Propaganda Arm of PSP Corrupt!

Newspaper Increases Investment while Public Pays More!

July 20, 2006

Penn Square Partner Rufus Fulton of Fulton Finance at one point was trying to sell their shares in PSP - At a discount! With all of the incentives of public money and ZERO risks - there's no selling now!

In December of 2004, 5thEstate.com calculated that the Penn Square Partner’s (PSP) take at the public trough to be $83,745,430! That same "must-read" report (click here to view it) detailed the failure of the PSP to honor their commitments to the school district of Lancaster as well as the huge shift from a public/private partnership to one where the public pays and the PSP get rich. Now we have learned that the newspaper began increasing their ownership of the partnership while the public subsidies to PSP were INCREASING!

The recent revelations that the newspaper has 44% ownership of Penn Square Partners contradicted first reports that indicated the newspaper and the Fulton Bank each owned a mere 20% while Dale High owned the remaining 60%. Did that change or were the Penn Square Partners lying?

5thEstate.com confirmed that BOTH numbers were correct!

Ownership – then and now!

--------1999   2006
LNP ---20%    44%
Fulton --20%   12%
High ----60%   44%

While public subsidies were rising and the related private risks were being mitigated, Lancaster Newspaper were increasing their investment in the partnership to the tune of $50,000 every month! In the Lancaster New Era story related to the newspaper’s investment printed on July 18, 2006, they mention that the newspaper’s shares is actually held by Penn Square Limited. According to records held by the Pennsylvania Department of State (click here to view it) , the formation of that company on 7/25/2002 probably indicates when the newspaper’s original investment of $250,000 began to increase their stake in the now $160,000,000 project!

How can the publisher, John Buckwalter be taken seriously when he says that information of the break-down of ownership wasn’t published because “at that time Penn Square Partners did not feel that that was relevant.” ?

There are serious integrity lapses when publishers and editors continue to hide information on public projects while advocating for those projects – all while benefiting from those projects!

5thEstate.com has and will continue to track the propaganda arm of the Penn Square Partners – Lancaster Newspapers! Since a picture paints a thousand words, 5thEstate.com gives an update of our 2004 story as well as the sorry tale of a newspaper gone bad!