Appael to judge - original

The present matarials are published by personal consent of vadim Vasilenko

Your Honor.

My name is Vadim Vassilenko and I’d like to use my last chance to speak to you directly, because I believe that some of the facts were never brought to your attention. I am speaking form the bottom of my heart as my mother taught me to be brave enough to tell what you think, and to be strong enough to do what you mean.

Last 7 months of my life were very painful for me and for my family. Being in America for 14 years I have seen a lot of common sense in everyday life, business, relationships between people, and overall direction were this country is going to.

arrived to JFK in summer of 1992 with $100 in my pocket, just like many of the immigrants from the country where doing any kind of business would be considered wrong and illegal at that time. I came here to pursue my American Dream, to enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of choice and freedom of enterprise. I came here with assumption that what ever is not prohibited is permitted.

I never asked for public assistance, unemployment or welfare check. I worked as a busboy, dishwasher, salesmen and musician. But what really appealed me is to own my own business. I took classes in New York University on international banking, banking acceptance and import export financing. I have attended countless business seminars, workshops, purchased and studied more then 400 audio-video tapes on management and financing, in order to be one of the best. In fact I became the biggest and one of the best in my field.

I never settled for less then perfect in my relationships with a customer. I have gained a reputation of honest, highly trusted and well known businessman in cyberspace. All that time I enjoyed working with my personal. A time we have spent together I can describe as a precious. They were the best and I’m missing them so very much. I believe that the ability to focus on customers needs, high productivity and lidership skills they inherited from Western Express. Will support their income for a long time. We worked in the area where no experts exist to consult. Where nobody can give you a dissent advice what should or what shouldn’t be regulated and keep financial responsibility for that advice.

The business I have created was absolutely unique and there were no outside experience to rely on, no books to read, no company to duplicate. My business was successful because I admired and studied highly productive people like Donald Trump, Napoleon Hill, Peter Drucker, Jim Collins, Dexter Yager, Sergey Bring and Warren Buffet. All these extremely successful people were teaching me to become better on who I am, to be truthful to yourself, know where you are going and to be able to live and work in risky environment to adapt a test pilot mentality with the mission to change the world.

Before my arrest I really had a mission to change the world., to change the way my customers earn their living, and to change the way people pay to each other using fast growing new payment method such as Digital Currency. I worked with the companies such a Google.com, ifriend.com, webmoney.ru, egold.com. these visionary companies are looking far away into the future especially Google.com and Webmoney.ru. I have managed to think and act outside of the box, facing a new challenges and entering unknown territories. With rapid change that characterizes today’s business world comes uncertainty. And with uncertainty comes great risk and great opportunities. As a whole in order to be successful, an organization must become more tolerant of mistakes.

Starting today companies either will let customer demands drive business models or they will get driven out of business because of global competition. I have created and adapted a culture in my company where our customer is a center of the universe. A culture where making decision is a split of a second process. A company where risk associated with every transaction was evaluated only with our own experience, reality of doing business in cyberspace, common sense and good filling. A company where words such as “I can’t” “I don’t know” “ That’s not my department” were never existed.

When our customer requested us to pay using Digital Currency such as Web Money, that means we can’t solicit them anything else. If they requested to get paid by Western Union, or mail them a money order, or pay for their E-bay item, that means we have to do it too. We were driven by the market and totally focused on our customers needs and demands. The speed and efficiency we achieved were 21st century. But unfortunately, the banking Laws which were applied to us, are being created in the last century, when nobody knew what the word internet means, remote employees, outsourcing, game currency, gold currency, digital currency, stored value cards, as long as pay per click, click though ratio.

When this laws were adapted in 1970’s and 1990’s an American companies did not mailed tenths of thousands checks to countries like Russia, Ukraine, India or China. That’s why rules and regulations for cashing checks by mail were never considered. Rules of establishing identification of the customers located 10 thousand miles away from a processing location were never created. In today’s realities doing business in cyberspace it is nearly impossible to guaranty that person’s identity you are dealing with is authentic. Any of this claims would never be over inflated and self deceiving. Leading company to self destructing nartsitsizm. The only known check cashing companies existed at that time were brick and mortar type of companies where cash is being paid over the counter for the exchange of check from local employer and their experience would be less over you move your business to cyberspace.

Today in Eastern Europe along about 1% of internet users are earning their living on the internet, working for American, Canadian and European companies, and making them more efficient , more comparative and more advanced. Tomorrow 100 million computer users from Asia and India will enter the global market place. These markets along could potentially generate 2-3 million customers for us to process their payrolls and commissions. This customers could generate an annual sales up to 5 billion dollars for us. It is only a matter of time when the internet will become widely used around the world and check cashing by mail will be big business. We could create a bank or a public company which will provide check clearing for many non US customers who’s been rejected by their local banks to process their checks and other payments needs. As long as providing clearing and settlements for fast growing game currencies, currencies backed up by gold, silver and other precious metals. And digital currencies which is today the only dissent alternative to Visa, Master Card and American Express. And it is obvious to everyone that credit cards which were created 40 years ago for offline use only, cannot sustain a pressure from today’s merciless realities of doing business in cyberspace, especially when transaction is large or international or both. Credit cards cannot provide a secure non reversible real time settlements for merchants and probably will never be in the future as long as a turtle will never become an eagle, or a bicycle will never fly to the moon regardless how much you wait or improve it. A really big business that I have been forced to exit.

We have expected a common sense approach from regulators or law enforcement agencies. With full intent to work in a new environment, trying to find a mutual solution using our experience to overcome potential challenges and obstacles. And there are a lot of them in cyberspace threatening consumer confidence and growth. Instead of that people of New York and prosecutor John Bandler had decided otherwise. They had decided that 24 years in state prison would be appropriate for me and my wife if we go to trial and lose it. The greatest dictator Josef Stalin used to say: “ There is a person - there is a problem. There is no person – there is no problem”. Very, very, very simple.

I believe that this type of approach is highly unacceptable, and driving more businesses, capital and innovative people away from the United State to Asia, South America and China, creating a new superpower nations with new number one economies.

All my life my risk management in business was, is and will be based on reality, truth and common sense solutions in day to day operations. But District Attorney accused me being a member of organized crime. When they interrogated me, accused me of having a sexual relationships with my personnel, trying to destroy my business and my family form within. Such a dirty fancy strategy and tactic .

On the day of my arrest I’ve been talking to John Bandler almost 5 hrs non stop, hopelessly trying to explain and defend my position on the business. I have said about 20 thousand words, yet people of New York documented only 2 thousand of them, which represents small replica of the story. A 2 thousand words which were favorable for them not for me and my company. By diving 2000 words on 300 minutes it is difficult to believe and imagine that I’ve been talking with a speed of 7 words per minute. The rest of my 18 thousand words I’ve been speaking to a deaf and blind, motivated by career advancement and primitive assumption that every multilevel marketing company operating on the internet is just another type of pyramid.

All my Eastern European customers are being viewed and presented in this case as a potential enemy of the United States, who want to destroy, hack and steal from this country. This cold war era type of thinking is stinking, outdated, ridiculous and wrong. This type of approach makes me and thousands of my customers feel that cold war never ended or just moved to cyberspace.

The prosecutors have decided that by eliminating me and my company, they will be able to stop computer check cashing by mail as a business. Somehow to be able to stop this important large and fast growing segment of transaction processing industry, refusing to understand and except that this part of the industry wasn’t created by me. It was created by realities, dynamics and demands of being part of the global market place. I have anticipated that if the problem is being developed with my business, that I’m not aware of, somebody will approach us with an intent to work out a problem. Not to destroy Western Express. By destroying my company D.A. disintegrates united customer - base and spread thousands of my customers all over the United States to dozens of unlicensed, inexperienced, undercapitalized companies and created thousands of inconveniences and problems to employers, payees, consumers and in a long run for themselves.

I made my move first, based on the freedom of information act. In December of 2005 I have mailed a letter to the FBI headquarter asking if there is a problem exist with my business, and if there is, on which part and what can we do to eliminate this problem. Until up today we never got an answer. I have assisted many government agencies such as High Tech Crime unit in San-Francisco, the FBI, and even the Department of Homeland Security with subpoenas and without them. Because I have a deep understanding for necessity of cooperation with law enforcement agencies due to the type of industry I’m in.

In November of 2005 I have assisted the FBI agent without subpoena helping to scan a data base from the company located outside the US for the name of potential terrorists. I have contacted a company owner and explained that this is a very important matter and convinced him to comply. The FBI agent got information in 3 hrs. the names did not matched.

I never run from anybody. Never hide my name. My personal data such as name, birthday and address was on the internet long time ago. On every check we deposited to the bank we have our phone number printed on the back of the check. In case of drawer decided to stop a payment or discover any other problem. I never turned off my cellular phone at night, otherwise I was available for contact and I don’t understand why we were not giving a warning to stop a business, or visit form the industry regulators, or was not given an opportunity to move our business to SC, NH, MT, AK, HW, were this type of business does not require to be licensed.

Probably we were not given that opportunity because Mr. John Bandler in the indictment papers, motions and letters convinced himself, expressed a strong opinion that our business is a perfect solution for spamers, hackers, potential click fraud, potential mail fraud, potential credit card fraud, potential money laundry, and even potential use of terrorists. Such an instant benefit from war on terror. With all this potential threats I start thinking that combination of the internet, using the war on terror for his own career benefits, computer and electricity is the biggest potential threat to all of us, and potentially can be used by any of us to commit any imaginable crime. Wake Up America.

I believe that business I’ve created was threatened without any respect from DA’s office. We have lost not only a business related to the charges, but also our prepaid phone cards business, voice translation, exporting, online game sales, gift cards sales, and Skype vouchers sales.

My home and office have been searched without my present. My employee’s residence have been searched and their life time savings were seized, as long as their computers, family pictures, letters from family members, and even hand writing materials on history of music, for professional use, which took decades to create and impossible to retrieve. One of my best employee was 5 months pregnant and cash she saved to a years for future use after a baby was born, was seized. Leaving this single mother on the street with no money. I have called her from Rikers Island and I’ve heard nothing but tears. I can only imagine how unhealthy this innocent baby will be after so much stress these pregnant woman experienced. Does she really deserve it?

I’d like you, Your Honor, to take in consideration the fact that I obtained my green card as an extraordinary person in business. My business was registered with the Treasury Department as a money services business which we assumed was enough.

I have 3 years old son, who needs mother and father, and whom we cannot even tell when we are going to be back home, and who will be ashamed in the future that his mother and father were convicted criminals, because they did not paid $600 application fee and never submit one to the Banking Department. I have never consider my business to have a criminal nature. I’ve never view myself as career criminal. If my personnel would ever think that we are knowingly breaking the law, they would never work for the company, and my wife would never marry me.

I just picked up a highly regulated area and was not wise enough to apply for a license. I spoke with the New York State Banking Department over the phone in January 2002 and I was told that the department is not looking to regulate anyone who does not serve New York residence, or could stop this business, and do something else until it become clear where we are. But I am admitting that I could do better. I could consult an attorney, I could schedule an appointment with NYSBD, I could send them a letter, an e-mail or fax. I am excepting a full responsibility for my negligent . I am already experiencing a severe loses: by losing my 12 years old business, freedom, contact with my family, my lifetime savings, my retirement money, my working capital, my priceless and precious employees and what is especially painful I’ve lost my clients money which happened to be on corporate accounts, and of course Rikers Island is not healthy at all. Me and my wife are under mental health supervision, where the first time in our life the antidepressants become our best friend and our daily supplements.

To be the owner of our own business is more risky than having an ordinary job. And the only guarantee from risking nothing is by doing nothing, losing nothing and being nothing. Every major corporation at one time or another experienced a law suite from their customers, investors, or industry regulators. Ford, Merck , Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Wal-Mart, Philip Morris, Dell Computers, Visa Master Card, Western Union, The Bank of New York, Paypal, NASSA, and FIMA. A failures of these entities experienced at least ones, were handled with respect to the overall corporation, to their executives, family members, customers, investors and business not related to the charges. And I don’t understand why the entire operation of Western Express was shut down by District Attorney, living my employees an the streets, my customers not served, my assets frozen, forcing me to default my mortgages, my leases, my legal bills, and my financial obligations to my customers.

Today I can’t answer why and I don’t know who can. What my wife and I can, is to ask mercy, understanding and compassion from all parties involving in my case, including prosecutor John Bandler, the American tax payers who paid for this court and other expenses related to this matter.

I’d like to ask you Your Honor to lower our sentences for my wife and for me as much as your heart tells you. Because I believe that if making response an eye for an eye, the world would be blind. I’d like to finish my speech by quoting Mr. Roberto Goizueta, former CEO of Coca Cola. He said quote: “We become uncompetitive by not being tolerant of mistakes. The moment you let avoiding failure become your motivation, you are going down the path of inactivity. You stumble only if you are moving.” Unquote.

Tom Kelleg, general manager of IDEO corporation. A company helped to design Apple computer’s first mouse, Polaroid’s Izone instant camera, and palm hand held. Quote:”IDEO creates an atmosphere that encourages people to express ideas freely, break rules, and design their own work environment. Making decisions about innovation, means taking risks. Every executive and team leader faces this reality. Failure is the flip side of the risk taking and if you don’t take the risks, odds are you won’t succeed. Thinking about what you might lose, makes it nearly impossible to take a leap. That’s why the big new ideas usually come from small companies or big ones that somehow manage to act small. Success has a tendency to make companies become compliant and negligent the risk taking that got them to the top.”

Please let us move forward, Your Honor, and give us an opportunity to correct our mistakes. Please give us an opportunity to prove that our family and our business an be a shining diamonds on the body of this country, that the United States of America can be only proud of.

Please let my wife to be with our son.

Thank You, and my attorney Daniel Gottlin for being with us in such a difficult time in our lives.

May God bless us and keep us all.

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