The following is from Marcus King, posted on Facebook earlier this afternoon. I am sharing it with some commenting by your favorite bartender:
Marcus King
Admin · 1 hr
Ken Whitman, Kickstarters & Marcus.
Ken has been my friend for about 20 years.
In 2006, as I have described elsewhere in detail, Ken Whitman spent about 3 hours preventing me from committing suicide. Consider, if you can, what you might do to repay such a debt.
Ken and I never worked on any kickstarters. I never backed any of his kickstarters, either. In fact, I have backed about 5 or 6 kickstarters, ever. Two from Reaper, one of two from Dwarven Forge, a couple others. Maybe.
I never received money from Ken about or over or from his Kickstarters. (Please DO NOT consider my assets as a liability to Ken's current lawsuit)
About a year and a half ago I absorbed the assets (and not the liabilities) (Good deal if you can work that out) of another store, the owner, whose name does not need to get muck/dragged - we will call him JIM. He owned Little Monster in Somerset, KY. About that time, Ken Whitman came to work for me as an employee because he needed to work to eat, plain and simple. (Ken could have gotten three squares and a cot another way...) I hired him to work in my store. He did some good work for me for a few months. But, some of my staff did not like working with Ken. (Wow! Is Marcus saying that Ken does NOT work well with others? What a surprise...)
After a few months of Ken working with me, he had proven capable when on his meds, and erratic when not (Oh My! This says so much. Perhaps we are setting up a possible defense for the lawsuit). I suggested to Ken that I pay him $8 an hour (what most of my 12+ staff get paid) for 20 hours a week to do projects for me (like casting terrain, and making comic lots, etc), and also pay him 20 hours a week to work on old kickstarter projects (and thus allowing him to work for me, but not with my other staff) (if Ken was really such a liability, why hire him at all?). I was willing for him to start using my computers or equipment, paying him $8 an hour for 40 hours, and he could live in my home if need be (in most states, after 30 days you cant evict him, either). Thus, using his pay to buy whatever other supplies he needed (like pencils or what have you). Ken went off to work for Troll and Toad instead. (uhr?)
Meanwhile
My plan for the Little Monster location was to close it, but my new partner (JIM), wanted to keep it open, so we tried. But, MOST of what I acquired by merging with Little Monster was their inventory, and their customer base, and their manager (Jason, still works for me, does a great job). I did not want to keep the store open. So, we tried making it a pallet store, didn’t work. I tried to gift it to my daughter and her boyfriend, and give them a good start. REALLY didn’t work.
Finally, Ken not wanting to work for Troll and Toad any longer, he asked about buying the store (oh boy). Jim wanted to get out of the lease. I agreed to sell it way below value to Ken, as long as he covered the lease. We agreed, signed documents, etc.
A year went by. (I thought it sold in July of 2017. We are in April of 2018)
Jim decided he wanted OUT of being my partner. Suddenly. Like, about two weeks ago. (because lawsuits are scary, especially when you might be liable)
I paid Jim some money, and gave him back controlling interest in the debt owed by Ken to us. He worked something out with Ken, which documents I have not seen, the details of which I am not privy to. (I need to protect myself and my assets. I am not and have not been linked to Kenny financially or legally. For realz!)
This is where things stand now. (sure they do...)
I am no longer associated with Little Monster. (because that might cost me money)
I am no longer financially associated with Ken. (ditto)
I am 100% owner of Mad Ox. (and nothing else, and all of this went on BEFORE Ken was served, I swear!)
Jim is bought out and now has only to deal with Ken. (But wait! I thought the business was sold by some Jim Sears! Oh wait, it was. Ah, so Ken's debt is owned by Jim Sears, and Jim sold Ken's current girlfriend Little Monster out from under Ken. But wait, Ken claims he sold the store...)
Ken blames me for his financial troubles (heh heh - Ken blames everyone but himself), even though I had recently agreed to buy the pencil machine for him to make pencils for his old Kickstarter thingy (mostly because he now has financial responsibility to Jim, instead of me, and I had not required him to make a payment in months, and had previously said I never cared if he made another payment to me or not). (so Marcus bought Ken a pencil machine BECAUSE Kenny was not making monthly payments for the purchase of the store. Sure, makes perfect fucking sense)
My long term loyalty to Ken has been because he saved my life.
It is not because we are tied at the hip financially (please PLEASE don't include me in Ken's lawsuit, which looks valid to me and I REALLY don't want my assets on the hook for Ken's shenanigans) . His buying the store from me/us at the time really was only of benefit to Jim, because it relieved Jim & Ken - allowing Ken a source of income (but will the associated costs, what real income was there - oh, that's right, Ken wasn't making payments), and relieving Jim from the financial responsibility of the lease, which I never was party to or responsible for (see me wash myu hands of as much financial responsibility as I can)
I just wanted to post this to let there be a public record of what has transpired (keep this in mind with Ken's lawsuit. I beg of you!)
If you want to bash me for my past blind loyalty to someone who saved my life (eh, I'll leave that to others. besides, this is just an attempt to protect yourself from Ken's liabilities), I reckon I got it coming from many of you.
I now wash my hands of all association with Ken (I think its too late for that Marcus. Seriously, if any part of the lawsuit against your were to stick to Mad Ox before, this doesn't chance shit), other than being his friend, if he decides he wants to remain friends.
Marcus King
Owner
Mad Ox Games & Comics
So, wait, I'm confused... I somehow thought "Mad Ox Games" *became* "Little Monster Comic & Games". Are they separate stores? Because, as far as addresses go, they're not at the same address but right next door to each other, which does sound a bit odd to begin with.
ReplyDeleteActually, never mind... Google Maps still has the Mad Ox marker where LMC&G is, but I see the address is in a different city entirely.
DeleteActually, a great deal of this rings true and makes sense of a good deal of the weirdness. I had noticed Marcus had posted about being stabbed in the back by a friend and I assumed it was Ken. Looking at this, it probably was.
ReplyDeleteSo, it sounds like: Marcus partnered with Jim; then Ken bought the store on very favorable loan terms (that no business man would ever give unless repaying a life-boon); Ken didn't pay squat which annoyed Jim; Jim demanded to dissolve the partnership; Ken fire-sold as much product as he could on the way out (as evidenced by recent sales at the store); Ken handed over whatever was left to Jim (probably to clear his debt); and then Jim sold what was left to the new owner.
So, everyone who claims to have bought and sold the company may have really done so.
HOWEVER, I'm betting that the court might have something to say about the sale of that asset by Ken.
Assuming assets but not liabilities is a GREAT business move when you can pull it off and, generally, the business near solvent and that purchase price hopefully allows the seller to clean up the liabilities.
The Troll & Toad bit is strange but the rest?
Marcus couldn't afford to buy Jim out of their partnership arrangement and so handed Ken's debt (theoretically a company asset if Ken were ever going to make good) to complete the buyout.
That said, this shuffling of assets may not be enough to protect ANY of them. I'll leave that for the guy who filed the suit (who went to law school, I didn't) to try to figure out.
Of course, I'm a tax guy....and there may well be some tax implications to this after I take time to unwind it all - especially if there has been any debt forgiveness which, itself, is taxable.
It sounds like Jim, being a no-shit kind of guy, might have seized the store for the unpaid debt and then turned around and sold it to another employee
Ah, the convoluted life of Conman Ken. Does anyone else see a pattern of deflection by Ken and all his cohorts ?
ReplyDeleteHere is my bet, Conman Ken goes and checks himself into a psychiatric hospital just before the court date in New York. Thus he has a excuse for not showing up and the judge delays court proceedings. This of course gives Ken a chance to make good on his Kickstarter and thus the judge would be inclined to take it easy on him.
I'm sure Ken will be copying this down and it will be his modus operandi.
I respectfully disagree for two reasons. 1) I doubt he ever finished any kickstarter. 2) He can't do what you said, because he's smarter than everyone else put together, so he wouldn't use your feeble, weakminded plan.
DeleteAll this obfuscation, tortured logic and drama. . . over a game store? An enterprise that typically celebrates slightly more than breaking even? Guys, if you're serious about being con artists go to Wall Street. . .
ReplyDeleteThat's the beauty of it. Where'd all the money go? This failing business. They can explain away so much with that excuse.
Deletesounds awesome, didn't understand a word of it
ReplyDeleteWhile this potentially sheds some light on the situation, Marcus has time again shown himself to be as trustworthy as Ken in the past, so I'm taking this with a lot of salt and regarding it as an attempt to cover one's own ass, rather than a factual recounting of events.
ReplyDeleteI'm confused. Maybe I'm not understanding this, but doesn't a lot of this contradict itself - for example, how could Jim be "bought out" and then be the only person Ken has to deal with? If you're bought out of a business, you're given money for your shares. Then you'd have no legal relationship left to the business (though you're still on the hook for legal fallout prior to your sale).
ReplyDeleteAnd then who the heck bought LM? Who is this new person? An employee? A odd catfish?
Also - just went to the website and Ken's email is still on the contact us page.
Delete"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing humanity he didn't exist" --Al Pacino
ReplyDeleteThis above posting can be taken 3 ways:
1. Marcus is REALLY done with Ken: Life debt be damned, Ken's fuckups are coming for Marcus' money maker which impacts his living conditions and family. Can't have that.
2. CYA: Covered Ad naseum by other posters. Marcus is trying to show the world that he doesn't have anything to do with Ken anymore so please don't sue him into the ground or drag him to court.
3. Establish Alibi for Ken: The pity ploy is strong in this email. Whitman appears to be a bumbling moron, weak, simple, just off his meds, incapable of taking care of his own self and things around him. Why would anyone prey on such a poor soul such as this who is suffering from mental issues.
I personally known that this is all a load of BS, the rats are scurrying to find a raft as the USS Whitanic is sinking and taking everyone down with it.
Jesus H Christ... Do you guys just speculate and make stories up for no good reason?
ReplyDelete1. Marcus sold me the store for $320 a week for three years.
2. I have not been able to make a payment since January, and defaulted on the loan.
3. Marcus had me stay on until he found a new buyer.
4. A few weeks ago, Jim wanted to be bought out from Marcus (he was Marcus minority shareholder, he got a percentage when sold Little Monsters Comics, LLC to Marcus), so Marcus paid him money and gave the old store back to Jim.
5. Jim found a buyer. yesterday was my last day as manager as I was training everyone with the new management.
TA DA!
Q. Did Ken own the store.
A. Yes till I defaulted on the contract.
Q. Does Ken have anything to do with Little Monsters Ent?
A. No.
Q. Is Ken still working on Kickstarters?
A. Yes
Q. Is Ken going back to GA?
A. None of your damn business.
Q. Has Ken answered the NYC Lawsuit?
A. Yes Amazing how no one posted anything about it.
Q. Why did you shut down your facebook?
A. So I can move around the country, make money and finish my kickstarters without Harassment!
Q. What about the $250k in GA?
A. The woman drop charges when she figured out the files were on the disk, but she was using a PC & not a Mac and could not see them. Look using a Mac and TA DA! Why was that never posted?
Q. Do you ever get tire of people making stories up about you and then trying to convince others they are true.
A. There is no such thing as bad publicity.
Q. What do you think about the disbarred Attorney that keeps filing suits against you.
A. I think its a shame that he wasted $250k+ on a law degree, and then disbarred for being an aggressive bully asshole.
Take care you speculating libel bastards.
How long does it take to "train everyone" to work at a game store? I'd put the over/under at 30 minutes.
DeleteThat was remarkably free of spelling and grammatical errors.
DeleteIt was kind of you to take the time to give an explanation. You know nobody believes anything you say, right?
DeleteYou tell 'em Ken. Speculatin' libel bastards!! lol
DeleteLet's see how Petey's been doing lately:
ReplyDeleteSix Kickstarters: Failed.
Acting career: Failed.
Game store owner: Failed.
Like I've known for years, that boys got a lot of fail in him.
Well, this is interesting.
ReplyDeleteLast night Ken sent me a text that he was moving and I would never find him, and other stuff along the lines of the lawsuit going to get dismissed for being in the wrong court plus he would just go bankrupt; and that I was dumb and he is very smart.
Of course, we also have Whitman selling his store to what appears to be his new girlfriend, since we now have a Facebook photo of them kissing at the end of some kind of live auction broadcast from last night into early this morning. Not exactly an arms length transaction with a bona fide purchaser, no?
As far as I am concerned, the 'sale' is nothing more than a fraudulent conveyance to avoid being an eligible asset for the lawsuit; and everyone involved (Ken Whitman, Marcus King, Jim Sears and Jess Hunter) are all responsible parties in the conspiracy, and all will be getting a set of written interrogatories about the 'sale'. I can hardly wait to read the 'work of fiction' as everyone tries to cover up their part in a fraudulent transaction, that I expect those results will be.
At this point I don't care if Whitman moves away or whatever. It might even be better if Whitman just simply moved away and disappeared, The store is Whitman's last know address so I can complete any service on Whitman with 'nail and mail' plus that way Whitman would be unable to contest any motions or discovery for the case. When I was done with discovery and ready, I would get a default judgement. At that point I would have an agency track him down for execution on the judgement. At the very least Whitman will probably still own and be driving a car; and that would be an asset eligible to satisfy part of any judgement.
At this point, I consider everyone involved in the 'sale' of the comic store part of Ken Whitman's criminal ponzi scheme and have taken part in an effort to shield assets from a valid lawsuit. Those people might want to consult with a lawyer before doing anything else that could be taken the wrong way in court.
Marcus King claims he is not involved, but people say the store was sold by Jim Sears to Jess Hunter; but then for months Ken Whitman has been telling everyone that Whitman owned the store and Marcus King never said anything to dispute that. To me it looks like there was some kind of asset shifting going on about something else between Whitman and King to give some other creditor the 'swerve' about only God knows what.
Whitman, nothing like taking a simple civil lawsuit, that would cost you ZERO dollars if you did what was asked, and systematically turning it into a criminal matter plus getting everyone around you involved also!
But, thats our Kenny!!!
If you're so smart why werevyou disbared?
DeleteI have chunks of shit floating in my tolet smarter than you. At least they know how to shut up when someone of athority tells them to shut the hell up.
Anyone who believes any legal wisdom you dish out, is an idiot themselves.
Only idots get disbarred... Idiot.
https://law.justia.com/cases/massachusetts/supreme-court/volumes/452/452mass1012.html
DeleteHere read about this idiot. You're champion coming to stop the evil Ken Whitman.
Get a real laywer... Jesus.
This is my favorite part where they disbar Desy..
DeleteDesy's conduct, particularly the threatening and harassing e-mail messages, strongly suggests dishonesty, poor judgment, and a willingness to misuse the judicial process. Cf. Matter of an Application for Admission to the Bar of the Commonwealth., 378 Mass. 795, 392 N.E.2d 533 (1979). Further, Desy has shown a lack of candor in these proceedings. As the single justice noted, his answers to questions about his background “have been defensive and perfunctory-in effect, a failure to answer.” Indeed, in his brief to this court, he has wholly failed to address the serious questions arising from his dealings with the company. We are left with grave doubt about Desy's present character and fitness to practice law. We resolve that doubt “in favor of protecting the public by denying admission.” Matter of an Application for Admission to the Bar of the Commonwealth, 444 Mass. 393, 397, 828 N.E.2d 484 (2005), quoting Matter of Prager, supra. Having reviewed the entire record, we conclude that Desy has not shown that at this time he “possesses the necessary qualifications to practice law in the Commonwealth.
Ha ha ha ha
Ha ha ha ha indeed.
DeleteFirst, because he was disbarred doesn't mean that he (and others) doesn't have a valid claim on you.
Second, by the sounds of the judgment, it kind of sounds like he might be the perfect guy to go after you for the money you owe people.
You two sound made for each other.
Perhaps I can trying to redeem myself for my past sins.
DeleteWe all make mistakes in life, it takes a great person to admit said mistakes, atone for them, and not do them again. Only a person morally corrupt continues to pursue a life full of the same faulty behavior and blame others for their actions.
DeleteNo one is a saint, Mr. Desy is at least trying to be a better person here, WhitDawg is still failing and running like a coward. He's not man enough to stand up in a court of law proclaiming his innocence to all. I bet if he ever went he would blame "The Man" for the judgement against him.
LDJ: Keep doing The People's work. We are with you.
Hey Kenny!
DeleteTo ask you your own question - if you're so smart, why aren't you rich?
Where's my refund?
I see Whitman that you are 'running through your playbook' of what to say and do instead of just doing what you are supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteYou claim the lawsuit is faulty for venue, don't care about it, you are smarter than everyone else, and is not going to talk anymore on social media; but then appear to be running around like a hysterical woman posting every several hours about some new bizarre melodrama on the situation that you created.
Tell me Whitman, the truth is that you really are a drama queen?
As far as your standard playbook of things you run through:
The threat of legal action isn't going to do much good since there is a case already ongoing. Yesterday, you claimed you weren't going to talk to anyone or accept any messages and move away, etc, etc; except you kind of started to realize that might not work now.
Now you are running through the 'maybe if I make fun of them, they will feel bad and stop' routine; which won't work.
To be probably followed by various hysterical declarations.
Marcus King indicated in his posting about his status with you, that you 'were somewhat 'ok' when you are on your meds'; maybe, just MAYBE, now might be the time for you to get fully on your meds so you can think and act proper instead acting like a hysterical woman and taking a civil matter and systematically pushing it into becoming a criminal matter on the ponzi scheme elements of what you did.
Of course, that would mean doing things the right way, which is almost something a Whitman would never do!
Why do things the right way when you can mess everything up for yourself and even drag everyone in around you?
I was especially impressed with the woman you went on the cruise with who even defended you online; how you stuck her with a bunch of debt and last word from her was she was going bankrupt because of you.
I am surprised you have not called up Jolly yet bawling your eyes out trying to see if you could get him to somehow intervene and seeing if you could con him into feeling sorry for what you have done. (I don't think you will run the 'bawling your eyes out' on me routine because you probably know that playbook routine would be meet with gales of derisive laughter from me.)
GO KEN!
Mr. Desy may have been disqualified to practice law, but it was based on the quality of his character at the time, not his competence. He seems perfectly competent to represent himself in this matter and clearly has a better grasp of the law than you do, Mr. Whitman.
ReplyDeleteWe will see as I placed a motion for the case to be dropped based on Personal Juristiction. If I win does that mean I smarterish?!
ReplyDeleteHey if this don't work out, you gonna sent a petifile who practices law in his basement? Seems like you guys will send anyone, dn the ethics, as long as they hate Ken.
We will see as I placed a motion for the case to be dropped based on Personal Juristiction. If I win does that mean I smarterish?!
ReplyDeleteHey if this don't work out, you gonna sent a petifile who practices law in his basement? Seems like you guys will send anyone, dn the ethics, as long as they hate Ken.
Did you honestly just call Louis Desy Jr. a 'pedophile'? Do you have anything to back up this serious condemnation? You do know if that's a false accusation that you just committed libel?
DeleteIF you win, I can just refill in whatever venue is ruled to be the correct venue; but with Kickstarter PBC as a co defendant and joined in the case, I can't see anywhere else that would be proper venue, especially since their TOS specify New York County. You might want to contact Kickstart PBC; of course, they might decide to file cross claims against you for putting them in this position to explain how a fake company was allowed to be listed as a creator but still transferring the funds into your own name or how you were allowed to fund six projects at the same time. I do wonder if somehow you charmed someone within Kickstarter into doing illegal things and now they are scrambling to avoid blame for your problems.
DeleteThat was one of the problems in filing with Whitman and Kickstarter joined as co defendants; where was proper jurisdiction.
One of the reasons Kickstarter is a co defendant is because Whitman somehow, either with Kickstarter's help or fooled them also, into allowing d20 Entertainment LLC, that never existed, to sign up as a creator.
I did note in your answer that you 'forgot' to mention to the court that d20 was presented as an LLC in multiple places, including the Kickstarter creator listing.
GO KEN!!!!
Ken shacked up with a known, admitted, convicted pedophile when he moved to the Atalanta area.
DeleteLook up 'Ed Kramer,' Ken's close personal friend.
You are known by the company you keep, Ken.
Where's my refund?
I don't think you are in any position to speak on ethics, as decades of easily accessible testimony from former backers, customers, and business associates suggests that you have none.
ReplyDeleteThing about Desy is he seems to be a productive member of society who isn't scamming people and taking their money. Whatever happened in the past is the past because he faced the consequences and moved on. That's sort of how it works. If you learn from past mistakes people tend to forgive you.
ReplyDeleteI have not created another Kickstarter since I made my mistakes. Do you konw how easy it is to start a corp and hide behind it?
DeleteThe fact I have STOP doing stupid shit is a good sign I'm changing, trying to hold a job and finish kickstarters when you have libles websites that enrage people to search you put and get you fired from any living. Well, ... Jolly, the good guy, HA! History will tell a different story.
Take care, see you on the other side of this crazy story you crafted.
PS jolly... Why have you not come after me? The guy with the #1 reason. Why has no one here asked that? What say you?
Why would I come after you, Petey? You have absolutely nothing of value.
DeleteNot even the KODTLAS footage apparently. But keep being awesome. It's been entertaining.
Jolly has:
Delete1. Full Time Job to pay the bills
2. Family to support
3. Business to run
What Jolly doesn't have is:
1. Failed business arrangements
2. Debtors looking for their goods
3. Legal conflicts.
All in All Jolly has enough on his plate to bother with WhitDawg's legal shenanigans. I think, and I could be wrong, that Jolly would rather put that part of his life behind him and move on and let others do the heavy lifting and sit by the side eating popcorn cheering them on. He has bigger things to deal with.
Ken ... I'll respond to your question a different way. " jolly... Why have you not come after me? The guy with the #1 reason." ... I'm surprised you do not know the answer. Jolly did come after you. He made sure just days after your contract expired that they A) officially announced they were pulling your license and b) released films as good as possible with what he had. The combination of the two removed your ability to "finish the KickStarter" and thus made you immediately fully liable for the failure of the project.
DeleteYou don't have money as Jolly said above ... but what you did have was excuses. Jolly did come after you and he did it hard and definite and he did it in a way that mattered ... not coming after funds that you don't have ... but in opening the door to allow folks like LDJ to be able to have their day in court against you.
Sorry you don't understand that Jolly did come after you and he crushed you as efficiently as humanely possible ... but I definitely do see just that.
It's Petie, not Petey. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I know some of the idiots here are not really or have ever been my friends. Or they would know.
My army is building Jolly. The truth is out there.
Really, boy? You complaining about people's spelling?
DeleteOh my aching Ghu! You always were good for a laugh - either with you or at you. Mostly, at you.
Keep being you, Kenny-boy.
Oh, and Petey, one more thing. I said I knew you. I never said you were my friend.
DeleteAnd for me to fail, I have to quit. Not finished with my kickstarters, just being slowed down by trolls and assholes. Making it impossible to slow me down again.
ReplyDeleteTalk to you guys on the other side.
This thread is dead to me.
take a cruise Ken. I hear it does wonders for clearing the head and relieving stress.
DeleteDid trolls and assholes blow all that sweet Kickstarter money on non-kickstarter things? Keep telling us more how your failures are all the fault of others. Why did your game store fail? Who are you blaming that on?
Delete"Did trolls and assholes blow all that sweet Kickstarter money on non-kickstarter things?"
DeleteWell, A troll and AN asshole did.
Considering much time he spent braying like a jackass - on this site and elsewhere - while people tried to warn him not to associate with Ken, Marcus definitely deserves to lose his shirt over this.
ReplyDelete