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Animal Rights Extremists Charged With RICO and Con
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by tigers9 on August 28, 2007
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http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-28-2007/0004653030&EDATE=
Animal Rights Extremists Charged With RICO and Conspiracy
VIENNA, Va., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Feld Entertainment,
Inc., which produces Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey(R), today filed a
lawsuit against the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (ASPCA) and a number of other animal rights organizations charging
them with conspiracy and numerous violations of the Federal Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The RICO lawsuit is a direct result of the discovery of more than one
hundred thousand dollars in regular payments to Tom Rider, a plaintiff in
litigation filed by various animal rights groups against Feld Entertainment
in 2000. The lawsuit alleges that Rider, a former Feld Entertainment
employee, and the other activist defendants engaged in a pattern of
racketeering activity consisting in part of payments to Rider through an
organization controlled by the activist defendants' lawyers. The lawsuit
alleges that under RICO, these payments constituted bribes and illegal
gratuity payments. The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants took
actions to conceal their conduct.
Feld Entertainment's lawsuit sets forth the alleged facts in detail. In
addition to the claim that Rider is a "paid plaintiff," the lawsuit alleges
that the defendants committed various illegal acts, including bribery,
obstruction of justice, wire fraud and mail fraud, making them all subject
to the federal RICO statute.
"This lawsuit is a direct result of the animal rights extremists'
agenda to deny families in the United States entertainment choices like the
circus and their ongoing conspiracy to harm Feld Entertainment," stated
Stephen Payne, a spokesperson for Feld Entertainment. "The 65-page
complaint speaks for itself and documents the RICO violations that Feld
Entertainment has alleged. Feld Entertainment looks forward to proving to a
jury the magnitude and scope of the defendants' conduct."
The defendants named in the lawsuit include the ASPCA, the Animal
Welfare Institute (AWI), The Fund for Animals (FFA), the Animal Protection
Institute (API), the Wildlife Advocacy Project (WAP) and Tom Rider.
Feld Entertainment is the world's leading producer of live family
entertainment. The company's spectaculars have toured in 178 US cities, 50
countries and on six continents, and are seen by millions of people each
year. In 1995, Feld Entertainment established the Ringling Bros. and Barnum
& Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation(R), a state-of-the-art facility
which has become a recognized leader in the conservation, study and care of
the endangered Asian elephant.
More information about Feld Entertainment is available online at
http://www.feldentertainment.com. Additional information on the company's
conservation efforts and the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant
Conservation can be found at http://www.elephantcenter.com. For more
information please contact the media hotline at (703) 448-4120.
SOURCE Feld Entertainment, Inc.
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Link to this page:
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Related links:
· http://www.elephantcenter.com
· http://www.feldentertainment.com
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