"Government of Free Vietnam" Bonds Ordered Halted; Sales Pitch Calls Upon Vietnamese Patriotism.LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1998--California Commissioner of Corporations Dale E. Bonner Tuesday announced that the Department of Corporations has ordered Nguyen Huu Chanh
Bonds that are not registered on the books of the issuer. Such bonds are held in physical form by the owner, who receives interest payments by physically detaching coupons from the bond certificate and delivering them to the paying agent. " to raise money for an Orange County-based organization called the "Government of Free Vietnam Provisional Government of Free Vietnam (GFVN; Vietnamese: Chính Phủ Lâm Thời Việt Nam Tự Do) is a political organization headquartered in Garden Grove, California. ." "While the department takes no position with regard to the politics or the viability of the organization, `Government of Free Vietnam' is illegally soliciting investments in California. State law requires a permit to offer the sale of investments, a procedure designed to protect consumers, ensuring that the investments are legitimate and all appropriate disclosures are made," said Bonner. Members of the Vietnamese community were targeted by newspapers, radio advertisements and an Internet Web site calling upon them to support the peaceful overthrow of the Communist government in Hanoi. The Web site calls upon the Government of Free Vietnam, "together with all the people and with all the militant revolutionary organizations, to fight for the overturn of the dictatorial communist government in order to build a truly Free and Democratic regime in Vietnam." The bond offerings were made by a British West Indian West In·dies An archipelago between southeast North America and northern South America, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean and including the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Bahama Islands. company in Barbados called the C.S.I. Ag's Corp. The bonds purportedly pay 5.5 percent annually to the bondholders and are allegedly backed up by $500 million in gold in Chile that has yet to be mined. Other companies and individuals named in the order include Arthur M. Suchesk, Ph.D.; U.S. Pacific Corp.; International Resources Security; Gary J. Pierce; and Howard Hawley Watson. "These bonds are highly speculative as investments and cannot be offered in California without a permit from the department," Bonner said. "Political and charitable fund-raising is perfectly proper, but not if the offerings are dressed up as investments and offered through the investment marketplace. "This is another example of affinity groups A special interest group. This is a marketing term for a group of people with similar interests. being targeted for high-risk investments that appeal to their national pride and patriotism." The Department of Corporations is a licensing and regulatory agency regulatory agency Independent government commission charged by the legislature with setting and enforcing standards for specific industries in the private sector. The concept was invented by the U.S. reporting to the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency and to Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that .
CONTACT: California Department of Corporations
G.W. McDonald, 213/736-3704
213/736-2117 (fax)
Julie Stewart, 916/323-7120
916/322-3205 (fax)
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion