EGYPT REVEALED, ET AL - INFORMATIONAL REPORT #1 DATED 03/22/02 REGARDING: Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt and Dinosaur Magazines - Informational Report #1 - as of March 22, 2002. Dear Fellow Subscriber or Interested Party: WARNING: This is a VERY long E-Mail and you almost need a flow-chart to keep track of all the parties involved but . . . . it is rather interesting. And I promise that future reports will not be this lengthy! You are receiving this E-Mail because you have contacted me to advise that you, too, have subscribed to one or more of the following magazines, paid the subscription fee and have not received all or even any of the issues for which you paid. You may also receiving this E-Mail as merely an interested party who has asked to be kept apprised of the situation. I will list the Summary content of the E-Mail first and a list of what you, as a fellow subscriber can do to help next. This way, you'll see the pertinent information right up front and won't have to read any further unless you care to. I'm sure if I put the Summary, etc. at the end of this rather long, involved, complicated message, your eyes would be glazed over by the time you got that far! SUMMARY: 1. This is a global situation - there are over 35 of you who from five different continents and numerous countries who have contacted me thus far to advise that you had subscribed to one or more of the five magazines listed at the top of this report and had not received all the issues you had paid for (some of you received no issues at all). I'm sure there are many, many more of you out there. 2. It appears Jeff D. Leach personally and through his various companies is the primary party involved in all five of these magazines (except The Glory of Ancient Egypt which is a publication of DeAgostini UK who claim they never heard of Circa Media, Inc.). 3. It appears there is a possibility that Circa Media used marketing material from DeAgostini on Circa Media's web site to invite people to subscribe to The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine however, as of this date I have heard of none of you who actually ever received an issue of "Glory" through Circa Media, Inc. 4. Despite numerous of us attempting to contact these magazines, their editors and publishers, no refunds have been forthcoming nor an explanation given as to why we have not received our issues. 5. According to Scientific American, Circa Media closed down the publication of Discovering Archaeology and Scientific American lost their licensing fees. 6. As of today, March 22, 2002, it appears that Circa Media, Inc. is still accepting subscriptions for Egypt Revealed, Archaeology Today and Dinosaur magazine through its web site of www.circamedia.net. 7. As of today, March 22, 2002, it appears that Egypt Revealed is still accepting subscriptions for Egypt Revealed through its web site of www.egyptrevealed.com. HOW YOU CAN HELP: 1. Complete the survey I will shortly be sending out to you and return it to me via E-Mail. 2. Alert your colleagues as to what is going on. Tell them this situation involves all five of the magazines listed above. Have them contact me if they wish to be added to the ever-growing "list". 3. If you hear any information regarding this situation, please pass it on to me and I will include it in an upcoming informational report. Please keep in mind that anything not reported to you directly is only a RUMOR and will not be useable unless it is confirmed. It would be best if the person who was directly affected E-Mailed me themself with any information they may have. 4. If you ever received any issues of Archaeology Today, Dinosaur or the Glory of Ancient Egypt through the Circa Media web site subscription service, I would be very interested in a photocopy of the page that shows the name of the senior editor, the staff names, publisher, etc. This would be the page that also lists where to send changes of addresses, subscriptions, etc. and would be very near the front of the magazine. 5. Don't hesitate to post information about this investigation on any "lists" or "groups" of which you are a part or member. The more people who hear about this, the higher the chances of success in putting a stop to what appears to be an ongoing fraudulent situation. Many thanks for any assistance you can give and please excuse any typos you come across in this message. It's been a rather long day :) Lynne A. Cole 927 N.E. 175th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97230 USA lynne.cole@attbi.com Now . . . . on to the gory details should you care to read further: I am currently investigating the matter of what appears to be fraudulent conduct on the part of the above businesses/magazines and their publishers and/or editors in chief. This may include, but not be limited to (as the investigation progresses) The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd, dba Discovering Archaeology; Egypt Revealed, LLC; Circa Media, Inc.; Riosa, Inc.; Jeff D. Leach, Perry Leach and Nicholas Pingitore. The individuals named herein are either officers, managers, members or directors of the limited partnership, limited liability company and/or corporations listed in this paragraph.. Thus far, I have filed complaints with the Attorney General's offices for the State of Texas (business address for Discovering Archaeology, The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd., Egypt Revealed, LLC, Egypt Revealed Magazine and Archaeology Today) and the State of New Mexico (business address for Circa Media, Inc., Dinosaur Magazine and Egypt Revealed Magazine). Egypt Revealed Magazine has both an El Paso, Texas and a Santa Fe, New Mexico street/mailing address. When I originally filed my complaints with the Attorney General's offices on February 22, 2002, it was only against Egypt Revealed, LLC, Egypt Revealed Magazine and Circa Media, Inc. Since that time however, I have learned from my fellow subscribers of the difficulties they have likewise been having with subscriptions to Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. To date, I have heard nothing about subscription difficulties with Dinosaur Magazine which is published by Circa Media, Inc. - the same company publishing Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Today. Therefore, I have this date mailed off to both the Texas and New Mexico Attorney General's offices this updated information. One of you who resides in Denver, Colorado also filed a complaint with the State of Colorado Attorney General's office. I would like to share that information with the rest of you: In their letter dated December 11, 2001, the Attorney General's office for the State of Colorado stated they had forwarded the matter on to the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau for processing and possible mediation. They also state that: "If there is not a satisfactory mediation of your complaint, Colorado law provides for private remedies that may be applicable to your complaint. You can pursue these remedies through the services of a private attorney for cases in which damages sought are less than $7,500.00 because the parties are not permitted to use legal counsel to litigate their claims in these courts." "The Denver/Boulder BBB will determine if the issues of your complaint fall within their purview. If not, you will be notified and your original complaint will be returned to you. If the Denver/Boulder BBB is aware of other agencies that might be able to offer assistance to you, they will attempt to provide referral information." "Please note that our office cannot represent you as your private attorney. We cannot provide legal advice or personal legal services to assist you in pursuing your complaint through litigation." "In addition to enhancing the ability to resolve complaints, the Attorney General-BBB effort is intended to identify patterns and practices of fraud. The information obtained from your complaint will be kept by the Attorney General's office as part of our ongoing efforts to identify those businesses that are engaging in a pattern of deceptive practices in Colorado. We will now also be able to obtain from the BBBs their vast larger database of complaints under this cooperative arrangement. As a result, we hope to target the investigative and prosecution resources against businesses that engage in a pattern and practice of fraud." In a letter dated February 26, 2002 to this same fellow subscriber from Denver, Colorado, the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau stated: "Your correspondence on the above firm (meaning Egypt Revealed, LLC) has been received. However, this company or its main office is located in the service area of the Better Business Bureau which is enclosed." "There are over 190 Better Business Bureaus in the United States and in Canada. Each Bureau is responsible for and has contracts with the people and the companies in its area. Therefore as a service for you, we have forwarded your complaint/inquiry to the enclosed Bureau for this action." "Please allow that Bureau up to 30 days for complaint processing, before contacting them. Problems can often be resolved in less time, but not always." The address provided by the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau to which they forwarded the complaint they received from the State of Colorado Attorney General's Office was: BBB of El Paso 221 N. Kansas, Suite 1101 El Paso, Texas 79901 Phone: 915-577-0191 (Mountain Time Zone) FAX: 915-577-0209 URL: www.bbelpaso.com E-mail: info@bbbelpaso.com I just heard today that our fellow subscriber has not heard anything yet from the BBB for either Texas or New Mexico. As for the Attorney General for the State of Texas . . . . . they wrote the following on March 6, 2002: "Thank you for sending your complaint to the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division. Attorney General Cornyn and his staff are committed to serving the public interest and your complaint has been reviewed and analyzed." "In an effort to resolve your complaint a copy has been sent to the business requesting a written response within 14 days. If we do not receive a response within that time frame, a second letter will be sent and the file automatically extended another 14 days. In some instances a business may be granted an extension of time in which to reply. When we hear from the business, we will write to you and enclose a copy of their response. If we receive no response from the business after a reasonable time frame and a reasonable number of efforts to obtain an answer, we will write to you. Our letters will also inform you of some alternatives if your complaint is not resolved through our efforts." "Please bear in mind that the Attorney General cannot act as your private attorney and that the only lawsuits we file are on behalf of the State. To protect your rights in this matter you may wish to discuss your complaint with an attorney if you have not done so already." On March 9, 2002, I received a postcard from the Better Business Bureau of El Paso, Texas advising as follows: "We received and reviewed your complaint and found that the company you are placing a complaint against is outside the El Paso BBB service area. To better serve you, we have sent your complaint to the Bureau listed below: BBB Albuquerque 2625 Pennsylvania, N.E., #2050 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 505-884-0500" I have not yet heard anything officially from the Attorney General's office in New Mexico nor the BBB of Albuquerque. When I do, I will forward that information on to you. A call to the Corporation Division for the States of New Mexico and Texas was in order to determine if the companies involved had registered their business names with the States in which they were doing business. Here's what I discovered: Discovering Archaeology (El Paso, Texas) is an assumed business name filed by The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd. On 05/18/99 and the filing is good for 10 years. Address is showing as 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902 (See below for The Leach Publishing Group) Rio Hondo Publishers, LLC (El Paso, Texas) (is an active, Texas limited liability company filed 11/03/98; Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Officers are Jeff D. Leach (no title given) same Oregon street address, Nicholas Pingitore (no title given) same Oregon street address, Perry Leach, VP, same Oregon street address. Managers or Members are all the same people. Rio Hondo Publishers were the initial publishers of Discovering Archaeology magazine commencing with the premier issue which was January/February, 1999. By the May/June, 1999 issue, the company publishing Discovering Archaeology was The Leach Publishing Group.. The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd. (El Paso, Texas) is an active Texas limited partnership filed 02/29/99. Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Riosa, Inc., General Partner, same Oregon street address (see further information below). Riosa, Inc. (El Paso, Texas - General Partner of The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd.) is an active Texas corporation filed 02/09/99, Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Jeff D. Leach, Director, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Perry Leach, Director, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Nicholas Pingitore, Director, 1328 Madeline, El Paso, TX 79902. Egypt Revealed, LLC (El Paso, Texas) is an active Texas limited liability company filed 01/25/00. Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Jeff D. Leach, sole officer, member, manager, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902. No office address listed. Egypt Revealed's web site lists an address of 3530 Zafarno Drive, Suite 6-485, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 while their mailing address shown on their "subscription page" at their web site lists the Oregon street address in El Paso, Texas. They also list an E-Mail address of info@circamedia.net. Circa Media, Inc. comes into the picture last July as follows (this is from a time line I have prepared as part of the investigation): 07/22/01 Receive E-Mail from Ancient Egypt (ancientegypt@circamedia.net). Subject was EGYPT. Message stated: "An exciting new magazine series about one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of the Ancient World is know (sic) available. Each issue of 'The Glory of Ancient Egypt' we chronicle in word and pictures the achievements of the people and their rulers, how they lived and worked, the gods they worshipped, their rites and rituals, and the astonishing buildings they left behind, including the Great Pyramids at Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that remains." Visit us online at www.circamedia.net or click here! There was an image of the cover of the magazine entitled "The Glory of Ancient Egypt". (I did not save the E-Mail but have a print-out of it) 07/23/01 Visited www.circamedia.net web site. Four magazines are displayed: Egypt Revealed with a camel on the cover and the text "Mysterious Mastaba" (this is the same cover they've been showing on their web site for several months as of 03/07/02); Dinosaur "Valley of the (can't make it out)"; Archaeology Today (this is the same cover they've been showing on their web site for several months as of 03/07/02); and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. I printed out the web site. (As it turns out, the cover displayed for The Glory of Ancient Egypt is identical to the far left-hand cover of the four magazine covers displayed at the www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site. The image is that of the funerary mask of Tutankhamen. You can just barely make out the sidebars to the left of the image and the short, white vertical line/block to the upper right of the image. The text describing the magazine is identical to that found a the www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site also.) Interestingly, The Glory of Ancient Egypt magazine is published by DeAgostini UK Limited in the United Kingdom. More on that later. Circa Media, Inc. is not listed with Secretary of State, Corporation Division's offices of either the States of Texas or New Mexico as of this date from the information provided to me by either their staff or internet site. Their mailing address at their web site is 3530 Zafarno Drive, Suite 6-485, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507; FAX 212-208-2476; info@circamedia.net. On January 24th I wrote to the editors at Scientific American inquiring about Egypt Revealed Magazine and The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine as follows: "I received an E-Mail message from a Federico Almarez, Promotions Coordinator, Scientific American - Discovering Archaeology at 1205 W. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902 (www.discoveringarchaeology.com) advising that: "Scientific American Discovering Archaeology Online now features a special section, "Egypt Revealed". Here you will find the latest in Egyptology research and news, with articles and features from some of the top names in Egyptian archaeology. Here's the link to the "Egypt Revealed" website: http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com/egypt/. We are always looking for recent news and articles, so please keep us in mind." I am curious to know whether or not Discovering Archaeology (whose web page no longer displays) was part of Scientific American, and Whether or not Egypt Revealed and/or The Glory of Egypt Magazines were also part of Scientific American. I have not been able to find these magazines for quite some time and am wondering what happened to them. Any assistance you can give would be most greatly appreciated" On January 25, 2002, I received a response from Scientific American as follows: "Dear Ms. Cole, I am responding to your e-mail regarding Discovering Archaeology. Scientific American established a license arrangement with Circa Media, whereby they licensed to use the Scientific American brand on Discovering Archaeology. When Circa Media closed down the publication, Scientific American lost any of the license fees it was owed. We regret having entered a relationship with Discovering Archaeology for the use of our name. I have been given limited information as far as where to forward emails and phone messages regarding Discovering Archaeology. I am going to fax your email to the current fax number I was given. If you do not hear back in a reasonable amount of time, I would suggest that you contact Jeff Leach directly at: Jeff Leach 3530 Zafarano, Suite 6-485 Santa Fe, NM 87507 Fax: 212-208-2476 I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, Ciara Dowling" Unfortunately, my inquiry regarding their relationship (if any) with Egypt Revealed and The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazines was not addressed in Scientific American's response but the issue regarding the licensing fees as relates to Discovering Archaeology Magazine was rather interesting. Now, back to The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine. I was very kindly provided with the URL for The Glory Of Ancient Egypt Magazine by a colleague in the United Kingdom. The following is from my time line: 03/07/02 Logged onto www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site and from there to www.deagostini.co.uk web site. Sent DeAgostini E-Mail stating: On July 23, 2001, Circa Media, Inc. (circamedia.net) advertised subscriptions to The Glory of Ancient Egypt. They have since removed that magazine from their web site. The cover on it was identical to one of the four you show at your www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site, that being the funerary mask of Tutankhamen. I am curious to know if your company was ever associated with Circa Media, Inc. Their mailing address is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The reason for my inquiry is that Egypt Revealed Magazine and Circa Media, Inc. have failed to fulfill paid subscriptions in the case of both Egypt Revealed Magazine and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. Numerous subscribers have been the victims of fraudulent conduct on the part of Egypt Revealed and Circa Media. Any assistance or information you can provide would be most sincerely appreciated. On March 11th, I received this reply from DeAgostini: "Dear Ms. Cole, Your e-mail regarding Circa Media, Inc. has been forwarded to me. We have no information about this company, and do not sell our partwork products in the United States. I will be investigating this action and considering our legal remedies. Thank you very much for your alerting us to this fraud. I am sorry to hear that people were fooled by the use of our magazine. Do you have any more information, how many subscribers this might have involved, what the charges were for the magazines, how payments were made, etc. Best Regards, Adrienne Scott Mirviss Legal and Business Affairs Manager De Agostini UK Limited Griffin House 161 Hammersmith Road London W6 8SD PH: 44 208 600 2017 Fax: 44 208 600 2002" I do not have any specific information regarding Archaeology Today, The Glory of Ancient Egypt or Dinosaur Magazines (also published by Circa Media, Inc.) other than what is/was found at the Circa Media web site as I personally never subscribed to them although I understand that some of you did. If any of you actually received an issue of any of these magazines, it would be very helpful to have a photocopy of the page that lists the name of the editor, editorial staff, publisher, etc. I can be reached at 927 N.E. 175th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97230 USA. It was told to me by an interested party who attended an Egypt Revealed Tour in February that the rumor was that Egypt Revealed had filed for bankruptcy. Upon checking the Bankruptcy Court records for the District in which El Paso, Texas is located, I was not able to find a record of any bankruptcy having been filed as of March 8, 2002 by the following businesses or individuals: The Leach Publishing Group Jeff D. Leach Egypt Revealed, LLC Upon checking the Bankruptcy Court records for the District in which Santa Fe, New Mexico is located, I was not able to find a record of any bankruptcy having been filed as of March 22, 2002 by the following businesses or individuals: Jeff D. Leach The Leach Publishing Group Rio Hondo Publishers Egypt Revealed LLC Egypt Revealed Magazine Also, a check of the court records for El Paso County, Texas does not indicate any lawsuits having been filed as of March 8, 2002 against: Jeff D. Leach. I have not been able to check the court records for Santa Fe County, New Mexico as of yet. For those of you who are interested in learning a bit more about Jeff D. Leach, log onto: http://www.stantonstreet.com/business/person/59.phtml And for my last piece of information in this report, for those of who you don't subscribe to KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt (and shame on you if you don't!) David Moyer reports in his For The Record column in the Spring, 2002 issue as follows: "Discovering Archaeology launched its premier issue 1-2/99 and continued with that title through 1-2/01. According to a report in the 10/01 issue of Discover by its editor-in-chief, Stephen Petranek, the name of the new magazine was changed to Archaeology Today (after a complaint by the publishers of Discover). Your "FTR" reporter, however, has not yet seen any copies of the newly named magazine. The status of Egypt Revealed (from the same publisher as Archaeology Today) - which, after much hype, finally premiered in fall 2000 and followed with two more issues (3-4/01 and 5-6/01) - is unknown at this time." Lynne A. Cole Portland, Oregon USA -----Original Message----- From: Caroline Seawright [mailto:kunoichi@thekeep.org] Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 8:29 PM To: Lynne A. Cole Subject: Re: Informational Report #2 Oh, can you resend the 1st one, so I can add that, too? Ta! From kunoichi@thekeep.org Wed Apr 10 01:19:48 2002 -0400 Status: R X-Status: A X-Keywords: Return-Path: Delivered-To: kunoichi@thekeep.org Received: (qmail 40458 invoked from network); 10 Apr 2002 05:19:47 -0000 Received: from rwcrmhc54.attbi.com (216.148.227.87) by phantasm.andrew.cmu.edu with SMTP; 10 Apr 2002 05:19:47 -0000 Received: from tiye2 ([12.224.163.117]) by rwcrmhc54.attbi.com (InterMail vM.4.01.03.27 201-229-121-127-20010626) with SMTP id <20020410051919.FZFD15826.rwcrmhc54.attbi.com@tiye2> for ; Wed, 10 Apr 2002 05:19:19 +0000 Reply-To: From: "Lynne A. Cole" To: "'Caroline Seawright'" Subject: RE: Informational Report #2 Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 22:21:31 -0700 Message-ID: <005a01c1e04f$93ca4730$6401a8c0@tiye2> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 In-Reply-To: Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 Caroline - Here it is in all its long, dull, boring glory. Lynne EGYPT REVEALED, ET AL - INFORMATIONAL REPORT #1 DATED 03/22/02 REGARDING: Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt and Dinosaur Magazines - Informational Report #1 - as of March 22, 2002. Dear Fellow Subscriber or Interested Party: WARNING: This is a VERY long E-Mail and you almost need a flow-chart to keep track of all the parties involved but . . . . it is rather interesting. And I promise that future reports will not be this lengthy! You are receiving this E-Mail because you have contacted me to advise that you, too, have subscribed to one or more of the following magazines, paid the subscription fee and have not received all or even any of the issues for which you paid. You may also receiving this E-Mail as merely an interested party who has asked to be kept apprised of the situation. I will list the Summary content of the E-Mail first and a list of what you, as a fellow subscriber can do to help next. This way, you'll see the pertinent information right up front and won't have to read any further unless you care to. I'm sure if I put the Summary, etc. at the end of this rather long, involved, complicated message, your eyes would be glazed over by the time you got that far! SUMMARY: 1. This is a global situation - there are over 35 of you who from five different continents and numerous countries who have contacted me thus far to advise that you had subscribed to one or more of the five magazines listed at the top of this report and had not received all the issues you had paid for (some of you received no issues at all). I'm sure there are many, many more of you out there. 2. It appears Jeff D. Leach personally and through his various companies is the primary party involved in all five of these magazines (except The Glory of Ancient Egypt which is a publication of DeAgostini UK who claim they never heard of Circa Media, Inc.). 3. It appears there is a possibility that Circa Media used marketing material from DeAgostini on Circa Media's web site to invite people to subscribe to The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine however, as of this date I have heard of none of you who actually ever received an issue of "Glory" through Circa Media, Inc. 4. Despite numerous of us attempting to contact these magazines, their editors and publishers, no refunds have been forthcoming nor an explanation given as to why we have not received our issues. 5. According to Scientific American, Circa Media closed down the publication of Discovering Archaeology and Scientific American lost their licensing fees. 6. As of today, March 22, 2002, it appears that Circa Media, Inc. is still accepting subscriptions for Egypt Revealed, Archaeology Today and Dinosaur magazine through its web site of www.circamedia.net. 7. As of today, March 22, 2002, it appears that Egypt Revealed is still accepting subscriptions for Egypt Revealed through its web site of www.egyptrevealed.com. HOW YOU CAN HELP: 1. Complete the survey I will shortly be sending out to you and return it to me via E-Mail. 2. Alert your colleagues as to what is going on. Tell them this situation involves all five of the magazines listed above. Have them contact me if they wish to be added to the ever-growing "list". 3. If you hear any information regarding this situation, please pass it on to me and I will include it in an upcoming informational report. Please keep in mind that anything not reported to you directly is only a RUMOR and will not be useable unless it is confirmed. It would be best if the person who was directly affected E-Mailed me themself with any information they may have. 4. If you ever received any issues of Archaeology Today, Dinosaur or the Glory of Ancient Egypt through the Circa Media web site subscription service, I would be very interested in a photocopy of the page that shows the name of the senior editor, the staff names, publisher, etc. This would be the page that also lists where to send changes of addresses, subscriptions, etc. and would be very near the front of the magazine. 5. Don't hesitate to post information about this investigation on any "lists" or "groups" of which you are a part or member. The more people who hear about this, the higher the chances of success in putting a stop to what appears to be an ongoing fraudulent situation. Many thanks for any assistance you can give and please excuse any typos you come across in this message. It's been a rather long day :) Lynne A. Cole 927 N.E. 175th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97230 USA lynne.cole@attbi.com Now . . . . on to the gory details should you care to read further: I am currently investigating the matter of what appears to be fraudulent conduct on the part of the above businesses/magazines and their publishers and/or editors in chief. This may include, but not be limited to (as the investigation progresses) The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd, dba Discovering Archaeology; Egypt Revealed, LLC; Circa Media, Inc.; Riosa, Inc.; Jeff D. Leach, Perry Leach and Nicholas Pingitore. The individuals named herein are either officers, managers, members or directors of the limited partnership, limited liability company and/or corporations listed in this paragraph.. Thus far, I have filed complaints with the Attorney General's offices for the State of Texas (business address for Discovering Archaeology, The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd., Egypt Revealed, LLC, Egypt Revealed Magazine and Archaeology Today) and the State of New Mexico (business address for Circa Media, Inc., Dinosaur Magazine and Egypt Revealed Magazine). Egypt Revealed Magazine has both an El Paso, Texas and a Santa Fe, New Mexico street/mailing address. When I originally filed my complaints with the Attorney General's offices on February 22, 2002, it was only against Egypt Revealed, LLC, Egypt Revealed Magazine and Circa Media, Inc. Since that time however, I have learned from my fellow subscribers of the difficulties they have likewise been having with subscriptions to Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. To date, I have heard nothing about subscription difficulties with Dinosaur Magazine which is published by Circa Media, Inc. - the same company publishing Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Today. Therefore, I have this date mailed off to both the Texas and New Mexico Attorney General's offices this updated information. One of you who resides in Denver, Colorado also filed a complaint with the State of Colorado Attorney General's office. I would like to share that information with the rest of you: In their letter dated December 11, 2001, the Attorney General's office for the State of Colorado stated they had forwarded the matter on to the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau for processing and possible mediation. They also state that: "If there is not a satisfactory mediation of your complaint, Colorado law provides for private remedies that may be applicable to your complaint. You can pursue these remedies through the services of a private attorney for cases in which damages sought are less than $7,500.00 because the parties are not permitted to use legal counsel to litigate their claims in these courts." "The Denver/Boulder BBB will determine if the issues of your complaint fall within their purview. If not, you will be notified and your original complaint will be returned to you. If the Denver/Boulder BBB is aware of other agencies that might be able to offer assistance to you, they will attempt to provide referral information." "Please note that our office cannot represent you as your private attorney. We cannot provide legal advice or personal legal services to assist you in pursuing your complaint through litigation." "In addition to enhancing the ability to resolve complaints, the Attorney General-BBB effort is intended to identify patterns and practices of fraud. The information obtained from your complaint will be kept by the Attorney General's office as part of our ongoing efforts to identify those businesses that are engaging in a pattern of deceptive practices in Colorado. We will now also be able to obtain from the BBBs their vast larger database of complaints under this cooperative arrangement. As a result, we hope to target the investigative and prosecution resources against businesses that engage in a pattern and practice of fraud." In a letter dated February 26, 2002 to this same fellow subscriber from Denver, Colorado, the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau stated: "Your correspondence on the above firm (meaning Egypt Revealed, LLC) has been received. However, this company or its main office is located in the service area of the Better Business Bureau which is enclosed." "There are over 190 Better Business Bureaus in the United States and in Canada. Each Bureau is responsible for and has contracts with the people and the companies in its area. Therefore as a service for you, we have forwarded your complaint/inquiry to the enclosed Bureau for this action." "Please allow that Bureau up to 30 days for complaint processing, before contacting them. Problems can often be resolved in less time, but not always." The address provided by the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau to which they forwarded the complaint they received from the State of Colorado Attorney General's Office was: BBB of El Paso 221 N. Kansas, Suite 1101 El Paso, Texas 79901 Phone: 915-577-0191 (Mountain Time Zone) FAX: 915-577-0209 URL: www.bbelpaso.com E-mail: info@bbbelpaso.com I just heard today that our fellow subscriber has not heard anything yet from the BBB for either Texas or New Mexico. As for the Attorney General for the State of Texas . . . . . they wrote the following on March 6, 2002: "Thank you for sending your complaint to the Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division. Attorney General Cornyn and his staff are committed to serving the public interest and your complaint has been reviewed and analyzed." "In an effort to resolve your complaint a copy has been sent to the business requesting a written response within 14 days. If we do not receive a response within that time frame, a second letter will be sent and the file automatically extended another 14 days. In some instances a business may be granted an extension of time in which to reply. When we hear from the business, we will write to you and enclose a copy of their response. If we receive no response from the business after a reasonable time frame and a reasonable number of efforts to obtain an answer, we will write to you. Our letters will also inform you of some alternatives if your complaint is not resolved through our efforts." "Please bear in mind that the Attorney General cannot act as your private attorney and that the only lawsuits we file are on behalf of the State. To protect your rights in this matter you may wish to discuss your complaint with an attorney if you have not done so already." On March 9, 2002, I received a postcard from the Better Business Bureau of El Paso, Texas advising as follows: "We received and reviewed your complaint and found that the company you are placing a complaint against is outside the El Paso BBB service area. To better serve you, we have sent your complaint to the Bureau listed below: BBB Albuquerque 2625 Pennsylvania, N.E., #2050 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 505-884-0500" I have not yet heard anything officially from the Attorney General's office in New Mexico nor the BBB of Albuquerque. When I do, I will forward that information on to you. A call to the Corporation Division for the States of New Mexico and Texas was in order to determine if the companies involved had registered their business names with the States in which they were doing business. Here's what I discovered: Discovering Archaeology (El Paso, Texas) is an assumed business name filed by The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd. On 05/18/99 and the filing is good for 10 years. Address is showing as 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902 (See below for The Leach Publishing Group) Rio Hondo Publishers, LLC (El Paso, Texas) (is an active, Texas limited liability company filed 11/03/98; Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Officers are Jeff D. Leach (no title given) same Oregon street address, Nicholas Pingitore (no title given) same Oregon street address, Perry Leach, VP, same Oregon street address. Managers or Members are all the same people. Rio Hondo Publishers were the initial publishers of Discovering Archaeology magazine commencing with the premier issue which was January/February, 1999. By the May/June, 1999 issue, the company publishing Discovering Archaeology was The Leach Publishing Group.. The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd. (El Paso, Texas) is an active Texas limited partnership filed 02/29/99. Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Riosa, Inc., General Partner, same Oregon street address (see further information below). Riosa, Inc. (El Paso, Texas - General Partner of The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd.) is an active Texas corporation filed 02/09/99, Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Jeff D. Leach, Director, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Perry Leach, Director, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Nicholas Pingitore, Director, 1328 Madeline, El Paso, TX 79902. Egypt Revealed, LLC (El Paso, Texas) is an active Texas limited liability company filed 01/25/00. Jeff D. Leach, Registered Agent, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902; Jeff D. Leach, sole officer, member, manager, 1205 N. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902. No office address listed. Egypt Revealed's web site lists an address of 3530 Zafarno Drive, Suite 6-485, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507 while their mailing address shown on their "subscription page" at their web site lists the Oregon street address in El Paso, Texas. They also list an E-Mail address of info@circamedia.net. Circa Media, Inc. comes into the picture last July as follows (this is from a time line I have prepared as part of the investigation): 07/22/01 Receive E-Mail from Ancient Egypt (ancientegypt@circamedia.net). Subject was EGYPT. Message stated: "An exciting new magazine series about one of the most powerful and advanced civilizations of the Ancient World is know (sic) available. Each issue of 'The Glory of Ancient Egypt' we chronicle in word and pictures the achievements of the people and their rulers, how they lived and worked, the gods they worshipped, their rites and rituals, and the astonishing buildings they left behind, including the Great Pyramids at Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that remains." Visit us online at www.circamedia.net or click here! There was an image of the cover of the magazine entitled "The Glory of Ancient Egypt". (I did not save the E-Mail but have a print-out of it) 07/23/01 Visited www.circamedia.net web site. Four magazines are displayed: Egypt Revealed with a camel on the cover and the text "Mysterious Mastaba" (this is the same cover they've been showing on their web site for several months as of 03/07/02); Dinosaur "Valley of the (can't make it out)"; Archaeology Today (this is the same cover they've been showing on their web site for several months as of 03/07/02); and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. I printed out the web site. (As it turns out, the cover displayed for The Glory of Ancient Egypt is identical to the far left-hand cover of the four magazine covers displayed at the www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site. The image is that of the funerary mask of Tutankhamen. You can just barely make out the sidebars to the left of the image and the short, white vertical line/block to the upper right of the image. The text describing the magazine is identical to that found a the www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site also.) Interestingly, The Glory of Ancient Egypt magazine is published by DeAgostini UK Limited in the United Kingdom. More on that later. Circa Media, Inc. is not listed with Secretary of State, Corporation Division's offices of either the States of Texas or New Mexico as of this date from the information provided to me by either their staff or internet site. Their mailing address at their web site is 3530 Zafarno Drive, Suite 6-485, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507; FAX 212-208-2476; info@circamedia.net. On January 24th I wrote to the editors at Scientific American inquiring about Egypt Revealed Magazine and The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine as follows: "I received an E-Mail message from a Federico Almarez, Promotions Coordinator, Scientific American - Discovering Archaeology at 1205 W. Oregon, El Paso, TX 79902 (www.discoveringarchaeology.com) advising that: "Scientific American Discovering Archaeology Online now features a special section, "Egypt Revealed". Here you will find the latest in Egyptology research and news, with articles and features from some of the top names in Egyptian archaeology. Here's the link to the "Egypt Revealed" website: http://www.discoveringarchaeology.com/egypt/. We are always looking for recent news and articles, so please keep us in mind." I am curious to know whether or not Discovering Archaeology (whose web page no longer displays) was part of Scientific American, and Whether or not Egypt Revealed and/or The Glory of Egypt Magazines were also part of Scientific American. I have not been able to find these magazines for quite some time and am wondering what happened to them. Any assistance you can give would be most greatly appreciated" On January 25, 2002, I received a response from Scientific American as follows: "Dear Ms. Cole, I am responding to your e-mail regarding Discovering Archaeology. Scientific American established a license arrangement with Circa Media, whereby they licensed to use the Scientific American brand on Discovering Archaeology. When Circa Media closed down the publication, Scientific American lost any of the license fees it was owed. We regret having entered a relationship with Discovering Archaeology for the use of our name. I have been given limited information as far as where to forward emails and phone messages regarding Discovering Archaeology. I am going to fax your email to the current fax number I was given. If you do not hear back in a reasonable amount of time, I would suggest that you contact Jeff Leach directly at: Jeff Leach 3530 Zafarano, Suite 6-485 Santa Fe, NM 87507 Fax: 212-208-2476 I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, Ciara Dowling" Unfortunately, my inquiry regarding their relationship (if any) with Egypt Revealed and The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazines was not addressed in Scientific American's response but the issue regarding the licensing fees as relates to Discovering Archaeology Magazine was rather interesting. Now, back to The Glory of Ancient Egypt Magazine. I was very kindly provided with the URL for The Glory Of Ancient Egypt Magazine by a colleague in the United Kingdom. The following is from my time line: 03/07/02 Logged onto www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site and from there to www.deagostini.co.uk web site. Sent DeAgostini E-Mail stating: On July 23, 2001, Circa Media, Inc. (circamedia.net) advertised subscriptions to The Glory of Ancient Egypt. They have since removed that magazine from their web site. The cover on it was identical to one of the four you show at your www.gloryofancientegypt.com web site, that being the funerary mask of Tutankhamen. I am curious to know if your company was ever associated with Circa Media, Inc. Their mailing address is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The reason for my inquiry is that Egypt Revealed Magazine and Circa Media, Inc. have failed to fulfill paid subscriptions in the case of both Egypt Revealed Magazine and The Glory of Ancient Egypt. Numerous subscribers have been the victims of fraudulent conduct on the part of Egypt Revealed and Circa Media. Any assistance or information you can provide would be most sincerely appreciated. On March 11th, I received this reply from DeAgostini: "Dear Ms. Cole, Your e-mail regarding Circa Media, Inc. has been forwarded to me. We have no information about this company, and do not sell our partwork products in the United States. I will be investigating this action and considering our legal remedies. Thank you very much for your alerting us to this fraud. I am sorry to hear that people were fooled by the use of our magazine. Do you have any more information, how many subscribers this might have involved, what the charges were for the magazines, how payments were made, etc. Best Regards, Adrienne Scott Mirviss Legal and Business Affairs Manager De Agostini UK Limited Griffin House 161 Hammersmith Road London W6 8SD PH: 44 208 600 2017 Fax: 44 208 600 2002" I do not have any specific information regarding Archaeology Today, The Glory of Ancient Egypt or Dinosaur Magazines (also published by Circa Media, Inc.) other than what is/was found at the Circa Media web site as I personally never subscribed to them although I understand that some of you did. If any of you actually received an issue of any of these magazines, it would be very helpful to have a photocopy of the page that lists the name of the editor, editorial staff, publisher, etc. I can be reached at 927 N.E. 175th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97230 USA. It was told to me by an interested party who attended an Egypt Revealed Tour in February that the rumor was that Egypt Revealed had filed for bankruptcy. Upon checking the Bankruptcy Court records for the District in which El Paso, Texas is located, I was not able to find a record of any bankruptcy having been filed as of March 8, 2002 by the following businesses or individuals: The Leach Publishing Group Jeff D. Leach Egypt Revealed, LLC Upon checking the Bankruptcy Court records for the District in which Santa Fe, New Mexico is located, I was not able to find a record of any bankruptcy having been filed as of March 22, 2002 by the following businesses or individuals: Jeff D. Leach The Leach Publishing Group Rio Hondo Publishers Egypt Revealed LLC Egypt Revealed Magazine Also, a check of the court records for El Paso County, Texas does not indicate any lawsuits having been filed as of March 8, 2002 against: Jeff D. Leach. I have not been able to check the court records for Santa Fe County, New Mexico as of yet. For those of you who are interested in learning a bit more about Jeff D. Leach, log onto: http://www.stantonstreet.com/business/person/59.phtml And for my last piece of information in this report, for those of who you don't subscribe to KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt (and shame on you if you don't!) David Moyer reports in his For The Record column in the Spring, 2002 issue as follows: "Discovering Archaeology launched its premier issue 1-2/99 and continued with that title through 1-2/01. According to a report in the 10/01 issue of Discover by its editor-in-chief, Stephen Petranek, the name of the new magazine was changed to Archaeology Today (after a complaint by the publishers of Discover). Your "FTR" reporter, however, has not yet seen any copies of the newly named magazine. The status of Egypt Revealed (from the same publisher as Archaeology Today) - which, after much hype, finally premiered in fall 2000 and followed with two more issues (3-4/01 and 5-6/01) - is unknown at this time." Lynne A. Cole Portland, Oregon USA