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Purpose of this Website

What started as a small personal complaint grew into a business community problem within the Columbus GA area in 2007. There have been many individuals and companies affected by the unethical and criminal Cobra Collection Agency and Janice B. Ledden, the President and Owner. This website was created to assist the many "clients" (victims) of Cobra Collections as well as protect others from the ongoing scams of Janice Ledden.

Cobra Collections collected monies from debtors for their business clients but never pay them their share. Further, if they did pay, the checks were often returned NSF. There have been many bad checks issued. One claim is that they haved "raided" bank accounts even after a debt has been paid. These are indisputable and can be corroborated by several parties.

Ultimately, Janice and Michael Ledden fled the Columbus GA area in Summer 2007 as local news media and local businesses sought to find them and hold them accountable. They have recently been discovered working for employers in the Fairbanks, Alaska area.

There is valuable information here so that "clients" and other interested parties know who and what they are up against. There is recourse. The wheels of justice turn slowly but they do turn if you have the right information. In the Greater Columbus GA and Phenix City AL area, there are few people that know the full story. They only know their very small piece. This informational website paints a more fuller picture of the current situation. Telling the truth is a good offense (and defense) against those who wish to make an ongoing effort to scam others.

Disclaimer: Efforts has been made to keep the contents of this page factual and objective. This project is an entirely voluntary effort and I receive no compensation for doing this. In fact, I am paying in with my time, energy, and maintenance cost for this website. I simply cannot stand by knowing that I can do something about it.

Street Sign of the Ledden's Neighborhood?
(Updated: 6/23/09)

I was recently sent a digital photo that allegedly shows the street name which the Ledden's live on. I have been told there are not many houses on Pay Streak Drive. Does anyone know this street? Has anyone driven into this neighborhood? We are looking forward to finding out the exact house and the living standard they are at. I have been told that rents are not cheap in Fairbanks, Alaska. How much does a couple have to make to support a family of four in this neighborhood of Fairbanks, Alaska?

If anyone has recent photos of either Michael or Janice, please email them to me so that they can be better identified by others. If their appearance has substantially changed from the photos on this website, please provide an accurate description of the physical changes.

Are the Ledden's Harassing Others?
(Updated: 6/12/09)

I am hearing rumblings about the Ledden's alleged harassment and threats to some of their ex-staff members. This disturbs me greatly. However, what can they harass them about? For telling people the truth of their prior business activities in Columbus GA and that Janice was a felon and an ex-convict? Or that Michael is willing participant and partner of Janice? Well, no one can get into any trouble for telling the truth! No one signed any confidentiality agreements to keep this website and the information herein a secret. It is publicly available and most of this information can be substantiated through documentation, TV news stories, police reports, witnesses, and first-hand testimony. I have little details at this point but I am sure I will eventually hear more if this harassment issue escalates.

The Ledden's Infiltration Tactics Comes to Light
(Updated: 6/11/09)

One of the biggest surprises that was brought to my attention last year was Janice's amazing ability to so thoroughly and deeply infiltrate the inside operations of a law firm. It was already bad enough that the employers at the law firm did not conduct a background check and verify her references. But she gained access to highly-sensitive client, billing, personnel, payroll, and bookkeeping files and information! In the office, she managed to convince her superiors to install a security video camera within the office to monitor activity. Apparently, Janice liked to know what was going on and monitor who came in and went out of the office.

In collaboration with Michael, who apparently has some technical skills with computers, they convinced her superiors to install a backup server in the Ledden's home presumably under the guise of protecting the company's data. My thinking is, why not install this server at one of the attorney's homes instead? After all, they own the company and if anyone "owns" the data, it would be them. Nevertheless, Janice and Michael set up this backup company server within their home and it was there for an extended period of time (at least a year). It was only after Lynn Levengood and his Former Business Partner (FBP) separated that arrangements were made to go into the Ledden's home to retrieve this backup server. (If anyone has the street address of the Ledden's current home, please feel free to contact me. I am quite certain there are many people who would like to correspond directly with Janice & Michael personally.)

Part of Janice's early strategy was to sabotage and oust the law firm's previous bookkeeper by concocting a story that the bookkeeper was allegedly embezzling the company for $30,000. Apparently, there was a lot of missing or sabotaged paperwork which made it look like the bookkeeper had become sloppy in the quality of her work or she was becoming careless with the work. The stress of the situation caused the bookkeeper to leave the law firm which allowed Janice to slip into that very important and central position.

Keep in mind that most people don't go out of their way seeking MORE work and responsibility. And when Janice decided to take on more, it was inevitable the unknowing employers would be impressed by her "initiative" and hand the reins over to her. After she took over many of the crucial bookkeeping, billing, and payroll responsbilities, there was little talk of the alleged embezzled money.

Keep in mind that Janice now has accomplices that work with her. She could not have done all this alone. Janice's most important ally was Levengood. Levengood was the senior attorney who casually dismissed this website as part of the "90% of the stuff on the Internet are lies". I can personally attest that Janice has the charm and intelligence to say the right things to win over people in authority positions. With Levengood in her corner, Janice was effectively "protected" from ever being fired despite complaints and concerns by FBP and his staff.

Michael, the ever-supportive husband (I used to think he was gullible but now I think he is a fully-willing accomplice), provided the technical computer support to Janice to facilitate her creative schemes. He was given a considerable amount of access to work on the office computers. However, I believe his access diminished over time as the information on this website spread throughout the office.

Because of this known symbiotic, working relationship with Michael, Janice would occasionally "remind" the staff that she had the ability of tracking anything anyone typed from her home. She gave the impression that they had installed tracking software that would feed information to the backup server at their home. It is theoretically possible but it would require a high degree of technical knowledge and specialized software to pull that off. (I am qualified to speak on this because in a prior life, I was a database programmer and also had many technical certifications in computer networking, operating systems, and servers. I manage my office systems and my websites today.) Personally, I think Janice bluffed and instilled FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) into the office staff.

Adding to the trio of Janice, Michael, and Levengood, there is the matter of this naive receptionist who has taken to Janice as a surrogate mother figure. She is the lookout for Janice in the office and covers for her. The receptionist has known about this website for a long time but continues to disregard the information and the warnings herein. (Ms. Receptionist, you think you are doing good but you are only hurting your own reputation. Don't ever say no one wanted tried to warn you about the Leddens. I am going to find out your name one day soon. I know the names of many of Janice's relatives and ex-employees but I have respectfully left their names out of this so I will likely do the same for you unless someone finds out you are engaging in criminal activity. If you ever have a change of heart, you can contact me.)

We now have the quartet of Janice, Michael, Levengood, and the receptionist all working together. The Fairbanks' Fabulous Foursome (FFF). They are slowly becoming the business pariahs of Fairbanks. Let anyone who does business or interacts with them beware.

At this point, Levengood's office where Janice & the receptionist works from is located in a different part of the same office building as FBP's office. I am guessing it is quite unpleasant for the FBP staff to run into Levengood's staff in the hallways.

I believe FBP's team has since cleaned up the mess from Janice's infiltration reign into the prior joint law firm but the vicinity to Levengood's office still makes for a tense and unhappy situation.

Janice Ledden Works for Fairbanks Attorney Lynn Levengood
(Updated: 6/9/09)

As promised, I am providing my first update. I have decided to do this in smaller chunks because of my personal distaste in writing about this subject. I can only take doing this a little bit at a time.

An ex-employee of the Fairbanks law firm has finally given me permission to report what I had known and, in fact, corroborated what others had told me previously. She has also provided me some surprising new information.

First, I can report that Janice Ledden is now working exclusively for Attorney Lynn E. Levengood in Fairbanks, Alaska. Janice is working in multiple capacities as Office Manager, Billing Clerk, and Collections Agent for Mr. Levengood.

Levengood and his Former Business Partner (FBP) have long known about this website after their mutual employees brought this website to their attention to it in 2008. However, Levengood believed that "90% of the stuff on the Internet are lies" including this website. Janice, the charming, consummate story-teller that she is has played this delusional notion up with Levengood. The "90% Internet lies theory" is only true if you are perusing the dark and sleazy corners of the Internet. Levengood is either oblivious or stupid if he can dismiss all the information, reports, and testimony on this website.

From my understanding, the ongoing support of Janice was a sensitive point between Levengood and FBP. FBP was very concerned and upset about having Janice within their law firm but Levengood wanted to keep Janice aboard. Ultimately, things came to a head in Spring 2009 which lead to the business separation of Levengood and FBP. My speculation is that the "Janice Factor" played a large part in the separation which I believe is ultimately for the good of FBP and will eventually lead to the reputational downfall of Levengood.

FBP made an early mistake by working with Janice but from what I now know, he will be forgiven for any errors in judgment he made and his damaged reputation will recover now that a business cancer in his midst has since been ejected from his team.

In any case, Levengood is now on his own and wants to be semi-retired. He wants to make money without having to work too hard. He can do this by having Janice become the primary revenue generator through her "creative" billing and collection activities. Turning a blind eye to Janice's "creative" business activities appears to be the M.O. here. My informants tell me that Janice has manipulated her receptionist friend into being an obedient and loyal accomplice. The speculation is that Janice continues to be a mother figure to this receptionist. So, the receptionist continues on ignorantly despite friendly warnings given to her about working and associating with Janice.

Janice operates today running a very tight ship where she insists on having all information come through her. She will say or do what is necessary to ensure that she remains in good graces with Levengood. I understand she keeps all clients and complaints away from Levengood. Essentially, she treats him like a mushroom, "keeping him in the dark and feeding him *bleep*."

Basically, Janice has two people wrapped around her finger who are stupid or in plain denial. Either way, enough time has passed where I can say that they deserve what is coming to them when their personal and business reputation blows up in Fairbanks. As small as I think Columbus GA is, Fairbanks is even smaller.

Complaints by previous clients are a regular, if not daily, occurrence as Janice continues her rampage of allegedly unauthorized account charges and creative billing activities. I am certain that she entirely ignores the rules set by the Fair Debt Collections Practice Act. It happened here in Columbus GA and it is most certainly happening in Fairbanks.

This is my stopping point of this update. I will provide another update in another week or so. There are more interesting details to come.

Major Update Coming Soon!
(Updated: 6/3/09)

Just a quick note, I will be writing a major news update within the next couple of weeks. Maintaining this website is certainly not close to being a high priority and this certainly is not a fun subject to write about which is why I have been slow in getting some important information out.

I have received some information from an important contact that will uncover the mystery of Janice's activities the past year. Some of this information I knew earlier but had to withhold from the public. I also needed to have it corroborated before releasing it. I have been in communication by phone and email recently with someone who had inside information to the inner workings of the law firm Janice was working at. That person is allowing me to tell the story from their perspective because of the distress Janice has caused so many people.

I promise you, the information I will present will be eye-opening. When I first heard about it, I could not believe my ears. It was simply too incredulous to even me. But I will say as a teaser, some of my predictions (unfortunately) have come true. Old habits truly die hard.

Stay tuned. You won't be disappointed.

Significant Increase in Alaska Readership to this Website (Updated: 2/16/09)

Through website logs, I have been monitoring the Internet traffic coming to this website and have found that Internet traffic from Alaska has increased significantly as news broke out on the current whereabouts of Janice and Michael Ledden in Fairbanks Alaska. With the exception of my Internet connection to the website, the top Internet traffic comes from Alaskan computers using ACSAlaska.net, GCI.net, and another Fairbanks law firm (unrelated to the one currently employing Janice). I find it interesting that this unrelated law firm in Fairbanks is following this website so closely. But hey, this information is for everyone to read.

Folks in Columbus Georgia are slowly becoming aware of the recent revival of this website. I have even received email from people I have not dealt with since 2007! I am amazed they still follow this website.

It now looks like we now have two small communities interested in this obscure website, the ones in Fairbanks Alaska and the ones in Columbus Georgia.

Michael Ledden Discovered Working for "West Valley Vision Center" in Fairbanks Alaska (Updated: 4/4/09)

A Google Search of "Michael Ledden in Fairbanks Alaska" reveals that Michael now works for "West Valley Vision Center Inc." According to the Alaska Secretary of State website, Dr. Barbara Keys is the President of West Valley Vision Center Inc. Her company website says she is the Owner and Optometrist for the firm. I am guessing Dr. Keys does not know that one of her employees is married to an ex-con and himself involved with a business scandal in Columbus Georgia.

Again, we seem to have a case of another innocent Alaskan employer who has not run a background or reference check.

According to his bio on the website, Michael is an Apprenticing Optician and Optical Technician. How amazingly stupid is Michael for continuing to stay married to a criminal on the run. Once again, I give credit to Janice's intelligence and charismatic personality for being able to hold on to her 4th husband so successfully.

Note: As of March 31, 2009, it appears that Michael's bio has been removed from the West Valley Vision Center website. His bio may have been removed days or even weeks earlier. This either means that Michael is no longer with that company or that the company was too embarrassed to leave Michael's bio up knowing he (along with his wife, Janice) have a checkered background. My guess is that he is no longer with the company. Either way, Dr. Barbara Keys and her staff have taken measures that will ensure their reputation stays clean. After all, what doctor wants to have someone onstaff that was involved with a business community scandal?

To the Owner/Managers of the Fairbanks Law Firm Employing Janice Ledden (Updated: 2/9/09)

I want you to know that I know the name of you, your law firm, your business address, and your contact information. I am telling you this out of professional courtesy so that you are not blind-sided later on if more information is revealed. On behalf of myself and other members of the Columbus GA business community, we want to see justice served and we believe that Janice should be brought back to Georgia to face the criminal charges against her.

I understand this is not your fight but if you knowingly employ a person with a criminal past and place her in a position of sensitive personal, corporate, financial, and client information, you stand to be liable for any actions Janice has taken on behalf of your law firm. Further, your reputation in Alaska as attorneys and your law firm could be damaged with your continued association and employment of Janice Ledden.

No one here in Columbus GA bears anyone in Fairbanks Alaska any malice or ill will. Very few will hold it against you for being fooled by Janice Ledden. Many of us in Columbus GA were fooled for much longer. However, there is a growing impatience by many that Janice got away scott-free to Alaska. There are now concerned citizens in Fairbanks that unhappy that she lives and works in their community.

There is no wish to embarass you or your law firm. If we wanted to do that, we could have placed your names and contact information here but we have chosen not to do so. I should give fair warning that the time may eventually come when someone may be compelled to contact the local news media and other legal or government authorities in Alaska.

Is one employee with a criminal past really worth your loyalty and reputation? Please think about this and reconsider your position in keeping Janice Ledden in your employment. You may want to consider encouraging Janice to resign and offer her severance pay so that she leaves your law firm peacefully to solve your huge potential liability.

I predict that you are sitting on a ticking time bomb that will go off causing a business scandal in Fairbanks at some point. Old habits die hard and I am confident Janice is up to her old tricks. It is all a matter of time. If it were me, I would want to be proactive about this instead of being reactive after irreparable damage has been done.

Second Fairbanks Citizen Comes Forward on the Activities of Janice and Michael Ledden (Updated: 2/9/09)

Since last night's update, a second concerned Fairbanks citizen stepped forward to report what they knew about Janice and Michael Ledden. It appears that word is getting out on Janice Ledden's checkered past. There is some new information which I will report but most of the information I received corroborated the information from the first Fairbanks citizen. It appears that the second Fairbanks citizen found about Janice's true past from this website since Summer 2008. The second Fairbanks citizen wishes to remain anonymous and I will honor that request.

I have been aggressively trying to find out how much the employers of Janice Ledden know about her criminal past. Although I cannot yet confirm this, I have reason to believe that the employers now know about Janice's past but have chosen not to do anything about it. It is incomprehensible to me how Janice has managed to hold on to her job this long. I am quite amazed. It goes to show either how smart Janice is or how gullible her employers are.

It appears that a new Collections Department was formed for this Fairbanks law firm after Janice was employed and that she appears to be reasonably successful in her collections efforts. Further, it now appears that several Fairbanks businesses are now utilizing her collection services.

It appears that Janice and Michael are still driving their pale green Ford Escape which now has an Alaska Auto Tag of #EWF 994.

Janice Discovered Working for Small Fairbanks Alaska Law Firm (Updated: 2/7/09)

It has been over a year since there has been any substantial update on the whereabouts of Janice and Michael Ledden. We already knew that Janice and Michael settled into their new lives in Fairbanks Alaska after they fled Columbus, GA in 2007. Beyond that, very little was known until I received an email and phone call tonight from a very concerned Fairbanks Alaska citizen. The person that contacted me wishes to remain anonymous and I will honor that request.

Janice currently works as an Office Manager for a small law firm (which I have been asked to not publicly name or identify) in Fairbanks Alaska. Janice goes by "Jan Ledden" in Fairbanks Alaska. It is unclear what "Jan's" current responsibilities are but I was told that during her employment, she did payroll, billing, managed personnel files, and oversaw the collections department. Essentially, "Jan" is back in the position of handling sensitive personal, company, and financial information.

I was told she has been in this position for around 1.5 years. This loosely coincides with her departure from Columbus, GA and arrival into the Fairbanks Alaska area. Janice being the intelligent, charismatic woman that she can be obviously managed to talk some unknowing employer into hiring her. It appears that this employer did not do much of a background or reference check otherwise they would have discovered Janice's checkered past and not hire her.

It is unclear (at this time) whether the employer knows about Janice's past. However, this employer and law firm stands to be potentially liable for any of Janice's actions if they continue employing her if they know about her criminal past. This employer and law firm should take measures to protect the firm's employees and clients by terminating Janice's employment.

It is also unclear exactly how many of Janice's co-workers know about her checkered past although it seems likely some have found and read this website and now know the truth about her. I feel sorry for the co-workers that have to endure Janice's presence not knowing when a bomb will drop causing havoc for them and their employer to clean up.

I have been informed that Janice continues to visit the local Army base to receive medical care (using Michael Ledden's military medical benefits).

I have been told that Michael Ledden is currently working at an eyeclass clinic and he has also been an occasional computer technician for this law firm. It would not surprise me if Janice has secretly asked Michael to backup confidential company files so that if she gets caught and gets fired, she can use those files and set up shop elsewhere. If she backs up that law firm's collections files, I have no doubt she will continue collecting on those files even if her employment was terminated. That is exactly what happened in Columbus, GA and that is what will likely happen in Fairbanks Alaska.

Because it appears Janice has managed to entrench herself with this law firm, her access to sensitive personnel and client files, the collections department, and consequently interacted with many business clients, it would not surprise me if a scandal breaks out in the Fairbanks Alaska business community sometime in the near future.

To the Employees of the Fairbanks Alaska Law Firm (Updated: 2/7/09)

We need your help to find additional information on Janice and Michael Ledden. If you have not already done so, you should read this website completely and view all the videos. This was a big deal for the Columbus, GA business community in 2007. This will be a big deal for the Fairbanks, Alaska business community when Janice is ultimately found out.

Your employer made a big mistake in hiring Janice Ledden without conducting a background and reference check. If your employer knows about Janice's criminal past and not doing anything to protect you and their clients, they will soon have a big problem on their hands. I believe that Janice's employment must be terminated immediately. She is a pariah to any company or business she works for and cannot be trusted.

There is certain information I cannot publicly disclose at the request of certain authorities but you can believe that your association with Janice can be a problem for you unless you stay informed and stay "in the loop". The way to to "stay in the loop" is to directly contact me.

Many of you employees and your firm's business clients will ultimately suffer the fallout if you do not band together, share information, and take proactive measures to protect yourself. Janice now has access to many of your personnel, financial, and client's files and information. Every day that Janice works for your employer is one more additional day's worth of contact that can affect you all. If you don't believe it, ask the ex-employees and ex-clients in Columbus, GA that worked with Janice. Many are paying a heavy price for being associated with her for so long.

I thank the Fairbanks concerned citizen but we need more information on this case so I can forward it to the police. You can directly email me at matt30060@gmail.com and we can make arrangements to have a conversation.

Television News Stories (Updated: 12/14/07)

WTVM Channel 9: July 6, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WRBL Channel 3: June 14, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WTVM Channel 9: June 6, 2007 - 6pm broadcast. Read the article.

WTVM Channel 9: June 1, 2007 - 5pm broadcast. Read the article.

You can find more news broadcast videos here.

BONUS: You can also view additional video interviews & commentaries that go beyond the story on the news.

Janice is an Ex-Con and Convicted Felon (Updated: 6/6/07)

Perhaps the most startling piece of information that has surfaced and reported to me is that Janice Ledden was an ex-con and convicted felon. I was careful to check the facts on this one by verifying the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) website myself. WTVM-9 has supported this fact with their own news story.

It appears that Janice Ligon (GDC ID: 0000753726) was incarcerated from 7/20/1993 to 1/10/1995. It appears she was originally sentenced to 5 years for the major offense, "Theft by Taking", Case #315714. You can run the query from the GDC Inmate Query Screen yourself and type in "Ligon" in the last name field and "Janice" in the first name field. You will need to click "All offenders, past and present". You should get a result similar to the image shown here.

The "Two Sides" to Janice Ledden's Story (Updated: 4/4/09)

For two years, Janice has perpetuated that there are "two sides" to her story. She said this to the news media when they reported on her. She tells her family this. And she tells people in Fairbanks this. Anyone who believes that is either a stupendously, gullible moron or they have not taken the time to thoroughly read the research and reports on this website.

Yes, I am the editor of this website but all the information, reports, newscasts, videos, complaints, and stories did not just come into creation because of my creative story writing skills. The content here is not fictional, they are based on actual research and reports. This came about because many angry, upset, and knowledgeable people stepped up to contribute information to this website. I would also like to add that many people did not report this anonymously. They openly reported their experiences. Many are reputable members of the Columbus business community.

No one person (including me) knows the whole story. This website is the collective knowledge of most of the information submitted to me for distillation, organization, and compilation. In that regard, there are NOT just two sides of the story. There are literally 100 sides (parties/people) to this story! The two sides that Janice refers to are her's and Michael's and no one elses.

Can anyone honestly believe the following notions?

• There is a big massive conspiracy to single out Janice just because some people dislike her.
• People are making criminal accusations because of hurt feelings.
• People are jealous of Janice, her accomplishments, and her talents which is why people want to get "revenge" on her.
• The police and news media got involved because of unfounded rumor and gossip.
• I continue this website for the fortune and fame it will give me.

Anyone wants to listen to the "two sides" of Janice's story can listen to hers and Michael's. Then when you are done listening to THEIR version, come read this website which is the compilation of the other 98 sides of the story.

The Right to Report on Newsworthy Items (Updated: 2/11/09)

I was unexpectedly contacted by relatives of Janice Ledden expressing their unhappiness about my publishing their names on this website. Although I did not accuse them of any criminal wrongdoing, they understandably do not want their names tarnished by association. Out of courtesy and respect to them, I promptly removed their names as requested. However, I do want to make it known that this is a news website reporting on a newsworthy subject. I am a publisher and author and one important thing I do is report on facts and newsworthy items. This case has been and continues to be newsworthy. This website also contains editorials which means I write opinions of this case.

To clarify, the First Amendment and Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution provides for Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press. The caveat is that I have to tell the truth and report facts accurately and responsibly, not be reckless. One person "threatened" me with an attorney. That was the sort of empty, hollow, nastiness Janice repeatedly engaged in that enraged so many people. Janice had no trouble threatening lawsuits against people including me. Janice also frequently dared others if they did not like her actions to come sue her knowing all the while it would be very difficult for her opponents to win.

If anyone feels that the reporting here is inaccurate, feel free to contact me and I will correct it. One person respectfully pointed out a couple of facts and inaccuracies and I promptly removed the incorrect entries. Every effort is being made to report responsibly and accurately.

Janice can thank herself for helping create this website by dragging and screwing over so many people over the years that they felt like they had to unite and speak out to protect others. Reporting on this case has been so easy because so many people have so much to say and tell.

Where There is Smoke, There is Fire (Updated: 6/15/07)

So much talk has been generated in the business community because of the Cobra Collection scam, the TV news coverage, and this website. Can any of you imagine how big this has gotten so quickly because of a tiny website?

Public statements to the media by Janice either shows she is in denial or she is simply lying. She has portrayed herself as a victim of embezzlement, out-of-control expenses, unethical employees, unfair portrayal by this website, gross exaggeration of "facts", personal attacks, and so forth. Let us think about this rationally.

There is a saying, "where there is smoke, there is fire". The problem with the Cobra Collection situation is that the smoke didn't point to a little cozy campfire. People can forgive and deal with small fires. Unfortunately, the smoke pointed to an absolute fire bomb and explosion waiting to go off because of the fuels of frustration, lies, denials, empty excuses, suspicions of theft, and blaming.

All this website did was provide the spark and a bit of oxygen. The fuel was all there and there were barrels of it. I did not provided the fuel, we only provided the oxygen. But remember, no matter how many sparks you light and how much oxygen you dump, there can be no fire (in this case, an explosion) without the fuel.

All these people had all this "fuel" (frustration, anger, betrayal, disappointment, guilt, payback, suspicion, etc) pent up for the last couple of years and wanted to release it somewhere. They could not release it to the BBB because all they could do is take reports. They could not release it to the police because it was "a civil matter". They could not release it to the court system because there was insufficient proof. Janice knew all of this. That is why she often used "coercive words" to keep her employees in line or threatened others (including me!) with a lawsuit if we spoke publicly about it. Or with dissatisified clients, she would boldly tell them to sue her knowing that most people either did not have the internal fortitude, the absolute evidence, or the know how to do it. And if they won, so what? She would just get a slap on the hand. Bottom line, she would not be afraid of anything short of bodily harm or incarceration.

Janice knows that most of us in respectable businesses do not engage in "thug" behavior. We are civilized people and we simply don't go around beating up people when people do wrong. I will admit to you, I have had thoughts of someone bodyslamming her, but we all can fantasize right? But at the end of the day, I, along with everyone else, basically would not resort to "thug" behavior and she knew it.

And, of course, who would come defend the debtors? After all, even the business clients were after them to pay. It has been amazing to actually see that debtors and business join forces against a collection agency! Hollywood could not have made up this stuff if they tried! Suing and collecting from a collection agency because they were bullying the debtors and stealing from the clients? What the hell. What a weird concept.

Talk about burning a candle on both ends. There are no candles that exist for the different ways she was burning it. However, one thing I will give credit to Janice for is she was an equal-opportunity burner! She didn't discriminate much and I have taken it much less personally than before the stories came in. From all the calls and emails, it came in from all directions. She burned the debtors, her clients, her vendors, the banks, her landlords, and even her employees! Heck, even her family has been burned by sheer association with her. I feel really bad for them. I would be so embarassed.

I have said before that I have done my best to report the facts. It is entirely possible I got some of it wrong. If so, I will publicly admit it. But it will take more than empty words and claims. In a court of law, you can pull all kinds of technical crap to get off the hook. In the court of public opinion, people know better. And it isn't like, we don't have anything in our hands to show either. But I don't see anyone from the Cobra side offering to show evidence that there was embezzlement, spiraling expenses, unethical employees, etc.

We only see and hear evidence of a Harley Davidson motorcycle, plastic surgery, outrageous eBay purchases, a hot tub, a trip to Hawaii, living up near the Maple Ridge area, two new vehicles, etc. Sure, there were a lot of other business expenses. All businesses have them. Many have gone out of business but they didn't have people coming to them accusing them of criminal behavior! They simply went bankrupt with no charges of criminal behavior. Even the vendors and utility companies are indicating non-payment! Basically, it appears to be a "look out for Janice and Michael first" philosophy. Let the clients, debtors, vendors, landlords, and employees all hang.

Gee, I cannot imagine why anyone would get upset and occasionally make a personal attack. After all, who runs and operates a small company? We are not talking about GE, Ford, GM, IBM, Proctor & Gamble, or any other huge conglomerates here. We are talking about the independent entrepreneur and small business. Incorporated or not, people know the truth. "The corporation" did not make the decisions, people did. The owners and management did. It will be natural that people will want justice from the owners.

Addtionally, corporate protection only applies to those that make reasonable efforts to operate as a separate entity. The "corporate veil" can be pierced and corporate protection does not defend anyone from criminal behavior. The corporate checking account is not a personal checking account to pull anytime you want or spend recklessly. It would be interesting to see the paper trail and the detailed statements of the bank accounts.

There are several sayings that apply here. "You reap what you sow". "What goes around, comes around." I wonder if Janice and Michael are getting the life lesson at all. Life on the lam is going to be rough.

Good Luck to Everyone in Getting Satisfaction!