Attorney General's News Release

May 13, 2005

Attorney General Nixon files lawsuit in alleged dot-com stock sale scheme

St. Charles, Mo. — Two individuals who promised investors a piece of the next dot-com stock boom, but instead delivered nothing but empty promises and stock certificates believed to be worthless, are the target of a lawsuit filed Wednesday (May 11) in St. Charles County Circuit Court by Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Named as defendants in the suit are AskGT.com, Las Vegas; Rose Laboratories, Bend, Ore.; and De Elroy Beeler (a.k.a. John Montgomery), an agent for both companies, from Tujunga, Calif. Also named is Wester S. Cooley, Delray Beach, Fla., who is president of AskGT.com and is also affiliated with Rose Laboratories.

Nixon alleges that in 2002, Beeler — identifying himself as John Montgomery — phoned Missouri consumers and made misrepresentations while attempting to sell shares of stock in AskGT.com. Several individuals wired their money to Beeler, and either received nothing in return or received stock certificates that didn't even contain a seal. At no time were those securities registered by the Missouri Secretary of State, nor was Beeler licensed to sell securities in Missouri.

"There's no nice way to put it — these individuals did not tell the truth to Missourians to whom they were pitching a so-called 'investment opportunity,'" Nixon said. "In return, all investors got out of the transaction appears to be a lighter bank account. We are asking the court to shut them down to prevent others from falling victim to their scam and to pay back their victims."

In his lawsuit, Nixon alleges that Beeler told potential investors that AskGT.com was part of Bidbay — later known as Auctiondiner.com, an online auction company — and that when Bidbay issued stock as part of a public offering, a $2 per share investment would be worth $25 a share. But at the time of the solicitation, Bidbay had withdrawn its registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and in fact, had sold AskGT to Cooley, meaning the companies were no longer affiliated.

Nixon is asking the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the defendants from using deceptive sales practices and order them to pay full restitution to all victims, plus civil penalties.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818