Certified moron
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Blue skies and smooth sailing for PBS
...possible but not probable unless Eddie Vakser isn't involved that is. So is he? If not then who is actually running the PBS show these days?
Back in September Eddie put out PR's that he was stepping aside to concentrate on re-building parent company Artfest International. His new CEO (Patrick Bricker) bailed about 45 days later. Presumably new board member Kent Waldrep (who is recovering from a severe stroke) jumped ship when Bricker did.
Again... who is officially in charge of PBS and why does there appear to be virtually no business activity going on. Is PBS even still located on International Parkway?
Again I ask..
Who smeared lipstick on this pig today?
...and why?
Up 275% today?
28,990 shares x .075 for a total purchase of 2,174.25? By whom... EMXC's Roxanna Webber?
No PR... no mention of this by anyone on the board?
Sumpthin' stinks... oink oink.
Who smeared lipstick on this pig today?
...and why?
Up 275% today?
28,990 shares x .075 for a total purchase of 2,174.25? By whom... EMXC's Roxanna Webber?
No PR... no mention of this by anyone on the board?
Sumpthin' stinks... oink oink.
Artprice
Artprice and Artfest are two completely different animals. The first deals in information about the broad, global art world and which has enjoyed between 40-54 thousand visitors to it's website every month this past year. The latter is a complete joke of a company whose bone-headed antics are well documented.
ARTS traded $113.57 worth of stock?
1,135,699 shares x . 0001= $113.57
What's the big occasion... to prove this corpse still has a pulse?
Website woes
A search for traffic to the PBS Holdings, Starfest Direct and DeVie Sun websites still returns the following:
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Sorry, we do not have Site Profile data for:
starfestdirect.com
pbsholdings.com
deviesun.com
The site(s) may have little traffic or we may not have a statistically relevant sample to project the traffic with.
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Traffic to parent company Artfestdirect.com within the past year has ranged from a high of about 800 visitors per month to a low of less than 50. But I'm sure they were all millionaires ;P
I agree. Why would this Roxanna chick want to climb into bed with the likes of EV? Afterall, at least her stock IS trading. Something you can't say about ARTS or PBHG.
Stardest Direct... what a marketing powerhouse
Check out the web traffic on www.Compete.com which states:
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Sorry, we do not have Site Profile data for: starfestdirect.com
The site may have little traffic or we may not have a statistically relevant sample to project the traffic with.
Please visit our Data Methodology page to learn more about how we get our data.
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This has been the case for months on end. NO ONE visits this joke of a webslite. LMAO!!! Just Google Eddie/ Edward Vakser and you'll see why.
I give Gene Egeberg this much...
He repeatedly expressed his doubts that Artfest could continue as a "going concern" without continuous infusions of funds from outside sources. In other words, Eddie couldn't turn a profit if his life depended on it. IMO all he has ever done is sell hopes, dreams, fantasies, delusions and "pie in the sky." The stock is at $0 because that's all Eddie's pipe dreams are worth.
Once again we can only conclude that
Eddie Vakser:
A) Is utterly incompetent as a CEO as evidenced by his repeatedly striking deals with worthless companies --and/or--
B) He enters into these partnerships knowing they are virtually worthless but does so regardless because he sees their primary value and purpose as being to enable him to hype his stock.
IMO, both are true --and the stock price reflects this fact.
The B.S. is nonstop with Vakser ... you know the luxury car company PBHG "bought" a majority interest in from that Kaloca company? Well, Kaloca appears to not exist anymore. Or, at least the website no longer exists ... and the company itself doesn't appear to be active on the Frankfurt Exchange either.
http://www.kaloca.com/
That domain was inactive at least 45 days before it's expiration, according to whois screen shots going back to Jan 13, 2012. Here is what previous versions of Kaloca have said about the company --
Quote:
HOT STOCK TRADING IDEAS
Kaloca.com specializes is promoting shareholders and public awareness of microcap publicly traded companies. Our target audience is active US and Asian investment communities.
The Global Trading Co. website still exists, and not a word about any PBHG ownership. The only info on ownership is the original PR with Kaloca.
You be your own judge about what this all means. IMO Vakser attempted to pull a fast one to jump start PBHG, and it failed miserably.
That same convicted felon..
..must REALLY have his hooks in EV, ARTS, et. al. IMO --and in the public llegal documents of someone who is currently suing all of the above-- ARTS has basically been looted. If so then why not pull the bankruptcy trigger and walk away from this debt?
"Partners in ....?"
That same convicted felon who once held an ARTS $180k plus note since transferred over to the sibling PBHG and which is now a $186k + toxic convertible note....
Shady characters
I agree. I'm still curious as to why a convicted felon who spent time in prison is repeatedly listed in the 10-K's as an early lender to ARTS. How did this slimeball --who, along with his criminal relatives, ran various scams that defrauded taxpayers of millions, stole money and property from hundreds of helpless mentally retarded adults-- a thief and who subsequently filed bankruptcy-- suddenly has a big pot of money to dump into an unproven, no-name startup like ARTS?
IMO, this stinks to the high heavens. The investigative reporting on this won a Pulitzer Prize:
http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6718
http://cqc.ny.gov/uploads/Publications/oceanhouse.pdf
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/22/nyregion/at-troubled-adult-home-a-troubled-new-boss.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
I would be more interested in knowing who all the convertible debt went to ... we know there are/were some questionable folks involved with ARTS -- who was <cough> loaning </cough> money?
Money in = money out?
Is there any way of independently verifying how much cash money was paid by investors (i.e stock purchases)? If the money invested doesn't somehow jive with legitimate expenses then another big "hummm" would be... "what happened to it?"
Just speculation here but.. could it be that Artfest's former President Steven Rash knows the answer to this?
Could it be this is why he continues to press his lawsuit against Vakser et. al. despite the companies appearing dead and virtually worthless? Both sides seems to be racking up a whole lot of legal fees for some reason.
IF money was stashed or used for purposes other than what was reported then investors have a dog in this fight as well.
Yeah, don't shoot the CPA just yet
After all, I have long suspected he only had access to the numbers the CEO (aka. Chairman, President, CFO) fabricated and fed to him. Whether the CPA was ever able to do a true independent audit remains to be seen. If he says he did.. and the SEC agrees he did.. then that's probably adequate until proven otherwise. The IRS, however, is EXCELLENT at auditing and finding out how and where money was used. Probably can't put that in a 10-K but it is a way to audit an audit.
EV MIA you ask?
Let's add up the evidence:
*No stock activity+
*No manufacturing(other than CSD perhaps)+
*No meaningful sales force and no charismatic individual to lead them+
*No officers and directors other than him, his sister and her husband.. certainly no one independent or with any real power+
*A mish-mash of EV companies operating in various forms of business default+
*A mountain of legal fees and looming $800k lawsuit+
*A pile of (presumably) unpaid judgments
*An army of pissed-off investors
I can't see any real reason to open any doors --presuming EV hasn't already moved his international world headquarters back into his spare bedroom.
Ev is Mia? Maybe he has been replaced or the doors are finally closed? Don't know? Anyone else heard from the fearless leader?
Bogus 10-K
Is that the one the SEC kicked back for audit irregularities? What's the track record of public companies served by this CPA Egeberg?
Audited financials?
Didn't the SEC give a deadline to clean this joke of an unacceptable "audited" mess up? Was that ever done?
Anchored in "Safe Harbor" perhaps?
On Vakser's "Island of Make Believe"
Where's Sean Murphy? His group was supposed to rule the world with StarFest Direct ... instead;
Why is StarFest Direct yet another pig with lipstick?
Where's Patrick Bricker? All that PR buzz and controversy, and there's zero evidence he is around.
What happened to the demonstration that was scheduled last Sept. by those guys from Tennessee who were going to change the way content was delivered across the internet?
In fact, why is there no evidence any of those Tennessee partnerships being of any consequence?
Where's that exotic car thing? Who scammed who on that?
Where is all this content PBHG is supposedly generating for all these "partners"?
Where is the evidence that PHBG and it's officers have done anything other than fabricate junk through the company?
What about that toxic $186k + convertible note coming due ... how is the dog gonna' ride the pony on that note?
Settlement
I don't think Vakser wants a trial, discovery OR a mediated settlement. What he wants is time during which he thinks something magic will happen in his favor. He reminds me of Beaver Cleaver who broke the car window with a baseball and rolled it down so his dad wouldn't see it. Now that's a winning strategy.
Side note: I have a $1 that says they want to mediate this and settle so that they don't have to do discovery. <shrug> Just my two cents. Discovery is the last thing, IMO, that Vakser wants here.
Trial by jury set for June 18
Judge states "You should consider this a final setting and be prepared to go to trial." He also lays down the law regarding further delays or legal shenanigans.
Those served by this notice include Artfest, Starfest, PBS, Eddie Vakser; lawyers Sean Mathis & Walt Cleveland as well as ADR mediator John L Estes.
Trial by jury set for June 18
Judge states "You should consider this a final setting and be prepared to go to trial." He also lays down the law regarding further delays or legal shenanigans.
Those served by this notice include Artfest, Starfest, PBS, Eddie Vakser; lawyers Sean Mathis & Walt Cleveland as well as ADR mediator John L Estes.
Safe Harbor
"Expected" is one of Eddie's favorite "safe harbor" qualifiers. On "Planet Eddie" you can say anything or make any claim as long as you include a paragraph at the bottom that says "don't hold me accountable because of what I just said." That protection only holds true -ethically- if you honestly make such statements in good faith. IMO Eddie doesn't know the meaning of "good faith." Instead he relies on "plausible deniability" to save his bacon.
This is one of EV best bs pr's of all-time!
DALLAS, TX (07/24/09) - Artfest International, Inc. (OTC.BB:ARTI - News) is pleased to announce that the Company generated $370,000 in new purchase orders from this past weekend's "Sizzling Summer Saturday" art extravaganza at the Company's 52,000 square foot Expo Center in Dallas, Texas. Artfest International's new sales office in Seoul, South Korea accounted for $170,000 or approximately 46% of those orders. The Company's new sales office has 20 members and is expected to generate on average, $500,000 of new sales per month.
Legal firewalls on Planet Eddie
Eddie is a registered user here on Ihubs and has posted messages before under his own name. So what's with this retarded game he's playing by sending email responses to other users here with the apparent understanding that they'll be posted here for all to read? Does he think this tactic gives him some sort of immunity?
I also find it funny that he pops his head up whenever his back is against the wall or desperate to prime the hype pump. He has a 119 day reprieve from the court and will accomplish absolutely nothing productive or profitable in the mean time.
I agree with your sentiments avaricia -- the problem is Vakser is clueless and can't help himself. No CEO of any company should be discussing the things in emails that he rants about.
I guess everyone should be glad, however, that common sense is not a trait in these companies, else there would be nothing forth-coming from them.
Eddie Eddie Eddie...
Investors poured tens of thousands into your joke of a stock stock because of delusional bullsh*t like this which STILL appears on your website:
January 8, 2010: Artfest Launches Art Channel Galleries Direct Sales Network and Adds New Catalog of Branded Sports Products to Be Sold Worldwide
"First-of-Its-Kind, Propriety Global Arts Marketing System Projected to Ramp Revenues to Over $100,000,000 in Two Years"
Based on the direct marketing performance of companies including Herbalife, Mary Kay, Avon, and Home Interiors, Inc., Artfest anticipates its current membership of 1,000, acquired during beta-testing of its proprietary system, will increase to over 2,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2010. The company expects membership will eventually grow to 20,000 by the end of 2010. With estimated per-member revenues of $6,700 per year, Artfest projects annual revenues of approximately $60,000,000 to $100,000,000 million by the end of 2010 from its Art Channel Galleries segment, (ACG).
LMAO
"I feel incredibly confident as to where we are going and how we are getting there." --EV
"Hold me Eddie"
Lawyers use very precise words to convey very precise meanings. The motion says "hold"... Eddie says "halt." I tend to believe the lawyers.
Eddie also says "trading has not been halted." So why is there zero buying and selling going on?
The Taxman Cometh
Artfest operates on a calendar year (ending Dec 31st) correct? If so, the maximum time allowed to extend and file with the IRS for year 2010 expired on October 15, 2011. Failure to do so results in all sorts of wicked penalties and interest. Filing a false/ doctored report based on cooked books will land you smack dab in jail. I'll be curious to know:
1) Did Eddie file an income tax report for year 2010 --and
2) Does it remotely jive with the financials as reported in the 10-K's for that year --and
3) Will he have to file for 2011 before he could have any hopes of trading stock again?
May I just state the bleedin' obvious?
The parent company --Artfest-- is, for all intents and purposes, defunct. They're in corporate default, no stock activity, no product sales, probably no assets of consequence (at least nothing tangible that the Dallas County Sheriff was able to find and seize last spring). Plus they're up to their shiny bald spot in legal fees and related costs.
The subsidiary --PBS Holdings-- is hardly any better. Their biggest problem is sharing the same group of knuckleheads as officers and directors.
When you consider the scorched earth these entities have left behind there's little chance of any meaningful turn-around (re. my 'knucklehead' comment above). So what's the point of both parties --Rash & Vakser et. al.-- in requesting a 120 day continuance? Eddie has proven he can't run a legitimate company that actually manufactures and sells product as he has repeatedly promised for years. So what makes anyone think he'll magically get his act together in the next 4 months?
Even if these stocks do start trading again they're so radioactive that no one will buy them so, therefore, Rash has nothing to gain in being granted worthless shares. Hell, Eddie doesn't even want 'em. That being the case, it seems the only things worth mediating are Rash's salary and reimbursement of his expenses --things which he claims were promised to him in writing. Then again, maybe he knows much more than we outsiders! Maybe he knows where the money went, what assets may be hidden and where the skeletons are buried. JMO.
Four months from now these POS companies will still be in the crapper --still stinking, still bobbing and refusing to go down after repeated flushing.
Regardless, this POS scam is burnt toast
Just my personal opinion mind you. Trial or no trial, the important thing --according to virtually everyone it seems-- is that people are no longer being suckered into throwing their money into this bottomless pit. All one can do is sit back and marvel at what the manic mind of the little Mad Russian comes up with next. You can be certain it'll be another massive flop... LMAO
$50-$70 million at stake
I wonder who will wind up owning the Duraflame Pee-casso after the trial on Monday?
You know, anytime you have an undiscovered masterpiece.. where better to have it appraised than some place located on the 3rd floor above "Lange's" corner tavern in an old working class Chicago neighborhood.
Gaad.. how many people were suckered by that scam!
Vakser Discovery Channel
So if EV again refuses to comply with demands for discovery, might the court elect to proceed anyway by considering the evidence offered by Rash (i.e. his "written agreement" etc) and --barring any proof to the contrary by Vakser-- award a judgement nonetheless? It seems to me that another delay caused by Vakser, the Tassans and their attorney (if they even have one) will be viewed as proof of more game playing and bad faith stalling.
If EV has proof Rash is lying he should be able to blow him out of the water in short order. The fact that he hasn't done so earlier leads me to draw my own conclusions.
(Just seeking personal thoughts --not legal opinions)
I just re-read the complaint
Rash claims he had a "written employment agreement" which promised a salary, stock options & grants as well as reimbursement for expenses --all of which he claims Vakser defaulted on. In fact, Rash claims Vakser "never paid a salary" or provided any of the other benefits he maintains he was promised in writing.
If Vakser is to prevail then he must produce evidence of having made those payments and stock transfers he promised in order to prove that Rash is lying. If Rash is to win he must produce this written agreement. Eddie can't just show up and tell the judge "I paid him.. I just can't prove it", correct?
Rash also claims Vakser had defrauded the SEC and investors. If he is proven correct then this discovery might open the door to other lawsuits.
Finally, how do you know Rash has not worked in two years? I have no evidence either way. Just curious.
Remember Eddie's much ballyhooed partnership with Thomas Kinkade?
Here's an ad from a Chinese art website:
--------
Hand painted American painting bridge by Thomas Kinkade
FOB Price: US $ 5 - 50 per Piece.
Port: Xiamen
Minimum Order Quantity: 1 Piece/Pieces pls contact us for details
Supply Ability: 200 Piece/Pieces per Month pls contact us for sample
-------
They'll make anything you want... including wooden Pee-casso's!
Question
How is it that such characters always seem able to sniff each other out and climb into bed with each other? Like is there some sort of underground network out there? I can see a guy like this having one bad apple out of a dozen... but 50-75% flops? Same goes for Vakser and Wicker et. al. Is there a "Cent Con" for such characters and con artists? Sheesh!
Well, at least Vakser and ARTS have some (not so) good company. Eugene Egeberg, the guy signing off on ARTS financials, has exactly four clients listed with OTC Markets.
http://www.otcmarkets.com/service-provider/Eugene-Egeberg?id=1830&filterOn=5
I don't want to cross over into off-topic territory, but one of Egeberg's clients got popped by the DTCC today and shares the ARTS boat on a trade-for-trade basis.
http://dtcc.com/downloads/legal/imp_notices/2012/nscc/a7373.pdf
So gives us just about a clean sweep - one active company, two DTCC chilled and one no information.
Great company you keep, ARTS.
Court trial in 11 days
Any thoughts on who will prevail? If so place your bets. Potential judgement ranges from $0 to $800,000.
(double post.. sorry)
11 days till $800k court trial
Defendants are Artfest, Starfest and PBS as well as Eddie, Angie & Scott. PBS parent company Artfest is dead in the water --zero bid, zero ask, zero volume, stuck for months at $.0001. PBHG is in a coma as well.
Who here believes anyone will show up in court to defend these POS companies?
The real tragedy is this
IMO, Eddie has repeatedly tried to replicate the failed, bankrupt International Galleries Inc scam. IGI was, in the view of many (myself included) a "product based pyramid" scheme which sold over priced inkjet art prints. The vast bulk of these were purchased by the members themselves (most of which were non English speaking Hispanics) in the belief that they had to "pay to play." With all the elements of a cult meeting, recruits were arm-twisted into joining on the spot and convinced by the person who brought them to the meeting to purchase time-stamped "art cards" as quickly as possible in order to beat the next guy and maximize profits.
IMO the only reason Eddie finally left was that IGI was D.O.A. and headed for bankruptcy. When it did go under it left some 30,000 creditors owed millions of dollars. IGI was later found to be the asset of a much larger scam. IGI's founder was sentenced to prison for 17.5 years and it's president dropped dead some 18 months ago while trying to resurrect the same scam once again.
Eddie has maintained that he has based the ARTS business model on the 'home party' concept similar to Home Interiors & Gifts (also bankrupt and out of business). That should have been easy enough to accomplish except for the fact that Eddie found it was much easier to sell bullsh*t than art. IMO the one smart thing he did (if he actually did it) was to buy CSD. If Eddie had even the slightest ability to FOCUS for more than a nano-second he should have built and expanded that business' capabilities to where they could supply a diversified line of products for his oft promised direct sales force. But no... he keeps flying off on countless wild tangents, zipping down every dumb bunny trail he crosses and convinces himself that every brain fart he has is sheer genius.
The tragedy is there are plenty of people who need a legitimate source of income. And that certainly includes plenty of artists. But instead of making an honest effort to serve others --which would have benefited him as well-- Eddie seems to have put himself, his sister and her husband as the top priority. The price of the stock --which is zero-- pretty much confirms this.
Seriously Eddie
IMO you have got to be THE worst excuse for a businessman in Texas. All you seem capable of is announcing endless new plans.. issuing grandiose PR statements.. signing new 'agreements' with other worthless entities, etc... all seemingly designed to sucker more gullible schmucks into investing their money with you.
So where are the sales? Where are the successes? Where's this army of direct sellers you've been promising for years? They don't exist because you have nothing anyone outside of "Planet Eddie" wants. You're not a leader... you've got no vision.. you've got no charisma.. you're no Paul J Myer... that's why no one other than a couple of people have followed you since International Galleries, Inc imploded.
Btw: tell us again how you took IGI from $10 million to $100 million in less than 6 months.. and that you "walked away from millions".. yadda yadda. http://www.prlog.org/10014630-art-channel-national-television-network-chooses-irving-texas-as-its-new-headquarters.html The truth is that the last "IGI actual earnings report" dated 11-25-05 states that TNT Art had earned a grand total of $123,885.00. Here's the archived link http://web.archive.org/web/20051125083751/http://www.igi-art.com/earnings/earnings.pdf? (wait while it loads). While $124k is nothing to sneeze at, the fact that you have chosen to inflate that into "millions" shows just how your mind works.
Eddie speaks
Otherwise known as "stalling and lulling" along with more promises of "pie in the sky by and by."
IMO, ARTS is basically a company in name only. Their own accountant's report in their 10-K's repeatedly stated significant doubts that the company could continue as a going concern without continual infusion of funds from investors. With a dead stock and no real sales (other than those generated by CSD), who in their right mind would loan this POS another dollar?
Eddie needs psychiatric help. Here he is again planning to "launch several new programs." Name me even one of the programs he has "launched" that has proven to be successful and I'll eat my hat.
I will be updating everyone very soon. We wanted to get FINRA get our dividends and get everything up to date. We are launching several programs, and you will see the disclosures coming out. I just wanted to get things in proper order. I'm waiting for a few developments to come into the view.
Best Regards,
Edward Vakser
CEO/Artfest International.INC