EDITOR’S NOTE: We previously have reported that some members of AdSurfDaily Inc. and AdViewGlobal are part of a subculture that views the Federal Reserve and banking in general as illicit operations. Some members, for example, have been involved in the credit-repair industry and have been parties in lawsuits against the government and/or individual banks and bankers. Part of the Utah “Indian” litigation grew out of banking lawsuits, for instance. We also have reported on a case in which a member sued a bank to reverse a mortgage foreclosure, filing a bond purportedly consisting of “twenty one dollars in silver coinage.”
Some of the elements in the story below will sound familiar to readers who have been following the ASD case. The plaintiffs in the case cited below said their bids to purchase properties with gold and silver at a Sheriff’s sale in Pennsylvania were rejected, and they now seek more than $1 million in damages against public officials.
A county solicitor, sheriff’s department and deputy have been sued in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania amid allegations they defamed three bidders at a sheriff’s sale who wanted to pay for properties with gold and silver.
Meanwhile, the wives of two of the plaintiffs have joined the lawsuit, saying stress caused by libelous remarks by the county have or will cause them “to lose the companionship, consortium, society and services” of their husbands.
One of the husbands/co-plaintiffs — Michael Proetto — “requries psychiatric care,” according to the lawsuit.
Victor Balletta, another husband/co-plaintiff, “purchased firearms for protection,” according to the lawsuit.
Michael Reis is another co-plaintiff in the case.
Named defendants were Karl Longenbach, solicitor of Northhampton County — although Longenbach’s name was not specifically referenced in the complaint caption; Christopher Spadoni, the assistant county solicitor; the Northhampton County Sheriff’s office; and Dave Ruberry, a deputy sheriff whom the plaintiffs said presided over the October 2008 Sheriff’s Sale.
The county has denied wrongdoing.
Balletta, Proetto and Reis said they attended a Sheriff’s sale in Easton, Pa., on Oct. 10, after registering and advising the county “they had gold and silver currency that they wished to bid,” according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs “bid successfully on approximately nine (9) properties,” they said in the lawsuit, but Ruberry “ignored Plaintiffs’ bids, instead accepting other bids predicated on credit. In contrast, Plaintiff’s were prepared to pay their entire bid at the sale, with gold and silver.”
Proetto brought his gold and silver in a “bulging sandwich bag,” according to The Morning Call of Allentown.
Bids were refused, according to the plaintiffs. They seek damages of more than $1 million for alleged civil-rights violations and other violations.
Balletta, Proetto and Reis claimed the defendants made libelous remarks about them, falsely linking them to anarchist groups, extremist groups and “paper terrorism.”
The Morning Call, which was not named a defendant, “printed the defamatory statements made by the Deputy and Solicitor,” the plaintiffs said.
Subsequently, the plaintiffs were “threatened; approached by extreme/radical groups mentioned in the Article; have lost business opportunities; have had their [families endangered]; Proetto requries psychiatric care; and Balletta purchased firearms for protection,” the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.
Read the lawsuit.