Journalists Resource - organizations contacted about Wire Fraud Racketeering at WaMart

This summary will get updated as new organizations get contacted. I will also include any auto-responses generated by emailing them. While my overall complaint remains the same, each organization I contact will focus on different subsections. For example, FBI and DOJ for federal crimes, State Attorney General for state crimes, the FTC and FCC for advertising fraud utilizing telecommunications or a computer system... Why, the list just goes on and on.

Groups contacted by noon May 3, 2024:

• WalMart's Ethics Complaints website
• [April 30, 2024 - 2:46pm - Reference#WMT240413618] Thank you for contacting Walmart Ethics. We are reviewing the concern you reported. After our initial review, we will update you on how we will handle your concern. We may need to request more information from you, refer you to other associates who are better able to answer your concern, or review your concern further for potential misconduct. If you need to add information, please reference WMT240413618 when you contact us.
  
  
• [May 2, 2024 - 9:01am - Reference# 240501-006839] My name is John, and I'll be glad to assist you. Thank you for sharing your most recent experience, in which you went to report to the store that you were a victim of wire fraud, and the manager, Tonio, defended the fraudulent behavior, but they refused to activate or follow up with you about this case. I understand this is not the service you expected, and I appreciate you giving us the heads-up as we strive to provide you with the best customer service in the market. I've sent your comments to management. They'll review and reach out to address your concern.
• Premium (third-party phone vendor hired by WalMart)
• [May 1, 2024 - 5:09pm] Thanks for contacting us, Erik. A member of our team will be in touch with you as soon as possible. Thanks again!
• Nevada State attorney General's Office
• [May 2, 2024 - 5:50pm] Greetings,

  The Office of the Nevada Attorney General, Constituent Services Unit acknowledges receipt of your complaint. You will be notified upon completion of the review process between 14 to 45 business days. We do not provide emergency services. If additional information is required, you will be contacted by a member of our staff. Please note that pursuant to NRS 241.039(7), Open Meeting Law complaints are public records.

  ----------------------------------

  This message has been automatically generated in response to the creation of a trouble ticket regarding Complaint :Jorgensen ,Erik |Business - WalMart, Premium (third-party phone vendor), a summary of which appears below.

  There is no need to reply to this message right now. Your ticket has been assigned an ID of [agdb.ag.state.nv.us #61401].

  Please include the string [agdb.ag.state.nv.us #61401] in the subject line including the brackets of all future correspondence about this issue.

• Reno/Sparks Indian Colony Police Department
• [May 5, 2024 - 5:37pm] (Auto-response generated, only with copy of online form submitted)
• More to follow

Journalists Resource: Wire Fraud Racketeering while purchasing phone at Walmart

Here's my summary of replacing my lost phone at WalMart, resulting in Wire Fraud Racketeering. I'm organizing it into two sections: A brief overview of legal definitions in layman terms; and a detailed timeline of events. 

Brief Overview

There are four main components of what happened:

• vendor selling new phone under one condition, which was not honored (Wire Fraud - obtaining money by false or fraudulent pretenses)
• vendor later refusing to help activate new phone with old number, depriving me of "intangible right of honest services" I paid for, my sole reason for buying that phone there, and a service which the vendor advertises online. (Wire Fraud - denial of honest services)
• host company advertises that specific "honest service" online:  Our friendly and knowledgeable associates can help you with all your tech needs, including getting your new cellphone up and running for you. (Wire Fraud - utilizing telecommunications to defraud)
• host company's manager defends vendor's right to deny "honest services", manager told me to go elsewhere to fix problem, didn't calling law enforcement for my police report. (Obstruction of Justice, Accessory to Wire Fraud)

A brief overview, in layman terms, of elements of Wire Fraud and Racketeering

• "Racketeering" is two or more violation of "racketeering crimes", 35 federal and state crimes including fraud, embezzlement, extortion, arson, kidnapping, murder - as well as Obstructing Justice for those crimes
• "Wire Fraud" is...
• editing still in progress - stay tuned for more details about WalMart's business practices

Timeline of Events 

[This part is still getting edited, as I needed to reorganize the beginning overview as I finish editing the timeline. Thanks for pointing out how unclear I was brachiopod]

A bunch of stuff happened, and then:

where I was told it would be "easy". Under False Pretenses, I bought a phone which cannot access my old number - and they refuse to fix it. "Denial of Goods and Services" is Wire Fraud, especially under False Pretenses.

Making matters worse for them, when I returned the fourth time to get my old number working, a WalMart manager named Tonio (who I understand is Asset Protection) repeatedly Denied Goods and Services, and kept defending her right to refuse to fix my phone, even after he reviewed videotape to prove she was lying about events as her excuse to Deny Service I was promised and I paid for.

Tonio had an armed security guard accompany him, who also did nothing when I explained the Wire Fraud and Identity Theft, all done utilizing a computer network. Tonio said that he "couldn't even talk to her" because the is a third-party vendor. However, he also said, "She said her network is down, but she's working on getting it back up," which indicates he actually did talk to her, but lied and said he "can't". Tonio, also kept telling me that it is not her job to help people get their phones working, merely to sell phones profiting WalMart

However, Premium's website tells another story:

"Premium’s trained and certified experts guide shoppers to an informed purchase decision. We engage store traffic to help sell products and accessories, ring the transaction, process activations and provide follow-up." 

https://premiumretail.com/what-we-do/grow-sales/sales-training/  

Those are two separate service I've been repeatedly denied - two separate Wire Frauds. While it was an employee from their third-party vendor Premium who initially denied service, WalMart management repeatedly upheld that decision, and for a number of incredibly stupid reasons - like "You were moving your hands while you were talking." When I asked, "Was I moving them in an aggressive manner? Or like I kept asking for help?" Tonio said, "Well, it's hard to explain..." I kept asking, "So, NOT aggressive then, right?" But Tonio was simply unable admit the truth - was the "hand movement" aggressive or not? And is that a valid reason for Tonio to prevent me from getting my old phone number activated, like I was promised and as I already paid WalMart for?

United States Code, Title 18 Subsection 1343 defines Wire Fraud as:

Whoever, having devised or intending to devise any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent pretenses, representations, or promises, transmits or causes to be transmitted by means of wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce, any writings, signs, signals, pictures, or sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme or artifice, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.

For the purposes of this chapter, the term “scheme or artifice to defraud” includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services.

Moreover, "Willful Blindness" and "Deliberate Indifference" is Obstruction of Justice, which is comprised of both mal-feasance and non-feasance. And each Denial and Obstruction is comprised of at least two separate Wire Fraud charges - a federal offense.

Racketeering is defined, in layman's terms, as a group of people engaged in multiple crimes of specific nature, "racketeering crimes" which include Fraud, Embezzlement, Extortion, and several others - including Obstructing Justice to protect other racketeers. And while it was their Premium vendors committing the Wire Fraud, it was WalMart's Asset manager Obstructing Justice to allow her to keep defrauding me (which unjustly enriches WalMart at my expense) while protecting her from prosecution - or even a scolding.

Under the legal doctrine of respondeat superior, it makes no difference their third-party vendor defrauded me, only that WalMart profited from that transaction. It happened at a WalMart, in their electronic department, utilizing WalMart's computer network, by a third-party vendor WalMart requested, approved, and hired:

"When Walmart needed an expert salesforce in their wireless section, they called Premium."

https://premiumretail.com/case-study/winning-wireless-in-walmart/

Furthermore the website for the electronics department for Superstore #2016 promotes the very same honest service which the manager kept saying their vendor didn't need to provide me:

Our friendly and knowledgeable associates can help you with all your tech needs, including getting your new cellphone up and running for you. 

https://www.walmart.com/store/2106-reno-nv/connection-center

With that in mind, the background I am creating a timeline of events, (which I will update later tonight)

I have also filed my complaint with the Nevada State Attorney General. We'll see what they decide to do. I hope it is something really, really big! 

This summary is currently getting updated. 

Please check back soon.

Journalists Resources - more emails ignored by elected officials

Today I'm emailing several people, expecting them not to respond. 

However, since their elected job requires them to respond - or at least read all the mail voters send them - their repeated nonresponses will come back to them some day. In fact, that is the whole point of sending them all those emails - creating a "paper trail" of their complicity in corruption.

This "paper trail" I have created over the years involves Embezzlement of Evidence, and an unsolved hit-and-run in a school zone crosswalk. While I have video evidence of both events, a veritable "smoking gun", former DA Jill Ravitch repeatedly turned a blind eye to the problem. Coincidentally, Ravitch's legal assistant Dava Kohlman is married to the police officer covering up the hit-and-run he eye-witnessed, suggesting a possible reason for not prosecuting the driver or the officers covering up.

Now, a reasonable person would assume that Santa Rosa's City Council would want to speak out against vehicular violence aimed against their citizens. However, Santa Rosa's City Council has seemingly approved of legalizing Vehicular Assault against peaceful protestors.

A year ago, just before the 20th Anniversary of the unsolved hit-and-run, I emailed everybody on the City Council, individually and collectively at citycouncil@srcity.org, asking for a quote for my article. Predictably there was no reply, not even one, not even from Mayor Natalie Rogers [(707)494-8378 and nrogers@srcity.org]. One would assume that the Mayor, at least, would want to be seen speaking out against Vehicular Assault - no matter the class of person who got run over.

I am encouraging Journalists to follow up with FOIA Requests (Freedom of Information Act) to obtain record of my emails to these elected officials, which is public record.

Today I sent emails with the header: "Santa Rosa journalist seeking quote on unsolved hit-and-run" to:

• the City Council as a whole at citycouncil@srcity.org
• Mayor Natalie Rogers at nrogers@srcity.org (707)494-8378
• Vice Mayor Mark Stapp at MStapp@srcity.org (707)328-7024
• Eddie Alvarez (District 1) at ealvarez@srcity.org (707)791-5282
• Dianna MacDonald (District 3) at dmacdonald@srcity.org (707)495-7599
• Victoria Fleming (District 4) at vfleming@srcity.org
• Chris Rogers (District 5) at crogers@srcity.org (707)543-3017
• Jeff Okrepkie (District 6) at JOkrepkie@srcity.org (707)531-0056
• City Attorney Teresa Sticker at caoffice@srcity.org (707)543-3040

To [name],

I'm a Santa Rosa journalist writing about an unsolved hit-and-run in front of Santa Rosa High School:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2OzOtoBxrw

My questions:

1) After viewing this hit-and-run video, do you believe SRPD responded properly to a car driving on the wrong side of the road through a crowd of people?

2) Santa Rosa City Council appears to have legalized Vehicular Assault against protesters, by repeatedly refusing to speak out against this hit-and-run in a school zone crosswalk. Can you think of any other way to describe the situation? OR, do you admit that's an accurate way for me to describe this Willful Blindness?

I will continue asking until I get a response for my article.

Thank you for your time,

Erik Jorgensen

Award-Winning Crime Reporter

In short: polite, professional, to the point, and no reason to brush off.

Furthermore, by continuing to ignore my requests for comment, they appear to engage in Willful Blindness - which is not a valid defense against Obstruction of Justice.

Maybe some day, somebody besides me will be bothered by cars running over citizens, and will follow up on my paper trail. And I only established this paper trail because I knew it would get ignored, would end up highlighting a pattern of corruption - with Embezzlement at the core. One would assume elected official would be motivated to expose corruption, not help cover it up or profit from it. Right?

Journalist's Resource - summary of Dava Kohlman

Dava Kohlman was not on my radar until her boss, former DA Jill Ravitch, sent me an odd email. The strange part wasn't what was said, but what wasn't said; nothing more than "Thank you for the nice letter". So when DA Ravitch  took the time to write me a "go screw yourself" letter, it made me dig deeper.

Within five minutes I learned that fly-fishing guide Brian Kohlman (central to my corruption investigation) was married to DA Ravitch's legal assistant, Dava Kohlman. This seemed to explain why no criminal charges were filed - since the DA's assistant was married to one of the people I was trying to press charges against. Maybe there's some other explanation, but when I emailed Dava Kohlman at her new job she refused to comment and request I make no further contact. 

That's how somebody acts when they have something to hide.

Now, my investigation this criminal Racketeering enterprise involves intellectual property Embezzled from me, and I have have reason to believe that both Brian and Dave Kohlman were benefitted as recipient-Embezzlees of my converted property. 

Since Dava Kohlman's new job is as Purchasing Agent for Tehama County, somebody with a hazy perception of the line between public and private property is absolutely unsuited for the job. And the taxpayers of Tehama County should be aware of this.

Last month, after I notified Tehama Sheriff's Department of her Obstruction, I also emailed several of the County Commission asking for there comment on her criminal charges. So far, none have responded. However, I will keep emailing them and I will post here each time I do, while expecting no response. Eventually, when I finish writing this book, I will name all the public officials I contacted and their lack of response.

Dava Kohlman was only the second to respond to me in almost ten years, and her semi-threatening letter Obstructed Justice.

I sent her a YouTube link of an unsolved hit-and-run, and asked her if she could identify anybody in it. Instead, she said she couldn't possibly remember details from twenty years ago; that she was requesting no further contact from me; and that she would be "contacting" my newspaper.

Why would she need to "contact" my newspaper? To tell them I did a great job catching a corrupt public official?

Or was that a threat?

I'll keep this blog updated with details about Dava Kohlman, the first crack in this Nexus of Corruption.

Journalist's Resources

This is the beginning of a new series, providing my research and resources to other journalists exposing corruption among public officials. 

My own attempts to shine light into this Nexus of Corruption have been not only gone unassisted, but in many cases the "willful blindness" I keep encountering seems like deliberate effort to obstruct justice.

So I have decided to create a public log of the people I've tried contacting, but who have ignored me. Now, I understand people are busy and sometimes get lots of email, so I can be difficult to respond in a timely manner. On the other hand, at a certain point it becomes clear you're getting the brush-off.

While private citizens have a right to privacy, there's a different standard of conduct for elected and public officials working for the government, getting paid by citizen's tax dollars. Elected officials who do not read their mail are not performing their duty to the public, but emails getting read but ignored could actually rise to the level of criminal conduct.

In short, I am naming names to assist other journalists investigating this Nexus of Corruption.

Last month I began another round of emails to various Sonoma County employees, and members of the Santa Rosa City Council, asking for their comments on this unsolved hit-and-run in front of a high school. Just like last year, I've gotten no response from Santa Rosa City Council (individually and collectively). This year I began emailing more people.

Around 2016 I was sending postcards each week to City Councilors, the Mayor, the City Attorney, and the District Attorney's office. These postcards were custom printed, with various details of the crimes and their cover-ups. At one point I was asking them for a Letter of Commendation for my work. However, after months of weekly emails and postcards, the only response I got was from DA Jill Ravitch, who retired last fall after term-limiting out of office. Ravitch said her office does not give out Letters of Commendation, but she thanked me for "reporting wrongdoing" while also stating she had no plans of following up.

I struck me as odd that Ravitch would take the time to write me a "go screw yourself" letter. She didn't call my investigation "allegations", but actually acknowledged the wrongdoing I'd been presenting everybody for months. Her dismissiveness stuck out because hers was the one and only response I got after months of trying.

So I decided to dig a little deeper.

In less than five minutes, my Google searching revealed that Ravitch's assistant Dava Kohlman was married to Brian Kohlman, the SRPD officer who grabbed my camera out of my hands. While I'm not a lawyer, my Media Law textbook describes that as "Assault". Also, the driver falsely claimed that she had stopped the car (False Information During an Investigation) and officer Kohlman said her saw her hit a second person with her car, but there is no Police Report of this hit-and-run in a school zone. Furthermore, when the driver was finally stopped, several eyewitnesses went over but were sent away and prevented from filing their witness reports. There is no police report of this, at all. 

That video is what a Memory Hole looks like.

Last month I learned that Dava Kohlman is working as Administrative Services Director and Purchasing Agent for Tehama County in northern California. So I emailed her, as DA Ravitch's former assistant, and asked her if she could identify anybody in this unsolved hit-and run. I was hoping she would be able to identify her husband at the end of that video, verify that's who it is, and how they are related. Because that's pretty good confirmation of my investigative reporting.

Instead of responding to the video, Dava Ravitch sent me the only email response I've gotten this year, just like her bosses email was the only one I got the last time I tried. And just like Ravitch's non-response inspired me to keep searching, Dava Kohlman's own non-response is even more noteworthy.

While Dava Kohlman's email was only borderline "threatening", her overall non-response was not only unethical for a public official but possible also Obstruction of Justice.

When I asked Dava Kohlman if she could identify anybody in this unsoved hit-and-run, she said:

• She couldn't possibly remember anything that happened twenty years ago;
• She was requesting no further contact from me;
• She said she would be "contacting" my newspaper.

First, I was asking her to watch the video and tell me if she recognized anybody. Her non-response indicates that either she refused to watch the video, or that she had watched it but insists she cannot remember anything from twenty years ago. Since that is her own husband in that video, her non-response is suspiciously willfully blind.

Second, as a public official she has no expectation of privacy from the press investigating public corruption. While private citizens can request non-contact from further electronic communications, county employees are not privileged with privacy from the press, and such a request is unethical. Furthermore, since I was contacted the former DA's legal assistant asking for her comment on an unsolved crime while she worked there, her "no further contact" demand could be Obstruction of Justice.

Naturally, I immediately reported this crime to Tehama County Sheriffs Department. Then I asked her boss Gabriel Hydrick for comment (530)527-4655. However, he hasn't responded to any my emails yet. I'll keep trying, and keep track of my efforts with new posts here.

 

My first sci-fi story got published - FREE with Kindle Unlimited

My first sci-fi short story got published in an anthology benefitting St Jude's Children's Hospital. It is available on Amazon in Paperback or E-Book (FREE with Kindle Unlimited) 

Mine is called "Diogenes the Talking Dog Meets the Necromancer From the Fifth Dimension."

Sci-Fi From Sonoma: Jack London, Frank Herbert, & Philip K Dick, my previous sci-fi history collection is still available as a FREE E-Book from Smashwords

So check it out. It doesn't cost much to try!

My first sci-fi story is getting published

 So, I just found out my story was accepted for an anthology, my first published fiction. I'll wait a bit before posting any details, since 2020 has been so unpredictable. 

But it is always hearing good news.