Derek Peterson found an excuse to change his name to cover up criminal past.
Derek Peterson's employment history, from Broker Check
Peterson's file has only one disclosure event: he was fired by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in December 2010 because, as he says, "I was managing an outside business in the agricultural industry and did not disclose it to my broker dealer." On 11 June, he complained at length to a Small Cap Voice interviewer about recent criticism of the company and himself.
One question that had been raised was his at least occasional use of the last name "Oppedisano." He pointed out that his surname is Peterson, and always had been, but that before he was born, his father had changed his own name from Oppedisano to Peterson. Derek is, he says, "in the process" of changing his name to Oppedisano, so that his children can have "some sort of understanding of their heritage." How long does it take to change a name? Four years?
Interestingly, he was using Oppedisano back in 2010, when he failed to disclose his "outside business" to Morgan Stanley. As far as can be known, he hasn't used it since. The SCV interviewer didn't press him about any of this; but then they're promoters, and it's their job to agree with the CEOs who pay them.
Peterson's wife Amy Almsteier, a former interior designer, is also involved with Terra Tech. In addition to being a 37 percent owner of the company, she serves as secretary, treasurer and director. TRTC does have a CFO as well, Michael James. Another director, Michael Nahass, is a registered rep. According to Broker Check, he, like Peterson, worked for Morgan Stanley a few years ago; perhaps the two met there. Nahass is currently employed by Arque Capital Ltd., an Arizona company with an office in Irvine, California.
Nahass and Peterson have something else in common: both declared bankruptcy not long ago; Nahass in 2011, evidently as a result of gambling debts, and Peterson in 2012, for other reasons.
