Barry Minkow has been busy since I turned him into a verb.
“Of all the indignities, don’t get Minkowed,” was the headline on my Feb. 13 column.
It was all the encouragement needed to keep Minkow Minkowing, which is the process of exposing the false, or perhaps erroneous, academic credentials of high-ranking corporate executives.
Minkow, a felonious Ponzi-schemer who has served his time and found the Lord, tries to make a living at this, often selling short the stock of companies he targets.
Yes, he’s ratting out the bosses for a dime. But it’s not like Minkow can get a corporate job after running an infamous stock scam in the 1980s with a carpet-cleaning outfit called ZZZZ Best Co. And somehow, I think it’s funny when Minkow is accurate while the corporate biographies he points out are not.
Sensing my amusement, Minkow, founder of the Fraud Discover Institute in San Diego, calls me with one new discovery after the next.
He sends me to the website of Max Capital Group Ltd., which provides insurance and reinsurance, and has offices in New York, Bermuda and Ireland.
Chief Operating Officer Peter Minton’s online bio claims a “Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.” Not true, says Minkow, and gives me a letter from UCLA’s registrar’s office to back it up.
Max Capital officials conceded Minkow’s point, but told me it was a “typo.”
“There was never a misrepresentation of Peter’s credentials internally,” said Max Capital spokeswoman Roanne Kulakoff. “There was an unfortunate third-party error made on the website that is being corrected.”
Somehow Minton’s real degree – Bachelor of Science from California State University, Northridge – became a “Bachelor of Arts” from UCLA, where Minton, at least, attended.
I can see how this might happen, even though it’s a bit like confusing Harvard with a Boston community college. Happens all the time.
Minkow also pointed me to the website of satellite TV giant Echostar Corp. and the corporate bio of Mark Jackson, president of Echostar Technologies LLC. “Jackson earned his degree in electrical engineering from Texas Tech University,” it read.
Minkow then showed me a 2005 annual report from Archos SA, a French company that makes portable audio and video hard drives, where Jackson serves on the board. “Mr. Jackson is a graduate of Texas Tech University,” it read.
Turns out Jackson went to Texas Tech, but never graduated and doesn’t hold a degree, even from the Dollar Store.
This error has repeated itself in media reports since at least 1997, when Echostar first published it in a press release. Echostar spokesman Marc Lumpkin said it was just a mistake, and that Jackson didn’t misrepresent himself to the company, or ever bother to check his corporate bio over all these years.
Neither Lumpkin, nor Kulakoff, however, would make available job applications, resumes or other internal documents to substantiate their statements.
“The company has reviewed Mark Jackson’s application and it is clear that he attended Texas Tech University but did not graduate,” Lumpkin said. “We’ve corrected the error we had on our website.”
Knowing how corporations work, it’s hard to believe a third-party vendor or a PR hack could put out a bio on somebody without first running it up the flagpole.
The first sentence of Echostar’s Code of Ethics reads: “As a public company we have a responsibility to ensure that our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and other public communications are timely and accurate.”
Max Capital’s reads: “All information you record or report on our behalf, whether for our purposes or for third parties, must be done accurately and honestly.”
There is similar language in the ethics code at a Denver-based company called Intrepid Potash Inc., and Intrepid lives by it. That’s part of the reason why Patrick Avery resigned as president and chief operating officer when he got Minkowed last month.
Minkow has also forced the resignations of Vahid Manian, who was former senior vice president of global manufacturing operations for Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom Corp., in December; J. Terrence Lanni, who was former CEO of MGM Mirage, in November; and Gregory Probert, who was president and chief operating officer of Herbalife Ltd., in April; among several others.
Next, Minkow sends me to the website of Marchex Inc., a search and advertising firm in Seattle. Here, we learn about co-cofounder and chief operating officer Peter Christothoulou’s credentials.
“Mr. Christothoulou received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington,” it reads.
Christothoulou responded to my questions in an email and promised to fix his corporate bio.
“I attended the University of Washington from 1991 to 1995 with Economics as my declared major. Because of my father’s battle with cancer and subsequent death, I was forced to take a leave and despite returning and doubling up on my classes, I ended up one quarter shy of the degree. I have always intended to complete the remaining classes, but with work and family obligations, I have not yet been able to do so.”
Minkow, who is also the pastor of a Community Bible Church in San Diego, was touched.
“I am blown away that he was so candid and honest,” Minkow said. “He still needs to be fired, but I would hire him back, personally.”
Al Lewis: 201-938-5266
