Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31490
30 RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS www.securitysystemsnews.com JANUARY 2011 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS Federal judge finds McGinn violated court order Continued from page 28 $425,000 at an annual interest of 19.62 percent. Smith’s and McGinn’s former administrative assistant was listed as SAC’s owner and the business was based in her home in Rensselaer, N.Y. Smith and McGinn were des- ignated as her employees—and executive vice presidents. When the SEC learned of the new venture, it filed a motion this fall to find Smith and McGinn had violated a preliminary injunction banning them from making further securities offerings. Magistrate Judge David Homer, in a Dec. 1 decision in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, denied the motion regard- ing Smith because he had resigned from SAC. Homer noted that the registered owner/administrative assistant of SAC said her “only function was to type documents” and that “McGinn was responsible for everything.” Homer found McGinn in con- tempt. The judge said SAC’s offering to investors contained “material mis- representations and omissions” as to the financial condition of Anchor Alarm Center, the Georgia com- pany that SAC was planning to loan money to, and about the planned use of funds raised by SAC, and the SEC action against McGinn. McGinn’s attorney, Martin Russo, did not return a call for comment. McGinn had argued in court filings that he was not prohibited from making the SAC offering and that he provided potential investors with the web site addresss for the receiver for McGinn, Smith & Co. Mike Latty, Anchor Alarm presi- dent, did not respond to requests for comment, but has said previously he was unaware of the SEC charges against McGinn and Smith. SSN ADT * Run for Fun [and help change lives] THE SECURITY 5K A 5k road race at ISC West that brings the security industry together to help children in need. Sign up to run and get involved at: www.security5k.com All proceeds generated by the race will be contributed to Mission 500, an organization whose goal is to get the security industry to sponsor 500 children (and more) through the World Vision humanitarian organization. Continued from page 28 Illinois. Pinnacle planned to file a formal response within 30 days. The lawsuit claims three Pinnacle employees went door- to-door in Illinois, Minnesota and Kentucky in 2009 and 2010 using deceptive sales tactics such as leading ADT customers to believe that Pinnacle had taken over ADT’s business to get them to switch to Pinnacle. ADT contends the instances cited show “Pinnacle and its agents/employees have engaged in a nationwide campaign of deceiving consumers through [a] myriad of unlawful acts.” ADT claims Pinnacle received complaints about at least one sales- man, but rehired him “to maraud around the country and unleash his arsenal of unlawful and false statements upon a new group of unsuspecting consumers.” Pinnacle denies the allegations and says it takes steps to ensure such situations do not occur. For example, Pinnacle told SSN, customers get “a recorded pre-installation call on which a Pinnacle agent verifies the cus- tomer understands Pinnacle is not affiliated with the customer’s previous alarm company.” ADT also claims that Pinnacle stole trade secrets and used them to target ADT customers. It says Pinnacle obtained access to an APX Alarm Security Systems data- base of home security monitoring contracts that ADT purchased from APX in 2007. Pinnacle denies the claim. ADT also cites in the lawsuit Sign up now and start fundraising today! Create your own funraising page when you register to raise awareness and money for children in need. Organizing Sponsors: Event Sponsors: Timing sponsor: state lawsuits against Pinnacle in Illinois and New York alleging deceptive sales practices. Pinnacle settled those cases this year. In a statement to SSN on Dec. 1, David Bleisch, chief legal officer for ADT, also claimed that “Pinnacle has not complied with the industry Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct which it publicly signed earlier this year.” Pinnacle, along with other busi- nesses, signed the industry code of ethics in March at ISC West in Las Vegas. Pinnacle said it not only fol- To support the race, contact Mission 500’s George Fletcher, at pr@mission500 org or call 305-321-3193 Sponsorship Opportunities Security 5K 1.50 December.indd 1 12/13/10 9:49:57 AM lows the code but has its own internal conduct code that is “in many instances more rigorous and comprehensive than the industry code.” SSN April 7th Security5k . com 7:30–8:30am