So, I'm new to this publication, but I read your story on Bellingcat and I think there is an additional thread that could be pulled there. You (And your team, if you have one, if not, I doth my cap) may have already tried going down this road but I wanted to throw my two cents in based on the experience that I have.
At least in terms of LLCs, the state that they are incorporated in will have publicly available corporate filing information about the LLCs formation on one of the state's websites. In the handful of states that I deal with, the corporation MUST declare a registered clerk or agent, essentially a third party that can be contacted if there is any issue with the state bureau or with the company's processing of this paperwork. Now, oftentimes, this registered clerk or agent is simply a law firm, which of course wouldn't give you a ton of specific information, but it could lead to other avenues of inquiry.
Hi - that's a really good tip, thank you for flagging it. Definitely something to dig into. Plus, even if it is just a law firm signing off on an anonymous LLC's purchase of a narcoplane, you'd think their due diligence would steer them clear of the purchase.
I appreciate your response. Out of curiosity, I turned over a few stones myself. For example, American Guaranty Corporation, which you cited as having two aircraft registered in its name that ended up downed in Venezuela, has its U.S. offices based in Oklahoma City, OK. A search on the Oklahoma Secretary of State's register of corporations shows that the company was incorporated in 1985, but it is currently out of compliance with OK tax requirements. No information on when it fell out of compliance. The registered agent is a "Thomas Allen," who I wasn't able to find a ton of information on BUT what I did find is potentially super interesting... A Thomas Allen Massey petitioned the Oklahoma state Bar Association for reinstatement of his Bar Certification in 2004 after he had been practicing law in the state at his own small firm for embezzlement, along with general client mistreatment. In those filings (I will post the link at the end of this), his career is outlined generally and he actually worked for the Department of Defense and directly with the military at times during his law career. The only issue is that in the bit of searching I did, I couldn't link the Thomas Allen listed in the OK registry of corporations with this Thomas Allen Massey named in the brief of the Bar reinstatement. But, if it is him, seems like a bit of a shady character, one who might be willing to sign off on a sketchy corporation buying and selling narco planes.
Link to OK corporate registry search: https://www.sos.ok.gov/corp/corpInquiryFind.aspx (It appears you can have additional info about the corporation emailed to you if you would like to request it, I didn't realize that until just now)
I realize I probably focused in a little too hard on the first thing that I found because I was so excited about it, but if there is a link that can be made between the person listed on the corporate registry and the person in the court filing, that could be interesting to look further into.
Interesting finds about Thomas Allen (possibly aka Massey) as well. I think whenever we name anyone in open source investigations, the evidence has to be rock solid (since we obviously don't want to make spurious accusations or dox anyone). But it sounds like you're onto something - and that's the beauty of open source investigation: you can keep pulling thread after thread until you hit the end.
I'll dig into this a bit from my end too when a couple projects I'm working on at the moment cool down - but feel free to email me if you want to talk more. I'm at lineofactualcontrol [at] protonmail [dot] com. Looking forward to doing more on this!
So, I'm new to this publication, but I read your story on Bellingcat and I think there is an additional thread that could be pulled there. You (And your team, if you have one, if not, I doth my cap) may have already tried going down this road but I wanted to throw my two cents in based on the experience that I have.
At least in terms of LLCs, the state that they are incorporated in will have publicly available corporate filing information about the LLCs formation on one of the state's websites. In the handful of states that I deal with, the corporation MUST declare a registered clerk or agent, essentially a third party that can be contacted if there is any issue with the state bureau or with the company's processing of this paperwork. Now, oftentimes, this registered clerk or agent is simply a law firm, which of course wouldn't give you a ton of specific information, but it could lead to other avenues of inquiry.
Hi - that's a really good tip, thank you for flagging it. Definitely something to dig into. Plus, even if it is just a law firm signing off on an anonymous LLC's purchase of a narcoplane, you'd think their due diligence would steer them clear of the purchase.
I appreciate your response. Out of curiosity, I turned over a few stones myself. For example, American Guaranty Corporation, which you cited as having two aircraft registered in its name that ended up downed in Venezuela, has its U.S. offices based in Oklahoma City, OK. A search on the Oklahoma Secretary of State's register of corporations shows that the company was incorporated in 1985, but it is currently out of compliance with OK tax requirements. No information on when it fell out of compliance. The registered agent is a "Thomas Allen," who I wasn't able to find a ton of information on BUT what I did find is potentially super interesting... A Thomas Allen Massey petitioned the Oklahoma state Bar Association for reinstatement of his Bar Certification in 2004 after he had been practicing law in the state at his own small firm for embezzlement, along with general client mistreatment. In those filings (I will post the link at the end of this), his career is outlined generally and he actually worked for the Department of Defense and directly with the military at times during his law career. The only issue is that in the bit of searching I did, I couldn't link the Thomas Allen listed in the OK registry of corporations with this Thomas Allen Massey named in the brief of the Bar reinstatement. But, if it is him, seems like a bit of a shady character, one who might be willing to sign off on a sketchy corporation buying and selling narco planes.
Link to OK corporate registry search: https://www.sos.ok.gov/corp/corpInquiryFind.aspx (It appears you can have additional info about the corporation emailed to you if you would like to request it, I didn't realize that until just now)
Link to Bar Reinstatement Filing: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ok-supreme-court/1091855.html
Link to office park where law office is said to be located, office park is vacant: https://www.google.com/maps/@35.4569355,-97.5975386,3a,75y,168.69h,76.6t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIudrmIvLlZ5KR6Mk7CI9hA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
I realize I probably focused in a little too hard on the first thing that I found because I was so excited about it, but if there is a link that can be made between the person listed on the corporate registry and the person in the court filing, that could be interesting to look further into.
Nice work! Ah yes, Aircraft Guaranty Corp has sailed some stormy seas lately, including having a few employees literally indicted for cocaine trafficking: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/eight-individuals-indicted-transnational-drug-trafficking-money-laundering-and
Interesting finds about Thomas Allen (possibly aka Massey) as well. I think whenever we name anyone in open source investigations, the evidence has to be rock solid (since we obviously don't want to make spurious accusations or dox anyone). But it sounds like you're onto something - and that's the beauty of open source investigation: you can keep pulling thread after thread until you hit the end.
I'll dig into this a bit from my end too when a couple projects I'm working on at the moment cool down - but feel free to email me if you want to talk more. I'm at lineofactualcontrol [at] protonmail [dot] com. Looking forward to doing more on this!
I think that niche "weird" stories are what surprised me the most. If time allows, I suggest that you explore this path.
Hi! Certainly - that's good advice. If you like niche/weird stories, I think I should have something that you may enjoy ready to read in a few weeks.