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.
Darn, now I can't get that song out of my head!
Zeus was in on it.
Notice, Prometheus stole
fire, not ambrosia *
-------------------------------------------------------------
* "Ambrosia - The substance considered to be, with nectar, the food and/or drink of the gods, continually reinforcing their immortality. It is related to the Hindu amrita, which also confers immortality upon the gods. It figures in both Roman and Greek mythology."
LOL! Poor you - please accept my apologies!
Prometheus: a Titan who is chained and tortured by Zeus for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to mankind.
There's nothing wrong with this per se except that it would be careless and stupid. It is a long established practice for anybody visiting Israel who is also a) planning on visiting any Arab countries using the same passport, and b) in possession of brains and/or common sense to have Israeli customs stamp a piece of paper for temporary inclusion in your passport instead of the permanent body of the passport itself.
Nobody working for the agency or even anybody with any knowledge or experience with the region would be unaware of the risks of entering Iraq with an Israeli stamp in his or her passport. Nobody.
Their work has been recognized by the Ford Foundation, the List Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the MacArthur Foundation. Tridish spoke with Laurie Kelliher, a CJR assistant editor.
Interesting. If I wanted you to do work for me how do you prove you're "licensed/certified by the state of Alabama"?
I read on another thread Berk was at Cornell in engineering dept and on deans list for a couple of years. He was smart. He went abroad to Uganda in 98 for semester abroad in January and did not go back to Cornell, was on leave in the fall. At the same time in Uganda Al Quaeda was trying to set up cells to create violence and they failed. When Berg returned he was malnourished reported by his family to have given up his food to the natives. Now around that time the bombings occurred in Kenya and jTanzania if I remember correctly so Al Quaeda was pretty active in Africa. Am I reading to much into this or was he really malnourished from giving up his food or from something else. Then he never went back to Cornell. This man may have odd judgement but he is no dummy.
That is true.
Nick Berg has a lot in common with the Portland lawyer, Brandon Mayfield, who was arrested Saturday after a fingerprint found in a shopping bag of detonators in Madrid following the bombing attack was identified as his.
His family is leftist and opposes the war and GW Bush, and his brother has been outspoken about it.
Remind me to never have any work done in PA.
I know a Jewish guy who spent gulf war I at the Israeli pentagon, representing a US defense contractor. He had his own body guard, which is pretty cool. Anyway, he also did business in Kuwait and Saudi, and he confirms what you said.
I don't think I have to.
I know from experience and a 7 year lawsuit with the builder of my house.
It is still not over..
When put that way, it makes you wonder.........It is a very odd name.
OMG!! There's a Prometheus Radio Project in Westchester, Pa. FINANCED by George Soros's Open Society, The Ford Foundatio, and other LEFT wing foundations, but they are NOT affiliated with Berh's Prometheus in Westchester Pa.?????? YIKES!!! What a friggin mystery!!
Ding Ding Ding! A winner!
Read my post#1 below the article... that's what I was tryin' to say!
Then why in the hell was he over there .. and I don't want to hear again it's because he was just adventurous
This whole this smells and it smells bad
I think the father is behind the son going there....his sister was married to an Iraqi.....he probably went to Iraq himself.
The father belongs to the MOST left-wing groups there are.
It's true that many new companies do not register with the Sec. of State, but his company name ends with .Inc which usually means (if you are a small company), you probably did register as a S-Corp (Inc.). Anyway, I was able to find his company listed with Dunn and Bradstreet (Business Credit Reporting Agency). Here's the link: Click Here
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