Ex-partner: CyberNET books long were cooked

Sunday, December 19, 2004
By Ted Roelofs
The Grand Rapids Press
...

He stared at the monitor in disbelief. He believed he was looking at proof his business partner, Barton Watson, was a crook.
"He had two sets of books," Straayer said.

The real set of spending records showed Watson and his wife had siphoned off tens of thousands from their computer company, CyberNET Engineering, Straayer said. Straayer said in 1992 he took his concerns to a local FBI agent, to a criminal investigator for the IRS and a city police detective. He wanted Watson charged with embezzlement.

...

Like many others, Straayer initially was struck by the man who called himself Barton Watson III. He was intelligent and charismatic. He could converse with expert knowledge on just about any subject. His background seemed impressive: prep school in Connecticut, graduate of the London School of Business.

...

Some six months later, Straayer stumbled upon on the telltale computer disk. He did some digging. Straayer called their primary lender and had them mail canceled checks from the company corporate account. He flipped through the checks and added up the amounts. The total: $218,000 in checks for personal use by either Barton or Krista.

...

Former FBI agent Gene Debbaudt said it's unlikely federal criminal charges would have been brought unless there was evidence that a government institution was defrauded or the firm had committed mail or telephone fraud.

more
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-19/110345499338420.xml

CyberNET Group CEO killed during standoff
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1018969

CyberNET widow was 'enforcer'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1046663

Creditors fight over CyberNET Group toys
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1056993

I'm not sure how much Barton's wife Krista was involved, but it seems like she got over it quick. Barton's family was involved to some extent too. The fake compannies and elaborate scheme along with the people involved suggests that this was a plan going back some time. The employees really got the short end of the stick, I hear that Krista is receiving a monthly allowance larger than what the employees will ever get.

Really a shell game, kind of reminds me of that movie "The Game", or "Boiler Room".

I recall that Illinois FBI were involved in the original raid, doesn't that automatically make it a federal issue? strange comment by Debbaudt.