Recent developments in the soap opera that is legal authorities' attempts to get Firepower principal Tim Johnston to show up in court:
Firepower boss avoids night in jail, despite a warrant for his arrest having indeed been issued. "Our client has every intention to voluntarily appear before court on Friday", says his lawyer.
Firepower boss delusional, court told ("I'm sorry, m'lud, but it's entirely impossible for my client to attend these proceedings. He's hopelessly delusional, don't you know. The man actually believes himself to be innocent.")
Oh, and one Geoff McDonald, erstwhile spokesdude for Firepower's liquidators, has himself been struck off for two years over a conflict of interest.
I presume there's somebody, somewhere in the world, who had a business relationship with Firepower and wasn't in some way crooked. But I don't, off the top of my head, know who that somebody might be.
UPDATE: Tim's (finally) been arrested.
3 December 2009 at 11:42 am
I heard on ABC radio last night that the doctor didn't examine him in any way, didn't even meet him, but gave the letter after talking to him over the phone.
My google-fu is weak, and I can't find the corresponding details in any articles.
3 December 2009 at 11:43 am
Found it!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/02/2760128.htm?site=perth
*Justice Siopis said Dr MacKay made the recommendation without actually examining the Firepower founder*
3 December 2009 at 12:03 pm
Who do you think will play Tim in the movie?
Robin Williams? Will Ferrell? Jim Carrey perhaps?....
Definitely make for a good Seinfeld or Curb episode.... :)
3 December 2009 at 4:05 pm
And Dan is played by Tim Minchin.
3 December 2009 at 7:08 pm
better than Nick Minchin...
3 December 2009 at 11:06 pm
I think my favourite quote from the doctor is this:
"...he exhibited many delusional thoughts," Dr Mackay said. "He said he thought people were following him or after him or trying to harm him."
I don't think I'd describe those thoughts as delusional given how many unhappy creditors Firepower has.
4 December 2009 at 12:36 am
Clearly, Tim must for his own safety be put in protective custody, immediately.
It's statistically improbable that the kiddy-fiddlers, informants and bent cops that may share his facility were actually victims of the Firepower fraud. But I imagine they could derive a lot of innocent entertainment from persuading Tim that, by some freak of chance, they all actually did lose their life savings by buying his shares.
4 December 2009 at 3:29 pm
Well, looks like the long arm 'o the law has finally caught up with Tim.
Story at the NineMSN news site: Firepower boss arrested on Gold Coast.
4 December 2009 at 3:31 pm
In a new development, news.com.au is reporting that Tim Johnston has been arrested:
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,26439922-5006301,00.html
4 December 2009 at 3:31 pm
I was just this moment adding an update to mention that :-).
5 December 2009 at 12:59 am
I just found this advert for a fuel-saving device in a old marvel comic from 1967. It seems not much has changed since then.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t243/TaBu-NiW/Avengers041_07b.jpg
5 December 2009 at 11:37 am
OK, that one's worth a picture:
Here's more about the "GT Energy Chamber", which seems to just have been a flow-restrictor for the fuel line. I bet somebody's still selling it, too.