BUSINESS PROFILE:
ARCADIA:
A Flea in Her Ear
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EDUCATION:
Arcadia Unified School District Announces 2015-16 Teacher of the Year Pg. 30
COMPLIMENTARY COPY VOLUME 19, NO. 37
arcadiaweekly.com
Thursday, September 17, 2015 - September 23, 2015
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Everything’s Coming Up Roses
Royal Court Hopefuls Descend on Tournament House in Search of Adventure BY TERRY MILLER
Several hundred ‘selfies’ were the big order of the day as hundreds try out for a coveted spot on the Royal Court.
Gemcoin Investors Share Fraud Concerns With Arcadia Council
Residents Call for Councilman's Resignation
A group of more than 20 dismayed Gemcoin investors and their supporters attended the Arcadia City Council meeting Tuesday demanding answers from Council Member John Wuo on his involvement with the controversial investment product and what to do about getting their money back. Wuo, however, declined to respond to accusations of wrongdoing and calls for his resignation from the council. The longstanding Arcadia SEE PG. 16
BY JOE TAGLIERI
John Wuo listens to fraud accusations Tuesday.
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– Photo by Terry Miller
Without trying to being too cliché, it really is time to stop and smell the roses in Pasadena … particularly at Tournament House, Pasadena’s answer to Buckingham Palace, where officials have been very droughtconscious yet managed to maintain the spectacular rose garden in time for the 2016 Rose Court tryouts. Hundreds of young women (plus a couple of brave young men) started the long, nail-biting process Saturday after which several hundred ‘selfies’ were the big order of the day. And,
where better? The Rose Garden, of course. The fun continued Tuesday as hundreds more compete for a position on the seven-member court of Pasadena’s Royalty. While hundreds of Pasadena-area young women interviewed for the prospect to be part of the 2016 Tournament of Roses Royal Court Saturday, participants from Pasadena and surrounding communities also vie to represent their communities, schools and SEE PG. 18
Gemcoin Investors Detail Allegations Against Arcadia Councilman Wuo, Cryptocurrency Founder Chen BY JOE TAGLIERI
- Photo by Terry Miller
A group of investors in an Arcadia-based cryptocurrency on Monday explained a variety of allegations of impropriety against City Council Member John Wuo and Steve Chen, the chief executive behind the investment product known as Gemcoin. The investors – who are Chinese immigrants and in recent weeks have gone public with charges ranging from large-scale
fraud and death threats by Chen and questionable campaign fundraising and fixing code enforcement violations by Wuo – raised a number of questions that challenge Wuo’s multiple public denials that he has played a significant role in Gemcoin marketing and has strong ties to Chen, who heads the virtual currency’s parent companies Alliance Financial Group and USFIA Inc. At an evening news
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conference with several local media outlets investors also expressed concern for their safety as a result of publicly airing their concerns, noting the cache of firearms allegedly stored at Chen’s office complex and his home. A photo obtained by Arcadia Weekly shows Chen in possession of a long-range, highpower riffle. Other photos feature men described as associates of Chen posing SEE PG. 16