Info on CMIH

brainysmurf · Post by **brainysmurf** » Oct 12th 2002, 3:56 am

In case you're interested in CMIHs history I found information on their 2001 sales on their website. It seems that this MSCL DVD project is half of what they sold all of last year.

http://www.anotheruniverse.com/help/cmih_15c211.pdf

http://www.anotheruniverse.com/help/profitandloss.pdf

It appears that there is a forum where CMIH stockholders are venting right now. If you're interested it (or if you just can't get enough of mr handheld_james_bond) the forum can be found at:

http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boar ... read=23741

I still believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, including Ross. I think that in the end it will all be ok, but I have ordered a second set from Amazon for cheap. <I can always give it as a gift>

andrewgd · Post by **andrewgd** » Oct 12th 2002, 4:09 am

I just found that site about 5 minutes ago myself!

I noticed I've been quoted there as being "an unhappy poster"

Now thats quite an understatement!

I don't want to tell people what to do, but please lets try and keep everything civil. I really don't think us as consumers need to get involved in a message board about the companies stock. I'm sure that they would be just as pissed off as everyone here gets with what a certain unnamed individual posts here. I don't think its necessary for us to flame their boards.

Everyone who is cancelling should file with the BBB, FTC, Attorney General, Credit Card, and all of that (links are elsewhere). Let the people who deal with these things deal with them.

There's not any good that will come from posting on the other boards about this.

Post by **Natasha (candygirl)** » Oct 12th 2002, 4:18 am

Love your new avatar andrew!

pygmy · Post by **pygmy** » Oct 12th 2002, 10:17 am

I found this on a search for CMI Holdings on google. Thought you guys might be interested.

"Enron. Worldcom. Halliburton... CMI Holdings next?

Posted By: Howard Price
Date: WED, 9/4/02, 8:17 p.m.

CMI Holdings is a publicly traded stock, under the OTC ticker symbol CMIH. They own a great number of comic related businesses, including a distribution warehouse (Beyond The Pale), some retail comic shops (Comics & Comix) and some websites (like AnotherUniverse.com).
Up until last year, they also ran a site called TheComicStore.com, the travails of which have already been gone over here on The Splash. Seems that a good number of former freelancers (myself included) and direct employees had gone without pay for a while during a period when CMI suffered some financial strain while acquiring Fandom.com.

At the time of the Splash article, promises were made from CMI Holdings that payments would begin again in a short time (to all save myself, because I had filed a lawsuit against them for the money I still await.)

I know that one full-time employee is still owed nearly a year's salary. Another freelancer is awaiting another check to replace the one he received that bounced.

Given the financial strain the company must surely be undergoing to have such a difficulty in paying for services rendered, I have begun to wonder if CMI Holdings is the next corporation sitting on the verge of bankruptcy. I hope not. I don't want the company to go under, and I certainly don't want to be written-off. However, inquiries with Dean Witter and OTC.com don't yield much in the way of information by which I can hazard that guess. (Even the P/E ratio is unavailable.) Would the SEC have this information, and how would one go about requesting it? (My info digging is largely relegated to the world of comics, so this financial stuff is all foreign to me?) "

http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/g ... ;read=5398

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Oct 14th 2002, 7:30 pm

Yep. I wrote that. Just found out about the brouhaha broiling over here today.

I'll see what I can do about finding the original SPLASH article I mentioned and will post it as soon as I do.

Howard

MarkSWalker · Post by **MarkSWalker** » Oct 14th 2002, 7:45 pm

Hi Howard-

I just want to thank you for posting in here, and sharing your
wealth of information with us. While the news isn't good, it does
serve to make me feel more informed, which is a good thing in and of
itself.

Regards,

Mark

pgh kenny · Post by **pgh kenny** » Oct 14th 2002, 7:45 pm

Howard wrote:Yep. I wrote that. Just found out about the brouhaha broiling over here today.

I'll see what I can do about finding the original SPLASH article I mentioned and will post it as soon as I do.

Howard

Hi Howard - Welcome to the party! On a more serious note, thanks for posting here.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Oct 14th 2002, 7:59 pm

My only regret is that I didn't keep copies of *all* the checks with which Mr. Rojek paid me--it might have given me a few more accounts to attempt to garnish. (The account for TheComicStore.com exists, but didn't have two pennies in it to rub together when I placed my garnishment against it.)

Of course, some of those checks were drawn on cashiers checks, to replace TCS.com checks that were returned for insufficient funds. This problem with accounting at CMI Holdings is far from new... it's been going on for a handful of years now.

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Oct 14th 2002, 8:14 pm

Here is the first of two articles that ran at The Splash.
Reprinted with permission of the author.

FREELANCER WINS SUIT AGAINST THECOMICSTORE.COM!
PRICE MOVES TO GARNISH CMI ACCOUNT!

April 29: Freelance comics journalist, Howard Price, has been awarded $3575 in a lawsuit against Ross Rojek's CMI Holdings. The suit concerned unpaid invoices for freelance reviews, interviews, and feature articles Price wrote for the e-commerce site The ComicStore.com. The suit was filed in Faulkner County Arkanas Small Claims court.

Price told the SPLASH: "I was paid at a rate of $25 per review and $75 for interviews and features. My last payment for this work was in March of 2001, in the form of a transfer of shares of CMI Holdings (CMIH), the parent company. Repeated requests were made during the course of the year for further payments, during which time I continued to write articles--relying on the good faith of the company and because I personally liked the editor (whom I still count as a friend and am working with part time producing the Pictographic Revue email 'zine.) When no payments came by October, I ceased writing for TheComicStore.com."

Price said he filed suite in December of 2001, "for a total amount of revenues owed of $3,575. On January 16, 2002, the Small Claims court of Faulkner County found a judgment in my favor for the above amount, plus the $33.00 of court costs, said judgment to accrue interest at the rate of 10% per year. 30 days after the judgment was served, there was no response from Ross."

Price said: "On March 5, 2002, I filed a Writ of Garnishment (incurring another $14.00 in court costs) with the bank on which TheComicStore.com LLC checks were written. In April, I received notice from the courts that the bank in Sacramento could not comply with the Writ because the Arkansas court did not have jurisdiction, and that I would need to register my judgment in Sacramento county and get another Writ on the new case number to make it enforcable. I contacted the courts in Sac county, and obtained the 4 documents necessary to register the judgment. They will be sent in soon, along with another $97.00 incurred court costs. (Additionally, there is a $5.00 for getting a certified copy of my judgment, and another $7.00 for the new Writ.) Once Sacramento County has registered my judgment and given it a case number, I will be able to apply for a new and enforcable Writ of Garnishment."

In addition to the Price case, the SPLASH Has learned that at least one other freelancer is awaiting payment for articles submitted and published to thecomicstore.com site. Don Markstein told the SPLASH: "I also wrote some reviews and features there, tho I didn't let the outstanding balance get out of hand. If you're interested, they still owe me $75 for the last feature I wrote there. Also, they "reprinted" one of my features without payment or even notification, but since there wasn't
any contract specifying payment for that, let it go."

Ross Rojek, CEO of CMI Holdings, which owns the Comics & Comix stores, the Beyond The Pale distribution company along with Internet sites TheComicStore.com and AnotherUniverse.com., did not respond to requests for a statement.

MarkSWalker · Post by **MarkSWalker** » Oct 14th 2002, 8:15 pm

How companies like CMIH are allowed to exist baffles me.

I think the final kick will be that they have pissed off so many customers
with this venture, that we won't give them any rest until we are
properly credited and/or given the product as promised.

3800 people aren't just going to go "Oh well, CMIH is no longer
Rojek's problem, so I am powerless to do anything."

Do you think the Wall Street Journal would be intested in this story?

How about Business Week?

How about other comic companies like Dark Horse?
I don't live to far from their main headquarters, actually.

I think there a many outlets for this story, and unless Rojek decides
to abandon comics, we all know how much time
your average comic geek spends on line.

Mark

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Oct 14th 2002, 8:17 pm

Here is the follow-up article that ran at The Splash, along with responses from Mr. Rojek. Some of this may sound familiar.

Reprinted with the permission of the author.

ALVORD, GONZALEZ JOIN LIST OF FREELANCERS OWED BY CMI!
ROJEK SAYS DEBTS TO FREELANCERS WILL BE PAID!

May 2: Two more freelancers who provided content for TheComicStore.com claim they are owed significant sums from the company. The announcements follow a report on the SPLASH that Howard Price had been awarded a court judgement against CMI for similar unpaid freelance work (see story below).

Meanwhile, Ross Rojek, CEO of parent company CMI Holdings indicates that cash flow problems related to the company's recent expansion have caused the delays but that freelancers will be paid.

Freelancer Ross Alvord told the SPLASH: "I'm owed a significant amount of money by TheComicStore.com CEO Ross Rojek. $975, to be exact. After months of re-sent invoices and unanswered e-mails, it seems clear that Rojek has no intention of paying the people that kept his website afloat. I'm making my own plight public at this time to show solidarity with Howard Price and the other writers similiarly shafted, as well as to send a message to Rojek: you can't hide from your debts."

Jenny Gonzalez, a freelancer artist told the SPLASH: "TheComicStore.com currently owes me $800 for weekly comic strips."

In a statement to the SPLASH, Rojek said: "Yes TheComicStore.com does owe freelancers money. Taking over Another Universe was more expensive and time intensive than I ever imagined. It wasn't until we were able to close down the Manassas facility that we were able to stop losing money on the purchase and start getting caught up on older outstanding bills."

Rojek went on to say: "We have already been catching up with some of the freelancers and contractors, and will continue to pay freelancers, until we've paid all our outstanding debt. But we've only been out of the Manassas facility since March, and we were there for 6 months more than we were supposed to be."

MarkSWalker · Post by **MarkSWalker** » Oct 14th 2002, 8:26 pm

Howard-

A few questions:

1) How much was Ross supposed to originally pay you?

2) How much have you been paid thus far?

3) When was your last contact with Rojek, and do you have any
advice for us in persuing legal action?

Mark

Howard · Post by **Howard** » Oct 14th 2002, 8:45 pm

MarkSWalker wrote:Howard-

A few questions:

1) How much was Ross supposed to originally pay you?

That's hard to supply a total for. Basically, the deal was $25 per comic review and $75 per interview or feature. Checks came in now and then, and over time with decreasing frequency. I continued working on good faith and the occassional check.

When it came time to renew my lease and I really needed to be paid, Ross sent two checks for $2000 each, neither of which was cashable. Ross then asked me to open an account with his broker, into which he transfered 500,000 shares of CMIH, which came to near $3000 value. I marked off my "projects owed" spreadsheet, rounding up in Ross's favor, and continued on. Six months went by with no payment, and shortly after that I had to file suit.

2) How much have you been paid thus far?

Since the suit? Nada. Before that... well, like I said, it's hard to total. (I could dig out my tax papers to get the amount... It was a few thousand dollars, to be sure.)

3) When was your last contact with Rojek, and do you have any
advice for us in persuing legal action?

Last contact would have been before the suit, not counting responses to the SPLASH thread that grew out of the above two articles.

My suit was a small claims one. The court ruled in my favor, but it's still my duty to enforce it and make Ross pay me--no simple task, and it gets expensive over time (although all expenses get added into the amount of the judgment.) My advice would be to band together, seek an attorney, and go the route of class-action.

Mark

dTheater · Post by **dTheater** » Oct 14th 2002, 9:08 pm

What is this Splash website and would they be interested in this story?

David Lambert · Post by **David Lambert** » Oct 14th 2002, 9:21 pm

My God, folks...think a little bigger!

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