-I apologise and I meant no harm by what appeared in the advertisement," Dr Ronald Gander told ZDNet Australia. -It is all over, the company I registered stopped trading a while ago."
Referring to the coverage of the controversial advertisement as a -trial by Internet", he said his personal credibility had been undermined for a lifetime, given comments which appeared on broadband aficionado site www.whirlpool.net.au.
Gander went on to claim that he himself had been deceived by people who said they represented US-based Hughes Network Systems and that AXS Hughes Corp, the company he registered allegedly at their behest, has ceased trading.
-All I did was answer a job ad online, I spoke with these people a few times and met with them aswell, I did everything I was told to," Gander explained, going on to say that he had lost contact with the people he claims introduced him to the wireless technology advertised in the Courier Mail. -I had a prototype in my hands but they took it off me. I can't talk about the company for legal reasons, I am going to wait for my day in court."
After receiving letters from Ericsson's legal representatives and wireless infrastructure provider Hughes Network Systems, Gander announced he was no longer trading under the name Hughes, and that the offer for broadband wireless services was cancelled.
Whilst Gander expects the matter to appear before court, he wouldn't specify if he intended to take legal action against anyone else or if he expected action to be taken against him.
Since the outset Hughes Network Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hughes Electronics Corporation, has denied any connection to the wireless technology initially advertised in Queensland. Gander confirmed he had received requests from both Hughes and Ericsson to cease and desist from referring to either company.
-Ericsson sent me a statement telling me to stop using their name, and I have," he said. -Then I got one from Hughes asking me to cease and desist from using their name in the company's operations, so the business I started has ceased its operations."
He said he no longer believed the people who he says employed him in the first instance were from Hughes, although he claims they had been depositing money into his bank account in order to pay for his services, and had managed to convince him of the existence of the technology via a demonstration.
Gander was less willing to talk about his use of the honorific -Dr", reiterating that he indeed had been awarded a PHd, but refusing to comment on where or what he studied in order to earn the title.
He said he was scared by the attacks that allegedly took place against his house, and that he wanted the whole situation to blow over and be forgotten as soon as possible.
I've just got to wonder, is this the same Ronald Gander who went down for attempting to sell the Boeing building in Brisbane's CBD for twenty-something million dollars a little while ago?