Comments on this Blog from a poster who uses the username Luisa are working their way around the web, but we have not been able to confirm the claims.
Among other things, Luisa said George and Judy Harris, whom AdViewGlobal (AVG) identified as its owners, are or were living in Uruguay and fired the Uruguay-based AVG staff of eight or nine employees July 20.
“A fact: they moved to Uruguay with Judy’s mom (Barbara), brother (Joey) and his wife April,” Luisa said. “Rented house in a private neighborhood, bought cars, hired employees/rented office space, fired employees . . . what is going to be next step?”
The AVG staff is owed money and was told the company was broke and that George and Judy Harris were not the owners — even though employees reported to George, Judy or Judy’s mother Barbara, Luisa said.
“George and Judy claimed to be broke and no longer working for AVGA because of too many wrong doings on them,” Luisa claimed. “They went as far as saying they were not the owners AVGA . . . As you see too many contradictions . . . ”
No second source has emerged to confirm or deny Luisa’s claims.
Luisa writes in comprehensible, slightly broken English, suggesting English is her second language. She may be in position to have specific knowledge about AVG, although her initial reports have not been verified independently.
The comments come on the heels of an announcement by AVG yesterday that “unethical” members who misused a member-to-member cash button AVG itself provided are responsible for the company’s inability to announce findings of an audit the company is performing on itself.
AVG suspended member cash-outs last month, exercising its version of a “rebates aren’t guaranteed” clause and saying an 80/20 program would become mandatory if and when the surf resumed payouts. Earlier this month AVG’s name was mentioned in a racketeering lawsuit against AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin, although the company has not been named a defendant.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys described AVG as the next iteration of ASD, listing managers and employees the two surfs had in common. George Harris is the stepson of Bowdoin. Property owned by George and Judy Harris — including a home in Tallahassee, Fla. — was sued for forfeiture by federal prosecutors in December.
Prosecutors said the property was the proceeds of illegal conduct by ASD. Neither George nor Judy Harris has filed a claim to the seized property, according to federal court records.
AVG has a history of blaming members for its problems and deflecting accountability from management to the rank-and-file. In the past, it has blamed members for the suspension of a bank account and threatened to sue members who shared information outside association walls — and even to contact their ISPs to suspend service of people who asked pointed questions about the company in forums.
Yesterday’s announcement by AVG also blamed the delay in audit findings on unspecified “complications created by changes in payment processors.”
“[D]on’t expect the ‘audit’ to be finish any time soon,” Luisa said. “[I]f you hear somewhere of a ‘staff’ in Uruguay, well as far as July 22, there is NONE.”