WHEATCROFT COLLECTION
Kevin Wheatcroft is a reputable business man with an interest in the collection and
restoration to a usable condition of World War II military equipment principally
tanks. His collection is extensive and well known. It is a private collection but
illustrations of items that can be found in the collection are given at website
www.wheatcroftcollection.com. The collection is entirely legitimate. Kevin
Wheatcroft does not and will not engage in any unlawful activity to procure any of
his collection. Any suggestion that he has obtained improperly any item in the
collection is false and defamatory.
THIRD PARTY DEALINGS
Because of his reputation as a collector he receives invitations to purchase items
from various sources that will supposedly enhance his collection. If Mr Wheatcroft
has any doubt about the integrity of the person offering items or the integrity of
the item itself he will not deal with that person nor will he acquire the item on
offer. However from time to time notwithstanding his best endeavours to satisfy
himself of the integrity of the people with whom he comes in contact there are or
there emerge facts which were previously unknown that cast doubt on the integrity
of the transaction.
ENGINE AND GEAR BOX
Insofar as the engine and gear box is concerned Kevin Wheatcroft was approached
by Daniel Misik in 2004 when Mr Misik offered a Maybach engine to him. Mr
Wheatcroft agreed to make the purchase and the Maybach engine is now part of his
collection. There was never any suggestion that the transaction undertaken with
Mr Misik on that occasion was anything other than lawful.
On a later occasion Daniel Misik again approached Kevin Wheatcroft with the offer
of an engine and gear box then on display by a Swedish museum. He was told the
items were available in exchange for other display items. In view of the previous
experience with Mr Wheatcroft in dealing with Mr Misik at the time of first contact
he had no reason to believe that there was anything wrong with the transaction. It
only later turned out that the circumstances whereby Mr Misik was in a position to
offer the engine and gear box were unlawful.
Kevin Wheatcroft accepted the offer and in due course took possession of the
engine and gear box. The first time he was aware of anything untoward with these
items was when his home was raided by the police early one morning. He was
accused of theft by the police. He and his family were shocked by the unfounded
allegation. When the full nature of the transaction was explained to him he
immediately offered to return the items to the museum and he co-operated fully
with the police so that criminal proceedings could be brought against Mr Misik. No
allegations of wrong doing were ever made against Mr Wheatcroft nor have
proceedings ever been brought against him. He is aware that court papers relating
to the prosecution are circulating on the internet. He has not authorised the
publication of any documents but it is manifest from these documents that he was
not engaged in any unlawful activity nor has he sought to cause any harm to any
person in relation to the acquisition of these articles.
TIGER TANKS AND THE US ARMY
The second series of emails relates to his interest in a Tiger Tank.
There is confusion and consequently inaccurate information circulating regarding
the tank. The items now in his possession do not constitute a complete tank. They
were held in a German museum. Its curator is well known to Kevin Wheatcroft. He
was approached by the curator of a US museum to ask for help in retrieving three
tanks from various German museums as the German museums were uncooperative
in returning them to America. Kevin Wheatcroft agreed to rescue the three tanks in
question and deliver them to the UK, where he was to take over control. The
vehicles were to remain in the Wheatcroft Collection for an unspecified time for
the purposes of restoring them. Sadly the restoration work did not take place
because the American museum would not agree to a contract for the work. The
tanks were recovered in accordance with the arrangement with the American
museum over 10 years ago. All shipping and movement documents are in Mr
Wheatcrofts possession.
The American Army has indicated that it would like to recover possession of the
parts and other items in the collection. Mr Wheatcroft has not refused to return
the tank but not unreasonably, he has asked that all his expenses incurred in
connection with restoration and removal to the UK be reimbursed. He has offered
to retain the items for the purposes of making a replica and restoring an original.
So far the US Army has not made any further response to these proposals. It is
entirely erroneous to suggest Mr Wheatcroft has refused to return the items. It is
for the US Army to decide how it wishes to proceed.
FUTURE ACTION
The continued repetition of inaccurate information is damaging to Mr Wheatcroft’s
reputation and must cease if legal action is to be avoided.
Some of the unreasoned and unreasoning postings indicate that the authors have no
interest in understanding the truth of the situation but only an interest in
publishing defamatory and abusive statements about Mr Wheatcroft. The authors
of the postings are all warned that further repetition of their actions will have
grave consequences.
As stated earlier Mr Wheatcroft is prepared to answer any reasonable questions
day period for questions to be put is 21 – 28 April 2011 – questions received after 28
April 2011 will not be answered). Mr Wheatcroft will require a period of 14 days to
answer any reasonable questions received. Thereafter any repetition of the
defamatory remarks made on the websites will result in action. This statement has
been sent to the internet forums responsible for hosting defamatory content on
blog sites.
This is particularly amusing:
He is aware that court papers relating to the prosecution are circulating on the internet. He has not authorised the publication of any documents but it is manifest from these documents that he was not engaged in any unlawful activity nor has he sought to cause any harm to any person in relation to the acquisition of these articles.
Newsflash, bro! Since, as I have indicated further down, these court documents (and other related items) are part of the public record and available to anyone requesting them, your authorization is neither asked for nor required. You need to find better shysters.
So is this:
Mr Wheatcroft has not refused to return the tank but not unreasonably, he has asked that all his expenses incurred in connection with restoration and removal to the UK be reimbursed.
You can't charge for work you never performed, Kev. You also know that it didn't cost you a penny to have the Tiger I shipped from Germany and why that was possible. On this side of the pond, that's known as fraud. Fraud is a felony in these parts. Trying to pull a fast one can get one into a heap o'trouble.
Another snicker-inducing tidbit:
He has offered to retain the items for the purposes of making a replica and restoring an original.
It takes a really magnanimous guy to make an offer like that! And he's funny, too. He should do standup. What did he mean by "and restoring an original"? That could be construed to mean he has another Tiger I sitting around waiting for parts. He certainly couldn't be referring to Chassis number 250031; since, it's in an even sorrier state than when it left APG. He blanched at the fact that it would cost SEK 250,000 (that's $36,036.74 at today's exchange rate) to manufacture a new crankshaft for a Maybach tank engine; so, how, in all seriousness, can he even talk about making a complete replica Tiger I?
Then, there's this:
It is entirely erroneous to suggest Mr Wheatcroft has refused to return the items. It is
for the US Army to decide how it wishes to proceed.
Actually, it;s not entirely erroneous; and, The U.S. Army certainly did decide how it wished to proceed, didn't it? Don't worry. We'll be by to pick it up. And, you don't get to collect shipping and handling, either.
This is the joker of the deck:
Mr Wheatcroft will require a period of 14 days to answer any reasonable questions received.
Really? 14 days to formulate a response to a question for which you should already know the answer. A suspected serial killer needs far less time to establish a halfway plausible alibi; yet, you need two whole weeks to think of an answer. Being truthful should be a natural reaction that doesn't require extended preparation.
This statement is known as a "gorilla" letter, designed to intimidate and dissuade individuals from publishing certain information which might cast the attorney's client in a negative light. Website owners do not want to take the chance that some kind of legal action might actually be undertaken; so, they remove the material which has been identified as possibly defamatory. There are more than a few site owners who, because of the type of forums they host, are pretty much pom-pom waving cheerleaders for good ole Kevin. They ingratiate themselves in order to stay in his good graces and allows them access to his toys. Therefore, no one is allowed to write anything which can be construed as sullying his reputation among the sycophants who inhabit the world of military vehicle collecting. More often than not, any mention of his questionable practices is quickly removed and the shouts of "hearsay" and "unsubstantiated innuendo and lies" are heard. Well, the one thing that these mouthpieces didn't count on was the availability of documents relating to an incident involving the engine and transmission of what is known as the Axvall King Tiger. These items were on display at the military museum, in Axvall, Sweden. All of the documents are part of the public record and are available to anyone who cares to obtain them. Shysters and brown-nosing suck ups can't do a thing to stop the free flow of information; and, it literally tears them up from the inside.
