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.
Did you read Calcowgirl's link...there's a connection to George Soros!! Enemy #1 of America and Bush. This was not an innocent business.
Thanks for confirming -- it was reported here in Norman that Moussouai (sp) was "given" the computer and the email account set up for him by Berg.
Ditter....yes they do...of course we know better...and tolerate this minor infraction.
Just don't start braiding your armpit hair!
Curiouser and curiouser...
My hubby wants to know where the Berg family was during the OK bombing. He's joking, but nothing would suprise me anymore.
Not an altogether unfamiliar territory for you, Braveman.
I'm not the The United States Coast Guard, though.
As such I'm perfecly content to watch you flounder about. {g}
"The admission by the state (Re: no information) doesn't strike me as egregious."
Alone [that'd] be meaningless; but, this guy's story is the sum of its parts.
Look around here & see what I mean.
"I find no reason to believe Nicolas Berg's beheading was a ruse."
Good, than just keep believing.
But now I won't be satisfied until the man's coffin is exhumed and the remains examined.
"Al-babalooie's penchant for snuff videos is well known. Besides, the clumsiness and ineptitude shown during the display would have been difficult to conceive, were it merely an act."
First off, I'm [apparently] not as familiar with Al-babalooie's penchant for snuff films as you claim to be.
So what a "good" one would look like v.s. a "bad" one is an unknown for me.
I would say if cutting off some jamoke's head were my goal I'd make certain the knife were a sharp one.
Unless I wanted to sicken each & every person -- who I intended would be viewing the film -- as I hacked about.
~eh?
"Finally, I am disheartened, though not surprised by the rhetoric coming from the father. He is, after all, a card-carrying member of organizations we find detestable (for good reason, I might add)."
>doink!<
"What do you do when you're a member of the Right Wing Hater's Society? You use whatever tools and information you have at your disposal to paint a target on your "enemy"."
Unless you knew something everyone else doesn't, eh?
Seems odd to me -- under the circumstances -- a Jew would hail the Islamic murderers of his son by attacking the one person who's trying to do something about the maniacs.
One cannot escape the fact a consrvative is merely a Liberal-Socialist whose been mugged, can you.
This guy, "Dad," breaks all the rules; but, especially his reaction to the grisly murder of his boy.
Smells to high Heaven.
"Think what you will about the puerile nature of the father's actions; right now this very moment he wields an enormous club with which to bash his perceived enemies. The confusion and tortured logic he displays is predictable given his position and circumstance."
The only "confused and tortured logic" I'm having to grapple with is yours right now, Braveman.
You demonstrate a weak (if not wayyyy too trusting) understanding of Liberal-Socialists & their profound hatred of *anything* right.
Not comprehending the extreme & outlandish lengths -- including lying & murder if need be -- the left would go to smear the right *if* it meant they'd win (fill in the blank).
Fabricating a fictitious murder of an "innocent" who, as it were would never have met their demise had it not been for the monstrous rightwing & their damnedable leader!! would seem child's play for that ilk.
>?< ;^)
"I respectfully submit your are giving too much credence to the cognitive abilities of this leftist..."
While I respectfully submit you're not giving enough credence to an insideous, demonic Liberal-Socialist left who have no morals -- whatsoever -- & know no depth they wouldn't go to satisfy their agenda.
None I could [ever] find, anyway.
The Liberal-Socialists today are not your father's Democrats, bucko.
Be that as it may, let us -- you & I -- discuss this as we pursue the Coho on The Braveman one day this summer.
Then if you piss me off enough?
...I can pitch yerass overboard. :o)
It gets better. The tower that Berg worked on at night (?) was in the same town as the infamous prison with the abuse! How's that for a coincidence?
Aren't you legally required to register with the State if you are using "INC", S-corp or not? In California, any corporation doing business in the state has to register here, regardless of the state in which you incorporate. Same with Florida, and many others. The D&B listing has it as a "single" location... meaning only works from one location. It seems that if one wanted to do business (legally) in the state, one would have to register.
Question... what if one was illegally doing business under a "Name, Inc" and ran up a bunch of debt. What would the D&B look like that you gave me? The same, right?
I guess what it concludes for me is the business name of Prometheus Methods.... has been used somewhere in the past for it to register in the D&B query.
LOL!!! I almost asked if Berg stayed at the same motel as Atta and Moussouai which was the same one that McVeigh and John Doe #2 (guy that the Clinton Administration said did exist) stayed at according to the owner.
Berg was also in Uganda!
I am past the stage of surprise! :)
So does not registering.
Very well stated in #166 -- kudo's for a great reply!
So do I. They're comfortable, dammit.And therefore my apologies to you too.
The only time it is necessary to register is if you form a Corporation, or a Sub S.
The vast majority of private business use sole proprietor or simple partnership, and no stock is created, nor are expenses for forming a corporation needed. No annual fees are assessed.
If I recall, it cost me over a thousand dollars to set up my sub S.
Few companies do this as there are many other options.
You might FAVOR your interpretation, but Mr. Berg said Al QUEDA...not the Iraqi people. Why are so stubborn....the man said what he said.
I wonder if the FBI is looking into the Berg's bank accounts for money from Soros???
Probably him, but why is the print different for Nick's link?
LOL wonder if Nick was in Ohio last August. (Just kidding)
This family must have alot of Frequent Flyer miles!
You mean another person with a license/certification with your same name. But how did you know?
What hyperlink above? Can you provide? Thansk
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