Aptera CFO is a financial scammer

Self | 11/18/2009 | Self

[OldGuard1]

I just discovered this and since the MSM hasn't picked it up yet I thought I'd break it here. Anyone who knows me here knows that I'm a electric car nut. I've been following Aptera for a while. Aptera Motors is a company in Vista, CA that's making the "google car", the Aptera 2e. It looks like an wheeled iPod and uses almost no energy; the gasoline version gets 130 mpg and the electric version goes 100 miles.



But there's trouble in California. Last fall they handed control of the company over to Paul Wilbur. Paul's greatest fame was running Saleen during its death spiral. Before that he ran ASC until it died too. Paul brought his friends from Saleen along for the ride. One of them was Laura Marion, who became Aptera's CFO.

Well, her resume on Aptera's webpage has a funny thing going on. You'd think she hadn't held a job before 2007 since thats when she worked at Specialty Vehicle Acquisition Corp. What could be so bad about her career before that that made them not want to mention it?

She was a financial director at Delphi
.
Anyone remember Delphi? They're the auto parts supplier that ran an Enron-ish book-cooking for almost 700 million dollars and she was in the center of it. The SEC charged her for hiding evidence that the scam was ongoing. Nobody went to jail but she was one of the execs who was fined. Since then she hasn't held a job for more than a year.

These days Aptera is circling the drain. They just booted their founders (I'm sorry; one went to "pursue other interests" and the other is "on vacation" and "spending more time with his family"), the people who had actually accomplished anything.

To anyone who still has a reservation with this company: watch your deposit.

[OldGuard1]

I really wanted that car. I dont think I'll be able to get it now.

[TopQuark]

You must've overlooked the first few lines of that resume:

Current Chief Financial Officer at Aptera Motors, Inc. Past Chief Financial Officer at Specialty Vehicle Acquisition Corporation Director of Finance at Durr Systems, Inc. Executive Director Financial Results at Delphi Automotive Systems Executive Director, Financial Results at Delphi Corporation Assistant Controller, Financial Reporting at Kmart Corporation Acting Manager at Arthur Andersen Technical Associate at Financial Accounting Foundation Education University of Michigan

[OldGuard1]

From the Aptera 'Team' page? It says

Laura Marion joined Aptera in September 2008 as the Chief Financial Officer. She has worked in finance for more than 15 years and has extensive experience in business planning and analysis, accounting, financial reporting, cash management, tax reporting, mergers and acquisitions, internal controls and risk management.

Prior to joining Aptera, Laura was the CFO for two $70 million organizations: Specialty Vehicle Acquisition Corp. and Saleen, Inc. In that role, she led the leadership team to make significant reductions in the cost structure, which reduced the breakeven level by more than 30 percent at both companies.

Laura, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in accounting from University of Michigan, resides in Southern California with her husband Todd and their two children. An avid runner, she consistently runs seven miles a day.

[mysterio]

I remember Delphi. They gutted my area pretty significantly. Fired the employees, dumped the pensions on the taxpayers, and then split the proceeds up as bonuses to the people who orchestrated the whole thing.