Things just get weirder and weirder at AOL: The AP reports that Time Warner wants to bring in bulldozers to dig up property owned by the parents of an Internet spammer, who owes the company some $12.8
million in damages. The spammer is believed to have buried gold and platinum bars at his parent's house. The family says it knows nothing about any buried treasure, and plans to fight AOL's
gold-digging plans. Last year, the company won a $12.8 million judgment against spammer Davis Wolfgang Hawke in U.S. District Court in Virginia, but has been unable to collect any of the money. AOL
originally won its case against Hawke by default--after he failed to show up in court. "I don't care if they dig up the entire yard. They're just going to make fools of themselves," says Hawke's
mother, Peggy Greenbaum. "There's absolutely no reason to think that Davis Hawke would be stupid enough to bury gold on our property. My son is long gone." She says AOL lawyers notified the company of
its plans to send geologists and bulldozers to hunt for gold on their property. The family thinks the gold is buried in the White Mountains--some 130 miles north of Boston, where they live. Hawke is
believed to have earned in excess of $600,000 each month--mostly in cash--from his spam business. He sent the usual unwanted sales pitches for loans, porn, jewelry, and prescription drugs. "They were
millionaires, if only briefly," says Brian McWilliams, author of "Spam Kings," a book about email spammers, who interviewed Hawke. McWilliams says Hawke lives a nomadic existence, and enjoyed burying
his valuables to cover up his wealth. AOL is now awaiting court approval to begin digging.
Read the whole story at Associated Press »
