bashers take note. FYIFarallon sues Stockhouse poster "campokid"
2009-09-04 14:34 ET - Street Wire
by Mike Caswell
Farallon Mining Ltd. has filed a libel lawsuit against an Australian man, David St. Eloi, over defamatory posts he allegedly made on Stockhouse forums. According to the suit, Mr. St. Eloi accused the company and its president, Dick Whittington, of stealing the Campo Morado property in Mexico, and of manipulating the company's stock price.
Farallon's statement of claim, filed on Sept. 1, 2009, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, identifies Mr. St. Eloi as a resident of Sydney, Australia, and as the person who used the alias "campokid" on the Stockhouse website. The plaintiffs are Farallon itself and Mr. Whittington.
The "campokid" posts began in June 4, 2009, and ended on July 25, 2009, according to the statement of claim. Among them, were entries stating that Farallon was "the biggest scam since bre-x"; that it defrauded David Hermiston (a man who sued the company in Mexico for title to Campo Morado); that the company "is involved in the biggest bribery scandal in history"; and that the company misled investors, the suit states. Mr. St. Eloi also allegedly compared Mr. Whittington with Bernard Madoff, and referred to him as "tricky dicky."
Attached to the suit are copies of 32 posts that Farallon says Mr. St. Eloi wrote. One, dated June 4, 2009, stated that Mr. Hermiston had signed over the Campo Morado property to Farallon, and received nothing in return. "I have never heard of such a thing. not legally anyways," the post read. "I'm surprised nobody is in jail," it continued. Another, dated the same day, stated, "if i was a FAN shareholder, I don't think I would be able to sleep at night, knowing that i was part of the biggest scam since bre-x."
The posting continued on June 6, 2009, with the entries referring to the company's trading. "Isn't it a little bit suspicious, all the volume these day's with fan.shares and no rise in price. kinda looks like the insiders are starting to bail, actually it's been over a week now. and when the tsx halts trading. it's only the fish, that will be left, holding the bag," the post stated.
Another post referred to the lawsuit Mr. Hermiston filed against the company. "I forgot, farallon just got 30 mil. that should buy another round of dare i say it..naaaa. I hope it's gonna take more than 30 mil. to buy these judges," it read. Another post followed on July 1. "they stole campo mirado.ooooops not you guy's, sorry, that honor go's to tricky dicky," it read.
On July 14, 2009, "campokid" started referring to possible legal action against himself over the posts, after Stockhouse removed some of his entries. "come on warren. you're a lawyer. what have you got, you know it and i know it. you have nothing ... so maybe you have my real name ... well come and get me. and when they show up at my door, I can laugh in their faces like I do to you every day. slam the door, and continue my laughter," the post reads.
Farallon's statement of claim says those posts and others were understood to mean that the company had engaged in theft, bribery, stock fraud and false claims regarding Campo Morado. They were further understood to mean that the company and Mr. Whittington were dishonest and untrustworthy, and that Mr. Whittington is morally bankrupt, among other things.
The suit seeks damages for libel, a permanent injunction preventing Mr. St. Eloi from publishing further defamatory material, plus damages and court costs. The company is represented by Tom Hakemi of Hakemi & Company.
Hermiston v Farallon
The property dispute that the "campokid" posts referred to was between Mr. Hermiston and the company. In 2004, Mr. Hermiston sued Farallon and others in Mexico over the rights to Campo Morado. He alleged that he had been defrauded of his interest in Minera Summit de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., the prior owner of the ground. He lost the case in June, 2007, and several subsequent appeals. His most recent appeal, to the Fifth Collegiate Court in Mexico City, was dismissed on Feb. 6, 2009. Farallon says it has subsequently received a clean certificate of title to the property.