Robert Douglas Ortman of OrtmanLaw.com is an attorney in Atlanta who met Mr. Hoffman for 5 minutes. Mr. Hoffman has made a complaint to the Gergia Bar Association about Robert Ortman and they are now investigating. Please read this article about Robert Douglas Ortman and Fox News Atlanta. If you go to Fox News Atlanta and search for Boxcar Stores you can see his interview on three separate occassions. Mr. Hoffman, once again only met Robert Douglas Ortman for 5 minutes.
Boxcar stores has developed a revolutionary concept of lowering food prices for the american people. The industry is in a state of disarray, and it cannot change to the demands for quality food at lower prices, as boxcar can. Therefore, the industry is utilizing people like rupert murdoch and fox news to try to destroy this concept, which is now being rolled out nationally. Fox receives a substantial amount of advertising revenue from the traditional supermarket industry.
Please read the stories that have been reported in the press about mr. Murdoch, fox news, and the new york post, a newspaper that mr. Murdoch owns.
The bancroft family, who controls the dow jones corporation, which, in turn, owns the wall-street journal, considers mr. Murdoch, dr. Evil of journalism as quoted in a june 3rd article. Additionally, the family despises everything he stands for.
For more information copy and paste this
There are hundreds of additional articles about Fox News and Rupert Murdoch available that tell a very interesting story about yellow journalism and his business interests.
Please note that we are launching the Retail Food Channel, which will be broadcast across the nation 24/7, which will be coming by the end of 2007. This will be in competition to Fox News and other Murdoch interests.
Rebuttal to the Fox News broadcast.
Randy Travis and his I-Team investigation aired a three-part series on Fox5 News in Atlanta about Boxcar Stores. Unfortunately, he only told one side of the story and many of the allegations that he asserted as fact are simply not true.
In Part I of the series, Mr. Travis alleged that the companys plan was to take vacant stores and convert them to the Boxcar concept. This is only one aspect of the companys plans. The company also intends to pursue existing chains that are faring poorly and convert them to the Boxcar concept and provide certain perishables to the stores through the companys wholesale infrastructure, which is also being developed by working with various suppliers.
FoxNews also sent in an undercover reporter wearing a hidden camera. This reporter came in under the guise of interviewing for a position. What FoxNews failed to disclose was the fact that this reporter submitted an application and included either false or unverifiable information.in fact, none of the information could be verified: Ms. Larcom listed cell phones for her home number, her business number, and her employers number. We were not able to locate a Briarwood High School in East Point, Georgia, where she allegedly attended high school. She failed to complete large portions of the application, including the address of her employer, whether she was known by any other name, and address information for the one reference that she listed.in fact, she is apparently also known as Martha Lewis. Her e-mail responding to the companys ad was also deceitful: she indicated that she was looking for a better opportunity and that she believed that she was the perfect fit as a research librarian or administrative assistant when it is now obvious that she had no intention of working for the company had she been offered a job.
Additionally, in Part I, Mr. Travis indicated that we were currently selling $1 Billion worth of stock. This is a gross misrepresentation on Mr. Traviss part: we have approached accredited investors, but we have sold no stock whatsoever or had any closings, although we intend to effectuate closings in the near future. However, any closings will involve only accredited investors, such as pension funds, profit-sharing groups, foundations, or similar institutions.
Attorney Robert Ortman stated that he had applied for a job with the company and that it cost him $1,500, when, in fact, Mr. Ortman billed the company for less than $500. When we wrote him and asked him to explain how he arrived at the $1,500 figure, he refused to respond to us. Mr. Hoffman had asked Mr. Ortman to file an entry of appearance, not a motion. When Mr. Ortman sent his invoice via e-mail, he threatened to file suit if the bill wasnt paid immediately. He also threatened to launch a criminal investigation. The threat of criminal pursuits in order to gain an advantage in a civil matter is a violation of the rules of professional conduct. Mr. Hoffman filed a bar complaint against Mr. Ortman for making such a threat and for misrepresenting to the public the money that Mr. Hoffman owed him. Mr. Hoffmans complaint is being reviewed by a deputy general counsel for the State Bar of Georgia.
Mr. Travis also made much over the lawsuits filed against Boxcar. What he failed to note was the fact that many of the suits have counterclaims. Some of the suits have also been settled. He also made much of the fact that Mr. Hoffman has acted as his own attorney: Mr. Hoffman is entitled to do this any time he is sued in his individual capacity.interestingly enough, Mr. Traviss employer, its parent company and affiliates, have been a party to literally hundreds of lawsuits.in federal court alone, PACER reveals hundreds of lawsuits filed against Fox News or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates. (http://pacer. Uscourts. Gov) More specifically, there are dozens of cases in which the primary allegation is defamation. Some cases have been dismissed, others have been remanded to state court. However, there are several defamation cases that apparently had merit. We have provided several of these cases as attachments.
For example, the case of Hewan v. Fox News in Kentucky went to a five day jury trial. The case was apparently settled before it went to a jury.in a case in Alabama, Free v. Fox Television, the station had aired a story about a father whose ex-wife kidnapped their daughter. The ex-wife then went to Fox 6 and alleged that she and her boyfriend had to kidnap the child because the father was sexually abusing her. Fox aired the story without confirming any of the mothers allegations. Mr. Free sued the station and apparently the parties settled out of court.
In yet another case that is still pending in federal court in Texas, Waddell v. Fox Entertainment, Fox published and aired a story about Dr. Waddell, a chiropractor, in which the defendant broadcast and published information that Dr. Waddell had received a small business loan from the government through false pretenses, which is punishable up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, when, in fact, he had done no such thing. Again, Fox did not check its facts and chose to spread a sensational story throughout the media, to the detriment of Dr. Waddell and his practice. There is a similar case pending in federal court in New York, Bloom v. Fox News, in which the station accused a physician of sexually assaulting his patients. Dr. Bloom is seeking $20 million in damages.
In addition to these defamation lawsuits, Fox has had numerous lawsuits against it for employment discrimination, violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, violations of civil rights, etc. The lawsuits against Boxcar are solely for delinquent accounts, which, again, the company is addressing and will continue to address until all claims are settled.
Randy Meeker, a former employee, indicated that the last two checks that the company provided him were no good. It is our position that this is simply not true; Mr. Meeker never even cashed the checks, nor did he attempt to put them through. Those checks are still outstanding. While Mr. Meeker found that the company's website was misleading because it said that Boxcar was building a store every week, at the time that the website was initially put into place, the company had about twenty stores leased. However, because the company's business plan had to be revised to increase the number of stores that it opened in order to utilize a central processing center, no stores were actually opened at the time. The website was later revised, but, again, FoxNews never reported that.
Finally, in Part I, Mr. Travis stated that Mr. Hoffman was a convicted felon. Mr. Hoffman has never denied that he pled guilty over 35 years ago in federal court. He returned voluntarily from overseas where he was living in order to address the allegations. However, Mr. Hoffman pled guilty to one count of mail fraud: he was never convicted of mortgage fraud.
Part II of Mr. Travis's report made much of the fact that the company's offices are decorated with cheap plastic furniture. Mr. Travis has never been inside the office. It is hardly Mr. Travis's call that the company has chosen not to spend a lot of money on furnishings until it begins producing a stream of income. Mr. Travis failed to comment on the fact that the offices are spotless, even though there are countless displays of the Boxcar food products, numerous drawings, plans, and other paperwork.
Mr. Travis portrayed Mr. Drinker in Alabama as a poor, legally blind landlord who had been duped by Mr. Hoffman. Mr. Drinker broke the lease agreement, not Mr. Hoffman.
Mr. Travis again focused on certain lawsuits that were filed against the company and made much of a judgment against the company, indicating that the judge had ordered Mr. Hoffman to pay the judgment. This representation is so misleading: many judgments are entered in the form of an order if there is no jury or bench trial. It hardly means that Mr. Hoffman or the company is in contempt if it does not pay the judgment because the company has the right to appeal the judge's decision.
Mr. Hoffman does indeed plan to negotiate to develop a food channel cable network to inform consumers about the industry. Simply because there is not a food channel that is currently in operation does not mean that the company won't ever follow through with Mr. Hoffman's plans. These plans are now being developed.
Part III of the story was probably the most incredible of all. Mr. Travis broadcast that the company was being investigated by the Georgia Secretary of State for securities fraud. Neither Mr. Hoffman nor the company has been contacted by the Secretary of State on any issue. Apparently Mr. Travis contacted the Securities and Exchange Commission, who could neither confirm nor deny that the company was being investigated for securities fraud. Subsequent to the broadcasts, the company has been contacted by the SEC and we have answered all of their questions. Obviously it would be a concern if we were attempting to sell unregistered securities or were soliciting funds from non-accredited investors. We have done neither. As we emphasized above, we have not sold any securities whatsoever. We have also heard nothing back from the SEC after they conducted their informal inquiry.
Mr. Ortman was again featured in the third segment. He stated that Mr. Hoffman had left 22 messages over a three week period. Mr. Hoffman does not believe that he made that many calls. He does admit that he called Mr. Ortman because Mr. Ortman's representations on the newscast were not true. Mr. Hoffman filed a bar complaint in good faith based on Mr. Ortman's threat to launch a criminal investigation if Mr. Hoffman did not pay his bill, an amount that is in dispute. One would get the impression from Mr. Travis's telecast that an 'ividual is not entitled to file a bar complaint if he believes that an attorney has violated his professional responsibility or made a material misrepresentation about that individual as a client. What is even more incredible is the fact that Mr. Hoffman only met with Mr. Ortman for about five minutes, yet Mr. Ortman has held himself out to know a good deal about Mr. Hoffman's business when, in fact, he knows nothing from personal knowledge. Moreover, an unknown individual provided FoxNews with the private placement memoranda, yet not one of the consultants, officers, or directors was contacted by the station.
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