AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

AOL is preparing to dig for buried gold and platinum on property in Massachusetts owned by the parents of a man it sued for sending millions of unwanted spam e-mails to its customers.
AOL won a $12.8 million judgment last year in U.S. District Court in Virginia against Davis Wolfgang Hawke but has been unable to contact Hawke to collect any of the money he was ordered to pay in the lawsuit. The company said Tuesday it intends to search for gold and platinum bars the company believes are hidden near his parent's home in Medfield, Mass.
"This exercise isn't something out of ... 'Treasure Island.' This is a court-directed, judge-approved legal process that is simply aimed at responsibly recovering hidden assets," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said.
Hawke's parents did not return several telephone messages left at their home by The Associated Press.
To win a judge's permission for the search, AOL submitted receipts reflecting large purchases by Hawke of gold and platinum bars, Graham said. The company indicated it believes Hawke buried the loot on his parent's property using a shovel.
AOL said it will try to accommodate Hawke's parents by not being too obtrusive.
A former U.S. prosecutor described AOL's efforts as highly unusual. Marc Zwillinger said his law firm has seized plasma televisions, jet skis and other gadgets in unrelated spam and piracy lawsuits.
"But I've never had a case digging up gold bars and bullion," Zwillinger said. "That's definitely unique."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/...ld_1&printer=1

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

"AOL said it will try to accommodate Hawke's parents
by not being too obtrusive."
http://www.elephants.com/images/backhoe.jpg

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

Pity - that it was only a 12.8 million.

Too bad it wasn't hanging.

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

One good reason to buy metal without a paper trail! I wonder where they got thr receipts? With a subpoena of the dealer?

"Keep It safe, and keep It secret." - Gandalf

Ragnarok

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

Having been an AOL customer for many years... I guess the question in my mind is... how come AOL let him send all those emails? Why didn;t thier software "see" that he was sending all these emails and shut his account off, at least temporarily until someone could take a look at the emails he was sending and see if they were spam.

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

Hmmm,
Act one: Major Internet Corporation watches ebay to see who is buying gold/silver/platinum in large and continuous quantities.

Act 2: Major Internet Corporation lauches email spam assault that backfeeds to silver buyers computer.

Act 3: Internet Corporation sues gold/silver buyer for spam assault while slipping judge a few hundred grand to cooperate with the proceedings.

Major internet corporation finds millions of dollars of gold/silver/platinum in mans back yard.

All legal and very bank-like.

TG

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

If I were the parents and it were my land, they'd be looking down the barrel of something....

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

Heck, I would have contacted my parents in the beginning and had them, or someone trusted go and dig it up. Then when AOL came along and found nothing... well, the counter lawsuit would have them putting in a brand new yard for me.

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

How do they even know that it is buried in the yard. Maybe its in the parents home. Or he has it somewhere else. Other relative house, trusted friend's house, etc.

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

Gee, how many tin cans can you bury in your yard?:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Re: AOL prepares to dig for gold literally
 

This was originally posted in Feb. 2005. Surely they have finished this by now (on the other hand, I know contractors who normally take this long to finish up a minor job!) :albertein

Does anyone know if they actually found anything while digging up this yard?

Chris