Please see story in progress to be de-published @
http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/02/04/ophelia-basgal-ronald-george-pg-e-d…
Developing story….. Details soon…….
Ronald George . . . Ophelia Basgal
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Mr Joseph Grodin
Hon. Kathryn Werdegar . Ms Amy Margolin
REVEALED: Yolo County District Attroeny Jeff Reisig and Mike Cabral Fishing Expedition into Home / Computers of Complainant Confiscated Material Re Prima Facie Evidence of Wrongdoing by Jerry Brown, Nancy McFadden,Ophelia Basgal, PG & E, Joseph Grodin, Howard Rice Re Suit Advanced Against PG & E by Bill Lockyer and Subsequently Dismissed by Jerry Brown
See story which was about to be published prior to execution of search warrant @:
http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/02/04/ophelia-basgal-ronald-george-pg-e-d…
Ronald George . . . Ophelia Basgal
.
Mr Joseph Grodin
Hon. Kathryn Werdegar . Ms Amy Margolin
REVEALED: Yolo County District Attroeny Jeff Reisig and Mike Cabral Fishing Expedition into Home / Computers of Complainant Confiscated Material Re Prima Facie Evidence of Wrongdoing by Jerry Brown, Nancy McFadden,Ophelia Basgal, PG & E, Joseph Grodin, Howard Rice Re Suit Advanced Against PG & E by Bill Lockyer and Subsequently Dismissed by Jerry Brown
See story which was about to be published prior to execution of search warrant @:
http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/02/04/ophelia-basgal-ronald-george-pg-e-d…
Please observe that, rather than contacting former California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer directly, the query is being delivered publicly, here and now.
Any opinion or observation can be sent to lesliebrodie@gmx.com
Related stories, please see @:
http://lesliebrodie.posterous.com/2009-states-2002-lawsuit-against-pge-dismisse
And @:
http://lesliebrodie.blog.co.uk/2012/02/04/ophelia-basgal-ronald-george-pg-e-d…
Amid concerns over disquieting circumstances surrounding Howard Rice, PG & E , Jospeh Grodin and PG & E ‘s Ophelia Basgal, as part of a journalistic inquiry The Leslie Brodie Report hereby asks Bien & Summers’ Amy Margolin (formerly of Howard Rice) to disclose any and all non-confidential relevant information, including , but not limited to, any contact she might have had with PG & E’s Ophelia Basgal and Mr Joseph Grodin.
Please observe that, rather than contacting Bien & Summers’ Amy Margolin (formerly of Howard Rice) directly, the query is being delivered publicly, here and now. Any information Ms Margolin wishes to to share, can be sent to lesliebrodie@gmx.com
As part of a journalistic inquiry, The Leslie Brodie Report hereby asks State Bar of California’s Starr Babcock and Stanford Law School’s Barbara Babcock to disclose, if known, any and all information referring or relating to Nancy McFadden, David McFadden, Joseph Grodin, Ophelia Basgal in connection with utility company PG & E and sham charity CaliforniaALL.
Please observe that, rather than contacting State Bar of California’s Starr Babcock and Stanford Law School’s Barbara Babcock , the query is being delivered publicly, here and now. Any information can be sent to lesliebrodie@gmx.com
City Attorney None Too Pleased About AG Giving Up on PG&E Suit
In January 2002, with California recovering from an energy crisis that caused rolling blackouts across the state, Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that he was suing PG&E Corporation, the parent company of Pacific Gas & Electric, for allegedly siphoning off more than $4 billion from its subsidiary as the utility slowly went bankrupt.
“The parent was healthy while the child was starving,” said Lockyer, according to a Jan. 11 article in the Alameda Times-Star. “We want the money back.”
So we wonder how Lockyer, now the state’s treasurer, feels in the wake of this week’s news that current AG Jerry Brown has agreed to dismiss the 2002 lawsuit. According to a Tuesday filing by PG&E with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Brown and PG&E “jointly requested” the dismissal from San Francisco Superior Court. The dismissal occurred on Tuesday.
San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera followed Lockyer with his own suit (still pending) against PG&E in 2002, and on Friday his office jumped on Brown’s decision.
Oh, yes, they did …
“The attorney general has his own case. They didn’t ask for our blessing in dismissing it and we didn’t offer it,” said spokesman Matt Dorsey. “We’re disappointed with the dismissal because it slams the door shut on all unfair competition claims on behalf of PG&E ratepayers.”
Dorsey said that while Herrera and the attorney general had separate cases, both brought under the state’s Unfair Competition Law, Brown’s decision to drop the suit means that the city “effectively has no claim that can stand on its own. … San Francisco’s only remaining claim would require proving direct damages to itself, which is very difficult and may not even be cost effective.” Herrera will still review his options, Dorsey said.
Brown’s office pinned its decision to dismiss on an Aug. 26, 2008, “neutral evaluation memorandum” written by former state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin, who works at private mediation and arbitration firm ADR Services. In 2007, state lawyers agreed to pause the litigation with PG&E and take the case before Grodin, according to the memo (.pdf), a copy of which the AG’s office provided to Legal Pad. In August, Grodin concluded that while discovery remained unfinished, the facts presented thus far by the AG wouldn’t prove the case against PG&E.
“It is plausible that, with additional facts and perhaps expert testimony, and the elimination of unsustainable contentions, the [attorney general] could be successful in constructing a coherent narrative [that PG&E violated the law],” he wrote. “But suspicions are not facts, and it is my opinion that on the record presented to me the [attorney general’s office] has not carried its burden.”
Scott Gerber, Brown’s spokesman, said that “the Department of Justice decided to drop the case after one of our nation’s most eminent jurists … provided a neutral evaluation of the case and concluded that we would not prevail.” Dorsey declined to comment on the “evaluation memo.” Legal Pad reached Tom Dressler, Lockyer’s communications director, in a meeting on Friday afternoon, and he said he would return our call later.
Please continue @:
http://legalpad.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/city-attorney-none-too-pleased-…
State’s 2002 lawsuit against PG&E dismissed
Former Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer had claimed that the company hid assets before a subsidiary filed for bankruptcy.
A judge dismissed a state lawsuit alleging that PG&E Corp. drained as much as $4 billion from its Pacific Gas & Electric unit before putting it in bankruptcy, the company said Thursday.
The lawsuit, filed by former California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer in 2002, was dismissed in state court in San Francisco after an independent expert found PG&E had done nothing wrong, the utility said in a regulatory filing.
“Following a neutral evaluation of the attorney general’s claims by a former California Supreme Court justice, the attorney general and the defendants jointly requested that the complaint be dismissed,” PG&E said in the filing.
The lawsuit pitted PG&E against Lockyer at a time when California’s 2001 energy crisis was fresh on consumers’ minds and politicians were seeking ways to fix the state’s deregulated power market. The state had sought damages of as much as $4 billion.
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown asked the judge to drop the case after accepting an out-of-court opinion issued in August by former California Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grodin, according to PG&E spokesman Jonathan Marshall.
“We agreed to bring in a neutral party,” Marshall said Thursday. “We believe we did nothing wrong. That was supported by Justice Grodin’s decision and further endorsed by the attorney general’s decision to drop the case.”
The dismissal is with prejudice, meaning California can’t file the complaint again, PG&E said. A similar lawsuit filed against PG&E in 2002 by the city of San Francisco, where PG&E is based, is pending in the same court, according to the filing.
Lockyer, who is now California’s treasurer, alleged PG&E fraudulently transferred funds in the form of dividends and stock repurchases from Pacific Gas to PG&E from 1997 to 2000 in a bid to hide cash from creditors. The scheme drove the utility into bankruptcy by using its cash to finance unregulated affiliates, Lockyer claimed.
The former attorney general also accused PG&E of misleading the California Public Utilities Commission to gain approval of its holding-company structure. Lockyer at one point sought an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pacific Gas filed for bankruptcy in April 2001 after accruing $9 billion in debt from buying power for more than it could charge customers under California’s failed deregulation plan. The unit emerged from court protection three years later.
PG&E’s shares rose 38 cents, or 1.1%, to $35.92.
Source:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/13/business/fi-pge13
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