SLJB ~ NEWS ~ 11/18/06 ~ Windsor Star
Penny stock king denies $100,000 lease debt
Gary Rennie ... Star Staff Reporter
Saturday, November 18, 2006
A local businessman who has created a sensation on North America’s penny stock market with plans to develop a US$645-million hotel complex in the Middle East has been accused of stiffing his landlord for the rent on his former corporate offices in Windsor.
“They did a midnight run on me,” said Joe Mikhail, a major commercial property owner in Windsor and Essex County.
Petar Vucicevich and his small staff bolted in the night about eight months ago owing $100,000 for a yearand-a-half of rent, the unpaid portion of the five-year lease and cost of renovations for the offices, said Mikhail, who recognized his former tenant’s picture in Thursday’s Windsor Star.
Interviewed at his Colchester residence later Thursday, Vucicevich, the CEO of Sulja Brothers Building Materials, denied owing Mikhail any money. He insisted he paid a few extra months of rent just to get out of the lease. “I don’t owe Joe anything,” said Vucicevich.
According to a news release issued by one of his companies, Vucicevich — as director general of Consultech Construction Management Inc. — was in the United Arab Emirates in April to buy land and launch construction of a $US645-million luxury hotel on Al Reem Island in Abu Dhabi. He showed The Star his passport to prove he was in the UAE in mid-April.
The hotel project is the largest of a number of multimillion-dollar deals — including a $20-million commercial development in Colchester Village — that Vucicevich and his companies have promoted to investors.
Sulja Brothers is one of North America’s hottest-trading penny stocks. On Thursday, more than 171 million shares of Sulja stock were traded, with the price per share dropping from nine cents to four. About 67 million shares traded Friday with the price closing at three cents a share.
Until the website for Vucicevich’s Consultech company was taken down “temporarily” earlier this week it still showed the Mikhail property as its Canadian headquarters. The Star paid a visit recently only to find an empty suite with workers painting it for the next tenant.
Mikhail said he heard Vucicevich describe deals that were in the works when he tried to collect the rent, including the big hotel project in the Middle East. “He lost all credibility with me with that story,” he said.
The Consultech office appeared to be used mostly at night, Mikhail said. “Nothing made sense.” (middle of the day in the UAE)
Mikhail said he didn’t pursue Vucicevich with a collection agency or lawyer because he didn’t think he had any money at the time.
But Vucicevich now has a choice of a Range Rover, BMW or Maserati to drive, all leased, he says. And between June and September this year he and his wife purchased four parcels of land in Colchester Village for $609,000, (did he pay cash or take a mortgage? did he sell property to buy this one?) according to land registry records.
Vucicevich said Consultech doesn’t do business any longer in Ontario or Michigan, but is active in Middle East projects. He insisted the hotel project was still in the works with the land — worth about $29 million according to a company news release — already purchased. Construction will start next year, he said. “We’re looking to expand into Lebanon.”
Vucicevich gave The Star a tour of the Sulja Brothers’ Harrow construction materials yard to prove that it was a bustling business with 28 employees. “This is not a fraud; this is a serious enterprise,” he said.
Asked where were the employees of Consultech and Kore International — another of his companies — Vucicevich said some work out of their homes, but the majority of about 40 were stationed in overseas offices. He said the reason no employee was in the Kore office on Pelissier Street when The Star dropped by was that renovations were being done.
Vucicevich complained that while the facts in The Star’s story about him and his company in Thursday’s paper were “absolutely true” the picture painted was misleading by not pointing out the busy lumber business. While close friends do call him “Black Pete” because of his fondness for all-black clothing, Vucicevich said the story appeared to give that a sinister tone.
Asked if the audited financial statements for Sulja thousands of shareholders have been promised for months are done, Vucicevich said: “You’ll get them when everyone else gets them.”
Vucicevich said he doesn’t own any Sulja stock and doesn’t benefit or lose when the price goes up or down. “It’s not like I’m selling off lots of stock and making money off it,” he said.
Because the volume of shares traded was so high Thursday — more than 10 times the average volume for the stock — Vucicevich said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would probably take a look at the reasons, but he wasn’t concerned that anything was amiss.
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