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| SecurityProNews > Insider Reports > Insider > AOL Digs For Gold In Spammer's Yard |
[ insider_reports_insider ]AOL Digs For Gold In Spammer's Yard
David Utter Staff Writer 2006-08-17  Insider Reports RSS Feed
The company believes that notorious spammer Davis Wolfgang Hawke buried over $350,000 in gold and platinum in his backyard, and now the company wants to take a backhoe to the property.
Hawke may have precious metal stashes hidden all over the country. Ever since he skipped town after losing a case brought by AOL against him for his spamming activities, a number of stories of buried treasure from here to Central America and Southeast Asia have followed. The Boston Herald reported that AOL believes some of the missing bounty could be in his parents' backyard. AOL won a $12.8 million judgment against Hawke, who promptly fled the country before the court rendered a verdict. Court documents that had been under seal allege Hawke buried precious metals in his mother's garden. An ex-girlfriend of the spammer and neo-Nazi said he made that claim to her. The treasure could be in other places as well. Hawke's grandfather testified that Hawke told him he'd buried gold somewhere in New Hampshire. Other potential treasure spots could be in Belize or Thailand. But the search will start in Medfield, Massachusetts, with heavy equipment and other excavation tools. An AP report cited a Hawke comment to his mother that investigators would need to dig up five states to find his hidden caches of gold. Apparently, Hawke opted for precious metals because they would be harder for authorities to seize as part of a judgment. AOL is going to try anyway, but without being too obtrusive about doing so. "The dig isn't something out of"Treasure Island," AOL spokesman Nicholas Graham said in the report. "This is a court-directed, judge-approved legal process that is simply aimed at responsibly recovering hidden assets." AOL obtained that court permission after presenting evidence that Hawke purchased the precious metals from Boston-area firms like J.J. Teaparty Inc. Hawke evidently preferred numismatic purchases instead of more showy flashes of wealth like Escalades and other high-priced goods. Hawke was a focal point of the Brian McWilliams novel, "Spam Kings." McWilliams interviewed Hawke for the book. In the AP report, McWilliams observed that Hawke "lived like a pauper" despite the money his massive spamming schemes were earning. --- Tags: AOL, Davis Hawke Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Yahoo! My Web |  Furl
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View All Articles by David Utter About the Author: David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews. More insider_reports_insider Articles Insider Reports RSS Feed
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