Carl Freer
| Carl Johan Freer | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 9, 1970 |
| Residence | Los Angeles |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Other names | Eric Jonsson,[1][2] Brian Littleton[3] |
| Partner | Mikael Ljungman[4] |
Carl Johan Freer (born 9 May 1970) is a Swedish businessman and technology entrepreneur.
Business activities
Freer founded Tiger Telematics Inc in 2002[5] of which he was Chairman of the board of directors until he resigned his position in October 2005.[6] Tiger Telematics Inc had a subsidiary called Gizmondo Europe Ltd that went into liquidation in February 2006. Freer was engaged in relaunching the Gizmondo product, citing a potential launch in 3rd quarter of 2008[7]
In 2008, Freer founded a startup called Media Power Inc and in May of that year, a partnership was announced where Media Power would donate $5M over five years to Georgia Tech to further Augmented Reality research.[8]
Freer is currently co-founder and chairman of the networking site for filmmakers, financiers, actors and fans called FilmFunds.[9][10][11]
Legal problems
In his teens Freer forged his parents' signature for a loan and was convicted of fraud though Freer says he had his parents' permission to sign on their behalf for a student loan.[2][12] In 2005 he was fined by a German court for buying luxury cars with bounced cheques under the assumed name of Erik (Eric) Jonsson, though Freer says he cancelled the cheques himself because he "thought he was being sold stolen cars."[2][12]
In 2006, Los Angeles police raided Freer's Bel-Air mansion and his yacht moored in Marina Del Rey[13] shortly after his alleged associate and partner, Stefan Eriksson, was arrested on various charges, and found twelve rifles and four handguns.[14] Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, arrested Freer on suspicion of impersonating a police officer in order to purchase a .44 Magnum handgun. No formal charges were filed and Freer claimed that the whole situation was a misunderstanding.[15]
A civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) action against Carl Freer, Media Power, GetFugu, many of its officers and directors, and other businesses related to Freer was filed on November 25, 2009 in a United States district court.[16] On August 27, 2010, the court dismissed all of the charges because the alleged conduct would have been actionable as securities fraud and as such could not be pursued as a RICO action.[17] Following the dismissal, GetFugu countersued for defamation, malicious prosecution and attempted extortion, claiming damages of US$ 500 million.[18]
References
- ^ Olle Blomkvist (2005-10-31). "Så blev Carl Freer efterlyst" (in Swedish). Realtid.se. http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/200510/31/20051031112907_Realtid365/20051031112907_Realtid365.dbp.asp.
- ^ a b c Anthony James, Michael Gillard (2006-05-21). "The firm that blew it all in two years". London: The Sunday Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article722624.ece.
- ^ Lasse Wierup (2006-04-29). "Freer drömde om ett imperium" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. http://www.dn.se/ekonomi/freer-dromde-om-ett-imperium-1.552981.
- ^ "Carl Freer: Han är Carl Freers nya högra hand" (in Swedish). Realtid.se. 2008-02-18. http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/200802/17/20080217212609_Realtid022/20080217212609_Realtid022.dbp.asp. Retrieved 2009-05-29. ([ author's translation])
- ^ "Excerpt from a 8-K SEC Filing, filed by TIGER TELEMATICS INC". Norwalk, Connecticut,: EDGAR Online, Inc.. 2005-08-30. http://sec.edgar-online.com/tiger-telematics-inc/8-k-current-report-filing/2005/08/30/section6.aspx.
- ^ Smith, Tony (2005-10-27). "Gizmondo executives quit under cloud". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/27/gizmondo_shakeup/.
- ^ Sandberg, Hans (2007-11-13). "Carl Freer startar om Gizmondo". Realtid.se. http://www.realtid.se/ArticlePages/200711/13/20071113094753_Realtid421/20071113094753_Realtid421.dbp.asp. (author's translation)
- ^ "Georgia Tech lands $5M to develop Augmented Reality" (in en). Atlanta Business Chronicle (American City Business Journals). 2008-05-28. http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/05/26/daily19.html. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
- ^ "FilmFunds Acquires 3D Conversion Specialists Duran Duboi U.S." (in en). Hollywood Reporter (The Hollywood Reporter). 2011-12-20. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/filmfunds-duran-duboi-3D-conversion-275802. Retrieved 2011-12-27.
- ^ "FilmFunds to Use Crowdsourcing to Pitch 3D Conversions (Exclusive)" (in en). The Wrap Covering Hollywood (The Wrap News Inc.). 2011-12-20. http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-post/filmfunds-use-crowdsourcing-pitch-3d-conversions-33790. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ "FilmFunds buys post house - Crowdsourcing venture wants to be one-stop shop" (in en). Variety (magazine) (Reed Business Information). 2011-12-20. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047793?refCatId=19. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- ^ a b Jeffrey Fleishman; Richard Winton (2006-05-15). "Life in Fast Lane Long Before the Ferrari Crash". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ferrari15may15,0,3415150.story?page=1&coll=la-home-headlines.
- ^ Richard Winton; David Pierson (2006-04-27). "2nd Arrest Made in Ferrari Case". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/27/local/me-ferrari27. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
- ^ Anthony James; Michael Gillard (2006-05-21). "The firm that blew it all in two years". The Times. http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article722624.ece.
- ^ Randall Sullivan (2006-10-01). "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up". Wired Magazine. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/gizmondo.html?pg=1&topic=gizmondo&topic_set=.
- ^ "RICO filing". http://viewer.zoho.com/docs/oxaah.
- ^ "United States District Court Order - Simon Davies et al vs GetFugu Inc et al.". 2010-08-28. http://www.getfugu.com/rico_dismissal/getfugu_order.pdf.
- ^ "Company Sues Over 'Campaign of Whispers'". Courthouse News. August 30, 2010. http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/08/30/29977.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
