India seems to be the favourite reference point for scamsters in the USA.

After Eagle Corporation, Douglas Norman, vice-president for international sales of Canada based World Transport Authority, has been hauled up for false income statements from fictitious Indian operations.

WTA had declared an expected income of $1.1 billion from manufacture and distribution of license for a low-cost motor vehicle called the WorldStar and the facilities required to manufacture it in India way back in 2000.

WTA has been hauled up by the Securities Exchange Commission for making materially false and misleading statements recently.

SEC filed a suit against WTA on the allegation that the company issued false press release around September 2000, wherein it announced a manufacturing and distribution license for India, which 'will generate' over $1.1 billion in revenue for WTA from the purchase of 315 factories and components for over 200,000 vehicles.

"Around November, 2000, WTA's Internet consultant posted on 'RagingBull' a statement quoting Norman as saying, "We are averaging one micro-factory every 12 days and that micro-factories in India would be producing WorldStar vehicles within six months," as was reported by SEC.

The Commission also said, "Norman knew, or was reckless in not knowing, that these statements were false or misleading. Among other things, WTA had no factory orders and lacked the resources to produce factories."

This was followed by yet another release in January 2001, according to SEC where WTA updated the $1.1 billion India license amount.

"The press release stated that the India licensee had requested from WTA a total of 486 mini-factories over the next five-years, rather than the original order for 315. WTA had no reasonable basis to project delivery of 315 factories under the license, let alone 171 more," the commission said.

WTA's literature according to SEC claimed that WorldStar was uniquely suited for underdeveloped countries for its corrosion resistant body and less than 500 moving parts.

It also claimed that, in about 90 days, one could establish a 'micro-factory' or 'factory in a box' to manufacture the WorldStar which required a small investment and could manufacture one vehicle per day through a licensing arrangement.

SEC also alleged that WTA's license program never succeeded. "From 1998, none of the licenses, letters of intent, or negotiations led to significant revenue for WTA. Most of these never went beyond the announcement stage.