00 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 2                                                                                               
01 Requesting Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, to appoint                                        
02 a special prosecutor to investigate possible security and other violations in                                           
03 connection with World Plus, Inc.                                                                                        
04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE:                                                                                          
05  WHEREAS a federal grand jury has indicted RaeJean S. Bonham, the sole stockholder                                    
06 of World Plus, Inc. (WPI), and a United States Bankruptcy Court judge has declared her                                  
07 airline mileage operation to have been a "Ponzi scheme"; and                                                            
08  WHEREAS the division of legislative audit at the direction of the Legislative Budget                                 
09 and Audit Committee investigated activities of the Alaska Department of Commerce and                                    
10 Economic Development, division of banking, securities, and corporations, and the Alaska                                 
11 Department of Law in connection with WPI; and                                                                           
12  WHEREAS the division of legislative audit, in a memorandum dated March 5, 1998,                                      
13 concluded that                                                                                                          
14   (1)  several members of the district attorney's office of the Department of Law                                       
01 furnished endorsements of RaeJean S. Bonham and her operations and that endorsements were                               
02 also written by a federal prosecutor, several employees of the Alaska Court System, and                                 
03 business leaders from Fairbanks;                                                                                        
04   (2)  some of the endorsements were relied upon by the division of banking,                                            
05 securities, and corporations in exempting WPI from state registration of investment contracts                           
06 that were used to fund operations of WPI, a possible violation of AS 45.55.160;                                         
07   (3)  some of the endorsements may also violate AS 39.52.120, 39.52.160,                                               
08 39.52.170, or other state or federal laws;                                                                              
09   (4)  Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, left the                                              
10 criminal prosecution of RaeJean S. Bonham to the United States Department of Justice;                                   
11   (5)  since it has been approximately two years since the Attorney General                                             
12 agreed to turn over criminal prosecution of the WPI investment scheme to federal prosecutors,                           
13 a review should now be initiated to determine whether other individuals violated state or                               
14 federal laws;                                                                                                           
15   (6)  because of the possible involvement of state employees in WPI operations,                                        
16 the Attorney General's office is not sufficiently independent to conduct the review, and the                            
17 matter should be handled by an independent prosecutor; and                                                              
18  WHEREAS the senate is concerned about the roles state agencies may have played                                       
19 in WPI operations and the failure of state agencies to adequately monitor WPI operations; and                           
20  WHEREAS the senate is concerned that state officers and employees, as well as other                                  
21 individuals, may have been involved in criminal activity in connection with WPI operations;                             
22 and                                                                                                                     
23  WHEREAS it has been determined in State v. Breeze, 873 P.2d 627 (Alaska 1994)                                        
24 that the state attorney general has the authority to appoint a special prosecutor;                                      
25  BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Senate respectfully and urgently requests                                       
26 Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General of the State of Alaska, to appoint a special prosecutor                              
27 to conduct an investigation relating to operations of World Plus, Inc., and to bring any security                       
28 or other criminal charges that may be appropriate.                                                                      
29  A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to Bruce M. Botelho, Attorney General.