Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?

Yesterday, Hoax buster Professor KC Johnson crafted an excellent blog entry "Wilson and Stevenson Duke It Out." In his essay, Professor Johnson examined the extraordinary efforts of the New York Times’ Duff Wilson and the Snooze Room’s John Stevenson to time after time rescue interim-DA Nifong from debris falling from his rapidly imploding Hoax. It appears that Mr. Wilson and Mr. Stevenson may have misunderstood Professor Johnson’s premise, as both take opposite sides today on the good “doctor” Victor Olatoye's affidavit.

Living up to its new moniker, the Snooze Room continues to treat Olatoye’s now withdrawn affidavit as if it still has merit while Duff Wilson thoroughly debunks Stevenspins’ efforts to push the affidavit by employing Olatoye's own words.

Stevenson writes:

“In a sworn affidavit, a copy of which was obtained by The Herald-Sun this week, Olatoye said he had reviewed a recent CBS TV "60 Minutes" video clip that purported to show the accuser dancing in his club on March 26.” “He disputed the timing of the clip.”"The video is at my club and was prior to the rape," Olatoye wrote. "I am certain of this because [the accuser] has not stripped at my club since the rape occurred."

Wilson reports:

“Victor O. Olatoye, owner of the Platinum Club in Hillsborough, N.C., where the woman worked, had signed an affidavit for the Durham district attorney saying she had not performed at his club since February, and that the video had to have been taken before March 13.”“But in the interview Thursday, Mr. Olatoye, 44, said that after filing his affidavit on Oct. 18 he found records showing that the woman had worked on March 23, March 24 and March 25. Mr. Olatoye also said he recognized her dancing on the video, even though her face was obscured.”

“I saw the clip and I believe that was her, yes,” he said, adding that she has not worked at the club since March 25.“Mr. Olatoye said that a day after he had signed the affidavit he told the district attorney’s office that he needed to change it. But an investigator for the office, Linwood Wilson, said Mr. Olatoye never told him about the new information, and added that he was now expected to file a new affidavit on Friday.”

To his credit, Mr. Stevenson does note that a new witness, a fellow Platinum Club dancer, has surfaced to verify that the Duke Hoax accuser resumed dancing following the alleged assault.

“Following in the footsteps of a former bouncer, another person has surfaced to refute a club owner's claim that the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case stopped doing exotic dances at his Hillsborough nightspot in February.”

“A fellow dancer now contends she saw the Duke lacrosse rape accuser performing at Hillsborough's adults-only Platinum Club after the night of March 13-14, lawyers close to the case said Thursday.”

Curiously, Mr. Stevenson omits Olatoye himself as he totals the number of people who challenge the club owner’s affidavit at three: a fellow dancer, the bouncer, and the accuser’s “driver.” Olatoye now brings that total toat least four.

"Including the newly surfaced dancer, at least three people now refute club owner Victor Olatoye's assertion that the alleged rape victim did not perform in his nightclub after February.”“But, as reported in The Herald-Sun Thursday, former bouncer H.P. "Fats" Thomas told several defense lawyers he watched the accuser perform on March 17, 18 and 26. The woman's movements were supple, athletic and almost contortionist in nature, the attorneys paraphrased Thomas as saying.”

“In addition, as previously made public, a one-time driver for the alleged rape victim -- Jarriel Lanier Johnson -- told police in April that he took the woman to the Platinum Club between 11 p.m. and midnight on March 10.”

Stevenson’s omission of Olatoye’s acknowledgement that his affidavit was inaccurate appears to indicate that he either willfully promoted the club owner’s affidavit knowing that it was false, or he was sandbagged by the District Attorney’s office. Nifong or one of his subordinates appear to have leaked the affidavit to the Herald Sun in the hope of plugging one of the many gaping holes in their Hoax on the eve of the election. Given newly promoted, Chief Investigator Linwood Wilson’s denial of the club owner’s assertion that he told the District Attorney’s office as early as October 19 that his affidavit was false, it would appear that the latter is the best guess.

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Stevenson reacts to having been manipulated by master puppeteer, interim-DA Nifong, into providing false information to the public in the interests of promoting Nifong’s campaign effort. Will Stevenson respond to having been fed information that was known to be false two weeks prior to the leak by, finally, turning an objective, investigative eye to the Hoax? Or, like a good lackey, will he gently smile as he eagerly bends over saying, “Thank you, sir! May I have another?”

Talk Left forum super sleuth, Bob in Pacifica, appears to have dug up some curious information about one of “Dr.” Olatoye’s “airlines.”

"Let's shine a light on Mr. Olatoye and his business enterprises, from Precious stripping at the Platinum Club to, perhaps, running guns in Africa?

“It seems that Africargo International is involved with a certain Victor Bout. UN officials have accused Victor Bout of using the United Arab Emirates as a permanent base but using many "flags of convenience" and sub-contracting arrangements for his aircraft to facilitate illegal arms and diamond smuggling activities, particularly in Africa. Victor Bout's aircraft were allegedly used to take coltan and cassiterite out of DRC; to bring supplies into mining sites in DRC; and to transport military troops and equipment.

“From an article here: http://www.ruudleeuw.com/vbout29.htm

“Research shows that the registration 9L-LEO was issued by the Sierra Leone civil aviation authority to an Antonov-8 with serial number OG3410 on 22 March 2004, and was owned by a U.S. Oregon-based company called Simax LLC, using an address in Sierra Leone "c/o Africargo International/Inter Tropic Airlines".

While the reasons Mr. Olatoye found election eve to be the perfect time to insert himself into the Hoax remain unclear, Free Republic was on to the curious Dr. Olatoye as early as last June.

"Customer reviews of the Platinum, Hillsborough, NC.

MickeyMirrors - 8/1 I arrived around 12:15 AM. The same guy who owned Cabaret Royale in Durham (african doctor) greeted me at the door.

Dr. Victor Olatoye is owner of Cabaret Royale.

Royalty Enterprises USA World Corporate Headquarters: 9309 Royal Crest Dr. Raleigh, NC 27617Tel: (919) 806-1936 Fax: (919) 806-1870

Royalty Enterprises USA is a multi-services company with worldwide presence. Our services are Air-cargo Operations, Commodity Trading, Entertainment, Service Stations, Constructions, Designer Furniture Retail, Education and Scientific/Medical Equipment Trading. Our mission is to provide quality service to our customers through our subsidiaries worldwide. All customers are treated with ultimate respect. Our highly qualified and experienced employees worldwide are authorities in their respective fields. ....... Royalty Enterprises USA Management Dr. Victor O. Olatoye President & Chief Executive Officer ceo@royaltyenterprisesusa.comRoyalty Enterprises USA and all its subsidiaries are under the direction and leadership of Dr. Victor O. Olatoye. He founded the company in 1994. Royalty Enterprises started as a small consulting company and grew to the giant that it is today with over eight subsidiaries.Dr. Olatoye is a visionary and opportunist and that is why he is the President and the Chief Executive Officer. Royalty Enterprises USA: We are a multi-services subsidiary of Royalty Enterprises USA, which was founded in 1994, but actually started to operate in 2003 with the award of the Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation (OPIC) project. Royalty Enterprises USA has a 51% stake in this company and we are in a talk with the third largest bank in Nigeria for a 15% investment.Royalty International has one subsidiary, St Victor’s International Nigeria Limited (SVIN) to handle all commodities trading in Nigeria."

The North Carolina Secretary of State offers additional information on the newest cast member in Durham’s Theater of the Absurd:

Corporation Search

Corporation Names

ROYALTY INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED U.S.A

SAINT VICTOR'S INC. INTERNATIONAL

Status: Suspended

Adding to the curiosity surrounding the mysterious club owner, Mr. Olatoye lists the address of his Worldwide Corporate Headquaters as, 9309 Royal Crest Drive, Raleigh, NC 27617. This is oddly similar to the address listed for his Platinum Club: 9309 Royal Crest Drive, Hillsborough,NC 27278. The Raleigh address maps to a cul-de-sac at Briar Creek Country Club in Raleigh. Our research indicates that there is no Royal Crest Drive in Hillsborough. Adding to the confusion, it appears that Durham County recently granted Olatoye permission to change the use of a 1,455 sq ft building located at an address that exists only in Wake County and nowhere in Durham County.

With the introduction of the mysterious Dr. Olatoye to the cast, the Hoax may now have exceeded the bounds of the absurd. As a Hoax watcher told us, "If Mike Nifong's head cracked open this morning and he was revealed to be one of those Cylon's from Battlestar Galactica, I’d probably just shrug my shoulders and say "I kind of figured it" and then go back to sipping my coffee without spilling a drop." Sadly, we agree.