The administrators of the Avocet Shareholders' Forum have
issued a strongly worded statement dismissing the claims of company chairman
Martin Frost that Berwickshire farmer's wife Aileen Orr was behind the
establishment of the platform for Avocet investors.
In one of his many letters to the 650 shareholders of Avocet
Natural Capital [ANC] PLC, Mr Frost told them: "Aileen Orr’s and her
acolytes criminal use of a spying technique known as ‘pretexting’ – simply put
when one impersonates another or uses a synonym to denigrate or cause harm to a
third party.
"Aileen Orr’s recent information request to many of you
to sign up in respect of the ‘Avocet Information Forum’ is perceived to be a US
legal ploy to shift legal liability from her onto to you. Shortly put, as US
& UK law currently stands, a signed up ‘Avocet Information Forum’
subscriber could / would be extradited along with Aileen to stand trial in the
US."
And the Group chairman also claimed: "on Friday 10th
July 2020 ‘Wix.com’ the internet owner operators of the ‘Avocet Shareholder
Forum’ agreed to shut down this web blog"
The Forum has given Avocet shareholders the chance to air
their views about the way the business is being run. The membership has been
growing steadily in recent weeks with site visits up by a reported 287% in the
last seven days.
In their detailed response to Mr Frost's allegations the Forum
organisers state: "Avocet Chairman Martin Frost has mistakenly assumed Mrs
Aileen Orr to be responsible for the formation and administration of The Avocet
Independent Forum and as a result has made many misplaced serious accusations.
"The Admin Team wish to make it known that Mr Frost's
claims stated in his Shareholder Newsletter of 11th July 2020 relating to Mrs
Orr and the Forum are false and complete nonsense.
"It is the right of any shareholder to contribute to
this blog for the purpose of discussion and ultimately have a say in the
direction their company takes through dialogue and democratic election."
According to the statement Mrs Orr had chosen the platform
to share her comments as a shareholder and registered member and "nothing
more".
The administrators' statement continues: "Also, in the
same shareholder newsletter Mr Frost makes reference to this forum, with
serious allegations against a number of Avocet shareholders which are
completely unfounded. He attempts to use malicious lies to bully us into
submission.
"Please accept this assurance that the forum will
continue to present shareholder questions and comments and will not be
shutdown. The administrators are aware that Mr Frost has apparently used his
shareholder newsletter to threaten, intimidate and prevent a right to open and
free speech.
"We shall not be intimidated and continue to report
Avocet matters in honest fashion with emphasis on ensuring the truth will out.
It appears Mr Frost’s attempt to destroy the forum is testimony to his desire
to suppress the truth and conceal his real motive."
Mr Frost's statement is also dismissed as 'utter rubbish'
and designed to prevent development of the forum by instilling fear of legal
repercussions in prospective members when signing up. "He shall not
succeed".
In a further letter to those with shares Mr Frost values ANC PLC at £50 million,
largely based on Avocet's intellectual property potential.
The correspondence, entitled A Gift, goes on to say:
"Over the next two months I intend to sell off a further 8 million of my
shares to either existing ANC Plc or new shareholders for cash: the resultant
cash I will donate to ANC Plc to improve ANC Plc’s liquidity and patent
portfolio.
"In the Autumn of 2020, some Frost family assets are
being sold with the intent to lend the resultant money raised to ANC Plc, this
new loan money will be added to existing Frost family loans due from ANC Plc
and Avocet IP Limited. Collectively, these loan monies along with all my own
remaining shareholding in ANC Plc will then be given to the then newly formed
and advised charitable ‘Avocet Foundation’."
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