Security News > 2000 > July > Cyberbuck stops here for its chief

http://www.ocregister.com/search/20000630/business/tony00630cci3.shtml Cyberbuck stops here for its chief COMPANIES: An online-security firm forces out its president for hiding convictions and falsifying his past. June 30, 2000 By ANNE C. MULKERN The Orange County Register SANTA ANA -- An Orange County company that promises to protect consumers from online fraud forced its president to resign this week after learning he fabricated his past and hid two criminal convictions. Tony Mazzamuto, the former head of Cyberbuck Corp., served three years in prison for possessing 3.5 pounds of cocaine for sale, and for carrying a gun when he had a prior felony conviction. He was paroled in 1994. Mazzamuto also manufactured his educational history, saying he has college degrees he doesn't possess. "I have a little bit of a checkered past,'' Mazzamuto said after his resignation. The former chief executive thrust himself into the limelight last week when he said Southwest Airlines asked him to buy two tickets to accommodate his 400-pound body. Mazzamuto, who also spells his name Mazamuto, said the airline discriminated against him because of his size. He decried the airline's practice first in The Orange County Register, then on several network news reports and radio stations. The exposure ultimately caused Mazzamuto's undoing when people aware of his past called both Cyberbuck and The Register. "We were tipped off, which forced the company to look into his past,'' said Gary Koopman, Cyberbuck's new president and CEO. Cyberbuck, which uses the slogan "the Internet comfort zone,'' hopes to sell consumers prepaid cards they use to buy items online. By using the cards, consumers avoid identity theft and online fraud because no credit card or other personal information is open to hackers. The company said in a written statement that Mazzamuto resigned because of "philosophical differences about the future of the company.'' Mazzamuto, however, said he was confronted by the board of directors Tuesday after it learned of his history. "In order to protect the company, we felt it was better for him to leave,'' Koopman said. Mazzamuto's case comes three months after revelations that another convicted felon headed an Orange County technology company. Former Pixelon President Michael Fenne, whose real name is David Kim Stanley, went to jail in April. A church parishioner saw his picture on a police Web site. Fenne was a fugitive convicted of 53 counts of embezzlement and fraud. Investors funneled nearly $1 million into Cyberbuck Corp. apparently without investigating Mazzamuto's past. The company hopes to launch its site this summer. It also is considering an initial public offering of stock next year, an event that would have forced the company to disclose the chief executive's criminal convictions. The desire to cash in on the next Internet success causes some investors to skip basic research, said Mark Wilson, director of financial planning for Tarbox Equity Inc. in Newport Beach. "It's just a mania. People are just willing to throw money into these projects,'' Wilson said. Cyberbuck was started by Mazzamuto with Maurizio Comelli, chairman of the board, in fall 1999. They hired executives away from Western Digital and other top companies, and Cyberbuck employs about 40 people in a 30,000-square-foot office space. Mazzamuto says he is 45 years old, but court records show he is 48. He said that's because the Department of Motor Vehicles erred when it issued his driver's license. He initially said he had master's degrees from UCLA and the University of Colorado at Greeley. Neither school has a record of his attendance. In fact, there is no University of Colorado at Greeley. The University of Colorado is in Boulder, while the University of Northern Colorado is in Greeley. Mazzamuto, when confronted with the discrepancy Wednesday, said he lied about his education because "people want to hear what they want to hear.'' He previously said the UCLA Graduate School of Management critiqued his Cyberbuck business plan and found no flaws, but he couldn't produce documentation such an evaluation ever took place. Mazzamuto said he spoke up about Southwest because he thought he had a real issue. He said he never thought his actions would uncloak his past, a history that he says is separate from what he was trying to accomplish at Cyberbuck. "It has nothing to do with my ability to run the company,'' Mazzamuto said. ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".

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