Let me tell you the story. As I previously stated, I was supposed to work for Plant as his marketing director. Plant had me sign a three year NDA when I was recruited. I quit just a few months after starting when I realized Plant was a pathological liar. Unfortunately, Plant threatened me with a lawsuit if I told anyone what I had experienced.
This was just prior to his announcement that he had the contract with the DHS. I kept my mouth shut fearing that Plant had milions behind him and could bankrupt me with legal fees. As much as I knew Plant to be a liar, even I had no idea that he would be so brazen as to lie about a government contract. He had hinted just prior to my departure that he had family friends within the Bush Admin who could get him this deal. Plant was building his story for his people. It seemed plausible, so I was very hesitant to challenge him on it.
When he put out the first set of Junior Achievement financials, I smelled a rat. Still, it was conceivable to me that between The Idiot Heaton and Plant, neither could put together a proper income statement and balance sheet. I chalked it up to stupidity and not an outright fraud. When it became clear that Plant was still selling stock to raise cash while he said he had millions in the bank, I knew something was wrong. But I still had a few months to go on the NDA so I stayed silent.
When the second set of financials came out, I knew something was drastically wrong. No one, not even those two morons, would issue financials that looked like a third grader put them together. I questioned why someone with millions in the bank wouldn't hire someone with a 12th grade education or better to put together a proper financial statement.
Still, I couldn't prove anything. Heaton said nothing yet he was still listed as the CFO. Surely something was wrong but I wasn't sure what. The SEC charge was surprising but it explained everything. I have worked for many small companies in my career. Every small company CEO checks the bank accounts several times a week. It just isn't possible that his bookkeeper was fooling him. It had to be collusion between the two of them.
How Heaton avoided prosecution is the only mystery here. He was an officer. He had to know or had to be doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps they investigated and found that he was strictly a figurehead. Or maybe they found that he was mentally incompetent. It's not for me to say. I just know that if people were doing their jobs at CKYS, then many people knew what Plant was doing and chose to say nothing.
