EGYPT REVEALED, ET AL - INFORMATIONAL REPORT #2 DATED 04/07/02 REGARDING: Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt and Dinosaur Magazines. ALSO REGARDING: Egypt Revealed Expedition Tour of Egypt that was canceled in August of 2001 and no refunds yet given. Dear Fellow Subscriber or Interested Party: First off, some thank you's are in order: A thank you to fellow subscriber Caroline of Australia who informs us that "The Glory of Ancient Egypt" is being put out in Australia by Bissett Magazine Service Pty Ltd (ABN 15 006 999 944) and she has received every single magazine and all the extras since signing up. She reports that she is very happy with Bissett and (previously) DeAgostini UK who used to send the magazines out from the UK before changing her to Bissett. A thank you to Olga from Brazil and Glenn from California for posting information about this investigation on the various of the Egyptologically-related electronic lists. A thank you to Frank from Colorado for posting my notice in "From The Scribes' Palette" the newsletter of the Egyptian Study Society, Inc to help get the word out. A thank you to Liisa of Washington who at considerable personal expense, shipped me all of her issues of Discovering Archaeology so that I could track when the publisher and parties involved changed and confirm the date the last issue was published. This has also been helpful in attempting to establish what relationship, if any, there is between Seven Wonders Travel, Egypt Revealed Tours and Egypt Revealed Magazine, Egypt Revealed Expeditions. (At this time, it appears there is no significant relationship however, that has not been confirmed in its entirety.) A thank you to fellow subscriber Bob of Texas who shared with me that the information that the www.egyptrevealed.com web site had recently had some activity in the form of being moved from HostPro Los Angeles to Interland in Atlanta, Georgia. Also, the subscription page has finally come down on both Egypt Revealed and Archaeology Today however, it is still up for Dinosaur Magazine as of this date. In rather late-breaking information, thank you to Allaire of Maryland who informed me that she had traced Mr. Leach to Austin, Texas as of March 8, 2002 and actually spoke with him on the phone (more on that later). A thank you to all you subscribers who have completed your Surveys and returned them to me. I realize that the financial transactions that were processed occurred quite some time ago and not everyone has all of their records available, but please realize that ANY piece of information you have provided has been and continues to be very, very helpful. If you haven't had a chance to complete your survey, PLEASE try to do so. The more documentation I have to show the number of parties and dollars involved, the higher the likelihood that the appropriate legal authorities will be convinced that something needs to be done about this. THANK YOU'S TO THE SENIOR EDITOR AND EDITORS-AT-LARGE: A thank you is also in order to Robert B. Partridge of the United Kingdom, the one-time Senior Editor for Egypt Revealed. Of all the parties involved in this deplorable situation, it sounds as if Mr. Partridge has been responding to the majority of the inquiries. He indicates he has "received literally hundreds of complaints from people all around the word, to which I have replied giving the best information I have, which is not a lot, as I am in the United Kingdom as you know." Additionally, Mr. Partridge writes that "I have had no responses to any of my emails, faxes, letters and telephone calls (and they have been numerous!)." Mr. Partridge also indicates that he "was/am not on the payroll of the magazine and have had absolutely NO involvement in the production or management of the publication." He states that his "***involvement with the magazine as "Senior Editor" was simply to provide articles written by me, ***" And, it appears that Mr. Partridge is also a creditor of the magazine as he is owed payment for some of the photographs which were used in the magazine. It certainly is my impression that he too has been "scammed" and he writes that "To say I am angry is an understatement, *** perhaps subscribers in the US will have some measure of success, but it has to be doubtful." I also wish to thank Dr. Dirk Huyge of Brussels, Belgium for his communication in clarifying his position with respect to Discovering Archaeology/Archaeology Today and Egypt Revealed. Dr. Huyge was one of the senior editors-at-large for these magazines. He states that he was doing the editorship on a voluntary basis, he has in no way been remunerated and has likewise been able to contact Jeff Leach or the other people involved in these publications. He states, "I would like to say it loud and clear that I condemn the sharp and malafide practices of Egypt Revealed and Archaeology Today (previously Discovering Archaeology) publishers. *** I deeply regret that you and other people may have lost money and I hope that some action, legal or otherwise can and will be undertaken." Additionally, Susan from New York informs me that Dr. Zahi Hawass stated in July of 2001 that he (Jeff Leach) was to stop using his (Zahi's) name and that he was "appalled and sickened". If a more direct quote becomes available, I will share it with you. So, dear subscribers, please do not continue to contact these individuals as they have no more (and in most cases less) information that you do and are "victims" of Jeff Leach's fraudulent behavior just like the rest of us. If they come across any information on their own, I'm quite sure they will share that with us. And a thank you to all of you who have submitted information concerning the situation. If I have neglected to mention you personally, I do apologize. My file is now about 4" thick and just managing the paperwork is becoming a part-time endeavor! Our biggest THANK YOU goes to Susan in New York. You see, the most hopeful news to date insofar as tracking Mr. Leach down is that he made quite the blunder when he took money from Susan, an attorney in New York, for a tour to Egypt which he canceled on August 27, 2001 (which just happened to be the day before his payment to Egypt Air was due). He has thus far refused to refund any of the trip participants' deposits or payments. These sums could easily total in excess of $100,000.00. Susan has been working on ascertaining the names and contact information of the other trip participants and is now working with a private investigator and the legal authorities in Texas and New Mexico. There will be much, much more information coming to you regarding that aspect of the investigation as she has promised to share the pertinent portion of her research with me so that you, the subscribers and other damaged parties, can be kept apprised of what is transpiring. Additionally, I am sharing with her all information that comes my direction including what I am hearing back from you subscribers in the form of your completed Surveys and other E-Mail communication. We are hoping that between the two of us we can bring Mr. Leach to justice through the appropriate State and/or Federal authorities. Susan also shared with me that Mr. Leach apparently tried to delve into a new business with one Mike Kammerer in the search for Amelia Earhart's lost airplane however, due to Susan's diligence in contacting Mr. Kammerer, those plans were thwarted. Mr. Leach's fraudulent conduct regarding Egypt Revealed Magazine and the Egypt Revealed Expedition tour of Egypt was revealed to Mr. Kammerer. Mr. Leach was then removed from this project. It appears Mr. Leach now has a venture previously unknown to us in the form of www.humanoasis.com and a new address and phone number in Silver City, New Mexico of Jeff Leach, #10 Sanctuary Road, Silver City, NM 88053 jeff@circamedia.net - 505-388-4801. New Mexico's Corporation Division records indicate this company has not been filed with the State of New Mexico; neither is it filed with the States of Texas or Arizona. The owner of this property has been ascertained, as has the owner of the property at 3530 Zafarano Drive, Suite 6-485 in Santa Fe, New Mexico which was the location for Circa Media, Inc. and one of the locations for Egypt Revealed Magazine. Mr. Leach was previously living in a condominium in El Paso, Texas at 6201 Escondido Drive, #12A, El Paso, TX 79912-1937; phone 915-845-2333. He owned this condominium unit with his wife and lived there with her and their two children. The former Mrs. Leach has since vacated the condominium and believes it is now in foreclosure. Another possible location for Mr. Leach is in Austin, Texas where one of the trip participants tracked him down and actually spoke with him on the phone in March 8th. She may very well be the last person amongst us who was able to communicate at all with Mr. Leach. Naturally, he told her that the refund checks for the canceled trip were "in the mail." On a more personal note, it is reported that Mr. Leach left his wife and children two days after September 11th and "disappeared". He has since refused to contribute financially for the children in the form of child support. Their divorce became final in February. Up until communication with Susan from New York (who happens to be a family law attorney), the former Mrs. Leach had no idea where Mr. Leach was. She does now and will be able to give the appropriate legal authorities his new address in regard to back-due child support. Additionally, the former Mrs. Leach is cooperating fully in this investigation and sharing as much information as she can with the investigators involved. She, like the rest of us, has been "scammed". WEB SITE INFORMATION: The registrant names of all the web sites known to date that Mr. Leach was/is involved in have been ascertained including their mailing addresses and phone numbers. There has been quite a bit of recent activity regarding the registrations/updates of these web sites as you will see. The www.discoveringarchaeology.com web site has been sold to a company in Washington, D.C. and is now listed for sale for $3,688.00. This record was created on March 21, 2002 so it appears that Mr. Leach let the name expire and it was "up for grabs". That's quite a sum of money for a web site with a now "tainted" name. The web site www.archaeologytoday.net shows Cirda (typo for Circa?) Media as its registrant's name with the mailing address of 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901. Jeff Leach is also listed as the Administrative, Technical and Billing Contact at that same address with a phone number of 915-533-8503 (now disconnected) for Administrative & Billing Contact and 915-590-5524 for Technical contact. Mr. Leach is showing an E-Mail address of jleach@discoveringarchaeology.com for this registration. This record was created on June 17, 2001 and last updated on March 15, 2002. www.egyptrevealed.com has for its registrant Jeff Leach again at the 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901 address. Mr. Leach is also shown as the Administrative & Billing Contact at 915-533-8503 (phone number disconnected and at 915-544-9276. He shows an E-Mail address of jleach@egyptrevealed.com. The Technical Contact was moved from HostPro in Los Angeles, California to Interland, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. The record was created December 1, 1999 and was last updated April 1, 2002. The web site of www.DINOSAURMAG.COM is registered to Egypt Revealed, again at the Paisano address in El Paso, Texas. Administrative, Technical and Billing Contact is Jeff Leach, 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901. He uses the following E-Mail addresses: jleach@discoveringarchaeology.com 915-533-8503 (for Administrative Contact); jleach@discoveringarchaeology.com 915-590-5524 (for Technical Contact); and jleach@humanoasis.com 915-533-8503 (for Billing Contact). This is the first indication Mr. Leach might be setting up a new company - Human Oasis. This record was created on July 3, 2001 and was last updated on March 21, 2002. www.gloryofancientegypt.com - This is NOT a Jeff Leach company, but rather IS A LEGITIMATE PUBLICATION WHOSE SUBSCRIBERS HAVE BEEN RECEIVING THEIR ISSUES. IT'S THOSE SUBSCRIBERS THAT ORDERED THIS PUBLICATION THROUGH WWW.CIRCAMEDIA.NET WHO HAVE NOT RECEIVED THEIR ISSUES. CIRCAMEDIA.NET ADVERTISED THIS PUBLICATION AT THEIR WEB SITE IN JULY OF 2001 AND REMOVED IT SOMETIME THEREAFTER BUT NOT BEFORE TAKING SUBSCRIPTION MONEY.) The Registrant, De Agostini Limited of 161 Hammersmith Road, London has been notified and their legal department is investigating the matter. Their record was created October 21, 2000 and last updated on February 23, 2002. www.circamedia.net shows a registrant name of Egypt Revealed with an address of 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901. Administrative, Technical & Billing Contact is Jeff Leach, 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901 jleach@discoveringarchaeology.com. Again, the phone numbers of 915-533-8503 (phone disconnected) (for Administrative & Billing Contact) and 915-590-5524 (for Technical Contact) are utilized. This record was created July 3, 2001 (same date as Dinosaur Magazine) and was last updated on March 18, 2002. And finally, www.humanoasis.com shows a registrant name of Human Oasis, LLC with an address of #10 Sanctuary Road, Silver City, NM 88053. Administrative, Technical & Billing Contact is Jeff Leach, #10 Sanctuary Road, Silver City, NM 88053 jeff@circamedia.net 505-388-4801 . This record was created May 10, 2001 and last updated March 25, 2002. TELEPHONE LISTING INFORMATION: A check with QwestDex provided the following information regarding telephone listings: For El Paso, Texas business listings, Circa Media is listed at 702 E. Paisano, El Paso, TX 79901 and with a phone number of 915-533-8503 (number disconnected). This is the same El Paso address and phone number as Egypt Revealed, LLC. Previously, the only known address for Circa Media was in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Circa Media does not seem to be listed with the Corporation Divisions for any states I have checked to date which include New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. There were no business listings for Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed (LLC), Leach Publishing Group or Rio Hondo Publishers in the El Paso area although I really didn't expect there would be. In the residential listings for El Paso, Texas, there is a listing for Jeff Leach at a 915-845-2333 phone number: 6201 Escondido Drive, El Paso, Texas and 708 Cheltenham Drive, El Paso, Texas. A property detail report shows Jeff D. Leach and his (now former) wife as the owners. It is now known that this is "our" Jeff Leach however, he has since vacated the premises and his former wife believes the property (a condominium unit) may be in foreclosure. Also, there was a listing for Nicholas Pingitore (Senior Science Editor for Discovering Archaeology, Science Editor of Egypt Revealed, an officer for Rio Hondo Publishers, LLC and a director for Riosa, Inc. which is the general partner of Leach Publishing Group. His addresses matches the one the State of Texas Corporation Division has for him of 1328 Madeline, El Paso, TX 79902, phone 915-545-1843. This also matches with a property detail report showing 1328 Madeline, El Paso, TX 79902-2106 as being owned by one Nicholas E. Pingitore, Jr. There were no listings for Jeff Leach in Silver City, New Mexico which is the location of what appears to be his newest "venture", Human Oasis. Neither is there a listing for "Human Oasis" in Silver City, New Mexico. However, those phone numbers have been gleaned from the web site registration records. The information regarding his possible residence in Austin, Texas came in so recently, that I have not had an opportunity to check that out. He was contacted at The Leach Publishing Group who has a post office box address in Austin, Texas. PROPERTY OWNER LISTINGS: Discovering Archaeology; Rio Hondo Publishers; The Leach Publishing Group, Ltd.; Riosa, Inc.; and Egypt Revealed, LLC: 1205 N. Oregon El Paso, Texas 79902 915-533-8503 915-544-9276 - FAX Owner: Javier & Debra Reyes 1014 N. Mesa Street, #400 El Paso, TX 79902-4008 (no listing for either of them with www.qwestdex.com) Egypt Revealed, LLC, Glory of Ancient Egypt and Archaeology Today: 702 E. Paisano Drive El Paso, TX 79901-2532 Owner: Advantage Management Service 352 Belvidere Street El Paso, TX 79912-2157 (no listing with www.qwestdex.com) 352 Belvidere Street El Paso, TX 79912-2157 Owner: Oscar and Margarita Dominguez 352 Belvidere Street El Paso, TX 79912-2157 (no phone listing for either of them through www.qwestdex.com) Leach, Jeff D. 6201 Escondido Drive, #12A El Paso, TX 79912-1937 Owner: Jeff D. Leach and spouse 6201 Escondido Drive, #12A El Paso, TX 79912-1937 915-845-2333 708 Cheltenham Drive El Paso, TX 79912-1530 Owner: Cowan, H.A. & Gwen G. 708 Cheltenham Drive El Paso, TX 79912-1530 (no phone listing for either of them through www.qwestdex.com) Jeff D. Leach Human Oasis, LLC #10 Sanctuary Road Silver City, NM 88053 505-388-4801 (no phone listing for either Leach or Human Oasis, LLC in the Silver City, New Mexico area through www.qwestdex.com) Owner: Collyge, Clay 3409 Pinos Altos Road Silver City, NM 88061 (per Grant County Tax Assessor's Office) www.qwestdex.com lists as follows: Collyge, Billy Joe Pinos Altos Road Silver City, NM 88061 505-538-9788 Collyge, Clay Cliff, NM 88028 505-535-4277 Nicholas E. Pingitore, Jr. 1328 Madeline Drive El Paso, TX 79902-2106 Owner: Nicholas E. Pingitore, Jr. 1328 Madeline Drive El Paso, TX 79902-2106 915-545-1843 WHAT'S NEXT: Susan, the attorney from New York, and I are sharing information. The goal is to gather enough evidence against Jeff D. Leach so as to see him arrested, tried (for any number of charges) and, hopefully, jailed. We are both sending information to and contacting the appropriate legal authorities to ensure this will occur. I will be providing Susan with the contact information of all the subscribers who contact me, together with an accounting of their monetary damages so that she may add those damages to those suffered by the Egypt Revealed canceled trip. I will also continue to send out Informational Reports as more news becomes available. I sincerely doubt that any of us will get our subscription money refunded however, there would assuredly be some gratification in knowing that Jeff Leach is not out and about and "scamming" off other innocent people. Lynne A. Cole Ancient Egypt Studies Association 927 N.E. 175th Avenue Portland, OR 97230 lynne.cole@attbi.com www.aesa-nw.org