Mr. Wiltgen, who is currently designing a palace in Lagos, Nigeria, took the time to speak with us and was extremely cordial and candid in our conversation about his feelings regarding the lawsuit, Russell and Taylor Armstrong, Bob Lorsch and MyMedicalRecords.com.   Setting the stage, John explained that he met Russell around Christmas in 2005 through associates in Chicago while the Armstrongs were raising money for MyMedicalRecords.com.  He explained that Russell was extremely convincing and spoke of the investment as, in his words, “a guaranteed, quick return on an investment.”  Interestingly enough, John commented on Taylor Armstrong and allegations that she sometimes portrayed herself as a member of the Ford Motor Company family in saying, “Taylor definitely presented herself to me as a descendent of the Ford family,” adding some credence to contentions that she did indeed sometimes behave in that manner.  Convinced on the investment, Mr. Wiltgen invested in both the U.S. and Australian versions of MyMedicalRecords.com and gave $25,000 for the U.S. company investment for which he was given 12,500 shares of MyMedicalRecords.com.  At a separate time, Russell negotiated a deal with Wiltgen for the purchase of 100,000 shares of NDS (which would one day be convertible to shares of MyMedicalRecords.com) for $45,000.  He explained that Russell had a sick friend who really need the money and that he would be buying-out that person’s investment, although he was instructed to make the check directly to Russell.  Eventually, Wiltgen received the converted shares of MyMedicalRecords.com (which converted to 71,294 shares).  As the Australian MyMedicalRecords.com is not affiliated with the U.S. MyMedicalRecords.com and not a portion of the lawsuit, it will not be discussed in this article.

According to Wiltgen, Taylor, Russell and John met on several occasions to discuss how the investment was going including John being a guest of the Armstrongs in their suite at the Grammy Awards.  Wiltgen said that he was told all was going very well.

Wiltgen was asked to provide his professional services as the Armstrongs wished to renovate “their” Beverly Hills mansion on Sunset Blvd.  It eventually came to light to Wiltgen that the Armstrongs actually did not own the house that was the topic of renovation discussion.  Apropos, we spoke with Philip Elghanian, a real estate entrepreneur in L.A. and (at that time) owner of the property referenced in the lawsuit.  Mr. Elghanian informed us that Russell Armstrong had approached him about investing in MyMedicalRecords.com and – with the first $50,000 he gave Russell – he believes he was one of the first investors in the upstart company.  In total, Elghanian supplied roughly $240,000 to Armstrong as investment in MyMedicalRecords.com.  After the original settlement agreement between MyMedicalRecords.com and the Armstrongs in 2007, Elghanian holds about 800,000 shares of MMRF.

According to Elghanian, Taylor and Russell Armstrong wanted to purchase a Beverly Hills property that he had listed and were in a rush to get going on renovation.  Elghanian gave them the keys and a contract to sign with terms involving cash and shares of MyMedicalRecords.com.  Elghanian stated that a signed contract was never returned to him, but the Armstrongs began renovations which included the destruction of five marble mantels that were removed in what Elghanian described as part of “gutting the interior of the house.”  When Philip asked the Armstrongs to leave, he says that he was served by a sheriff with claims from the Armstrongs that he wouldn’t let them in the house (for which they still had the keys according to Elghanian).  Elghanian said that the Armstrongs demanded $75,000 to cover their expenses, which included $50,000 that they had already paid to their interior designer (John Wiltgen).  Money that Wiltgen confirmed he never received.  Looking to simply exit the situation after speaking with his counsel regarding fees to fight the case, Elghanian said he paid the Armstrongs the $75,000 “just to get them out.”  Although it certainly cannot be proven, Elghanian stated that he believes that the Armstrong’s actions with the house were premeditated.  Elghanian, who had the house listed at $7.5 million, eventually sold the house for $5 million to a different buyer more than two years later.

Back to Wiltgen.  The terms for his interior designing services included John receiving 10,000 shares of MyMedicalRecords.com.  The shares were to basically act as a retainer for $20,000 worth of professional services.  Cash was supposed to be paid to Wiltgen once the $20,000 worth of share value was exhausted, which it eventually was.  Cash the Armstrongs never gave him.  Moreover, Wiltgen never received the original 10,000 shares of MyMedicalRecords.com from Russell.  These are the shares that served as a portion of the catalyst for the recent lawsuit for the liquidated damages that were agreed upon in the original settlement agreement.

To date, Elghanian and Wiltgen each said that they are still holding their shares of MMRF.  Neither of them has much nice to say about Taylor or Russell Armstrong.  Safe to say that they both feel similar to Wiltgen’s mild summary of, “In my opinion, the Armstrongs did not represent themselves accurately.  They’re very convincing.”

On the flip side, Elghanian and Wiltgen both commented that they haven’t sold because of belief that Bob Lorsch will make the company a success.  “With the Armstrongs removed from involvement in the company, I’m thrilled that Bob is running it,” stated Wiltgen.

We took our findings and spoke with Lorsch about Elghanian and Wiltgen and how this all relates to MMRGlobal.  While obviously aware of the big picture, many of the details where new to him.

Bob commented, “I cannot express how upset I am that anyone was ever put in that sort of a situation.  At the end of the day, I am a shareholder as well and will remain driven to bring our business plans to fruition so that all involved can share the success.”

He continued, “I have the bar set very high as my initial goal is to get the share value back to the area of 40 cents so all investors, from the original private MyMedicalRecords.com to the newest investors in MMRGlobal, are all ahead on their investment.  Is it a lofty goal?  It sure is, but I didn’t get to where I am by having low standards and by letting people down.  I would also like to reiterate to our shareholders that we believe this lawsuit is very cut-and-dry.  We expect it to remain very unobtrusive to our operations as we continue to work towards monetizing our biotech assets and continue with our personal health records operations.”