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08.18.06
AOL To Dig For Spam King's Gold
 By
Jason Lee Miller
AOL's now in the mining business. Seeking to recoup losses from a notorious spammer, the company believes gold and platinum bars belonging to spam king Davis Wolfgang Hawke are buried in parents Massachusetts yard. And they want that gold. Yarr.
The odd news comes the same week AOL announced $20 million in sponsorships for its upcoming online reality show "Gold Rush," where contestants navigate around the country looking for over $2 million in hidden treasure, payable in, you guessed it: gold.
AOL's own gold rush comes on the heels of an attempt collect on a $12.8 million judgment against convicted spammer Hawke, who has disappeared. Hawke, a reported white supremacist who made $600,000 per week spamming AOL inboxes with ads for loans, adult material, jewelry, and pharmaceuticals, spent much of his cash on gold and platinum bars, to make it harder to seize his assets.
AOL believes he sank it into his parents' yard and plans to dig it up unless Hawke's family can get a court order to block it. His mother denies there's any gold on they're property. Rather, it is probably buried in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, over 100 miles away.
That jives with Hawke's ex-girlfriend's recounting of a statement he made saying collectors would to dig up five states to find his treasure. His father, Simon Greenbaum, is nearly daring AOL to dig up his property, as anything found there is technically his.
"So if they hit oil, I'll put up a gas station," he said.
Hawke's ex reported that he regularly went hiking at night carrying a fireproof safe and a shovel with him, but would not reveal what he was up to.
About the Author:
Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.
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