Date: January 30, 2012
Author: Jon Cohen
URL: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/01/lawsuit-alleges-misuse-of-funds.html?rss=1
Ref: http://www.mynews4.com/media/lib/167/2/8/9/28966a9a-e885-4918-b529-4d519e99a842/File_stamped_Complaint.01_27_12.pdf
Ref: See also a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal,
http://www.lvrj.com/news/ex-business-partners-accuse-whittemore-of-embezzlement-in-lawsuit-138238459.html
Rem: This is in fact about the Peppermill casino. A few years ago, the
IACFS/ME conference was in the Peppermill casino
Lawsuit alleges misuse of funds by founders of Whittemore Peterson Institute
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Former business partners of Harvey Whittemore filed a civil suit
against him and his wife Annette in Nevada court on 27 January,
alleging that the couple inappropriately used the resources of a
holding company Harvey co-owned, Wingfield Nevada Group, to support a
scientific research institute they founded as well as many personal
expenses. In documents filed with Clark County District Court in Las
Vegas, Nevada, the suit charges that the couple inappropriately spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars to support their Whittemore Peterson
Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease (WPI) in Reno and its staff
salaries, private air flights, and fundraising efforts. "These
allegations are false," the Whittemores said in a statement. "We will
take any and all steps necessary to preserve the reputation for
integrity that we have built in this state for over 40 years."
WPI has been embroiled in controversy since October 2009 when its
researchers led a study published in Science that linked chronic
fatigue syndrome to a mouse retrovirus. WPI fired its head researcher,
Judy Mikovits, in September 2011 for insubordination and later filed
suit against her for allegedly misappropriating laboratory notebooks
and other proprietary information. Mikovits later was arrested and
jailed in a related criminal case for the alleged theft of these
materials.
Over objections from WPI researchers, Science retracted the report in
December 2011. The civil case that WPI filed against Mikovits will
have its next hearing on 27 February, and the criminal case against
her will go to court again on 15 March.
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(c) 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science
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