Monday, June 1, 2009
Kathleen J. Otto Information
Information on Lynn Haynes
Friday, May 29, 2009
Leads to possible sources of more information
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Information on Norma Lewis
information on Danny Ramirez
Links that don't fit anywhere specific yet
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Corporate Entities
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Information on Andy Fernandez
Litigation and Investigations
Possible current assets
John Otto Information
Lawsuits mentioning Otto, Heritage, HL, etc.
8/17/88 in Sacramento, case # 503913
Carter Disbrow v. Heritage Financial, John W. Otto et al.
9/12/90 in Fresno, case # S90143729CE
Schooley-Steen Medical Corp v. Heritage Leasing, "Aliases: Otto, John Manager".
8/25/97 in Fresno, case # 0595882
John W. Otto v. Curt A. Wyatt et al. (breach of contract/warranty case)
8/25/97 in Fresno, case # 0595881
John Otto v. C. Michael et al.
6/25/98 in Fresno, case # 0613852
John Otto v. Alex Jaramishian (an attorney here, Victor Harris is listed in some other cases)
8/2/99 in Fresno, Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation v. Lake
4/5/99 in Fresno, Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation v Robert
4/25/97 in Fresno, Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation v. The Stock
4/3/97 in Fresno, Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation v. Anthony C.
9/14/01 in Fresno, Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation v. Kuhl
7/10/06 in Orlando, Florida, In re: Seroquel Products Liability Litigation
10/19/07 in Fresno, CA, HL Leasing v. Centurion Group, (HL's attorney here was
Stephen Koch)
4/2/09 in Fresno, CA
Manufacturers Acceptance v. Unlimited Energy
(still pending, there is a hearing set for 8/3/09)
10/21/08 in Fresno, CA
Manufacturer's Acceptance Corp v. Pentech Financial
(still pending, the parties agreed to mediation. Somebody should post a copy of this court file, since this case is likely about lease financing purchases. The heritage-pacific.com site says that "Otto purchased a majority interest in Pentech Financial.... This company is a venture leasing company which engages in large ticket equipment leases ($750,000+)")
5/21/08 in Fresno, CA Manufacturer's Acceptance v. We Sell U Homes
(note there is an entry that the case went off calendar when a party filed for bankruptcy)
7/12/07 in Fresno CA Manufacturers Acceptance Corp v. Precision Aire
("stay of entire action due to automatic stay caused by filing in another court", probably bankruptcy).
Feel free to post more links below. This list doesn't yet include any federal court stuff, or much outside of Fresno County.
Lawyers for John Otto, HL Leasing, or his companies
Disclaimer: The people listed here should not be considered tainted or guilty by association. This list is from public sources, and all we know is that the source web page has some indication of a tie in with some company or entity that may (or may not) be related to HL Leasing or John Otto. The source web pages can change, and there is no assurance that they are accurate. We also don't know and can't say if the lawyer's client isn't just somebody who shares a name, but has no association with the persons or entities mentioned in conjunction with the alleged ponzi scheme described on Leasingnews.org. Do not assume that any of these lawyers did anything wrong. At this point it looks like Otto and his companies employed a lot of lawyers nationwide, which would be expected of a company with business throughout the country. Do not assume a relationship existed, and if a relationship did exist, do not assume that it had not been terminated days, months, or years ago.
Helfand and Helfand (lists Heritage Pacific Leasing as a client as of 5/21/09) (New York and New Jersey). Also note that they represented HL Leasing in the bankruptcy of Constable in the Eastern District of New York, 08-76313, and filed on January 26, 2009 to block discharge of debt owed under one of the Pentech leases, claiming that HL owns the lease. The calendar for that case for today, May 26, shows that a pre-trail conference was scheduled to be held by the judge with HL's lawyers at Helfand and Helfand (the link is www.nyeb.uscourts.gov/calendars/ESPhrgs/ednyhrgs_dte.htm but probably will be changed to tomorrow's calendar pretty soon).
Victor Harris (listed "Heritage Pacific Leasing, a division of Manufacturers Acceptance Corporation" as a representative client until a few days ago, but it is still visible on the Google cached copy of the page as of 5/21/09 at http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:TFExDOCDn5sJ:www.martindale.com/Law-Offices-of-Victor-Harris/2030736-law-firm-office.htm+%22victor+harris%22+heritage+pacific+leasing&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us).
Callahan & Blaine, Marc P. Miles and Daniel J. Callahan (allegedly hired "just days before Otto's suicide", Callahan is quoted as saying "the money will be located in the accounts where it belongs."). See this letter as well saying "the company has retained our firm and we are diligently working through a plan of action to ensure that the monthly payments to you get back on track in short order." Anybody who invested additional funds based on that letter (or who held off on starting work on recovering funds based on the letter) should ask their own lawyer about whether the Callahan firm has some liability if the statements in the letter turn out to be false.
Cosgrove, Webb & Oman, Robert L. Baer, Topeka, KS (Bankruptcy case 07-40286 in Kansas)
Stephen Koch, Visalia (several cases in Fresno Superior Court).