting on his home turf, Overstock.com's web site.
On July 6, 2007, in a bitter and rambling response (message number 8555) to a post on InvestorVillage by his antisocialmedia.net smear web site contributor and Overstock.com shareholder, Evren Karpak, a defiant Patrick Byrne sounded somewhat delusional about the inquiries that he received from his own Board of Directors and the Securities and Exchange Commission into his activities and the activities of his cronies acting in concert with him on stock message boards.
For example, Patrick Byrne wrote:
Re: Hannibal has left the building
....And no, this decision was completely my own. As always, the bad guys display their total misunderstanding of reality: no one has brought the least pressure on me about my posting here (well, other than by a certain polite and proper government official, who politely and properly asked me why I post on message boards: I politely noted that the first amendment applies to me, too). And no, no one on this end cares a whit about the lengthy posts and laughable emails sent over and over to the board of directors in a fashion so laughable they dispel any doubt as to the clownishness of their author. They are serious people, they know the system is corrupt, and the incessant deposition-style posts and emails from a "hobbyist" (coupled with the cronyism from guys like Herb) are just additional proof of what I have been saying. As if further proof were needed at this point.... [Emphasis added.]
However, Patrick Byrne has minimized and belittled the impact my activities and other persons to stop his ugly actions by our alerting his Board of Directors and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Patrick Byrne claims that "no one on this end cares a whit about the lengthy posts and laughable emails sent over and over to the board of directors in a fashion so laughable they dispel any doubt as to the clownishness of their author." We must ask, is Patrick Byrne lying or does Overstock.com's Board of Directors consider his vendettas against his critics a joke? In his post, Patrick Byrne claimed that he was in San Francisco. Two outside directors, Joseph J. Tabacco Jr, and Clay Corbus have their offices there. Did Patrick Byrne meet Mr. Tabacco and Mr. Corbus in San Francisco?
Patrick Byrne claims that Overstock.com's Board of Directors does not care about information related to his open violation of the company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. Apparently either Patrick Byrne is a liar or Overstock.com's Board of Directors believes that his violations of Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and ethics is a joke. Examine the timeline below, for evidence that Overstock.com's Board of Director and management, once confronted with the vile and malicious acts of Patrick Byrne and his cronies, took certain minimal actions to contain some of the damage to Overstock.com.
May 15, 2007
I questioned Patrick Byrne about his failure to comply with Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics in a blog post entitled, "To Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com - Did you comply with the Company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics."
May 17, 2007
I asked additional questions to Patrick Byrne about his failure to comply with Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics in a blog post entitled, "To Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com: More Questions about the Company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics."
Around May 28, 2007
The delusional Edward Manfredonia's posts containing anti-Semitic remarks, false accusations, and smears are deleted from antisocialmedia.net. See my blog post from June 8, 2007, entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: About how Patrick Byrne’s vindictive smear campaign uses threats and anti-Semitism," and June 18, 2007, entitled, "Who is Judd Bagley trying to fool about the use of anti-Semitism to attack critics of his boss, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne?" To download a copy of the delusional Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears on antisocialmedia.net, click here.
May 28, 2007
After creating an account using the alias Hannibal on Overstock.com's Omuse web site, Patrick Byrne copies his posts on InvestorVillage to Overstock.com's web site. His comments contain threats, smears, and links to antisocialmedia.net
May 30, 2007
My blog post entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: The Company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and actions of Patrick Byrne and others," discussed the responsibilities and duties of Overstock.com's Audit Committee regarding violations of Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. I sent an e-mail containing a link to my blog post to Overstock.com's Board of Directors.
June 3, 2007
My blog post entitled, "Memo to Judd Bagley: Director of Communications at Overstock.com - About Threats on AntiSocialMedia.net," asked Judd Bagley why he has permitted a threat to "hurt" investigative reporter, blogger, and Byrne critic Gary Weiss by a reader identified as alpineanalytics to continue to remain posted on antisocialmedia.net from September 10, 2006. The comment said:
alpineanalytics wrote:
"Gary Weiss is PATHETIC...his books suck ...he is a weasel. In fact, there are quite a few people out there that are going to make an example out of him. He should be looking over his shoulders more carefully when he wants to engage in disrespectful behavior with people that will hurt him...economically, emotionally, and probably physically. Hey Gary...Louie P and Benny S. say hi...you $cumbag." [Emphasis added.]
Posted 10 Sep 2006 at 8:36 am
I sent an e-mail containing a link to my blog post to Overstock.com's Board of Directors.
June 4, 2007
In a blog item entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: Patrick Byrne denies using private eyes," I discussed certain deceptive statements by Patrick Byrne relating to his denial of using private investigators.
June 6, 2007
Joseph J. Tabacco joined Overstock.com's Board of Directors.
June 6, 2007
In an apparent act of retaliation by Patrick Byrne and Judd Bagley, new anti-Semitic remarks and smears are posted on antisocialmedia.net by Edward Manfredonia. According to Judd Bagley, Edward Manfredonia's comments which were time stamped and submitted on June 6, 2006 at 5:25 AM were not posted until June 7, 2007 which indicates that Judd Bagley had his moderation feature for comments enabled. Therefore, Judd Bagley apparently reviewed Edward Manfredonia's new anti-Semitic remarks and smears before publishing them.
June 7, 2007
I alerted attorney Howard Sirota about Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic remarks and smears on antisocialmedia.net.
June 8, 2007
Howard Sirota wrote an e-mail to new board member, Joseph J. Tabacco Jr:
Dear Joe,
While I think you'll end up regretting your decision to join the Board of Overstock.com, that's really your own business.
I'm sure that you are unaware that someone named Edward Manfredonia is posting anti-semitic comments on www.antisocialmedia.net run by Judd Bagley, who works for Overstock.com.
Now you are on actual notice of the anti-semitic website run by an employee of the public company of which you are a Director. I expect you to make inquiry and take immediate corrective action.
If not, the ADL and I will do it for you.
This is NOT about any short-selling controversy. I have no position in OSTK.
This is about anti-semitism, which I won't countenance. Neither would the Joe Tabacco I knew.
Make it stop!
Regards,
Howard
June 8, 2007 (next)
Joseph J. Tabacco Jr. replied to Howard Sirota's e-mail:
Thanks Howard, I will look into this, you are correct this is not something obviously that I had been aware of.
June 8, 2007 (next)
Edward Manfredonia's latest anti-Semitic comments and smears are removed from antisocialmedia.net.
June 8, 2007 (next)
I post a blog item entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: About how Patrick Byrne's vindictive smear campaign uses threats and anti-Semitism," I discussed the publishing of physical threats, anti-Semitic comments and smears on antisocialmedia.net.
June 8, 2007 (next)
Howard Sirota posted a comment on the Yahoo Overstock.com message board deploring anti-Semitic comments on that board.
June 8, 2007 (next)
I forward a link to my blog post entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: About how Patrick Byrne's vindictive smear campaign uses threats and anti-Semitism," in an e-mail addressed to: Howard Sirota and Cc'd to Joseph J. Tabacco Jr, Michael Callahan (Yahoo General Counsel), the New York Anti-Defamation League, and the San Francisco Anti-Defamation League. That e-mail discussed the use of anti-Semitism by Patrick Byrne.
June 11, 2007
In a blog post entitled, "Piling absurdity upon absurdity," Judd Bagley posted poor lies, excuses, and deflection about the publishing of Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments on antisocialmedia.net. He belittled Howard Sirota for posting a message on Yahoo deploring anti-Semitism.
June 12, 2007
Evren Karpak, a contributor to antisocialmedia.net and an Overstock.com shareholder, carries out part of the threat in a comment published on antisocialmedia.net by alias alpineanalytics to "hurt" Gary Weiss "economically." In a post (message number 8042) on InvestorVillage, Evren Karpak stated that he had written letters to three of Gary Weiss's publishers: Forbes, SeekingAlpha.com, and Salon.com in an effort to have them discontinue business ties with Mr. Weiss.
June 12, 2007 (next)
Judd Bagley had posted a recommendation to Evren Karpak's post on InvestorVillage where he carries out a threat to "hurt" Gary Weiss economically by contacting his publishers. That post on InvestorVillage still remains published.
June 14, 2007
Judd Bagley attempts to silence blogger and antisocialmedia.net critic Scipio Africanus through blackmail. Judd Bagley sent the following e-mail to blogger, Scipio Africanus:
From: Judd Bagley To: scipioafricanus_iv@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2007 11:51:26 PM
Subject: just thought I'd ask...
I thought I should tell you that I've have known your real identity for a while now.
Up until last week, it appeared that you'd grown tired of o-smear and all the games (which would make "outting" you unnecessary) but lately it appears that's not the case.
I don't want to cause anybody unnecessary harm, but I'm beyond tired of the lies.
If you choose to continue as you have been, I will write about you on AntiSocialMedia.net. In doing so, my goal is not to intimidate, but to let you own your words; under those circumstances, I think the lies will take care of themselves.
Having said that, I'm also very much aware of the impact this could have on your reputation, especially where you live, and I feel obligated to offer you a way out. So, if you're ready to set things right, I'll keep your name to myself and figure we'll both be karmically better off for it.
I look forward to your response (and will be PMing this to your IV account, as well).
Judd Bagley
June 16, 2007
Judd Bagley posts Scipio Africanus' real identity on antisocialmedia.net a post entitled, "Hoosier daddy? ScipioAfricanus uncovered in Indiana," on antisocialmedia.net. According to Judd Bagley, Scipio Africanus is identified as Albert Kidd. He includes the following warning to Albert Kidd:
However, if in responding, ScipioAfricanus or any of his allies should question the veracity of these claims, the evidence will be presented, and Albert can deal with the consequences.
June 17, 2007
Blogger and internet sleuth, Scipio Africanus refuses to back down. Scipio Africanus posts Judd Bagley's threat (above) on his O-Smear blog and responds:
Since the only way to damage my reputation would be to make up a bunch of stories about me, I'll assume that's what he means. Duly noted and recorded. As far as pointing out all the deception, spyware, etc. I'd put that stuff on my resume. The SEC and the Overstock Board of Directors (so they can't play dumb) got a copy of that one.
June 17, 2007 (next)
Later, Evren Karpak, an Overstock.com shareholder and antisocialmedia.net contributor, threatens Scipio Africanus with blackmail on InvestorVillage. Evren Karpak chimes in by posting the following message (number 8205) on InvestorVillage:
Scipio / Al Kidd still has one chance. He missed a few others, culminating in his mug being featured on ASM. I hope he does the right thing. I really do because what will come down on him if he chooses not to is not a fate I'd wish on anyone. Okay, maybe Gary Weiss.
Evren
June 17, 2007 (next)
Judd Bagley posts a recommendation to Evren Karpak's blackmail attempt, above, on InvestorVillage.
June 17, 2007 (next)
In a post (message number 8223) on InvestorVillage, using his alias De Daumier-Smith, Judd Bagley bids farewell to InvestorVillage:
As it is, this will likely be my farewell post on this board.
June 18, 2007
I respond to Judd Bagley's lies and deflection on antisocialmedia.net concerning his relationship and collusion with Edward Manfredonia in a blog post entitled, "Who is Judd Bagley trying to fool about the use of anti-Semitism to attack critics of his boss, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne?". In that blog post, I outline Patrick Byrne's use of threats, anti-Semitism, and smears to harass his critics.
June 24, 2007
Antisocialmedia.net smear web site contributor, Evren Karpak, who has been posting messages on Yahoo under his alias evren60615, pursues Scipio Africanus on the Yahoo Overstock.com message board:
You call? Very simple, then. Respond to this message and violate the condition ASM has set on not revealing what he has. Make your denial.
June 24, 2007 (next)
Shortly afterwards, I notified Overstock.com's Board of Directors and its Audit Committee about the Bagley - Karpak collaboration. I wrote the following e-mail to the Board of Directors on Overstock.com and its Audit Committee:
To the Board of Directors of Overstock.com and its Audit Committee:
Are you aware that Judd Bagley (Director of Communications at Overstock.com) is colluding with Evren Karpak (Overstock.com shareholder and antisocialmedia.net contributor) to black mail the person known as Scipio Africanus?
The use of blackmail by Judd Bagley and others working in collusion with him violates Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
You are now on notice.
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Cc: Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission - Utah) William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission - Utah)
June 24, 2007 (next)
About a couple of hours later, Evren Karpak's threat to Scipio Africanus disappears from Yahoo. However, his threat on InvestorVillage remains published.
June 24, 2007 (next)
All of a sudden a mysterious denial of service attack is claimed by Judd Bagley on antisocialmedia.net. Later that evening, Judd Bagley claimed on antisocialmedia.net:
AntiSocialMedia.net currently under a denial of service attack, which may account for inconsistency in page-load times. Sorry.
I noticed no denial of service attack as I visited antisocialmedia.net many times. Other false accusations, threats, and smears published in comments posted by other persons to Judd Bagley's posts on antisocialmedia.net disappear including the threat to Gary Weiss disappear and remain unpublished today.
June 26, 2007
I sent another e-mail to Overstock.com's Board of Directors and its Audit Committee:
To the Board of Directors of Overstock.com and its Audit Committee:
Posting personal information of critics of Patrick Byrne on antisocialmedia.net
You are alerted that antisocialmedia.net continues to post certain personal information of individuals (critics of Patrick Byrne) including the home addresses.
http://antisocialmedia.net/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.JohnLichtenstein (updated link from web archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20070123153320/http://antisocialmedia.net/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.JohnLichtenstein)
I had previously alerted Judd Bagley about this issue in an exchange on the Yahoo message board while he posted under the anonymous alias antsaresocialinsects.....
Such activities violate Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar
Cc: Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission - Utah) Cc: William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission - Utah)
June 26, 2007
A few hours later, the personal information of two Byrne critics that was posted antisocialmedia.net disappeared.
June 28, 2007
I sent the following e-mail:
To the Board of Directors of Overstock.com and its Audit Committee:
Patrick Byrne, the CEO of Overstock.com, is now copying his InvestorVillage.com posts to Overstock.com's web site.
Link here: http://omuse.overstock.com/wiki/User:Hannibal
Certain messages encourage people to read antisocialmedia.net and contain links to that web site.
It is very apparent that Patrick Byrne has encouraged and approved of Judd Bagley's activities on antisocialmedia.net and is now using the Overstock.com's web site to direct traffic to antisocialmedia.net....
Since, that information can still be found on Overstock.com's web site, I guess they decided that it is alright for Overstock.com to support antisocialmedia.net.
July 1, 2007
Patrick Byrne sets up a new blog on Overstock.com's Omuse web site. Patrick Byrne copies his posts on InvestorVillage to Overstock.com's web site. His comments contain threats, smears, and links to antisocialmedia.net.
July 6, 2007
Patrick Byrne announces on InvestorVillage that he will not be posting on internet message boards and will consolidate his smear campaign against critics on Overstock.com. Patrick Byrne praises his antisocialmedia.net contributor, Evren Karpak, who has used threats, smears, and blackmail in various messages posted over the internet against Byrne critics in his farewell post on InvestorVillage:
Evren - Ditto. You are a deep guy, and write beautifully. It is hard to believe that English is a second language for you, as you write better than 99.99% of those to whom it is a first....
Previously, Patrick Byrne had expressed disappointment that his smear campaign on internet message boards might be perceived as separated from his role as CEO of Overstock.com
On April 1, 2006, on Overstock.com's web site, Patrick Byrne had discussed his reasons for taking his "act" to the Motley Fool message board for Overstock.com:
Dear O-Auctions Community,
It has been a year since I wrote here. I apologize.
I have been busy, but that was not the real reason I stayed away. I decided to take my act to a more public forum, and also, to distance my crusade from my role as president of Overstock.
So I left here and moved over to Fool.com. I have been in and out of Fool.com, sometimes taking a month or two off, but pretty much sticking there.
Also, I have been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes writing that you occasionally see pop up in other blogs. That was all a mistake. I wish I had just stayed here, if for no other reason than nobody separates my role as president of Overstock.com from my attempt to reform the market.
Patrick Byrne consolidates his smear campaign to Overstock.com's web site
In his bitter, defiant, and ranting farewell post on InvestorVillage, on July 6, 2007, Patrick Byrne writes:
For all of these reasons I decided to create my own blog on Omuse and funnel into it all the previous work that I could find from these various forums. I'll come back here from time to time, reading, when I get a chance, but intend to write mostly on my blog, hoping that what I write gets reposted here. When it is up and running smoothly, those that want can even migrate there, where there will be a 0 Tolerance rule for miscreants. Evren had it right: not much will change in practice, and of course, I will come back on occasion, if only to dispel rumor mongering of miscreants. [Emphasis added.]
Patrick Byrne and his various cronies acting in collusion have used anti-Semitism on the internet to harass and intimidate critics
In two previous posts on this blog, entitled, "Open Letter to the Audit Committee of Overstock.com: About how Patrick Byrne's vindictive smear campaign uses threats and anti-Semitism," and "Who is Judd Bagley trying to fool about the use of anti-Semitism to attack critics of his boss, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne?," I described the use of anti-Semitism by Patrick Byrne and Judd Bagley sometimes acting in concert with Edward Manfredonia on antisocialmedia.net, InvestorVillage, and Motley Fool as tool of Byrne's smear campaign against critics and others.
Patrick Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com) compares InvestorVillage to the British Parliament
In another blog post here, entitled, "InvestorVillage is the place for Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, his henchman Judd Bagley, and their cronies," I described how InvestorVillage is a place that permits penny stock promoting, cyber stalking, anti-Semitic comments, threats and/or blackmail by either Patrick Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com), Judd Bagley (Director of Communications at Overstock.com) Evren Karpak (contributor to Overstock.com's antisocialmedia.net smear web site, and the delusional Edward Manfredonia (an advisor to Judd Bagley).
Patrick Byrne compares InvestorVillage, which continues to stubbornly refuse to delete anti-Semitic comments by its participants, with the British Parliament. InvestorVillage, in an act of defiance, still has not deleted anti-Semitic comments and smears posted on its web site by the delusional Edward Manfredonia (an advisor to Judd Bagley, Director of Communications at Overstock.com) since I notified them several times via e-mail on Thursday, May 31, 2007 and Friday, June 1, 2007.
On June 1, 2007, Patrick Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com) endorsed InvestorVillage in his new blog on Overstock.com's web site. He wrote:
Because Fool.com went the way of Yahoo (that is, massive clogging with gibberish of shills), I (as you will have read below) switched from Fool to investorVillage (for those interested in stock message boards regarding any company, I recommend InvestorVillage: as civilization-scores go, Yahoo is a jungle, Fool is now the Wild West, but the InvestorVillage board is the British parliament).
To download a copy of the delusional Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears on InvestorVillage, click here.
Patrick Byrne has used InvestorVillage to encourage readers to post smears on his antisocialmedia.net smear web site that is administered by Judd Bagley (Director of Communications at Overstock.com)
For example, on March 4, 2007, in a post (message number 5236) on InvestorVillage Patrick Byrne had encouraged other message board participants to comment on his antisocialmedia.net smear web site that is administered by Judd Bagley (Director of communications at Overstock.com):
About AntiSocialMedia.net
The unique strength of social media (another term for peer-generated, web-distributed content) is also its unique weakness: the fact that anybody can get involved.
AntiSocialMedia.Net seeks to hold accountable those who abuse the power of social media for personal gain.
Our mandate is broad but our scope, as you'll read, is less so: focusing primarily on the use of social media as a tool in support of illegal stock manipulation efforts. The principal editor of this website is employed by one of the many companies mentioned in these pages, but is not a shareholder and receives no support whatsoever from his employer.
Please use the comment feature or email to submit tips or additional information.
Blogger and antisocialmedia.net critic known as, Scipio Africanus, who Judd Bagley and his associate Evren Karpak, attempted to silence to a blackmail attempt responded to Patrick Byrne.
A day later, in a post (message number 5291) on InvestorVillage, Scipio Africanus wrote:
A mandate generally implies acting upon instructions or orders given by others. Who issued the mandate?
Is there any significance that this "mandate" was not revealed until January 13, 2007? (Note that is the same day this ASM article was published and the paragraph above was originally part of that article.)
Judd Bagley, in his attempt to blackmail Scipio Africanus in collusion with antisocialmedia.net contributor Evren Karpak, Bagley makes it clear that antisocialmedia.net's mandate is from Patrick Byrne
On May 13, 2007, in a post (message number 7306) on InvestorVillage, under his alias De Daumier-Smith, Judd Bagley wrote:
This is going to get very interesting, very quickly, folks. To quote Patrick, I'm going to do Scipio "slow."
Other actions by Judd Bagley make it clear that he takes instructions from Patrick Byrne and Overstock.com
Investigative reporter, blogger, and Byrne critic, Gary Weiss who is a target of Patrick Byrne's vendetta against the financial media, wrote in a blog item entitled, "Is the Overstock.com Board Rousing From its Slumber?," wrote:
Sam, you see, has been in touch by email with the Overstock board of directors concerning ASM. And as you can see from the post, one of Sam's emails quite obviously led to the deletion of some particularly vile reader comments from ASM, including a physical threat against myself from operators of Alpine Analytics that I have previously written about.
My blog post that Gary Weiss was referring to above was entitled, "InvestorVillage is the place for Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, his henchman Judd Bagley, and their cronies." I have written extensively about the flimsy wall of separation that Patrick Byrne has concocted between Overstock.com and antisocialmedia.net in my blog posts here entitled, "Don't Mess with Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne" and "The Deceptions of Patrick Byrne (CEO of Overstock.com) and Judd Bagley (Director of Social Media at Overstock.com)."
Apparently Patrick Byrne has no issue with anti-Semitic comments, delusional Jewish conspiracy theories, and smears being posted on his antisocialmedia.net web site
On March 8, 2007, four days after Patrick Byrne solicited smears for antisocialmedia.net in his post on InvestorVillage; Edward Manfredonia had posted the following anti-Semitic comments, smears, and delusions in a long winded rant antisocialmedia.net:
Several years ago I began to write that Gary Weiss had lied about the murders of Al Chalem and Maier Lehmann. Weiss attributed these murders to the Italian Mafia. Weiss knew that Chalem and Lehmann had been murdered by the Russian Mob.
What is important to note that after I had posted that Weiss had lied about the murders of Chalem and Lehmann, Floyd Schneider, under the psuedonym The Truthseeker, posted on a message board, I believe that it was Silicaon Investor, a long article. This article delineated Chalem's Mafia contacts.
But Floyd Schneider did not write the article. This article was written in the turgid, constipated style of Gary Weiss.
This is important for several reasons.
The first is that it is painfully obvious that Floyd Schneider does not author his own scribblings- except for short moronic messages that he posts on message boards.
The second is that Floyd Schneider is obviously fronting for individuals, who have a specific agenda. In this instance it was Gary Weiss, who lied about the murders of Chalem and Lehmann. In other instances Schneider is fronting for short sellers.
While Al Chalem had previously had connections with the Italian Mafia, Lehmann refused to have anything to do wth the Italian Mafia.
Lehmann's partners in his stock frauds were Orthodox Jews, many of whom, such as Feivel Gottlieb, were members of his synagogue.
This was known to Gary Weiss, a great defender of Israel, and to Weiss' editor, Seymour Zucker.
Seymour Zucker and Feivel Gottlieb belonged to the same Talmud study group.
Seymour Zucker knew that Feivel Gottlieb was involved in the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann. Zucker knew that Gottlieb had earned millions in the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann, who was descended from a long line of Rabbis.
Weiss knew of the involvement of Orthodox Jews in the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann, but Weiss refused to expose the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann because Weiss would have been compelled to expose the involvment of an entire Orthodox synagogue in the stock frauds of Maier Lehmann.
Better to attribute the murders of Chalem and Lehmann to the Italian Mafia- and obtain a book contract. (Even though the book bombed.)
60 Minutes would never have Weiss appear if Weiss were to attribute the murders of Chalem and Lehmann to the Russian Mob, which was created by the Jackson-Vanick Act. Every parent, whose child uses ecstasy, can thank the Russian and Israeli Mobs for their child's drug abuse. And this was stated by the State Department several weeks ago.
Respectfully submitted,
Edward Manfredonia
Additional vile anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears were posted by the delusional Edward Manfredonia over the next few months on antisocialmedia.net, InvestorVillage, and Yahoo. At least, Yahoo has taken action to delete anti-Semitic comments without making up excuses. InvestorVillage stubbornly refuses to delete Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments and smears despite repeated requests.
To download examples of the delusional Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears on antisocialmedia.net, click here.
Judd Bagley has defended Edward Manfredonia anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears and praised him as a knowledgeable advisor
The delusional Edward Manfredonia had posted vile and malicious anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears in an orgy of posts on antisocialmedia.net and InvestorVillage directed at Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morganthau, Judge Michael D. Stallman, Gary Weiss, me and others.
On April 2, 2007, in a post (message number 6052) on InvestorVillage.com using his alias De Daumier-Smith, Judd Bagley defended the delusional Edward Manfredonia's anti-Semitic comments, false accusations, and smears:
...Ed may have a quirky way of communicating in writing, but I can assure you he's one of the more knowledgeable people I know. Ed has been enormously generous in sharing his knowledge of how Planet Wall Street works (both in theory and in practice) with me.
A supporter of Patrick Byrne had boasted in a post (message number 5943) on InvestorVillage that Judd Bagley had "many lengthy conversations" with Edward Manfredonia:
This was Judd's reply to me when I asked him about Mr. Manfredonia. Judd, sorry about posting a PM, but I felt in this case it was warranted. "I have had MANY lengthy conversations with Ed. He is a very good and principled man. But he seriously lacks the ability to communicate effectively. "
Patrick Byrne says he is an avid reader and raving fan of antisocialmedia.net
On January 31, 2007, in a post (message number 4287) on InvestorVillage.com, using his alias Hannibal, Patrick Byrne wrote that he is "an avid reader and raving fan" of antisocialmedia.net.
Patrick Byrne shares the same delusional theories as Edward Manfredonia
Jeff Matthews, in a blog item entitled, "Conspiracy of the Jews?-Part II," wrote:
The interview took place on Friday December 16th, and it lasted for an hour and a half. (You can listen to it at a speeded-up rate in far less time on the CFRN web site).
In the midst of the usual paranoid-sounding diatribe against the so-called naked short-selling scandal, Byrne is encouraged to get specific about the root causes of the problem. The host asks:
"Are we dealing with the traditional old-boy network or has organized crime gotten involved?"
To this, Patrick Byrne says the following, and I quote him:
"Every rabbit hole you go down leads to either [sic] the Italian mob, the Russian mob or the Israeli mob, and nobody's ever asked about that, and I haven't pressed the issue...but every rabbit hole you go down you end up in one of those three places....
"The Israeli mob and the Russian mob are the two ones [sic] who scare me."
Those are the words of Patrick M. Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. I am not making them up.
Byrne goes on to discuss, briefly, the "Russian mob" as a kind of band of marauders who perpetrate scams and then retreat to their "dachas" on the Caspian Sea for a break before the next scam.
He elaborates in far greater detail on the nefariousness of the so-called "Israeli mob":
"If you Google ‘ecstasy Israeli mafia' you'll find articles that basically the Israeli mob...is thought to control 75% of the ecstasy trade in the United States."
Now, as with Byrne's bringing up Thomas Friedman's supposed pro-Israel tendencies in a Motley Fool rant, I find it hard to understand how Israel's supposed domination of the ecstasy trade in the United States relates to naked short-selling on the U.S. stock exchanges.
But let's assume, for a minute, that it does.
And let's do exactly what Patrick Byrne says: let's Google ‘ecstasy Israeli mafia' and see what we come up with.
Okay, I Googled the phrase and I got 30,600 results in 0.16 seconds.
Hmmm. Patrick Byrne appears to be right: when you type in those three words, you get articles that-this is incredible-accuse Israel of controlling the U.S. ecstasy trade!
Let's look at the first page, one link at a time.
The first two links are to the web site of an author touting a book he wrote about the rise and fall of an Israeli kingpin in the ecstasy trade, but he doesn't particularly focus on the Israelis-as-uber-mobsters angles that Patrick says "scare me."
The third listed link resulting from this Google search recommended by Patrick Byrne-and I am not making this up-is to the web site of Al Jazeera.
Yes, you have it right: that Al Jazeera.
After all, Patrick Byrne has termed his so-called campaign against naked short-selling as a "Jihad."
Recently, he has now mockingly called his so-called campaign against naked short selling a "mitzvah"
On June 24, 2007 after the fall out resulting from new anti-Semitic comments posted on antisocialmedia.net that were deleted at Board member Joseph J. Tabacco's request, Patrick Byrne commented on Overstock.com's web site:
I know from your emails that many of you are following my Mitzvah*....
* "Mitzvah" is a Hebrew word meaning (as I was taught, anyway) "obligatory good deed". For example, the "Ten Commandments" of the Old Testament are actually the ten Mitzvahs in the original (the word shows up in "Bar Mitzvah" and "Bat Mitzvah" as well). While at times my battle against Wall Street has been termed a "Jihad" (though I honestly do not remember who used that first, myself or my opponents), and later I called it a "Crusade," more recently I have settled on "Mitzvah" as the best term, as my actions pring less from any fervor, passion, or desire than they do from a sense of obligation. Normal humans, when they see ordinary people getting kicked by powerful bullies, feel an obligation to intervene. Doing so seems to be the Mitzvah that has been thrust upon me of late.
A "friend" and business associate of Patrick Byrne, claiming to be a Rabbi, attempts to defend him on InvestorVillage
On June 26, 2007, in a post (message number 8411) on InvestorVillage, using the alias mayerrice, Mayer Gniwisch wrote:
Well, to be honest, I am not a writer, however I will try and express my thoughts to you on this issue. I will put my Rabbi hat on, and speak now as a Rabbi... My job is not to look for Patrick's fault. I am a friend of his who saw people talk of him as an anti-Semite and felt responsible to speak up. What I've learnt as a Rabbi is, never judge your fellow man until you are in his shoes and you know all the details. Which in short means never, because what we see in others is a mere reflection of ourselves.
In that same post, he went on to describe his business relationship with Patrick Byrne.
Now I will put on my www.ice.com diamond maven's hat. The diamond deal had all the potential to be a grand slam home run. Other issues at the company, issues that affected all of the company caused the deal to be only a bunt.
While his job was "not to look for Patrick's fault," Mayer Gniwisch had no problem looking at the fault of others and judging them by calling them names.
On June 28, 2007, in a post (message number 13025) on Motley Fool, Mr. Rice wrote:
I will say it again. I am not here to judge people. If Patrick does it, that is his issue to deal with. I must say that you guys are a bunch of "Yentas".
On July 3, 2007, in a post (message number 13103) on Motley Fool, Mr. Rice wrote:
You are right I was judging you, Sorry! Shalom to you all.
In his next post (message number 13104) on Motley Fool, Mr. Rice writes:
Yes, Spreading Lashon Hara that someone is an anti Semite is worse than being a Yenta.
The beat goes on
Less than 24 hours after his farewell post on InvestorVillage, Patrick Byrne was back posting a new message (number 8588) smearing New York Times columnist, Joe Nocera. Shortly, Overstock.com's Board of Directors and its Audit Committee should be meeting to approve the release of the company's second quarter numbers. Let's see if they sign off on Overstock.com's disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission and take appropriate action against Patrick Byrne and his cronies.
Written by,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Update Patrick Byrne Responds
I sent the following e-mail to Overstock.com's Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and Patrick Byrne:
From: Sam E. Antar
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 2:23 AM
To: Board of Directors; Clay Corbus; Joseph Tabacco, Patrick Byrne
Cc: Walter G. Ricciardi (Securities and Exchange Commission); Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission); Norman Korb (Securities and Exchange Commission); Richard Simpson (Securities and Exchange Commission); New York Anti-Defamation League; San Francisco Anti-Defamation League
Overstock.com, Continues his Ugly Campaign of Menace
To the Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and CEO of Overstock.com:
You are on notice as to the CEO Patrick Byrne’s continued violations of Overstock.com’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
You are respectfully reminded of your duties regarding Overstock.com’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
Please refer to my blog for additional information.
Title: Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Continues his Ugly Campaign of Menace
Link here: http://whitecollarfraud.blogspot.com/2007/07/patrick-byrne-ceo-of-overstockcom.html
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Cc: Walter G. Ricciardi (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: Norman Korb (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: Richard Simpson (Securities and Exchange Commission)
Cc: New York Anti-Defamation League
Cc: San Francisco Anti-Defamation League
Note: I deleted certain e-mail addresses and substituted them with the names of e-mail recipients.
Shortly afterwards, I received read receipts from Patrick Byrne (Overstock.com CEO) and Jonathan Johnson (Overstock.com General Counsel).
Then, I received an e-mail from Patrick Byrne:
From: Patrick Byrne
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 3:19 AM
To: Sam E. Antar; Board - Jonathan Johnson; Clay Corbus; Joseph Tabacco
Cc: Walter G. Ricciardi (Securities and Exchange Commission); Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission); Norman Korb (Securities and Exchange Commission); Richard Simpson (Securities and Exchange Commission); New York Anti-Defamation League; San Francisco Anti-Defamation League
Subject: RE: White Collar Fraud Blog: Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Continues his Ugly Campaign of Menace
Sam,
http://forums.auctions.overstock.com/viewtopic.php?p=221204#221204
Enjoy.
Patrick
Patrick Byrne responds on Overstock.com's Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and him (above) and reprinted my blog post
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 12:18 am Post subject: Sam writes the most ironic email in history
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey folks.
There is a fellow named Sam who, as he proudly points out, is a convicted felon (he is less proudly open about the fact that he ratted out some family members in order to save his own skin). He is not in prison now, and makes a "hobby" out of clogging message boards with deposition-style questions for and non sequitors about me, posted round-the-clock (see example below). The miscreants are running low on new cronies willing to join their group (the sane journalists have woken up to what is going on, and even let me know that they see it), so Sam is being promoted to the rarified ranks of Crony-in-Training (Herb had Sam on a few nights ago - now we see Herb quoting Sam in his stories, Sam quoting Herb, etc. etc.) Sam has been blasting me, our board, our lawyers etc. with more of the same, and, as he makes clear, government officials as well. He asked (at the bottom of the enclosed letter) that the following not be made public, but I think that his letter tonight, exhibiting as it does the highest ratio of claims to evidence, the purest falsehoods, and the least supported assumptions, that I can recall being packed into one of his missives, is too sweet to be kept private.
Enjoy.
=============================================
Hi Sam,
Thanks for demonstrating your sanity with that lucid, cogent analysis. Tell me, why is it "reporting" when the New York Times does it, but "stalking" if I do it? I missed that part of the first amendment.
Patrick
He posted my e-mail on Overstock.com's web site and copied my blog post above. Not that I cared.
Patrick Byrne did not post any of my links to download Overstock.com's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
The beat went on.
I sent out another e-mail to Patrick Byrne
From: Sam E. Antar [mailto:sam@whitecollarfraud.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 6:14 AM
To: Patrick Byrne; Board of Directors, Clay Corbus, Joseph J. Tabacco
Cc: Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Walter G. Ricciardi (Securities and Exchange Commission); Norman Korb (Securities and Exchange Commission); William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); New York Anti-Defamation League; San Francisco Anti-Defamation League
Subject: RE: White Collar Fraud Blog: Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Continues his Ugly Campaign of Menace
Patrick Byrne,
You forgot to post my links to download Overstock.com’s Code of Business Conduct and Ethics.
Why not post your Code of Business Conduct and Ethics on your web site?
Respectfully,
Sam E. Antar (former Crazy Eddie CFO & convicted felon)
Patrick Byrne responds by e-mail
From: Patrick Byrne [mailto:PByrne@overstock.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2007 12:09 PM
To: Sam E. Antar; Board - Jonathan Johnson; Clay Corbus; Joseph Tabacco
Cc: Roel C. Campos (Securities and Exchange Commission); Walter G. Ricciardi (Securities and Exchange Commission); Norman Korb (Securities and Exchange Commission); William McKean (Securities and Exchange Commission); Kenneth Israel (Securities and Exchange Commission); New York Anti-Defamation League; San Francisco Anti-Defamation League
Subject: RE: White Collar Fraud Blog: Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Continues his Ugly Campaign of Menace
Done.
http://forums.auctions.overstock.com/viewtopic.php?p=221216#221216
Patrick Byrne's new post on Overstock.com's web site
Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:09 am Post subject:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam writes now to suggest that I withheld some key component of his argument. No doubt it is that one piece that would have made it all fit together into one tight, cohesive package: I would not know as I really do nothing more than glance at his emails for title, length, and rant-factor. Just to give him the benefit of the doubt, though, I have inserted a link to it in the posting above, and reproduce that link here:
http://www.whitecollarfraud.com/files/26805346.pdf (updated link)
Patrick
PS I would not normally repost something from another message board, but these two responses on investorvillage are priceless.
Msg: 8596 of 8597 7/8/2007 9:26:12 AM Recs: 0 Sentiment: Not Disclosed
By: evren Send PM Profile Ignore Recommend Add To Favorites
Posted as a reply to msg 8595 by Hannibal
Re: Crazy Sam Struts His Stuff
Crazy Eddie's prices may be insane but his cousin, apparently, is certifiable. I read every third sentence and laughed as hard as I have in a long time. All I can think of is, Borat is making a sequel and we all just got punked. Okay, where are the cameras?
Msg: 8597 of 8597 7/8/2007 10:02:02 AM Recs: 0 Sentiment: Not Disclosed
By: HANGMAN COMING Send PM Profile Ignore Recommend Add To Favorites
Posted as a reply to msg 8595 by Hannibal
Re: Crazy Sam Struts His Stuff
Oh how desperate is he getting? Sam,you used to rant about the accounting practice,nothing there,now you rage about free speech trying to quell others,you protest way to much,of course we know you have absolutly nothing to lose here,right?and we know your just a concerned overstock investor,right?
The beat goes on
Imagine the CEO of a public company linking to a convicted felon's web site to provide his shareholders a download of his own company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics?
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