In addition, a $2.5MM gain on sale was recorded in the 4th quarter for a sale of assets to Empire Water. And who is the CEO of Empire? None other than the former CEO of Basin Water, Peter Jensen. And did BWTR get any cash for that sale or the $653K system sale? No. Just stock in Empire Water, a worthless company.
On top of that, without ever mentioning it in a filing or a press release, the VP of business development Larry Rowe has now mysteriously become the president of Empire Water. If Basin Water’s business really had a future, then how can you lose your CEO and head of Business Development to a start up OTC listed company?
The obvious question is what type of management would pull a stunt like this? The former CEO of Basin Peter Jensen, along with current Chairman Scott Katzman and aforementioned Larry Rowe all used to be employed with Western Water. Mr. Jensen used to be the Chairman and CEO of Western Water Company. For those of you who don’t remember, Western Water Company was that high flyer in the 1990s that was riddled with problems of money laundering, organized crime, and undercover FBI agents. Needless to say Western Water went bankrupt in 2005.
What is most disturbing about the Jenson/Katzman connection in the Senior Management is that both men have had massive insider sales since Q2 of 2007. Mr. Katzman has sold over $1 million worth of stock and Mr. Jenson has sold close to $2 million. These gentlemen have sold more in stock than their company has received in real revenues from selling their products during the same period of time.
To make matters even worse, the dumping of the stock commenced one month after the company announced a purported “share buyback” on May 14, after announcing a disastrous quarter. The buyback news allowed the stock to get propped up just in time for selling.
