The Shuster Project

Tobacco Industry Fraud & False Claims Issues

Click HERE To Read Our Letter Sent to Senator Kerry's Presidential Campaign

To: Mr. Kweisi Mfume – President – NAACP

From: Robert X. Shuster – Executive Director – The Shuster Project / The New Dance Project

http://www.RXShuster.org

177 Andrew Avenue – Naugatuck – CT – 06770-4359

Telephone: 203-723-1690 – 203-723-9266

Email: Rshus177@aol.com

Re: NON-Health related tobacco industry fraud and false claims

Date: 6/16/99

Dear Mr. Mfume,

Around approximately 1992-93, I sent a letter to the then President of the NAACP, inviting him to participate in what has now become The Shuster Project/The New Dance Project which is endeavoring to reveal fraudulent tobacco industry policies, practices and procedures on a nationwide basis.

That "participation" was intended to make your organizations membership, including smokers, non-smokers and business owners of retail outlets selling cigarettes and tobacco products, more knowledgeable about their liabilities based upon the fraudulent practices, policies and procedures of the tobacco industry.

In addition, it would have been invaluable, and still can be, to get the input of African-American sales representatives and executives of the tobacco companies with the courage to speak out relative to these fraudulent business activities.

I would ask that you only visit my Web site, http://www.RXShuster.org, to get a feel for the "inside" documents, guides and memorandums being revealed, to see what I have begun; also keeping in mind that after considerable delay, the site was launched on May 14^th of 1999.

Also, please keep in mind that the site is at less than 1/16 of 1% of planned content.

I believe the President of your organization then was a Mr. Lyons who was later found to have had a questionable relationship with a woman within your organization.

The end result of my invitation, understandably, was silence in an obvious attempt to keep the spotlight away from what was going on between them.

Unfortunately, it also had the effect of prolonging the damaging effects of the tobacco industry’s business frauds which continue to be perpetrated against retail stores of all ethnicity’s, unfortunately with businesses of African-Americans taking a brunt of the worst of the tobacco industry’s discriminatory practices.

As I was still organizing this immense project and contacting the various heads of the organizations which represent the majority of the negatively impacted peoples, businesses and segments of our society from this tobacco industry fraud, I was not inclined to engage in repetitive communications with your non-responsive Mr. Lyons.

And with respect to Mrs. Evers, I just felt it was necessary to wait a while longer, as she clearly stated she had only an interest in restoring your organizations integrity on an interim basis.

With you, now, as President of your organization, it is time to at least attempt to now alert you to what I can reveal.

Efforts are underway to also give detailed information to the 50 states attorneys general, first, relative to the most egregious of tobacco industry fraud which has cost the individual states tens of Billions of dollars in tax revenue losses.

In view of this, I am limited as to what I can reveal to you at present.

You need to get to the retail business owners who sell cigarettes and tobacco products my Web address.

The Manufacturers Code dating system, for one thing, is something they should have.

They should call the individual tobacco companies to get the current code "interpretation" for the individual tobacco companies as it is certain that these stores will have cartons of cigarettes which are old and undoubtedly stale, as there has probably never been a tobacco company representative in their store….ever, to check and rotate stock and remove the old cartons.

The issue you should get involved with directly, Mr. Mfume, is the issue of "Redlining," which is employed by ALL of the tobacco companies.

This practice removes mostly ethnic minority owned stores from receiving cigarette display contracts and payments and "special offer" promotions which others stores not redlined or otherwise discriminated against by virtue of their location or the ethnicity of their owners receive, thus causing the redlined stores lost business and income.

In the former American Tobacco Company, these stores were referred to as "Danger" calls.

I have sent you the most important aspects of what you can find within my site, presently, which pertain to your organizations most negatively impacted segment, specifically retail storeowners that sell cigarettes and tobacco products.

One of our student volunteers who was gathering Media Outlet Email addresses read in an online Midwest newspaper that a group of African-American men was attempting to bring a civil rights lawsuit against the tobacco companies for their tobacco addiction and health related maladies.

A unique approach to the standard health-related argument, for which they should be applauded, however, it appears they are sofar doomed to failure.

Although this student did not write down the address of the online publication, she did tell me some of the tobacco companies "arguments" as to why the plaintiffs’ case should be thrown out.

I assure you, based upon those statements, that if the plaintiffs bring in some NON-health related tobacco industry business aspects to their case; they can and will win.

I am willing to assist them if you can find out who they are and get my phone numbers and Email address to them.

If you have an Email address that I can send you future Press Releases and Site updates, I will be more than happy to update you as I can make more and more information available on my Web site.

I look forward to hearing from you at some time in the near future.

Sincerely,

RXShuster

Ps This letter will be featured on my Web site, as I contact more organizations and groups giving them the same invitation(s) to participate, some again, some anew, and the same access to my site to all.

I learned a long time ago, and even recently, that many news organizations don’t want to be given extraordinary information that they didn’t "uncover" themselves.

Lawmakers don’t want to be given legislative initiatives to undo corporate fraud and be given initiatives which would give them the tools to recover vast sums of money for some inexplicable fear that they might be perceived as unknowledgeable alongside a "common" citizen.

And heads of organizations with private foibles will ignore receiving information which benefits the vast numbers of the members of their organizations merely to keep their foibles out of the spotlight should they otherwise do the right thing and get involved.

This web site is equipped with the "Get 1 on 1" guest response system.
If I am in my office, you can contact me in "real time."
If I am out of my office you will be prompted to send me an e-mail.
I will get back to you as quickly as I can.