Posted on 05/14/2004 3:43:32 AM PDT by calcowgirl
Prometheus Methods Tower Services Inc., the business that cost Nick Berg his life in Iraq, has no records with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
The company that specialized in building communications towers never registered with the Pennsylvania Corporation Bureau, said Brian McDonald, spokesman for the state department.
McDonald conducted a search of the bureau’s online list of registered businesses, but found no matches.
The same search done by a Daily Local News reporter produced the same results -- several businesses contained the word "Prometheus" in their names. Only one is located in West Chester, and it is not related to Berg’s business.
Companies are not legally required to register with the state, but McDonald explained it is usually the first step an owner takes.
"You’d be very foolish not to register your business with the department," he said. "It is nearly impossible to exist without doing it."
Registering allows an owner to set up his business’s tax structure. It also establishes how the business is run, for example, whether or not it is for-profit or nonprofit.
"It is basically the infrastructure by which businesses are set up in the commonwealth," McDonald said.
McDonald added it is possible the business could be listed in the bureau’s records under a different name.
Searching the statewide yellow pages online found two company names containing the word "Prometheus" in Philadelphia. One is an Internet consulting business.
An employee at the second one, which is called Prometheus Radio Project, said it was not affiliated with the business owned by the local man slain in Iraq by members of al-Qaida.
Officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service said state and federal laws prohibited their agencies from providing any records they had of Prometheus Methods Tower Services -- even whether the company had ever filed a return.
"Any information that we get or is contained on a tax return I can’t release," said Steve Kniley, press secretary for the state revenue department. "It is considered confidential under tax law."
Tax records become public information only if a lien is filed against a business. According to Kniley, there are no liens against Berg’s company.
Bill Cressman, spokesman at the IRS’s Philadelphia office, said the only companies with public tax records are nonprofit corporations.
At least one person claims he can confirm Prometheus’ existence.
Jay Shur, who works at the radio station WCHE 1520 AM in West Chester, said on Wednesday he was in the process of hiring Berg to build a communications tower for the station when news of his death came out.
The station was awaiting approval of plans from both the borough and an environmental agency before construction could begin, according to Shur.
"There’s a lot of paperwork to go through, and the area we were looking at was a marsh- land so we had to get clearance," he said."When I do get the OK, I’ll have to look for another contractor."
Michael Berg briefly spoke about Prometheus during a press conference Thursday morning outside his home.
"My son was not over there to make money," Michael Berg said. "My son’s business, which was very profitable before he went to Iraq ..I will make good on anything the company owes anybody, but it’s pretty much going to be defunct."
It is unclear how many employees Prometheus had. Michael Berg spoke of a "foreman" during the press conference. However, Nick Berg traveled to Iraq alone.
Staff Writer Jill Nawrocki contributed to this article.
The father reminds me of the Rachel Corrie parents and the parents of Johnny Taliban. Also a bit like John $& Patsy Ramsey, though I don't know why. Perhaps the self-centeredness in the face of the death of their child.
The father said "Al Qaeda", not "Iraqi's", FWIW.
This story is tragic and stranger than fiction. Hmmmmm....how odd.
From Japan Today:
Berg's father says son had contact with 9-11 defendant
Friday, May 14, 2004 at 15:00 JST
WASHINGTON — The father of a U.S. hostage beheaded by Islamic radicals in Iraq said Thursday his son crossed paths with the only person charged in the United States in the Sept 11 attacks.
Michael Berg, father of 26-year-old Nicholas Berg, told CNN at his home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, that his son went to Oklahoma University several years ago and allowed people later identified by U.S. authorities as terrorists to use his computer.
"Nick was taking a course at a remote campus that was near the airport and he was on a bus and some terrorist people — no one knew they were terrorists at the time, they were just fellow students — were also taking the bus," said Berg.
"Someone asked him basically to let him use his computer, and he did. It turned out that this guy was a terrorist and that he used my son's email, among many other people's email."
U.S. officials, according to CNN, say Berg shared his computer — and his password — with one individual, and that password somehow ended up in the possession of Moussaoui, a French citizen arrested one month before the Sept 11 attacks.
Moussaoui has denied any role in the attacks, insisting he was part of a separate plot.
Michael Berg told CNN the Federal Bureau of Investigation tracked his son down and questioned him, and that his son "cooperated fully."
Nicholas Berg's contacts on the bus near the Oklahoma airport, according to CNN, may have been the reason "the FBI felt compelled to interview Berg three times in Iraq before clearing him for release."
Michael Berg said that at one time Moussaoui took flying lessons at the airport near where the bus contact took place.
He also alluded to reports that al-Qaida, whose operatives are believed to have executed Berg in Iraq, had offered to trade his son for another hostage.
"I would like to ask George Bush if it's true that al-Qaida offered to trade my son's life for the life of another person. If that's the truth, I need that information." (Wire reports)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&id=298489
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No dates are mentioned, but according to KJRH Channel 2, Tulsa, "Berg attended the University of Oklahoma during the 1999-2000 school year, but did not graduate... During his time in Norman, Berg was employed as a temporary employee at the Lloyd Noble Center. His job was to help setup and tear down events. Those who knew him say Berg loved to debate political and social issues. They also say he was always looking for ways to better himself."
According to the Moussaoui indictment, Moussaoui arrived in Oklahoma City On February 23, 2001, then attended flight school in Norman from February 26 to May 29, when he suddenly quit the school. On August 10 or 11, an acquaintance drove Moussaoui from Oklahoma to Minnesota for enrollment in a new flight school.
9/11 hijackers Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi visited the Airman Flight School in Norman in July 2000, according to the indictment, and on April 1, 2001, Nawaf al-Hazmi, who helped hijack American Airlines Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, was stopped for speeding in Oklahoma and given two tickets.
PROMETHEUS Methods TOWER Services.....Is this some kind of sneaky joke about the how rhe Towers at WTC were brought down by "God's own special methods'? It's kind of an odd name, is it not?
Suzanne Berg Suzanne Berg, Dollmaker 1264 Estate Drive West Chester, PA 19380 USA 610-696-8873 Cloth Dolls, Doll Clothing rbcrafts.org/members/dolls/berg.com suzdolls@msn.com http://www.rbcrafts.org/listings/sberg.htm.
I lived within a few miles of there for about a year. Looking at maps.yahoo.com, it is very definitely a residential location.
Tower climbing is one of those specialties that can't really be turned into a big business. There are a lot of contractors and bit players who are employed even by the big guys like Verizon Wireless - reason is that tower climbing is inherently dangerous and you have to love it to do it. So you end up hiring a guy who knows how to climb but is a freelancer.
I wish I could, but it seems to me Mr. Berg's cause means more to him than his own son. Bet he makes the rounds on TV to promote himself and his cause and you can look for him at the Democratic Convention too.
Really appeals to the JFK conspiracy part of me.
There's been wayyyyy too many "coincidences" surrounding the Burg story, IMO.
The stink's become hard for me to ignore, sultan.
This thing's starting to look more & more like a huge fraud.
In fact, as long as the board's brainiac speculators are going full tilt, my .02 can't hurt anything; so, here goes.
Given the list of shady *characters*, their even shadier backgrounds, the [damning] video & a "closed coffin" funeral?
I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it didn't turn out 'ol Nick Berg's sitting somewhere this fine morning, safe, enjoying a good cup of cappochino and laughing his ass off at his Emmy winning acting job.
If my *speculation* turned out to be true, then ol' Nick & his "Dad" will be bound for a long stay in a private room.
...in the Federal Pen @ Marion, IL.
Just a guess: George Soros, January 2004:
Billionaire financier George Soros continued his crusade against President George W. Bush yesterday, telling an audience no less than the future of the planet hinges on the results of the presidential election."I'm ready to put my money where my mouth is. 2004 is not an ordinary election. It's a referendum on the Bush doctrine. The future of the world hangs in the balance," Soros told an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
I don't know how we could find the insurance information (without expending a lot more in time and resources than any of us here have).
I notice it merely says that he worked as a tower engineer, so it's possible that he was sort of a free-lancer who was employed on an individual basis by those stations (and hence probably covered by their insurance). In other words, possibly he did not go in his capacity as "working for Prometheus Methods," and hence being a contractor or subcontractor, but simply as an individual.
Prometheus Radio Project seems to have been a registered organization of some sort (a non-profit?) in order to accept those grants. I wonder if the "Methods" group was somehow legally part of the "Project."
I realize it's possible that there's no connection between the two groups - perhaps Berg Sr. just knew about the Prometheus Project and wanted to name his business after it as a sort of tribute. Which is still not a very positive sign!
WOW! that is a twist.
I remember the comment about knowing somebody who did his payroll, too, but I don't remember what Freeper said it or what thread it was on.
From Bloomberg News:
"Berg went to Iraq ``because he believed in the cause and he wanted to help the Iraqi people rebuild their infrastructure,'' said Walter Billings, president of Total Engine Service and Supply Co., for whom Berg worked as a contractor.
Billings said Berg had performed painting, repairs and troubleshooting for problems, among other engineering and maintenance tasks on radio towers as high as 900 feet tall outside Baltimore and Washington, for the company's Comm- Struction and Services division, based in Bel Air, Maryland."
Apparently after this guy from Total Engine Service posted the message to the board he hired Berg as a contractor. Hmmmm. Perhaps his credentials as a tower guy are legitimate. But the question remains as to why he went to Iraq when work here in the US is good?
I watched the news last night and saw/heard the quote. In my best paraphrase, he said his son was the best friend that AL-QAEDA ever had. He DID say Al-Qaeda, not terrorist or captors. I about choked on my beer when I heard him say that.
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