Dear shareholders,
Today we are faced with unprecedented business challenges. I am not speaking primarily of the weakened economy, which has had an effect on our business. The economy is a function of the attitudes of citizens all over our country, whereas the problems I am speaking of are the result of a small group of government officials. Our company is under attack by the United States Government.
In 2003, Chief Financial Officer Owen Kind formed an SPE called JML, which, as the news has reported, stands for Just My Luck. The purpose of JML was to provide liquidity to Cara Ellison Corp. on short notice. The due diligence costs and fees would be much less than those charged by banks. JML was a partnership. The other parties involved include banks, hedge funds, and other businesses. It was learned yesterday afternoon that Owen Kind improperly took for himself over $120 million dollars of JLM’s funds. I dismissed him immediately. I am deeply disappointed and shocked at his uncharacteristic behavior and I will cooperate in any investigation into the loss of those funds.
Today’s firings are the result of an internal investigation by our auditors. The individuals dismissed were mostly from JML, but I am personally sad to say that three of them were from headquarters of Cara Ellison Corp. This matter has been turned over to the FBI and I will not say more about that at this time.
These actions are a case of bad timing. Though they coincide with the indictment handed down on me, this is not any sort of conspiracy. I was never involved in any conspiracy or fraud at Cara Ellison Corp. I did not do any one of the 753 things they are accusing me of doing. They are using this witch hunt as a pretext to destroy our company. The United States Government would like nothing more that to appropriate the wealth of all businesses, but I promise you, shareholders and friends, as long as there is breath in my body, they will not touch Cara Ellison Corporation.
The government and the media are also investigating the bonus structure of our company. I assure you there is nothing illegal or immoral about the bonuses that certain of our executives have earned.
Yes, it is true that we are facing challenges. We are facing not only a worldwide weakened economy, we are also facing the persecution of the chief executive of a $200 billion company with 100,000 employees around the globe, and many thousands of vendors, clients, and customers that rely on us. We are facing the betrayal of people we all trusted, and liked personally.
I will not step down. I will not take a plea deal for my own alleged misdeeds. And I will not allow a small group of small-minded anti-business glorified notary publics in the Department of Justice to force me into giving up the thing I love most in the world. Yes, we are facing challenges. We are facing anti-business attitudes the likes of which I have never seen. We are facing the Ellison Task Force, which is comprised of young attorneys desperate to cut their teeth on a big case to make their careers. I personally am fighting an indictment I know to be completely false.
It is a challenge. But that’s why we are here. We are Cara Ellison Corp. and we are changing the world.
