A newspaper vanished from the internet. Did someone pay to kill it? WAPO

[erronis]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/14/hook-charlottesville-vanished-archive/
Archived: https://archive.vn/lr6Rl

The Hook, a beloved Charlottesville weekly, closed a decade ago but its archives lived on — until its 22,000 stories were suddenly taken offline in June. Former staffers have theories about its mystery buyer.

One day in early June, a swath of Charlottesville’s history all but vanished from the internet.

Thousands of stories reported by the Hook — a defunct local paper whose online archives nevertheless had continued to inform historians, residents and public officials — disappeared. Anyone trying to read old stories about the university town’s sagas, scandals and sundry crimes was greeted by the same error message: “Sorry!”

In many ways, the erasure of the alternative weekly, whose print and online journalism ranged from nightlife listings to deep investigative work, isn’t unusual. Historians have long warned about the decay of digital news archives, which are increasingly falling victim to mishandling, indifference, bankruptcies and technical failures.

But some of the Hook’s founding journalists suspect the archive didn’t simply expire from natural causes. They think someone paid to kill it.

One of those people was Curtis N. Ofori, now a D.C.-based investment banker and accountant. Ofori was a 21-year-old junior at U-Va. in 2004, when another student accused him of raping her in her room. After an investigation, an associate dean wrote that Ofori “used very bad judgment,” but said the university “was not able to conclude at the clear and convincing level” that he committed sexual assault, and so found him “not guilty,” according to a copy of a letter detailing its findings. Police investigated, but city prosecutors declined to file charges, Ofori’s lawyer would later state in a letter to the Hook.

The tipster had noticed that beginning in January — shortly after Spencer thinks the Hook’s archive was sold — an entity calling itself Experiential Solutions began sending takedown requests to Google, complaining that various news sites, blogs and discussion forums were infringing on the Hook’s copyrights. As catalogued on a Harvard University-hosted database called Lumen, the requests continued through late August and targeted 18 different web pages that reference alleged violent incidents at U-Va. The vast majority of the pages have one common denominator: the Ofori case.

An analysis by The Post found that 14 of the 18 targeted pages referenced Ofori, his accuser or her mother, or linked to Hook articles that did. Three of the pages cited the Hook’s 2011 article detailing the rape accusations. One of Experiential’s complaints targeted the same Russell document that Ofori tried to get delisted from Google in 2020. Google acted on at least 10 of Experiential’s complaints, removing those pages from search results.

From the comments section:

I didn't know that Curtis Ofori was (allegedly) a rapist, and never would have...but now I do. And I'm pretty sure this story is going to be at the top of any search results for him forevermore.

So if his goal was to hide his past (alleged) sexual assault, well...great job, Curtis Ofori. Now the whole nation knows that you're so afraid of your past that you'll literally destroy an entire paper's archives just to hide it.

Thank goodness for Archive.org, at least until Ofori gets ahold of that, too.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150907001809/http://www.readthehook.com/102337/unsilenced-how-mother-fought-protect-her-daughter-and-yours
Yes, this. It's difficult to understand how someone could report this story and not make reference to The Hook's continued existence on the Internet Archive. Which is, of course, precisely why the Archive was created in the first place.

[progree]

1. I'm glad to see the reference to archive.org . I wonder if they can be pressured to remove it

Hopefully, there are people busily scraping the pages or whatever they do to save the content.

[Legogal1]

2. Found this article too. He seems like a peach...

I’m standing near a station serving only Red Bull with vodka when I meet Otis Ofori, 24, who, along with his twin brother, Curtis, is another star of LNS. I ask him what it is like to be a black man among such a uniformly white crowd. Ofori leans forward, reaches for my waist, and pulls me close. He says he knows people talk behind his back, but he doesn’t care. He’s rich, and that’s all that matters. “My brother and I, we do all right,” he says. “Guys with money can do whatever they want.” He grabs me again and says, “You’re kind of cute.”

Link below

https://redpandas.wordpress.com/2007/07/19/late-night-shots/

[KS Toronado]

3. This the guy who wants to hide his past? Planning on running for office?

Curtis N. Ofori, CPA is a Director at Greenhall Capital where he conducts due diligence and oversees transaction execution. Prior to Greenhall Capital, Mr. Ofori worked as an investment banker in New York for Morgan Stanley and at the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Small Business Lending Group. Prior to investment banking and Treasury, Mr. Ofori was a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton and an accountant at PriceWatershouseCoopers.  

Mr. Ofori is a licensed CPA in Virginia, holds a Project Manager Professional (PMP) ® designation, along with a Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) ® accreditation.  He sits on the Board of Directors of a number of companies, including OLS, HF Staffing & Company and OSC, Inc. Mr. Ofori also serves as a member of a number of non-profits including YearUp and CertifyMeNow.  

Mr. Ofori received an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a Joseph Wharton Scholar and a B.A. in Accounting from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia.

http://www.greenhallcapital.com/curtis-n-ofori.html

?1506907726

[Sleuthamatic]

4. Not running for office, he just finally got his cushy federal contract

Man, this guy has QUITE the paper trail. I can't even begin to put into words the trail I connected tonight, partly due to the links posted here.

So, for starters, it's appears that the Ofori family (Otis ofori, curtis ofori, Charles ofori, and possibly a Ben ofori - otis and curtis are twins) have quite the history of defrauding the FED.

[link:https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/administration/final_decisions|] (keyword/find in page search "ofori" you'll see all their cases.)

Mainly they started out by placing bogus bids on HUD contracts knowing full well they didn't have the capital nor the credibility at the time. Once they got suspended for basically wasting their time, they spent the next few years making shell LLC's and reminding on a 700M 5 year contract lol. They got debarred until 2020.

Once I realized they play the shell company game, I started doing business entry's in DC to see what's registered under their main company. Ended up finding a "altasource Management Company LLC" out of DC. Turns out, its ran by otis and Curtis, and their website only advertises a DC and Maryland branch. Did more digging and said hell why not, and did a business entity search in the state of Virginia. Guess what popped up? Altasource (listed start 2019), and even had good ol curtis ofori listed as the agent. Realizing that their takeover of the hook's publisher wouldnt be reflected on the states website (LLC's are basically how you buy a company without having to put your name on it...to a degree), usually though when an LLC buys out another entity, you can see clues like name changes that stay the same name, or dates/events listed as simply a notice of change in the sidebar etc.

[link:https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_va/S8309413|]

Notice on the bottom right - the events? Name change from may 5th to 8, 2021? Yea thats not a name change, that a reafirmation of the same name after incorporating an entity lol. I think that's when the deal went through, or when they approached the former publisher.

Even the house listed (LLC's primary agency) is listed as a rental on a real estate website, but I did find that curtis ofori, samantha Calloway ofori (she's either a wife or ex) and brother Charles ofori are all connected through rentals in Virginia. Why? Their offices are in DC and Maryland.

[link:https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/address/3174-20th-st-n_arlington-va-22201|]

So whats the motive for all this, after all this time, you say? Me thinks this.

[link:https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjItq2Agf77AhVJj4kEHe7wBngQFnoECA4QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sec.gov%2FArchives%2Fedgar%2Fdata%2F1871667%2F000119312521281005%2Fd143068ds1.htm&usg=AOvVaw0ln-B4MlyquxsXVjPT6sWJ|]

[link:https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/86458/SPAC-Henley-Park-Acquisition-files-for-a-$175-million-IPO-targeting-ACES|]

If you search the IPO on the SEC link, the Ofori twins are spending their first year out of debarment already right back at it with the feds!! 🤣 These people are unbelievable. HE wanted to get rid of all bad news online, just so he wouldn't screw up asset managing for some bogus blank check welfare firm trying to go public so they can cash in. They are litterally a company with no game plan. This REEKS of illegal, and yes I will be reporting Mr. CURTIS OFORI to the SEC to make sure they double check everything lol. I will also be emailing the ceo, and asking him if he's aware of the accused rapist in their midst.

Curtis, if you're reading this, let it be known that no amount of money can save you from this. The internet is forever.

[erronis]

5. Wow, Sleuthamatic!!! Quite a nice bit of digging! Are you sure this is your first post?

If so, welcome.
If not, welcome.

Please keep us posted on your further investigations. Maybe something ProPublica would be interested in.

[Sleuthamatic]

7. Sorry for the late response

Thank you for the welcome! Although this is my first post on this website, I've been digging shady peoples backgrounds for years (let's call it a part-time hobby of mine haha). I've been a bit distracted with everything going on in the idaho murder case (don't even get me started, the wild goose chases I've been on has hurt my brain), but I'm going to take another look at curtis now that hes had a chance to make moves, post-buyout. Ill let you guys know if I find anything.

All in all, the ultimate irony is this guy paid X amount of money to somehow circulate his rape case more than it already was. Streisand effect is real lol.

[KS Toronado]

6. Wow, Sleuthamatic!!! I'll 2nd that.

Did they get any bogus PPP covid money?

[Sleuthamatic]

8. Took a look at that a few weeks ago

So i forgot to respond to this message as well. I went on their families LLC trail around the time you posted this, and its hard to say. Keep in mind, their family has their hand in so many various "licensed" entities (active and revoked), its hard to pinpoint which (if any) company is still even existent. Theres multiple shell LLC's, non-locatable portfolio/liability management firms, various construction management LLC's (the ones they did HUD contracting with), and even a currently "active" licensed transportation/trucking hub (that doesnt have any visibility outside of licensing and websites that congregate ads for local business). The last being ran from a female Ofori, im assuming on their dads side.

The only thing I could find, PPP wise, was a Law firm out of MD, that took upward to 25k in PPP; the two lawyers share the same last name but i cant find anything connecting them to the main family.