TTSOML #72: Portland, Oregon FBI Contacts Me About PLF

When my lawyer, who had business with the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, finally let me know he was not going to file my case, I had less than two weeks left to file.

I went to the Oregon State Bar and they told me they would assist by setting me up with one of their lawyers, whom they said could draft the complaints so I wouldn't lose out on my claims.

They promised to provide me with an attorney, because my own lawyer was in the wrong. Because my attorney had quit last-minute, without proper notice, if I lost my claims, a lawsuit or complaint could be filed against HIM, and the Professional Liability Fund would be responsible for things.

Prior to having to use the PLF myself, I had contacted the Portland, Oregon FBI office about a matter.

The first time I ever made contact with any FBI office was before I had any personal dealings with the PLF. I had no agenda or motive. What happened, is that while doing research on my own claims, I had come across some cases which were available to the public online through the Oregon government/judicial website.

I found a case of fraud, which had been filed on behalf of a party which had gone to the PLF for assistance because of attorney misconduct. The PLF, they discovered, was fronting as another business as well, but concealing their identity. The Willamette Week had actually done an article about this, about Oregon's PLF and how what they had done, in this case, was wrong. I looked up statutes and felt it was not just "wrong" but actually met the conditions for fraud. I wanted to know why the Portland FBI didn't look into this and do their own investigation. It was corporate fraud, in my opinion, and it was misleading to the public. It fell within the FBI's jurisdiction.

I told ONE person, again, about calling the FBI. I wouldn't even tell HER what it was about ("her" being Christa Schneider). I kept the entire thing to myself even when she asked me what it was about. I told her it was just regarding something that had come up with I thought was wrong.

I remember it had to have been in 2002 or 2003, because I do remember all of this happened before I ever met Mike Tancer, whom I talked to later, about wanting to join the FBI myself. I am pretty sure it was 2002, because it was before I had even filed my lawsuits against the Abbey or The Willamette Week. After all my TTSOML posts, I will write out the exact timeline of everything, with dates.

My first contact to the FBI, which was through the Portland Field Office, was out of concern for the public interest and it had nothing to do with me.

I first called the general line. I didn't say what it was about, but asked whom I should contact or how to make a report of something. The FBI person I spoke with sent me to a man I talked to, who referred to himself as "S.A. Krouger." He said to go ahead and submit my complaint in writing, to his attention. So I did. It was very concise and in a business format, and I included a link to the Oregon Judicial website, to the page with the case.

I was also concerned about the nature of the PLF organization to begin with. Basically, it led the public to believe this was where one should go for help with a lawyer who had broken rules or had engaged in misconduct. It made itself sound like the regulatory body which governed lawyers in Oregon, and actually, this was true. But what was also true was that the Professional Liability Fund was primarily operating to cover their lawyers. They served the interests of the attorneys in the state, not the public really. Their responsibilities were to the Oregon lawyers. What the public didn't always know, in addition to not knowing about a certain business operating as a front for the PLF, was that the Oregon State Bar and the Professional Liabilty Fund were directly connected. If someone filed a complaint with the Bar, and the Bar decided a lawyer had done wrong, then the whole matter went to the Professional Liability Fund, where one could resolve or "settle" the matter by collecting for damages. The PLF paid out on behalf of the Oregon lawyers. It's one thing to have an organization where the duties are towards the lawyers, and it's another thing to mislead the public about a potential conflict of interest. If the Oregon State Bar limited how many of the Oregon lawyers were found "guilty" of misconduct and ethical violations, they also limited the damages paid out by the PLF. And the OSB people and the PLF people were connected. Of course, lawyers also wanted to keep their "dues" down, so I wasn't surprised not many Oregon lawyers were taking up a case against the Bar or PLF on behalf of the public.

One lawyer, or team, did try to get them for fraudulent business front, but the PLF got away with it. Who makes the decisions? Judges. It was one big legal and judicial mess, and I thought perhaps the FBI would be removed enough to look into it and open their own investigation.

After I sent my email, I didn't make any other contact with the FBI. I told absolutely no one I'd even contacted the FBI, except Christa, and I gave her ZERO hints as to what it was about or who it was about. She asked if it was about the Abbey or anyone and I just said I couldn't say anything one way or the other because it was confidential.

A man ended up contacting me, one day, when I wasn't even thinking about it anymore. Basically, I wrote my short email, and left it to the FBI to decide on. This man who called me up told me he was from Portland FBI field offices. He said he'd gone over my email and had some questions for me. He wasn't S.A. Krouger because his voice was different. This guy was a little more aggressive or assertive.

He asked me how I found out about the PLF. He asked me if I had any dealings with them (the answer was "No"). He asked me if I knew the lawyer who had filed a case against the PLF. My answer was "no" and I didn't even recognize his name. This FBI guy didn't identify himself at all except to say he'd received my email at their offices. I believed him, because no one else knew what I'd even reported. Only the FBI would have known.

So he goes on to tell me I wasn't the only one who had made a report about this matter, but that my report was "the most cogent" one they'd received. I remembered this word because at the time I didn't even know what "cogent" meant, though I supposed it was a good thing because his tone was complimentary.

But then his tone changed and he said it wasn't fraud. I said it sure fit the definition for fraud that I was reading, and I'd gone over the FBI jurisdictions and definitions before filing a report as well. I knew it DID fit for fraud and should be investigated and I gave him the points why. He tried to argue and then said in a cold tone that maybe I should just get together with "so-and-so" (the name of the lawyer who took the case to court) and we could file a lawsuit. He made it sound like I was "in on something" with another party or something but I wasn't. Then he just said he wasn't going to investigate and hung up.

That was it. I thought it was wrong, but I didn't contact the FBI again, unless I possibly sent a follow-up email after my conversation with this one guy. I do know I later sent something to the FBI, an email, inquiring about employment with the FBI. I was interested in possibly investigative work myself, or in being a lawyer for the FBI, and I had a particular interest in corporate crime. I felt white collar criminals got away with far too much, and fighting it would be a way to serve the public with government money, and not go into the hole financially. At that time, I was probably more interested in investigative work, than legal work.

No one contacted me after I sent this email out. I believe I sent it Attn: S.A. Krouger again, because I wouldn't have known where to send it otherwise.

No one contacted me and I dropped it. I had other things to take care of, I thought, and I hadn't even filed my lawsuits yet, and I didn't make contact with anyone from the FBI again until I met S.A. Raul Bujanda at an Oregon federal courthouse, at least a year or more later.

I never told anyone what I had reported until after I left Oregon for Washington State, in 2004, after I was assaulted/harassed by FBI employees Bujanda and Garza. No one knew, not even Christa. All anyone knew, was that I'd made a complaint. I told only Christa about even making a complaint.