Laray Carr Update

 Thanks, Stephanie for sending this and keeping us posted.

Dear Writers, Contractors of the Laray Carr Company and other negatively impacted individuals,

First, my most humble of apologies for questioning your intuitiveness regarding the Laray Carr Company, LCP Media, Laray Carr Publishing and who we now fear is presenting themselves as CMCGroup. After my vow to help writers who were assigned articles and promised payment on Deb’s blog; I received an overwhelming response from writers as well as from Hope Hunt, Shadra Bruce, the editors of Laray Carr’s magazines and other contracted individuals. All of who have not received payment. Hope, Shadra and I have been working collectively and diligently over the past week to sort through this tangled mess of deceit.

Although many of you have stated and believe Hope has played a major part in pulling the wool over your eyes, I would like to assure all of you that she is just as much, if not more, of a victim as each of you. She has worked vigorously for LCP over the past 10 weeks and has not been paid, one cent. She has been used as a scapegoat by Roger Owens and the Laray Carr company when she has done nothing more than what she was instructed to do. Her name has been dragged through the mud, her family harassed and her image smeared. But, through all of this, she has remained relentless, kept extremely diligent records that protect herself and the writers legally, and has been an invaluable part of our efforts in investigating Roger Owens, Quincy Carr and the company in general.

Our initial theory is as follows:

The “company” believed it would earn money from advertising revenue to pay each contractor and writer, as promised. However, as a result of the blogs, many contractors began demanding payment upfront. Since the company refused payment until after the launch, the contractors quit, leaving a boatload of work to complete to meet the September 20th deadline, which made any hope for a September launch impossible. This left the company in a very bad position, with everyone was demanding payment.

The “company” should not have told contractors that their payments had been set aside and collected from investor money. They should have been upfront and honest about not having investor funding and instead recruited individuals who were willing to take on the risks of developing these magazines and receiving payment if/when the magazines launched. Sure, there would have been a ton of people not willing to participate; but those who were would’ve been aware of the risks involved and the magazines would have had a greater chance at being launched.

For a while, we each believed that this was the result of poor decision making, on behalf of a group of people who lack experience in publishing. Being in the business of consulting newbie publishers, this was not alarming. Most independent publishers have no prior experience or knowledge of the publishing industry; that is why they seek out the advice and help of publishing consultants.

Recent events have led us to believe that this is much deeper than a poor business plan. Within the past 48 hours, the three of us have confirmed that the corporate office address and phone number provided by Roger Owens, is a virtual office, Kable Distributors has not affiliated or agreed to any distribution deal with Laray Carr and the Dallas Convention Center has filed a suit against Quincy Carr. We are also under the assumption that there is no Roger Owens, Dean Person, David Person or Tim Baker and that Quincy Carr has impersonated and/or made up all of these names to help his “company” appear more established. Or perhaps, as representatives from the convention center informed us they believe there is no Quincy Carr and that “Quincy Carr” is a stolen identity.

In any event, at this time, on behalf of myself, Hope Hunt and Shadra Bruce, I urge each of you to contact Elance, Guru, Craigslist, Digg.com and any other forum for which freelancers are solicited for work and ask for their assistance in removing any ads for additional freelance work by any company that sounds eerily similar to Laray Carr. In addition, please forward the information below to them and ask their assistance in obtaining legal resolve for all who have been involved.

Each of us will be contacting the State Attorney General’s Office of Texas, the Terrell, Texas Police Department and the FBI with more detailed statements and information regarding this matter. Below I have attached a letter that we are asking everyone who reads this to forward to those same agencies. Contact information for each is below:

Office of the Attorney General

PO Box 12548

Austin, TX 78711-2548

Email: greg.abbott@oag.state.tx.us

Email for the Terrell, Texas police department: police@cityofterrell.org

To file a complaint with the FBI Internet Crime Division please follow this link:

https://complaint.ic3.gov/Default.aspx

When filing a complaint with the FBI please reference complaint #I078161442324531

The first letter is I as in Internet

In addition, please submit a written letter to the following address:

Federal Bureau of Investigation_

J. Edgar Hoover Building

935 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW_Washington, D.C. 20535-0001

Or visit this link, to find contact information for you local FBI office: http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm

If you are international, please use this link to find your closest FBI office: http://www.fbi.gov/contact/legat/legat.htm

Please forward your contact information, contracts, and any pertinent emails regarding undisclosed information or payment information to VictimsofLCP@gmail.com, to assist appropriate law enforcement in understanding the scope of this fraudulent activity.

As I sign off, I’ll like to thank each of you who have contacted me for your kind words, patience and encouragement. I know many of you are experiencing tremendous financial setbacks right now and I understand how difficult that is. I am not without my own financial insecurities. But I fear this experience has damaged much more than what is tangible, like money, in some if not all of us. Let’s not let this ruin our faith in people or discourage us from pursuing our goals as entrepreneurs.

Sincerely,

On behalf of

Hope Hunt

Shandra Bruce

and myself Stephanie Todd

Letter of Complaint for Law Enforcement

[date]

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am one of the many people who responded through elance.com, guru.com, Craigslist.org, or another Web site advertising employment to work for Laray Carr Publications, also known as LCP, LC Publications, LC Media, and CMC Group.

I would like to file a complaint against this company for non-payment for services rendered. I believe the company is operating an Internet scam to defraud investors, steal creative work, or steal identities of those who have given personal information to contract with the company.

The main person who seems to be operating this potential scam is a man named Roger Owens. The company is registered with the comptroller of the state of Texas to Quincy Carr with a registered address of 201 Crenshaw Street, Terrell, Texas 75160-4521. I believe that Roger Owens and Quincy Carr are the same person. The email address associated with this company is lcpublications@gmail.com.

The company was supposed to disburse payments on September 20, 2007 and magazines were supposed to launch October 1. Instead of receiving payment as promised, the company refused payment and has on more than one occasion threatened to sue writers and editors who are discussing the situation in blogs.

The company owes from $25 to several thousand dollars depending on the person involved. I would like to request your assistance in investigating this company and attempting to resolve payment issues.

I can be reached at [phone number] or by email at [email address]. I would appreciate your prompt attention to this matter and I am willing to cooperate by providing copies of all communications I’ve received from this company as well as any other helpful information.

Sincerely,

[name]