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===Scotland===
===Scotland===
In 2003, he was sued over legal fees, for £70,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article845691.ece| title=Wealth guru is sued by legal firm for £70,000|}}</ref>
In 2003, he was sued over legal fees, for £70,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article845691.ece| title=Wealth guru is sued by legal firm for £70,000|}}</ref>.
Also in 2003, after living there for twenty years, he opened [[Guthrie Castle]] to the public, which was made available for wedding parties, corporate functions, group bookings, or golf.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.scottishgolf.com/features/feature_display1a48.html| title=Is your game ready for Scotland's ultimate test?| author=Martin Vousden | date=25 - SEPTEMBER 2003| work=Scottish Golf}}</ref> The historic keep had remained in the Guthrie family until 1983, with the death of, Colonel Ivan Guthrie.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Rescued-castle-to-open-its.2449274.jp| title=Rescued castle to open its doors| date=04 August 2003| author=FRANK URQUHART| work=The Scotsman}}</ref>


===USA, Alabama===
===USA, Alabama===

Revision as of 22:57, 17 November 2009

Daniel S. Peña Sr.
File:DanPena.jpg
Born (1945-08-10) August 10, 1945 (age 79)
Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Occupation(s)Founder and Chairman of The Guthrie Group
Founder, CEO, Chairman of the Board of Great Western Resources Inc.
Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman of the Board of J.P.K. Industries, Bear Stearns & Co.
WebsiteDanpena.com
The Guthrie Group

Daniel S. Peña Sr., is a Hispanic American businessman, originally from Jacksonville, Florida, where he was born on August 10, 1945. Today he resides on his historic estate Guthrie Castle in Scotland and in Asia.

Biography

After service in the US Army, he received a BS in Business Administration from California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in 1971.

Upon leaving college, he worked in real estate, and then joined Paine-Webber, Jackson & Curtis and subsequently Bear Stearns and Co. After that, he was President and CEO of Kennedy Industries Inc. and then Chairman of JPK Industries, Inc.

In 1982, he founded Great Western Resources Inc., (GWRI), a Houston-based natural resource company. When he left the company in 1991, the company reportedly had a public market capitalization of over £300 million. Pena claims that he had built a $400 million company with Great Western but dimension, truth and especially that he made millions in selling it, may be doubted, as he was one of the smallest shareholders of GWRI when it was sold and also fired by the company's board of directors.

In 1997, Great Western Resources Inc. was purchased by Forcenergy, for $48.3 million,[1] which itself was bought in 2000, by Forest Oil Corporation, for about $615 million in stock [2] Harmac acquired Great Western Resources from Forest Oil, in July 2005.

Also in 2003, after living there for twenty years, he opened Guthrie Castle to the public, which was made available for wedding parties, corporate functions, group bookings, or golf.[3] The historic keep had remained in the Guthrie family until 1983, with the death of, Colonel Ivan Guthrie.[4]

Peña is founder and Chairman of The Guthrie Group[5], an investment consortium, incorporated on the Channel Islands in 2002 and named after his estate Guthrie Castle in Scotland. Peña also has business interests in the Philippines, where he is mentioned as the Chairman of iZone Technologies.[6]

Recognition

He claims to have been the recipient of many awards[citation needed] including the 1981 Latin Business Association Outstanding Business Owner Award[7]; the 1994 John Regan Award for Excellence by the Center of Entrepreneurial Management[citation needed]; Finalist for the 1997 Telly Awards for his talk called "Quantum Leap Advantage"[8]; the American International Real Estate Expo and Conference AIREEC 2008,“Man of the Year Award” and the 2008 AIREEC “Inspirational Leadership Award”[9].

In 1983 journalist Al Martinez portrayed Dan Pena in the Los Angeles Times.[10] In said article, Al Martinez describes Pena as "already a wealthy oil broker" with over $50 million dollars revenues in just one year, attempting to buy his own oil refinery.[11] He has also been written about in The Sunday Times,[12] The Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian.[citation needed] He has also been featured on US, UK and German television.[citation needed]

Works

  • Daniel S. Peña, Sr (2004). "Why Litigation Is Nothing More Than A Business Tool - 26 Unbreakable Rules of Litigation!". MediaDefamation.org. Retrieved 2009-05-15.

In 1997, he self-published the autobiographical book “Build Your Own Guthrie” through a company controlled by him, Great Wisdom Publishing, which had been a subsidiary of International Media Holdings, Inc. (IMH, formerly Success Development International, SDI), where he was a majority shareholder.[13] In 1999, the British mail-order entrepreneur Stuart Goldsmith, through his company Medina Ltd, published a revised edition of that book under the title "Your First 100 Million", which they offered for £277.[14] The Second Edition of "Your First Hundred Million" has been released in July 2009 selling at $197.00 USD[15]

Controversies

Over the years, Peña has been a strong proponent of using litigation as a business tools and has been involved in a number of legal disputes.

India

In India, former business partner Srinivas Mahesh filed a complaint with cyber crime police about an alleged fraud, which after a police investigation proved to be without substance.[16] The cyber crime police also filed a report clearing Pena from all charges.[17]

Canada

In that context of Bill Smith and the company he founded, Almond Networks Inc., Peña appeared as affiant for Bill Smith in January 2008 at the Superior Court of Canada in Montreal.[18] Plaintiff in that matter was the company Saphie Number One Ltd., which according to the Jersey Channel Islands Corporate Registry has the exactly same address like The Guthrie Group at the Conway House in St. Helier, Jersey[19]. Later during the court's examination of Pena, he admitted that he was the "principal beneficial owner and shareholder" of Saphie Number One Ltd. (see Examination of Mr Peña, January 17, 2007, at 221). Same court document also states that in fact Dan Peña took control over the business of Almond Networks, saying that "Mr Pena finally had to admit that he had in fact taken over the assets of Almond in late October 2005" (paragraphs 22 and 52) and that "Ms Hall was not just a TGG consultant but had been the interim CFO of Almond from February 2005." Assets owned by Almond Networks according to that document were among others the mp3-download sites (and others) like MP3downloading.com, MP3downloadhq.com or MP3dollars.com. Also the domain almondnetworks.com is now owned by Saphie Number One Ltd. The judges at this Superior Court of Canada came to the conclusion (#45) that Peña's "allegations turned out to be not only incomplete, but often misleading and sometimes false. Confronted by the many facts and admissions extracted from Mr Peña during his examination, Plaintiff's only argument was that those facts were not material. The Court disagrees. In the Court's opinion, the examination of Mr Peña as well as his Undertaking responses demonstrate that Plaintiff violated the doctrine of full and frank disclosure!" [20] Two of the defendants in that law suit in Montreal, Daniel Assouline and Michael Dadoun, are reported as "trading on web users' ignorance by selling inadequate or unnecessary technical support for free software."[21] In a separate matter, Assouline and Dadoun, the owner of Market Engines, have sued Dan Pena and Sally Hall. In its decision of October 1st, 2009, the Superior Court of Canada[22] shares most of the views of Assouline and Dadoun. According to the allegations, Peña and Hall, together with others, violated the copyrights and illegally used trademarks and trade secrets of Market Engines. In this regard, they allege the fact that "the resulting bogus sale of assets of Almond Networks to Saphie Number One Ltd. was a fraudulent scheme designed to camouflage and seal the calculated decision of Smith and Hall Peña to illegally acquire a competitive advantage and usurp's MP3 music download revenues and assets." (paragraph 27 et al) The court states further more that "Saphie Number One Ltd. was created as part of a fraudulent scheme to hide the ongoing activities of Smith and Peña." (paragraph 106). It's also interesting that "[52] The Tribunal finds that some fraud charges against Peña and Hall have been committed in Montreal."

Scotland

In 2003, he was sued over legal fees, for £70,000.[23].

USA, Alabama

In October 2008, Peña and others have been sued about a "contractual issue" in Alabama.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Forcenergy announces closing of acquisition of Great Western Resources Inc". Business Wire. January 22, 1997.
  2. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; FOREST OIL AGREES TO BUY FORCENERGY, A RIVAL". The New York Times. July 11, 2000.
  3. ^ Martin Vousden (25 - SEPTEMBER 2003). "Is your game ready for Scotland's ultimate test?". Scottish Golf. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ FRANK URQUHART (04 August 2003). "Rescued castle to open its doors". The Scotsman. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "JFSC Companies Registry".
  6. ^ "iZone Technologies Website". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ "Dan Pena Latin Business Association Outstanding Business Owner Award 1981"".
  8. ^ "Dan Pena Finalist Telly Awards 1997"".
  9. ^ "Dan Pena Sr. Wins Multiple AIREEC Awards"".
  10. ^ Al Martinez (August 9, 1983). "The Latino Wealthy - a new breed". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Al Martinez (August 9, 1983). "original article LA Times - a new breed". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Mark Macaskill (July 20, 2003). "Wealth guru is sued by legal firm for £70,000". The Sunday Times.
  13. ^ "SEC Info on International Media Holdings, Inc".
  14. ^ "Stuart Goldsmith's Sales Letter for "Your First Hundred Million"".
  15. ^ "Your First 100 Million 2nd Edition"".
  16. ^ "India Police B-report clearing Pena from allegations".
  17. ^ "Cleared of charges".
  18. ^ "Saphie Number One Ltd. c. 6091636 Canada Inc".
  19. ^ https://www.jerseyfsc.org/registry/documentsearch/NameDetail.aspx?id=116451. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ http://whois.domaintools.com/almondnetworks.com. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ Danny Bradbury (February 23, 2006). "Money for nothing". The Guardian.
  22. ^ http://www.canlii.org/fr/qc/qccs/doc/2009/2009qccs4531/2009qccs4531.html
  23. ^ "Wealth guru is sued by legal firm for £70,000". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  24. ^ http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-alndce/case_no-2:2008cv01844/case_id-124507. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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