Oh look, perhaps this needs to be investigated with all the gusto that was applied to Whitewater?http://www.modbee.com/local/story/8833414p-9720748c.htmlTangled Vines
By JOHN ELLIS
THE FRESNO BEE
Rep. George Radanovich founded his Mariposa winery some two decades ago and, over the years, nursed a vision that someday it would grow beyond its humble beginnings on a small piece of land carved from his parents' ranch. By October 2002, the dream was nearly dead. The company headed by Radanovich was being crushed by losses and debt.
It was then that Fresno developer Richard Spencer pitched a solution to Radanovich Winery directors. His plan: a company rebirth, one with more money and new investors who might include some of Fresno's most prominent business leaders.
One appeal of Spencer's deal was that every investor in the old company would get at least a small piece of the new company.
By the summer of 2003, however, a far different reality emerged.
Investors in Radanovich Winery Inc. had nothing but worthless stock and lost investments. The company essentially had ceased to exist.
And all of the principal assets that once belonged to the company were in the hands of
just two people: Radanovich and Spencer.
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