“I want to build a damn empire,” Barry Bellue declared matter-of-factly to Business Report in May 2006.
And build an empire he did.
As Business Report details in its new cover story, “Troubled Empire,” Bellue brought tech to the Capital Region long before tech had any discernible presence here. And his firm, Thinkstream, accomplished what others across the country before and since have tried and failed: It built a network that allowed criminal justice agencies to instantly access information from one another’s databases—arrest warrants, criminal histories, mugshots, fingerprints, aliases and more—from laptops and mobile devices.
The company’s apps are now at work in nearly every law enforcement agency in Louisiana. The ATF, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshal, the Coast Guard—they all use Thinkstream. So do banks checking IDs. It’s now in six states.
Investors—many of Baton Rouge’s most affluent professionals are among the nearly 500 shareholders—have backed Bellue’s vision with more than $40 million in the past decade. For just as long, prominent Louisiana law enforcement officials have been its best evangelists, singing the praises of Thinkstream at pitches and in news releases—and in some cases, investing in the company, too.
But signs are showing that Bellue’s empire may be in serious trouble.
Creditors have dragged Thinkstream into bankruptcy court not once, but twice in two years. Their filings paint a disturbing picture: millions in outstanding debt, missed payrolls, delinquent taxes, generous salaries for Bellue and his family, and allegations of mismanagement.
On Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Douglas Dodd ordered the appointment of an interim trustee to oversee Thinkstream. His order, which came after creditors filed an emergency motion seeking a trustee to manage the company’s affairs, also bars Thinkstream from transferring any of its property or paying officers, directors or managers without court approval.
Adding to concerns: The U.S. Department of Labor cracked down on top executives for neglecting to invest more than $126,000 in employee contributions into their 401(k)s. Thinkstream was fined $25,326, and Bellue was required to attend fiduciary responsibility training and permanently barred from managing any other employee benefit plan.
And then there was the March 20 resignation letter of the chairman of the board of directors, Freeport LNG Development LP CEO Michael Smith. In it, the Houston energy executive tells Bellue he was “shocked … to find out how seriously I have been misled and had information hidden from me,” and that he doesn’t want anyone to “believe that I am still associated with the leadership of the company.”
He isn’t the only top executive to go.
Chief Financial Officer Morris Alexander is no longer with Thinkstream, and Paul San Soucie, vice president for customer relations, is said to be “on sabbatical for personal reasons” and “available as needed during this time,” according to Thinkstream spokeswoman Kim Bergeron. Even Thinkstream’s own bankruptcy attorney, Edward Gonzales III, is making an exit. He filed a motion June 29 to withdraw from the case, contending he and Thinkstream are “in fundamental disagreement over matters that are related to this case,” which “has among other things complicated efforts to respond to discovery requests.”
So how is it that a company that once prevailed on multimillion-dollar government contracts and remains widely viewed as a champion among rank-and-file law enforcement is suddenly struggling with debt and allegations of keeping its shareholders and its own executives in the dark?
Court filings by creditors imply the buck stops with Bellue.
“I’ve given my whole life to this,” Bellue tells Business Report. “I hope we end up being a successful story and not a tragic story.”
Read the complete cover story. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
