State has no records of Berg's firm (Nick Berg)

The Daily Local ^ | 05/14/2004 | JONATHAN TULEYA

[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.

[Trinity_Tx]

"Government sources said Berg gave the man his password, which was later used by Moussaoui, the sources said.

The sources said the man who used Berg's e-mail knew Moussaoui"

...and the lending of the laptop to send an e-mail occured 2 years before Moussaoui even came to America.

That is a far cry from the rumors floating around that got all this started.. everything from "he bought Moussaoui's computer" to "he knew Moussaoui" to "he gave Moussaoui his password"...

That, along with the business clarification by P-M and other things was what I meant when I said in #464:
"But the reports that most justified the red flags have since been debunked, while the "feeling" that something is up is lingering."

[razorback-bert]

I know a bunch of people that know Dubya, but I live in his hometown.

[potlatch]

Strange choice of names.

Main Entry: Pro·me·theus
Pronunciation: -thE-&s, -"thyüs
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from Greek PromEtheus
: a Titan who is chained and tortured by Zeus for stealing fire from heaven and giving it to mankind

[MiniCooperChick]

While I think Ann is a little shrill this evening (sorry), she(?) is apparently correct...here's a direct quote from--of all places--CNN.com!

Berg's father said Thursday his son was someone who simply wanted to "help people, not to hurt anyone." "He was not disrespectful of danger, he just didn't recognize danger in people," Michael Berg said. "The al Qaeda that killed my son didn't know what they were doing. They killed their best friend. Nick was there to build Iraq, not to tear it down."

Here's the link

[Trinity_Tx]

Except that it is so commonly used as a name for businesses, I thought it was a perfect name for the type of work he did. Especially if one were going to help rebuild countries liberated from nasty dictators like Saddam...

...the heroic titan Prometheus, who championed humanity against the tyranny of Zeus, who wished for people to be mere slaves of the gods. Prometheus, whose name means "forethought," gave people wisdom, intelligence, and fire stolen from Olympus.

Moreover, he ordained the portions of animal sacrifice so that humans got the best parts (the meat and hides) while the portion that was burned to the gods was the bones and fat.

In punishment for this defiance of his divine authority, Zeus condemned Prometheus to a terrible punishment for an immortal: to be chained to a mountain in the Caucasus, where Zeus' gryphon/eagle (actually a Lammergeir) would devour his liver each day. It would grow back each night.

Zeus promised to relent if Prometheus would reveal his great secret knowledge: Who would succeed Zeus as supreme god? Prometheus refused to tell, ...the Greeks regarded Prometheus as a noble hero in his defiance of unjust tyranny.

[P-Marlowe]

"But the reports that most justified the red flags have since been debunked, while the "feeling" that something is up is lingering."

The title of this thread is "State has no records of Berg's firm." Well maybe we can't find state records, but there are plenty of people in the broadcasing business that knew of his firm and his firm was an exhibitor at the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters convention in 2003. That's where that terrific pitcure of Berg came from.

So this whole purpose of this particular thread has been debunked, but the rumors persist.

[Travis McGee]

Someone could check with the board of elections to see if he is registered as a (R) of (D), then we would know if daddy is lying.

Pointless. Part of "sheepdipping" to provide plausible cover would involve registering Republican, etc.

[MiniCooperChick]

What do you think of the quote from cnn.com in 505?

Isn't it at all strange to you that his dad called him al qaeda's "best friend"?

Believe me, I want to come around to where you are on this guy, it's just that the professional credentials don't outweigh the other red flags for me.

Thanks in advance....

[Travis McGee]

Ludlum's "Prometheus Deception" spy thriller was published in 2000?

When was "Prometheus Methods" started?

Intriguing. Fits with Nick being a fan of spy thrillers. Did he get his company's name from Ludlum's book?

[texasbluebell]

I hope someone is planning on writing a book about this guy...

[P-Marlowe]

You've seen the evidence Travis. If Berg were traveling under cover, who was he working for? And what evidence do you have to prove it.

I have come to the opposite conclusion that I had premised last night. There is no evidence that Nick Berg was in any way an Agent for Answer or an Al Queida sympathizer. I have found plenty of evidence that his buisness was not a cover, but was legitimate. His company was an exhibitor at a broadcasters convention before the Iraq war broke out.

I believe the evidence points to the fact that he was on legitimate business in Iraq. What EVIDENCE (not innuendo, but evidence) do you have to contradict that?

[texasbluebell]

What???

[Ann Archy]

I am trying to get people's heads out of the sand....color me shrill and thanks for supplying the quote. I only have a webtv.

[Ann Archy]

Please read #505.

[Ann Archy]

PLEASE read #505 since you don't believe me.

[merry10]

If he was missing over a month then he could have grown tht hair. however, he could not be mistaken for an arab.

[calcowgirl]

The al-Qaeda that killed my son didn't know what they were doing," Berg's father, Michael, told reporters camped outside his house today. "They killed their best friend. Nick was there to build Iraq, not to tear it down. He was there to help people, not to hurt anyone."
Source

[Rokurota]

I also heard his father say that Nick quit the Boy Scouts because they were going to the Air Force to shoot guns. Is that someone who would be in support of Bush and the military...or someone more likely to drift towards a group like A.N.S.W.E.R.?

[pepsionice]

Based on growing evidence...Berg Jr was likely a real businessman. Although I would suspect any profits he made from his Iraq episode were not being reported to the Iraqi government for taxation, nor being reported to the US government for the IRS to tax him either. Thats one of the reasons he choose Iraq...because of the loose situation and the ability to just walk out with cash in his hand. Somewhere...probably in Jordan...there is a bank account for wiring money with Berg Jr's name on it, and it leads to the Bahamas probably. Berg Sr will never figure where the money is...but my guess is that he cleared at least $100k off his first trip in. And he probably figured over $1 million by the end of this year if everything went right. Untaxed, of course.