Simecom lawyer says company will abandon ID fraud case!

It wasn’t wordy or dramatic, and it contained no explanations or apologies, but it covered the most essential item. Here is the latest letter from Simecom’s legal representative.

Egregio Sig. Spadoni,

Le confermo che Simecom abbandonerà la causa senza pignorare il conto corrente.

Cordiali saluti

Google translate:

Dear Mr. Spadoni,

I confirm that Simecom will abandon the case without foreclosing the current account.
Sincerely
Dott.ssa Ginevra Mizrahil

I sent a note of thanks to attorney Mizrahil and financial officer Federico Bonaventura. I will probably never know if my carefully crafted letters to Dottoressa Mizrahil helped turn the tide. It could have simply been the cold, hard facts of Rob’s forensic report.

But I like to think that my appeal to her compassion and humanity had some small effect. Thinking about this, I decided after the fact to Google her and find a photo. I also found an inspiring “Thought for the day” she posted on LinkedIn. I feel that even though the job of a lawyer is to make or save money for their clients, lawyers can also reflect on their responsibility to humankind to do what is right regardless of the financial interests of the client company.  I would rather think that Dottoressa Mizahil did not drop the case solely for financial reasons (or my hint that she and Simecom would become the villains in my blog and next book), and that she is heroic for listening to me and agreeing to drop the case.

Many managers feel they have fulfilled their
duty by providing a salary. But that's not
enough if you want stimulated and productive
collaborators: You also need to make them
feel appreciated.

All that remains is to confirm with my bank that the proper actions have been taken to truly free the restraints on my account, and then to find out if my utility bills are being paid again.

I hope that Simecom can track down the imposter, though he is probably long gone. The contract was signed in 2017. I have little doubt that I will have to battle this slippery guy again in the future.

So there will be no unplanned trip to Lucca in July to defend myself, and no all-expenses paid trip for my forensics expert. But when Lucy and I go to Montecarlo again in September (and Rob next May), it will be purely for pleasure.

Forensic examiner reports that all 13 signatures on contract are false

Here is what hand-writing expert Robert Floberg has concluded about the signatures on the Simecom contract that I supposedly took out.

Mr. Paul Spadoni of Gig Harbor, WA contacted me on 6/16/2021 and requested a forensic examination of a scanned document in .pdf form: Q1 – copy of a Simecom Utility Contract “Contratto” bearing 13 of his questioned/ostensible signatures. Mr. Spadoni also provided copies of his passport and Washington State Driver’s license for “non-requested” samples of his signature. (By “non-requested” 

this term refers to authoring a valid or holographic signature during the course of everyday business - at a time when disguise or alteration of one’s signature is not consciously an issue in the creation of the  signature.) While copies, these documents are clear and adequate for examination. 

Visual examination was made of all writing characteristics: writing size, slant, letter forms, comparative relationships between the size of the upper case to lower case letters, letter connections or lack thereof, pen pressure, rhythm, spacing, baseline relationships, tremor, pen ticks, unconscious handwriting habits, and several other handwriting characteristics that are evident in natural handwriting and that are unique in combination to each individual writer. All of the above submitted material is scanned and/or machine copied, not original inked documents, but noted to be clear and adequate for examination. Original documents may be requested at a future time. 

The disputed signatures of Mr. Spadoni on document Q1 show little or no consistency with the habits and characteristics observed in Mr. Spadoni’s known signatures that are provided for this examination. The 13 “signatures” examined on the disputed contract Q1 are simulated forgeries. 

Some of the false signatures

Mr. Floberg then offered to testify in court, using jury exhibits and overheads. Wouldn’t that be a great experience—being an expert witness in Lucca, Italy? We could ask Simecom to pay all his travel expenses once the company lost its case! I forwarded the report, along with Mr. Floberg’s extensive and impressive curriculum vitae, to the lawyer and the company’s finance and account director.

Coming tomorrow: How the Simecom lawyer responded to my two latest letters.

I receive a settlement offer from Simecom--and the long awaited contract copy

I have been patiently waiting to hear a response from Simecom. Will they continue their case against me, or have my pleas for reason and compassion found a sympathetic ear? And will they please send me a copy of the contract that I have supposedly signed, as I still have been given no information on why they think I owe them some 3000 euro. I was about to write the Simecom lawyer again when I woke up to a letter from avvocato Mizrahil with two important pieces of information. Here is what she wrote:

Dear Mr. Spadoni,

I am attaching a copy of the contract with Simecom.

My client is willing to renounce to distrain the Bank account for conciliatory purposes only, as legally you should have had to oppose the injunction.

Since your debt is currently € 2,799.18, I ask for your willingness to spontaneously pay the amount of € 1,000.00.

Should I make this all go away by paying 1,000 euro? That’s a lot cheaper than flying to Italy to defend myself, or hiring a lawyer to represent me.

But let’s look at the contract. It has been signed 13 times by the imposter Spadoni Paul Robert. And the signatures, while bearing a slight resemblance to mine, are very obviously not mine. If the scammer tried to copy my signature at all, he did a poor job of it, thankfully.

I’m not going to pay to end this. I don’t care if I have to spend more money. I want to see this through to the end no matter what it costs. This has just become too interesting to settle so easily.  I’ll send a copy of the contract to my friend Rob, who is an expert on handwriting and has testified in numerous courtrooms, but in the meantime, I’ll send off another letter to Simecom. Here it is:

Gentile Dotoressa Mizrahil,

Many thanks for your response and especially for the copy of the contract. I have sent a copy of the contract to a professional handwriting consultant that I have retained and await his response.

However, I can see from your offer to renounce the pignoramento del conto that you and your client realize that the signature on the contract is not mine. In truth, it does not take an expert to realize that. I have no doubt that you and your client can plainly see for yourselves the obvious differences.

I appreciate that you have offered to settle the case for a relatively small amount, but I also believe that by now you realize the evidence against me is false, and that it is unfair that I should have to pay anything to settle. I have already been made a victim once, and your attempt to collect from me makes me twice a victim. You are an attorney, no doubt a good one, but you are also a human being with a sense of fairness and compassion. I’m sorry your client was cheated, but it was not my fault. You have caused me stress and additional expenses, although I understand you were acting in good faith and, in the beginning, acting on the only information that was available. In light of the new information, it appears to be an unfortunate situation for both parties, but we don’t need to make it worse by continuing to pursue a path that will lead nowhere except to cost both parties additional expenses.

I already have incurred expenses in this situation. I must make a payment to the handwriting expert. Since my bank has not been paying my utilities bill, I will have fees for late payments. If I must fly to Italy and hire an attorney, there will be substantial additional expenses for my travel and attorney. And would you like me also to bring the handwriting expert? That will incur additional expenses. For all of these expenses and more, I’m certain my attorney will advise me to file a countersuit against your client demanding reimbursement.

I will include a couple of additional documents that show my signature for your use in comparing, and I look forward to hearing the good news that your client is renouncing the pignoramento del conto so we can all move on to more important things in our lives. I wish you the very best, and I appreciate you sending the contract copy and the kind and professional tone of your letters. All of this will make an interesting chapter in my next book about my experiences in Italy.

Sincerely,
Paul Spadoni

Coming next blog: The professional handwriting analysis