i found this old financial post article...sort of a chuckle for those of us who have been around...
Copyright The Financial Post Company Oct 25, 1997
The new Toronto management of high-tech company PCS Wireless Inc, struggled Friday to convince skeptical investors it comes bearing hope and not hype.
"We are 100% sure that we will bring value to shareholders," said new chief executive Alex Dolgonos. His comments came a day after the Vancouver Stock Exchange announced a probe of allegations of stock manipulation by the company over the past two years.
Analysts such as Richard Woo at Thomson Kernaghan & Co. in Montreal say PCS's former management repeatedly fed them tips which turned out to be groundless.
"It was a combination of too much talk and did not deliver," Woo said.
But thanks to provisions in a 1996 circular, those in command during the period under investigation have already sailed away on golden parachutes.
Last month, PCSWireless paid $1.4 million to three people: $720,000 to former president Ralph Scobie, $500,000 to former vice-president of operations Suresh Singh and $115,000 to former chief financial officer Rich Topham.
"It ticked us off as much as it ticks you off," Dolgonos said of the payouts. "It was money out of our pockets and out of investors' pockets."
Dolgonos became chief executive last month after PCS bought his privately owned Unique Systems Inc, of Markham, Ont., for $2 million. He said he did the deal, that makes Unique a wholly owned subsidiary of PCSWireless, to get access to PCS's cash.
"We knew there were golden parachutes for their employees but we didn't structure that deal," he said.
Shares in the company (PCS/VSE) closed at 19c Friday, a drop of 3c, on volume of 460,000 shares, eight times the average volume.
Exasperated PCS investors flooded Unique with more than 100 telephone calls seeking news about the company's plans and the VSE probe.
Philip Pereira, a retired Calgary accountant who holds 10,000 shares in PCS, called his investment "a disaster.
"I'm going to stay in for the long haul and hope this guy [Dolgonos] can turn it around."
Peter Granic, the Toronto investor whose complaint launched the VSE probe, said: "I want some sort of justice on this. I really feel bad if I just walk away and no one has to face the music."
Yorkton Securities Inc. broker Ed Milewski and other PCS investors went to Markham Thursday to "kick the tires" on Unique and came back bullish on the firm.
"This is probably a good read for shareholders, especially when you start hearing about what was happening in the past," Milewski said.
He said he bought PCS stock three months ago.
Unique employs 70 people to manufacture wireless multi-access equipment. Dolgonos said the firm is the only Canadian bidder on a contract from CBC Radio to roll out digital audio broadcasts next year.