Something sounds like it is really fishy going on here. With Carol Lam now off the case, I wonder if it is something they hope to get under the radar now.
Apparently for the second time in two months a mysterious "limited partnership" as stepped in to buy the office ADCS office building in Poway here shortly before it was auctioned off. I wonder if it would be good to organize a "posse" of us folks here in San Diego to try and "visit" the office as "potential buyers" and take a *good* look around, though I suspect now it's really being cleaned up if they are again stopping this to go to auction.
I'd put this in LBN, but it is a little older than the LBN time limit so, I'll drop it here again!
The only people being identified are lawyers representing these firms, etc. and they aren't returning calls either. I think "following the money" needs to take us here to find out what is going on under the covers!
Union Tribune article here:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20070406-9999-1b6wilkes.htmlPartnership steps into Wilkes' office
y Dean Calbreath
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 6, 2007
For the second time in two months, a limited partnership has stepped in to buy an office building formerly owned by indicted defense contractor Brent Wilkes shortly before it was to be auctioned off.
Yesterday – four days before the building was slated for the auction block – it was transferred to an entity called GRE Poway Properties LLP for an estimated $16.8 million.
Sales documents filed with the county recorder's office provided no information about who is behind GRE, a limited liability corporation that was incorporated in Delaware on March 30.
GRE's attorney, Michael Sfregola of Los Angeles, did not return phone calls.
First American Title Corp., acting on behalf of lender Union Bank, was slated to auction the building Monday. There are millions of dollars in past-due mortgage payments. That sale has now been postponed until April 13, giving the bank a chance to review the sale.
...
North County Times article:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/07/news/sandiego/12_02_564_6_07.txtFormer ADCS headquarters sold again
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY -- The former corporate headquarters of Brent Wilkes' ADCS defense firm in Poway has been sold once again, although it was not immediately clear who controls the company that purchased the property for $16.8 million.
The sale was recorded at the county recorder's office in San Diego on Thursday, where records show that Ironwood 12 LLC sold the 99,000-square-foot building to GRE Poway Property LLP.
The sale is the second since January of the building that once was the thriving center of Wilkes' corporate flagship before the company faltered in the wake of the corruption scandal of former U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham. Wilkes was indicted by a San Diego federal grand jury in February on corruption charges related to his dealings with Cunningham.
Wilkes has pleaded innocent and is awaiting trial.
Over a five-year period starting in 2000, ADCS snagged tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts. Those contracts evaporated after Cunningham became the subject of a wide-ranging federal probe that ultimately landed him in prison.
On Jan. 30, Wilkes sold the building for an undisclosed price to Rancho Bernardo-based Ironwood. The agent representing the buyer was former Wilkes attorney Paul Smithers, who declined Friday to identify the principal partners in GRE.
...
I wonder if Kontogiannis has anything to do with this. NC Times also has an article on him this morning, noting that either he has found other ways to avoid indictment, or is perhaps cutting a deal with prosecutors investigating the case:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/04/08/news/top_stories/1_22_254_7_07.txtKontogiannis an enigmatic figure in Cunningham case
By: WILLIAM FINN BENNETT - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY ---- An alleged co-conspirator in the sordid bribery tale of Randy Cunningham remains an enigmatic yet key figure in what federal officials have said is the single-largest case of congressional corruption in U.S. history.
The alleged co-conspirator, New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis, has so far escaped indictment despite being accused of having helped to steer more than $500,000 in illicit money to the former North County Republican congressman ---- who now resides in an Arizona prison.
Kontogiannis' nephew, financier John T. Michael, hasn't been as fortunate as his uncle, a wealthy Long Island real estate developer who has had previous brushes with the law. Michael was indicted by a San Diego federal grand jury in February for obstruction of justice in connection with the Cunningham case.
At the same time, the government also indicted Brent Wilkes, owner of the Poway defense firm ADCS, for allegedly bribing Cunningham and for money laundering. Also indicted was Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the former No. 3 man at the CIA, who is accused of fraud and money laundering.
Michael, Wilkes and Foggo have each pleaded not guilty.
Kontogiannis has remained silent about his alleged involvement. But in a brief telephone interview with the North County Times two years ago, he acknowledged having had dealings with Cunningham and has since been identified by multiple sources as "co-conspirator No. 3" in Cunningham court documents.
...
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