Accused Troll, Now Accused of ‘Racketeering’
The Naples Daily News reported this past week that the NAPLES, Florida, State Attorney General Pam Bondi has sued David Gothard (our industry knows him best of course, as the man behind Activelight, Inc. – f/k/a Activision TV, Inc. and a number of high profile patent troll accusations), on racketeering and fraud charges.
The 85-page lawsuit alleges that since 2003, David Locke Gothard and his companies have engaged in racketeering and other illegal activity in Florida and have allegedly stole millions of dollars from victims nationwide — many of them elderly — by making false promises and offering stocks that turned out to be worthless.
The accusations against Gothard, corporate officer Denice Hetkowski, Activision TV Inc., Activelight Inc., Activelight TV LLC, Ad Media Displays Inc., Activision Displays Inc., Connect HDTV Inc. and ADCO Financial Corp., state that the defendants transferred patents between themselves, solicited investors by using false representations about patents, their ‘alter ego’ companies and products – all of which produced no sales AND alleges that they then created bogus documents to operate a ‘patent assertion entity’ collecting millions in illegally-obtained funds.
The Naples Daily News reports that Gothard’s investors defaruded many out of their life savings. A retired law enforcement officer who was interviewed said that Gothard used his brother’s church ministry “to lure victims in the name of Christianity” and also claims that he “turned this over to the FBI 10 years ago” – who were, he says, not interested as “it wasn’t enough money”.
One claim is that up to two hundred people lost USD 5 million, the newspaper for example, reports that East Naples resident Gene Willis, 77, invested USD 55,000 after meeting Gothard through his Naples church, where five other members also invested about a decade ago.
The Naples Daily News also states that fraud charges aren’t new to Gothard – it says that he was sentenced to two years in a California prison in 1986 for illegally selling USD 1.2 million in securities to 65 investors, including a San José deputy police chief and an assistant district attorney.
Florida State officials are asking any ‘investors’ to call 866-966-7226.
See also ‘Who’s Been Funding The Accused Troll?‘
Categories: DailyDOOH Update
