Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "fraud"

Ask the County Law Librarian -- Affirmative Defenses to Fraud

2012-02-09T23:01:33Z

Q. What are some affirmative defenses to fraud?

Ayana

For those readers who aren’t familiar with the phrase, an affirmative defense “sets forth facts from which it results that, notwithstanding the truth of the allegations of the complaint, no cause of action existed in the plaintiff at the time the action was brought.” Goddard v. Fulton, 21 Cal. 430, 436 (1863). In plain English, the defendant in a case can present information or evidence that reduces or eliminates his liability, even if the allegations in the complaint are true. Affirmative defenses are the legal reason why, even if everything happened just as described by the plaintiff, the defendant should not be held liable.

There are too many affirmative defenses available to list here. We have a very useful set at the law library that may help you determine appropriate affirmative defenses in your situation called California Affirmative Defenses.

There are some that can be used in almost all case types, and others that are specifically counter allegations of fraud. In order to assert the proper affirmative defenses, you will need to carefully review the complaint and the plaintiff’s allegations.

A common affirmative defense for many types of cases is a violation of the Statute of Limitations, or failure to file an action within a certain period of time after the “wrong” involved was committed. The Statute of Limitations for Fraud is three years. California Code of Civil Procedure § 338(d).

Statute of Limitations questions are always tricky, but particularly so with fraud, because the statute does not start to “accrue,” or start running, until the aggrieved party discovers the facts constituting the fraud. California Code of Civil Procedure § 338(d). You can read more about the statute of limitations for fraud at the Law Library in California Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial: Statutes of Limitations.

A common affirmative defense for fraud cases is failure to plead a cause of action with specificity. A little explanation of this defense may be helpful. A cause of action for fraud must be pled with “specificity,” meaning that allegations of fraud must be described in a complaint with much more detail than other causes of action. This is to “give defendants notice of the particular misconduct . . . so that they can defend against the charge and not just deny that they have done anything wrong.” Neubronner v. Milken, 6 F.3d 666, 672 (9th Cir. 1993). Each element in a cause of action for fraud must be factually and specifically explained--the “who, what, when, where, and how” of the misconduct must be listed. Vess v. Ciba-Geigy Corp. USA, 317 F.3d 1097, 1106 (9th Cir. 2003).

To determine if the complaint is pled with specificity, you will need to carefully review all allegations, and determine if all elements are adequately described. The elements of fraud are (1) a misrepresentation, concealment, or nondisclosure by the defendant; (2) the defendant’s knowledge of the falsity of the misrepresentation; (3) the defendant’s intent to deceive the plaintiff; (4) justifiable reliance upon the misrepresentation by the plaintiff; and (5) resulting damage to the plaintiff. California Civil Code § 1709. In order to describe the first element, for example, a “plaintiff must set forth what is false or misleading about a statement, and why it is false.” Decker v. GlenFed, Inc , 42 F.3d 1541, 1548 (9th Cir. 1994).

There are further affirmative defenses to fraud, of course, but without knowing more about the specific fraudulent act you are interested in, it is hard to say which would be most relevant to your situation. If you visit the Law Library in person we’d be happy to show you the references mentioned above and more, based upon the facts of your situation.

You should know, however, that we are in the process of moving to a new location and will be closed until on or about March 1. While we’re closed, you can still visit our website at www.saclaw.org for a wealth of information, including sample forms and instructions for navigating a variety of common legal procedures. Our website may be down for a couple of days while we move our computers, but you can “like” us on Facebook or “follow” us on Twitter for the latest details on when that might happen, and exactly when we will re-open. We sincerely hope you will visit us in our new location and that the many amenities of 609 9th Street (including abundant street parking!) will make you think it was worth the wait!

Do you have a question for the County Law Librarian? Just email sacpress@saclaw.org. If your question is selected your answer will appear in next Thursday's column. Even if your question isn't selected, though, I will still respond within two weeks.

Coral Henning, Director
@coralh & @saclawlibrarian
www.saclaw.org

Task force takes on disabled parking placard fraud

2011-11-10T02:42:27Z

Abuse of disabled parking placards is no small problem in Sacramento, where a special task force is charged with tracking down offenders.

To help reduce the misuse of disabled placards, the Sacramento Task Force On Placard Abuse was formed in 1996.

According to Linda Tucker, spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, the task force consists of specially trained parking enforcement officers who investigate complaints on disabled placard abuse and issue misdemeanor citations when necessary.

The city employs 50 parking enforcement officers, and two of those are full-time officers who go undercover to investigate the use of disabled parking placards in the city.

Tucker said the task force checks about 1,300 placards per year. So far this year, officers ended up confiscating 130 placards – about 10 or 11 per month.

There were 115 misdemeanor tickets issued during that same timeframe, Tucker said.

Being charged with a misdemeanor requires a court appearance, and the fine can be up to $3,500 or six months in jail, Tucker said.

“We take our enforcement of DP placard use seriously,” Tucker said. “There is a finite number of metered spaced and a lot more placards floating out there.”

According to the California Vehicle Code, getting a placard requires a signed statement by a doctor “substantiating the disability, unless the applicant’s disability is readily observable and uncontested.”

If a placard is lost or stolen, the owner can apply for a substitute placard without recertification of eligibility, according to the California Vehicle Code.

“We have people who steal our placards all the time,” Diana Derodeff, executive director of Inalliance said Wednesday. “People sell them, even.”

Derodeff said that, despite disabled placard abuses, it doesn’t seem to have an impact on the issuance of more placards.

“I’ve never heard of anyone not getting a placard because there’s too much abuse of the system,” Derodess said.

Some people intent on abusing the system find interesting ways to accomplish their goal, according to Officer Hatch, a parking enforcement officer for the city.

In a recent article for The Sacramento Press, writer Casey Kirk said Hatch “recalled one violator cutting the entire bottom portion off of a disabled placard, claiming it was issued to him that way.”

“Another instance that stood out (to Officer Hatch) was the placard-holder who extended his own permit, punching a hole in the current year and taping the punched out circle into the expired year,” Kirk wrote.

Derodeff said Inalliance transports many people with disabilities and when people abuse the disabled parking privilege, there isn’t room for those who need it.

Derodeff said that the biggest problem the Inalliance drivers face is people who park their cars either in handicapped spaces or in the spaces directly adjacent to the handicapped spaces.

Having disabled parking spaces more clearly marked – including all of the loading space needed – would be helpful, Derodeff said.

Derodeff said she thinks people who abuse disabled parking placards should be charged and fined.

City code states that anyone who illegally parks in a blue zone, puts a placard on a car to which it isn’t assigned, uses it without needing it or buys, sells or exchanges a permit is in violation of the law.

The state code has charges for additional violations, including unlawful use of permits or placards, parking unlawfully in a blue zone or blocking access to a disabled space.

“We are unique in that we are one of the few cities in California that charges violators with a misdemeanor for misusing a DP placard,” Tucker said.

Barbara Duncan, the director of communication for Disability Rights California, said reports of placard abuse are disturbing to hear because there are many people with legitimate need for the placards.

Duncan said that people tend to believe there is more fraud than actually exists because the majority of people who use disabled parking placards do not appear at first glance to need them.

“Many of them have invisible disabilities – back problems, heart problems and so forth. It’s not always obvious who is and who isn’t disabled.”

“People with disabilities worked very hard to get this benefit,” Duncan said. “We would like to see an effort to make sure that people who have legitimate needs for these placards can get them.”

According to the DMV, a disabled person with a parking placard is allowed to park for extended periods in on-street metered parking spaces, areas that require resident permits and on-street locations with posted timelimits as well as the regularly designated handicapped parking spots.

There are limitations to parking with a disabled parking placard or license plate, though.

Vehicles with disabled parking placards or plates may not park in the crosshatched pattern located next to a space displaying the wheelchair symbol, or next to red curbs (no stopping, standing or parking), or next to yellow curbs (commercial loading/unloading), or next to white curbs (passenger loading/unloading).

Privileges for free parking with disabled parking placards and license plates only apply to on-street parking, so a driver with a disabled parking placard parking in a public garage has to pay the garage’s set parking rate.

In residential areas, vehicles with disabled parking placards also have to abide by street cleaning restrictions.

Although the parking timeframe is extended for disabled parking, it does have a city-mandated final limit of 72 hours.

“The task force is a full program and a concentrated effort to reduce the abuse,” Tucker said.

Anyone can refer a tip about disabled parking abuse to parking enforcement officers, Tucker said.

“When people want to report something – anything at all, 24 hours a day – they only need to email 311@cityofsacramento.org,” Tucker said, “or, if they are within the city limits, just call 3-1-1. The complaint will make its way to parking and they will followup.”

Melissa Corker is a Staff Reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @MelissaCorker.

Editorial Note: Corrections have been made to this story after it was published. The spelling of Diana Derodeff's name was corrected.

Is The Sacramento City Council Being "Greenwashed"? Part 1

2010-01-12T22:37:08Z

Let me clarify the newly coined term "greenwash". If whitewashing is to 'gloss over or cover up a crime or a scandal', then "greenwashing" would be the use of money in an attempt to gloss over or cover up a crime or scandal.

One year ago today on January 12th 2009, my friend and reporter Leann Lopez hand delivered nine letters with a "hungry4justice" card to the receptionist desk at City Hall. Mayor Kevin Johnson and all off the other city council members should have personally received their copy. Maybe the City Council didn't think this issue was important enough or they didn't want to believe this story to be true because Leann did not get one response by phone call or email about the information she was providing to them.

In her letter she was informing the City Council about the quest for justice our family was seeking against Raley's operators and owners Jim and Joyce Raley Teel for the fraud that was perpetrated against our father. The following is the actual letter she sent to all of the members of the Sacramento City Council. This letter is used by permission and is now public information. Leann's phone number has been hidden for her protection. In the next article you will read why this letter is so significant and determine for yourself if it appears that the Teel's are just "greenwashing" the community with their money.

Leann Lopez
The Sacramento Reporter
Sacramento, CA 95814
sacreporter@live.com

916 ###-####
January 12, 2009

Dear Mayor Kevin Johnson,

I am a native Californian and have lived most of my life in the Sacramento area. A couple of years ago I became acquainted with a family with an incredible story. This story was so unbelievable that I had to investigate it myself to prove it to be true or false.

This family has been seeking justice for their deceased father for over seventeen years and they won’t stop until they get it, as well as the recognition their father deserves for the contributions he has made to Sacramento and all of California. I realize that you are a very busy Mayor with many decisions to make, but I think once you hear this story you as well will want to see justice for this family.

The accompanying postcard is a brief explanation of the story and mentions some of those involved. I convinced the family to make you aware of this campaign so that when you see and hear things concerning this story you won’t be surprised and simply cast it off. Below is an email from a very prominent newspaper reporter in Sacramento. She had to turn down reporting their story for fear of losing her job, but her words tell it all:

“I hope that you find a way to get the story told. It is a compelling story but as I previously said, most people in Sacramento have too much to lose given the size, scope and far-reaching tentacles of the Raley's family. I still think it needs to be a book and not done by a newspaper - a newspaper would and/or could lose all of their advertisers. A newspaper …could be shut down in one day by Raley's. Take Care,”

Mayor Johnson if nothing else, familiarize your self with this story and support this family in their quest. To me this is a typical story of those who have lost a loved one to a crime and cannot get justice. Those who committed this crime have used their money and influence to pervert justice.

It’s heartbreaking to know that Charles Nordby, the man that made these criminals rich and influential, wasn’t able to receive justice before he passed away. However, the family of Charles Nordby is dedicated to continue his fight for justice just as he dedicated his life pursuing justice for others.

Thank you for your time,

Leann Lopez

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Martin Luther King Jr.

Sources: Superior Court Case 544344, www.hungry4justice.com, www.raleysexposed.com,

Raley's Incites the $100,000 Reward? Part 3

2009-11-24T04:02:46Z

When homeless looking man Frank Nordby realized that if what he believed was true, then an incredible injustice had taken place. He felt if a billion dollars could create this horrible injustice maybe it's possible to tip the scales of justice with a little incentive for anyone who would be willing to investigate his story and prove him wrong. So with the David vs Goliath state of mind, Frank began offering a $100,000 dollar reward in his quest for the truth. All anyone had to do was disprove with evidence the following claim by our father Charles Nordby:

"I saved Tom Raley's company from going bankrupt"

A simple claim with a very hard answer. Because if he did save the Raley's company, then Charles Nordby is a hometown hero who has been treated like a villian. When you consider all of the people, families, companies, communities and on and on that have benefited from Raley's since 1973, he has made a tremendous contribution without any acknowlegement, publically or financially. Like I mentioned before in a previous segment, which is an incredible fact, and that is Tom Raley didn't even know him. And why didn't Tom Raley know Charles Nordby?

This is what I know: There are two people in Sacramento who should have the ability to produce the evidence necessary to disprove Charles Nordby and silence this story, but they can't. Those two people are Jim and Joyce Raley Teel. They have access to all the financial records of Tom Raley(unless they have been shredded already). All they have to prove is Tom's financial condition in 1973. If Tom Raley had plenty of money in 1973, then Charles Nordby didn't need to save his company and no turnaround would have been necessary. But even Raley's own history book states that 1973 was the year of the "turnaround". That was the same year that Nordby came to Raley's. Mere coincident? Not likely!

Recently I received a nice email from Casey Kirk at the SacPress, and I was graciously warned that if the story about my father and Raley’s went into the “dangerous territory of libel," it would be pulled. And it should be if it is libelous. Then she wrote this "We have consulted two journalism professors at CSUS who specialize in media law and have been told that so far the stories seem safe, but they do have the potential to go that route."

I appreciate The Sacramento Press' precautions and we are well aware of the dangers of libel, but since our family has been telling this never changing story for over 18 years now, we are very careful to speak and write only what we know to be true or our expressed opinions.

After I read their email and I became aware of their concern, I remembered the April 2nd, 1991 letter Charles Collings (Raley's president) wrote to my brother Frank stating the following:

"I am telling you that the story you are trying to spread about Raley's is inaccurate and could be damaging. Now that you know, if you choose to continue to spread falsehoods, I suggest that you get an attorney, you will need one."

Wow, what a powerhouse threat from the man and the company of Sacramento's big local success story.....Raley's. That threat was made over 18 years ago. Since then we have spent thousands of hours and dollars investigating Tom Raley, Raley’s, Chuck Collings, the Teel’s and others.

We searched through archived newspapers, public records of Raley’s finances which also include divorce proceedings, tax delinquency files, stock issuances, assessor’s filings, as well as police and criminal records just for the fun of it. We knew if for some reason our investigation was not complete or accurate, we would never be able to prove our father’s story and we would also run the risk of having to face Raley’s in a court of law where we would have no chance against this uncircumcised giant.

One of the greatest sources of evidence that we found was their own history book of Tom Raley’s success story. It is called "Raley's, A Family Store". That book was freely given to all of Raley’s employees in 1990 of which I was one. I don’t think they thought that an employee of over ten years would read this book and begin questioning their so-called actual and factual account of their success story.

It was within their own pages of their own book that we discovered events, timelines, quotes and even important omissions that gave us what we needed to prove our father’s story. All of the information from other investigated documents were like little pieces of the big puzzle, and like shavings of chocolate sprinkled on the icing of a cake. Yes, I enjoy chocolate.

In the 1980’s, the Proctor and Gamble company and its logo with the man, the stars and the moon was subjected to many rumors that the company was somehow related to Satanic worship. Since the rumors were untrue and damaging to the company’s clean image(no pun intended, okay there was), the P&G company sought after every individual as well as groups who were creating and spreading the negative publicity and ferociously pursued them in the court of law to stop the libelous and damaging accusations against them.

I say all that to say this. In the last 18 years of our family promoting the true Tom Raley success story that is really Charles Nordby‘s success story, there has never been any opposition from Raley’s or Jim and Joyce Raley Teel, the two people who could have protected Tom Raley's name, reputation and legacy if it were possible. If they had any evidence to disprove Charles Nordby's claims, they could have claimed the $100,000 reward and given it to a charity of their choice.

Eighteen years later my brother Frank continues to speak the truth. His animated website, with all of its bells and whistles reminds me of Jim Cramers show "Mad Money", except Franks website is all about fraud money and should have been voted "Best of Sacramento" for a fun, zany, educational and news worthy website. Frank will never get a "Sacramento's Best" for his website because Mike O'brien from the Sacramento Magazine doesn't want to believe that this is a true story. A woman sent him an email and asked him about the Charles Nordby story. Here is what Mike wrote to her in reply:

"We have gotten rambling notes from the person you reference for years, as have many media. We considered his diatribes years ago and found the specific charges meaningless."

Mike O'brien should think before he speaks or writes emails. Charles Nordby died over 13 years ago. How could have Mike got any "rambling" notes from Charles Nordby. Maybe Mike is passing notes with the dead. Is this a little paranormal activity going on here? Maybe Mike should get one of his magazines "Sacramento's Best" for "Foot in Mouth".

Anyways, Franks website has been online since 2003 and has nearly 1/2 million page views and he is still waiting for Chuck Collings, Jim and Joyce Teel and Raley's to settle this matter. In fact, Frank is still waiting for Collings to follow through with Raley's threat of legal action made towards him on April 2, 1991 when Collings wrote he would need an attorney if he was to continue spreading falsehoods.

I am glad that the SacPress editorial staff is reading the articles and questioning the credibility of its writers, just in case the stories appear to be too incredible. Especially an unheard of story like this one that involves the wealthiest people in Sacramento and the company that they own.

The $100,000 reward that is being offered has been available for almost five years now and was initially offered to journalist and the news media as a lure to find someone who would be willing to grab this story by the balls and investigate it. We wanted an outsider to either come to the same conclusion that we have or be able to gather evidence that would prove otherwise. We just wanted the truth. Not one reporter ever approached us about trying to disprove the story. Maybe they were told or knew it was a true story that could not be disputed. Or, maybe they were told not to by their superiors where they worked. Watch the YouTube journalist invite listed at the bottom of the page.

Raley’s attorney’s perverted and corrupted justice in this matter. They prevented our father from getting his day in court which would have proven his story and his claims that every penny of profit that Raley’s has made since he came on board with them in 1973 was money made from his program. He made them billionaires and they used ill-gotten gains to make sure he didn’t get his day in court.

Charles Nordby died in the midst of dragging them into the courts. It is our opinion his death could be attributed partially to the stress he endured while fighting corrupted legal paperwork from attorneys Peter Glick and Robert Strauch. And the only person who ever faced him in court was a very red faced woman named Kimberly Peterson acting on behalf of Peter Glick. We are still trying to investigate if she was even an attorney at the time of her courtroom appearance or just an office girl.

One of the most incredible facts about this whole story is this: Here we are 18 years after we first discovered many careless errors in the Raley’s history book that simply did not make any sense, and they are still holding on to their facade. Everyone who hears this story says to us “why don’t they (Raley’s) just settle with your family?” One possible reason is, they may think they will have to admit they commited a crime against our father. Or maybe they think because they are billionaires, they don't have to answer to anyone.

Most people who get got stealing normally end up paying restitution to the victim for their crime. Wealthy people generally don’t care about doing the right thing unless they are caught and forced by the law to do so. For them, stealing from Charles Nordby and his family, then taking credit for his legacy is all part of their American dream which is not a dream at all.

I feel for all the Raley/Teel family members who have had to live with this story hanging over their heads. Nobody but Jim and Joyce Teel, Chuck Collings and Frank McMinn knew anything about it. The rest of the family had no idea what our father was doing for grandpa Tom, but neither did Tom. So when this story began breaking in 1991 it must have been a horrible horrible shock to the Raley family, but especially to the three men listed above because they were the ones personally involved in what Charles Nordby was doing.

I believe as long as there is life, it is never too late to do the right thing. I don't know why Jim and Joyce don't want to resolve this for their children and grandchildrens sake?

Coming up in future segments: Read the crucial part played by the Sacramento Bee, my meetings with Mike Teel and then Jim Teel that almost erupted into a brawl. Also, the legal shenanigans of Raley's attorneys at Downey, Brand Seymour and Rowher….. and how Judge Joe Gray in our opinion is either a very stupid judge, jaded or perhaps even paid off.

Sources: Photo of 1st Store Courtesy of the El Dorado County Museum www.hungry4justice.com www.raleysexposed.com Raley's: A Family Store http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrsG_kNeGXg

$100,000 Reward- The Pricetag for Justice Part 2

2009-11-03T07:41:30Z

This is part two of the story about the homeless looking man that is offering a $100,000 reward to anyone who can disprove one fact and that fact is:

Charles Nordby turned Tom Raley’s company around when Raley's was going bankrupt in the early '70s. It was his expertise in the grocery business and his proven security program implemented at Raley's back in 1973 that made Raley’s the success they are today.

"There was so much external and internal theft taking place at Raley's back then, they simply could not have stay in business," Nordby said before passing away in 1996.

In 1973, Nordby traveled from Sonoma County to have a meeting with Pete Stathos, the president of the now defunct Vans Markets to discuss the idea of implementing Nordby's profit increasing program that he designed and was promoting in Northern California. This was the program that could save any struggling retailer from going out of business.

Stathos missed the meeting because he was on the golf course that day. Nordby decided to call another Sacramento retailer that he had heard was in financial trouble so he called the Raley's main office located at 1515 20th Street and asked to speak to the president. The man who answered the phone said "speaking." At the time it never occurred to Nordby that Tom Raley was so broke, Chuck Collings, the president of Raley's, is responsible for answering the phone that day.

Nordby briefly explained to Collings he had a proven profit increasing program that would give the Raley's company its highest profits ever. With nothing to lose, Collings invited Nordby to come to the old run down office on 20th Street to explain once again what he could do and how his program could help Raley's.

Once there, he sits down with Collings, Vice President Jim Teel (Joyce Raley Teel's husband) and advertising man Frank McMinn and explains to these three men exactly what his program is all about.

On that day, these three men were given a ray of hope that the company they headed up may not go out of business after all. But if Raley’s did go out of business, they had just met the perfect scapegoat to take the fall for Tom Raley's business failing.

It would appear at this point in his life, Tom Raley must have already accepted the fact that there was no hope for Raley's survival because he had two inexperienced men running his company. Plus Raley had taken himself out of the picture as far as the daily operation of the company was concerned.

Without Tom Raley's knowledge or his approval of the hiring of Nordby, they agree to let Nordby test his program in six of Raley's most unprofitable stores. At that time, nearly every one of Tom Raley's stores were unprofitable, but these six stores were the worst.

In the summer of 1973, when Nordby was given the go ahead to implement his program, Raley’s did not have the money to even start his program in these six stores. Nordby was forced to find a private investor in San Francisco to loan him the money so that he could finance his program at Raley’s.

Within the first quarter (3 months) of this new program, these six losing stores were turning such a high profit, Collings, Teel and McMinn decided right then that they had to have Nordby's program immediately put into place throughout the rest of the chain.

They also decided they wanted to hire Nordby as an employee rather than a consultant. After much consideration, Nordby agreed to work exclusively for Raley’s for a base pay and bonuses based on the success of his program which he knew would be incredible because he knew his program would not only save the company but give them tremendous profits of which his bonuses would be based on.

In order to retain Nordby’s services and their new found hope, Raley's operators agreed to the bonuses if his program continued to produce the same success they had already seen, they just had no idea just how successful it and they were all going to be.
Nordby believed Chuck Collings would keep his promise because he touted himself to be a man of God and that his word was his bond and Collings always invited Nordby to his Friday night Bible study, so Nordby assumed that he was a man of his word. Nordby also believed Jim Teel would keep his promise because he was Tom Raley's son in-law and he also believed Frank McMinn would keep his promise because he and Tom Raley were good friends. Not one of these men ever told Tom Raley about the outside consultant that they had hired. Nordby later discovered they never intended to keep their promises to him either, but rather used him to save Tom Raley's company from bankruptcy while they took the credit for Tom Raley's success.

They hired my father in 1973, the same year I became a senior at El Molino High School in Sonoma County. He was such an incredible father, he chose not to move the family to the Sacramento area until after my senior year and graduation. Because of the scope of the task before him to ensure the success of Raley's, he had to stay in Sacramento for most of my senior year and our family would only see him on occasional weekends when he had to just get away from the glaring problems of Raley's mismanagement that he had to deal with on a daily basis. I remember him telling me some of the stories of the things he encountered that were almost unbelievable, like the time he went into a Raley's store and saw nearly every employee, including the manager, stealing from the company. This was why Raley's was going out of business. Theft was rampant. It didn't take long for Nordby to figure out that everyone thought Raley's was going bankrupt so they all were getting their piece of the pie before it did.
Employees were stealing chain wide, bread vendors, soda vendors, beer vendors, meat companies, milk companies, egg companies and even one of Tom Raley's best friends were all stealing from him and he didn't even know it. One of the first things Nordby had to do was re-write and re-create new company policies that would close the loopholes to prevent anymore drains on the profits.

One of the most incredible aspects of this story is the fact that Tom Raley went to his grave in 1992 not ever knowing the man who saved his company, not knowing what had happened to create the turnaround in 1973 or how he even become a billionaire. That is absolutely mind boggling. Has this ever happened in history where a person had no clue whatsoever as to how they got rich?
And what makes this even that much more incredible is the fact that while Nordby was staying in Sacramento, he was given a free room at the Marina Inn located on the banks of the Sacramento River. The Marina Inn was another losing business venture of Tom Raley and they both lived there during the same time period of July of 1973 through June of 1974. Even though Tom Raley may have seen Nordby come and go during that time period, he didn't even know who Charles Nordby was and what was his business in Sacramento.

Coming next in part 3 of this series,.....

The year is 1974, The money is poring in. It is party time for Raley's.

It's bonus time! But Raley's Success by deception kicks into first gear!

Homeless Looking Man offers a $100,000 Reward

2009-11-01T05:11:32Z

There are two things about the man in the picture that you would not believe unless I revealed them to you in this article. First of all, the man in the picture is not homeless. He is my brother Frank Nordby who has attended a couple of the Sacramento Press' workshops with me. It is hard to imagine just by looking at his appearance that this man is not only training to qualify for the Boston Marathon but he is also offering a $100,000 reward in his race for justice.

Frank has been running as long as I can remember. In fact I remember him running after me as a child whenever I would pull some 'little brother" gag on him. Frank was able to palm a basketball in high school and was actually very good at shooting hoops as well as all the other sports he was involved in. Out of the nine children in our family Frank was the most athletic of us all.

Over the years he learned that running was very therapeutic for him and he always makes sure that he gets his daily dose of therapy in the many miles he runs every day. He is in good health and with his long hair and beard he has been called "Forrest Gump" on many occasions by passerby’s who catch him on his trek through the highways and byways of Northern CA and the Sacramento area.

Franks endurance has also helped him in his eighteen year chase and quest for justice in one of the biggest crimes in Sacramento's history. Since the advent of the internet, more and more people have heard about this crime because there are currently two websites that publicly reveal it. It’s a crime that involves those who are part of the who's who in business, judges in the courts, in the news media and in the religious community. This article will begin the unveiling of people who have somehow and someway become involved in this crime, generally through the subtle influence of money that has snagged them in this incredible web of deception that has killed their credibility.

I have decided it is time for Sacramento to begin reading a story that has probably been the most media suppressed story of all time. There is a term that rightly defines what have been the actions of the news media and it is called a “conspiracy of silence.” Which is defined by Merriam-Webster as:
a secret agreement to keep silent about an occurrence, situation, or subject
especially in order to promote or protect selfish interests
This is not to be confused with a conspiracy theory whereby people are made out to be crazy without sufficient proof or evidence to their claims. On the contrary, this story is backed by historical accounts, court documents, tax records, divorce records, the written word as well as the spoken word. Two of the most persuasive elements to this story are the preponderance of the evidence and the silence that has permeated from within those who know the story is true.

Now with The Sacramento Press, this conspiracy of silence will be broken and the story will be told against the will of the wealthiest family in town. This story will create a stir because it shakes the powers that be and will be contrary to everything most people have been told by the news media for the last thirty-six years.

This story may never get the attention that it should get and rightfully deserves. Locally, all the news reporting companies have gone to great lengths to help cover up this crime and why shouldn't they? Isn't it only a crime against one man? No! This crime is also against the public who put their trust in the news media to tell the truth at any cost. Who expect unbiased reporting of the news that neither censors nor silences. This is one story where the news media has actually become a major part of the story. We hope that the Sacramento Bee does not have any influence on the Sacramento Press concerning this story.

Because this story has been in the making for thirty-six years, it is impossible to write one article about all of the people, places and events that went into making this an incredible story. It would be too lengthy as one article for the Sacramento Press, so I must divide it up into two or three easily read portions.

Many of the high profile news stories and the day-by-day courtroom proceedings in the last twenty five years have been influenced by money and fame and the power that follows them. This story is no different except for the fact that the people that this story is about are also major advertisers in the newspapers and magazines and on the television and radio. This is why none of the news media in Sacramento can afford to tell you this true story, and when you read the following email from a local reporter in the Sacramento area, you will understand why you are reading this story in this venue instead of the front page of the Sacramento Bee or making the headlines on the evening news.

“Hello Mr. Nordby,
No, I have never heard this story - what a horrid story it is. However, very sadly, I am not surprised. There are people who will do absolutely anything to gain wealth, and/or hang on to wealth (power). Crushing another person seems to be nothing but collateral damage for them.
I am interested in your story. My columns are not just rhetoric - I write what I believe. As you have already discovered, the threat of Raley's financial resources is huge. While I cannot and will not jeopardize (her company), I am interested in finding the proper venue for your story.
That could take some time and research. It is a compelling story but as I previously said, most people in Sacramento have too much to lose given the size, scope and far-reaching tentacles of the Raley's family. I still think it needs to be a book and not done by a newspaper - a newspaper would and/or could lose all of their advertisers. A newspaper …..could be shut down in one day by Raley's.”
Katy G.

If you have never seen the movie "Flash of Genius", we highly recommend that you do. This is the movie about the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper for the automobile. His idea was stolen by the Ford Motor Company and then he had to spend more than 12 years of his life to convince people and a jury that he was the inventor of this incredible idea.
Flash of Genius is similar to the Charles Nordby Story!
The difference is, Charles Nordby ended up dying trying to convince everyone that he was the man that saved Tom Raley's company from bankruptcy in 1973. Raley's had the big attorney's and everyone they needed in their pockets to make sure that he did not get his day in court, nor that his story ever got any news media attention.

Now that you know that this is a story about Raley’s, Joyce Raley Teel and the news media, I am sure you are beginning to put the pieces together and will want to know why Frank Nordby is hungry for justice and more about the $100,000 he is offering as a reward to anyone who can disprove the story he is seeking justice for. Part two of this story will be made available shortly on the Sacramento Press.

"Those with little or no money cannot afford justice,
and those with money can avoid justice."
Jack Nordby

Unsustainable Waste Disposal Practices

2009-01-31T01:40:23Z

On January 15th, during a technical workshop that was poorly attended by the public and local media, the Sacramento City Council voted on a proposal that could wind up affecting the citizens of Sacramento for many years to come. The Council voted to table the City’s yearlong effort to replace the costly and environmentally detrimental practice of trucking Sacramento’s non-recyclable municipal solid waste (MSW) over the mountains to a landfill east of Reno, Nevada with a sustainable, less costly and more environmentally friendly waste-to-energy (WTE) approach.

Our Sacramento-based company, U.S. Science & Technology, submitted a proposal that was ultimately selected from among 11 responses to the city’s request for proposals. We were obviously disappointed in the Council’s decision to table any further action on this matter for the time being due to their concerns with the City’s handling of the vetting process. However, we remain committed to helping the City find alternative solutions to trucking and landfilling 400 tons of garbage each day. We also believe this can be done in a way that delivers significant economic benefits to Sacramento in the form of hundreds of jobs, substantial corporate tax revenues and millions of dollars in savings to ratepayers. Not a bad “green” deal in the midst of an economic crisis.

As many readers likely recall, over a year ago the City Council requested alternative proposals to the current unsustainable arrangement of shipping our non-recyclable trash to landfills. Understanding the city’s environmental and economic objectives, USST responded to the request with a proposal to implement a WTE facility using a state-of-the-art high-temperature gasification technology. This environmentally friendly and sustainable approach for disposing of the City’s municipal solid waste was approved time and time again by the City Council.

However, as the process unfolded, it became clear that some were unhappy with the process itself and there were a litany of city political concerns at play behind the scenes. All of this eventually led to the unfortunate tabling of the proposal.

We are engineers and scientists, not politicians, so it’s difficult for us to be certain exactly how and why this effort became so politicized and eventually got derailed. However, as a Sacramento-based company and as private citizens of this great city, we are concerned about what hasn’t been derailed: the trucking of this massive amount of non-recyclable waste to landfills over the mountains. We’ve presented an approach that would end this practice, to the benefit of the City, ratepayers and the environment. A high-temperature gasification WTE facility represents a scalable integration of proven technologies that, taken together, represents a practicable, safe, and efficient solution. The high-temperature gasification technology proposed by USST is proven, offers no financial risk to Sacramento, and is now being touted by many experts around the world as the best available technology for 100% conversion of garbage to commercial products like electricity and transportation fuels.

In fact, in an uncertain economic climate and in the midst of California’s unprecedented budget crisis, the proposed WTE facility would afford many benefits to the City:

A savings of millions of dollars for Sacramento citizens, notably on the trucking costs to Nevada;
The potential generation of substantial amounts of tax revenue for the city;
The creation of hundreds of new jobs throughout the conception, construction, and operation of the facility;
Assistance in helping the City meet its stated “green initiative” objectives; and
Quantifiable reduction of green house gas emissions and waste.

We are a local company of engineers, scientists and business leaders committed to environmental solutions in the waste-to-energy sector. We continue to offer a solution that we sincerely believe would be effective, environmentally and economically beneficial, and would present absolutely no financial risk to the City of Sacramento.

But regardless of the solution, Sacramento and its residents should not and cannot ignore the issue at hand. We hope the City Council puts this issue back at the forefront of the City agenda. In the meantime, we will continue exploring ways to help the city meet its environmental and economic standards while also developing and delivering a feasible solution to the unsustainable practice of landfilling 400 tons of Sacramento’s non-recyclable waste each and every day.