Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31502
28 RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS NationWide defendant in lawsuit By Tess Nacelewicz CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.—NationWide Digital Monitoring Co., under its corporate name of NationWide Central Station Monitoring Corp., and Aaron Wahrsager, president of the company, face charges in a civil lawsuit filed in February in federal court in New York. The lawsuit was filed in con- nection to a $17.5 million loan made by Bank of America to New York Merchants Protective Co., Inc. (NYMP), of which Wayne Wahrsager, Aaron’s father, is a principal. Wayne Wahrsager and New York Merchants Protective Co., Inc. are also among defendants in the law- suit, filed Feb. 19 in United States Court in the Eastern District of New York, which has a courtroom here. The lawsuit alleges the defendants transferred “a significant portion” of the assets of New York Merchants Protective Co. Inc. to NationWide “for no consideration in an effort to prevent Bank of America, its secured creditor, from recovering upon its $17,500,000 unpaid loan to NYMP.” The lawsuit further claims the defendants “intentionally sabotaged, and continue to sabotage to this day, the remaining business of NYMP” to thwart Bank of America and the receiver of NYMP from collecting any judgment. Aaron and Wayne Wahrsager deny the allegations against them. Aaron Wahrsager told Security Systems News that he considers the charges “ridiculous.” The lawsuit was filed by the receiver for New York Merchants Protective Co., Inc., attorney Ronald Friedman. Friedman was appointed by a judge after Bank of America on Jan. 5 of this year filed a breach of con- tract suit in the same court against New York Merchants Protective Co., Inc. of New York regarding the $17.5 million loan. That lawsuit also lists as defendants two Delaware corpo- rations the bank said are controlled by NYMP’s principals. Bank of America said at the time it was owed more than $19.2 mil- lion, exclusive of interest, attorney’s fees and expenses, and sought the appointment of a receiver. Aaron Wahrsager said the lawsuit against him and NationWide has nothing to do with the recent deci- sion by Smith & Wesson to terminate its license with NationWide. Liz Sharp, VP investor relations for Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., told SSN in March that she was not aware of the lawsuits. She declined to comment further. SSN Arecont Vision just released the next generation in panoramic megapixel cameras that now include Day/Night functionality. Arecont Vision has already successfully deployed its 8-megapixel 180° and 360° cameras worldwide for several years at very important sites. New panoramic cameras are available with Day/Night functionality providing an ability to deliver improved forensic detail over vast areas. One Arecont Vision panoramic camera does the work of up to 24 standard definition IP and analog cameras - lowering project costs and improving return-on-investment (ROI). Calculate the total savings and you'll clearly see how Arecont Vision panoramic Day/Night megapixel cameras should surround you. www.securitysystemsnews.com MAY 2011 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS Dealers lose Smith & Wesson name Continued from page 1 agreement, giving only about 45 days’ notice. “We’ve been negotiating with them for about four months to try to come to a new agreement and to no avail,” Avin said. Liz Sharp, VP investor relations for Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., on March 30 confirmed to SSN that the trade- mark license agreement is at an end. “We took the action to protect the value of our brand name following the failure of the agreement with NationWide to perform as we had expected that it would,” she said. She declined to answer further ques- tions on how Smith & Wesson was dis- satisfied with the agreement. The original agreement between Smith & Wesson and NationWide, announced May 1, 2008, made headlines because it marked Smith & Wesson’s first entry into the security space. The Smith & Wesson NYMP Dealer Services program NationWide subsequently developed was very popular. But Aaron Wahrsager, NationWide president, sent a letter dated March 21 this year to NYMP Dealer Services mem- bers to inform them of the end of the Smith & Wesson licensing agreement. Ed Berry, operations manager for Smith & Wesson Security Services E.D.S. in Clermont, Fla., and Bill Riley, operations manager for Technical Systems LLC in Gilbert, Ariz., a Smith & Wesson Security Services authorized dealer, both told SSN that they actually received their letters on March 29. “They gave me three days to start wind- ing down,” Berry said. Technical Systems was one of the first dealers in the nation to sign up with the dealer program, and E.D.S. was the first dealer in Florida to become a member. Avin said the program has 70 dealers. Aaron Wahrsager told SSN that Nationwide had to wait for Smith & Wesson to approve the letter but sent it out immediately after Smith & Wesson signed off on it. The letter begins “Dear Dealer” and says, “we wanted to tell you personally” that “our license to use the Smith & Wesson name has been terminated.” The letter goes on to say that officially, as of March 31, the Smith & Wesson name cannot be used on any security “This was not at all our choice.” —Howard Avin, NationWide products and that domain names and other trademarks must be assigned to Smith & Wesson Corp. The letter also states that dealers have a month’s transition period—until April 30—to strip away the branding that many dealers have invested many thousands of dollars in over the past couple years. “That kind of basically says there that we have one month,” said Riley, who said he has spent about $240,000 over the last three years investing in the Smith & Wesson brand. Berry said, “I personally have invested over $300,000 in the name so I don’t want to see it go away.” The letter gives no reasons for the the licensing agreement, and end of dealers told SSN on March 30 that they were frustrated because of the lack of information. “That’s the most bothersome thing as dealers,” Berry told SSN. “We don’t know the real reason. If we did know the real reason we may be able to come back to S&W with something but we don’t know, so we can’t come back at them with any- thing at all.” He held out hope that Smith & Wesson might continue the dealer program with another security partner. When asked about that possibility, Smith & Wesson’s Sharp replied: “We’re reviewing our strategy in the security market now. Certainly I couldn’t give you anything definitive now, but we are reviewing our strategy.” However, Sharp also underlined that the dealer “relationship is really between NationWide or the NYMP dealer pro- gram,” not with Smith & Wesson. Avin stressed that NationWide is sympathetic to dealers’ plight. He noted that the company also “invested a couple million dollars” in the partnership, but added, ‘that doesn’t mean I don’t feel for them.” However, he said, the decision was Smith & Wesson’s, not NationWide’s. “This was not at all our choice,” he said. “We would have loved to have given deal- ers six month’s notice but when the final decision came down for us, we didn’t get six months.” He said NationWide plans to inform dealers “probably within 30 days” about the new Security Doctors name and identity for the dealer program, once it is set up. He said the new program would be less costly because there will be no royalties to Smith & Wesson involved, and said there would be no chance of a vendor-partner suddenly pulling out because there won’t be one. “It’s better to control your own destiny than have it done for you,” Avin said. SSN superior resolution 3878MP Arecont Panoramic ad RA 15.25” x 4.875”