Attorney mum on criminal record of man suing PurchasePro

Grace Leong

Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 | 11:28 a.m.

An attorney for All Creative Technologies Inc., which accused PurchasePro.com Inc. last week of stealing All Creative's business plan and trade secrets, declined to comment on PurchasePro's charges that the racketeering lawsuit is "without merit" and that the man behind All Creative is a criminal.

PurchasePro last week cast doubts on the merits of the case, saying Russell Craig Pike, whom it identified as the man behind the suit, is "notorious in Las Vegas for prior criminal activity."

PurchasePro said its chief executive, Charles Johnson Jr., was an investor in All Creative and lost his entire investment.

Pike was indicted in U.S. District Court on July 9, 1997, on several counts of bank fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting. He was sentenced in June 1999 after pleading guilty to money laundering, a prison official said.

Prison officials say he was committed into the minimum-security Federal Prison Camp near Nellis Air Force Base on July 16, 1999, and is scheduled to be released Oct. 27, 2003.

Randall Jones, one of All Creative's attorneys, declined comment on PurchasePro's response and on Pike. He also declined to reveal whether All Creative has any other shareholders besides Pike.

Pike has been a frequent subject of litigation in Las Vegas courts.

Pike filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 11, 1996. It was discharged on May 24, 1999. His company, Advanced Cart Technology Inc. -- which makes and sells casino carts and slot stands -- was forced by its creditors to file Chapter 7 on June 17, 1996. That filing was discharged on Aug. 21, 1998.

Meanwhile, court records show Pike, his wife, Dinah and his companies, Advanced Cart and a subsidiary, All Creative Technologies, were also involved in at least one lawsuit in U.S. District Court and 15 other lawsuits between 1985 and 1999 in Clark County District Court.

* PDS Financial Corp. of Eden Prairie, Minn., sued Advanced Cart, Pike and his wife and The Pike Family Trust on June 3, 1996, alleging they improperly transferred Advanced Cart's assets to a Louisiana affiliate and another Pike company, Casino Carts & Cabinetry, to avoid foreclosure after they defaulted on more than $300,000 in loans.

In a U.S. District Court suit, PDS, which said its loans to Advanced Cart were collaterized by the company's equipment, patents and royalties, said the assets were transferred to Advanced Cart Technology Inc. of Louisiana allegedly when Pike and Advanced Cart were insolvent.

PDS dropped its charges against Advanced Cart and its Louisiana affiliate on Aug. 29, 1997. The remainder of the suit is pending.

* Mark Margolis and more than 70 Advanced Cart shareholders sued Pike on Aug. 17, 1998, alleging they were tricked by Pike's claims that the company had exclusive technology rights into investing more than $2.8 million.

The shareholders said their investments were "virtually worthless" because All Creative -- which they said was forced into bankruptcy on Aug. 8, 1996, by its creditors -- was denied a discharge of its filing after the U.S. Bankruptcy court learned that Pike allegedly destroyed his two companies' financial records and had withdrawn substantial funds from Advanced Cart in 1997 to place gaming bets of more than $1 million.

Pike signed more than 70 confessions of judgment on March 10, 1999, agreeing to return the funds to the shareholders.

The case was dismissed on Dec. 9, 1999.

Mirage was awarded $300,000 in damages on July 7, 1998.

The suit was dismissed on July 22, 1999.

Primerit, which won a judgment on May 30, 1996, for $2.435 million, dropped its charges against Dinah Pike on Nov. 12, 1997.

The plaintiffs won an injunction on Nov. 25, 1996, to stop the defendants from using the list.

Vegas Security won a $12,151 judgment on Jan. 25, 1993.

The Employment Security Division won a judgment on March 8, 1996, for $1,062 and for $4,618 on May 3, 1996. The state won a third judgment on June 19, 1997, for $29,545.

The law firm, which specializes in intellectual property law, said it was retained from May 1994 through Jan. 1996 to draft contracts, agreements and "provide consultation services for new intellectual property projects."

The case was dismissed on Nov. 12, 1999.

Miller won a judgment on Dec. 20, 1985, to recover $9,574.