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NovAtel broke laws, says NDP□ Loan to U.S. phone company illegal, alleges Ray MartinEDMONTON (CP) - NovAtel, the Alberta-backed cellular phone manufacturer, violated U.S. laws when it lent money to an American cellular phone company, then secured the loans with an option to own part of the firm, the New Democrats charged Monday.Opposition Leader Hay Martin tabled in the legislature a document he said points to violations of Federal Communications Commission regulations by NovAtel.In October, NovAtel advanced $1.32 million to GMD Ltd. Partnership, a North Carolina cellular company. The article suggests NovAtel in return received a promise ofseven per cent ownership if the firmfailed to repay the loan in three years.Martin said the government has put as much as $216 million in taxpayers’ money at risk by allowing NovAtel to make loans in exchange for equity in U.S. companies.Asked about the GMD transaction, Telecommunications Minister Fred Stewart told the legislature such practices are a “marketing feature” of all players in cellular telephone industry.The province has guaranteed more than $300 million in loans made by NovAtel to American cellular vendors, of which it expects tocollect $216 million.Martin insisted the government has no business putting taxpayers’ dollars on the table in such a risky business.Meanwhile, a former executive of NovAtel now living in Texas said the company was a catastrophe.“NovAtel’s been a mess and a debacle for nine years now as you know and certainly as taxpayers know,” Robert Lind said in a telephone interview from Fort Worth.Lind is being sued by NovAtel subsidiary NovAtel Carcom Inc. along with another former executive and chief financial officer Robert Del-veaux.The $16-million lawsuit also named two other men, one of whomhas reached an out-of-court settlement.Und said be cannot talk about the legal action, which went before the Fort Worth district court last Thursday.But he said he wants to see the full story told about NovAtel, which was formed in 1983 and sold last month at a $566.5-million loss to taxpayers.In the court documents, NovAtel Carcom alleges it was defrauded byLind, the former vice-president and general manager; ana chief financial officer Robert Delveaux.The suit alleges the executives received kickbacks for diverting NovAtel equipment at cut-rate prices to other buyers.
Newspaper Details
Lethbridge Herald
Lethbridge, Alberta, CA
Tue, Jun 09, 1992
Page 17
Full Page
Clipped by
Chinook A.
AB, USA 20 Oct 2022
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