BOSTON (AFX) - The grandparents of a notorious Internet spammer say they will allow AOL to do an initial search of their property to see if their grandson has buried gold there.
Robert Davis, the 90-year-old grandfather of Davis Wolfgang Hawke, said that after initially opposing AOL's request to survey his land and possibly dig there, he and his wife decided to compromise and allow the company to use radar and sonar equipment to find out if anything is in their yard in Westwood, a Boston suburb. Davis said he wanted to avoid an expensive legal battle with AOL.
'We tried to work something out rather than go to court,' Davis said Tuesday. 'It would entail a lot of legal expense for me and a lot of inconvenience.'
The Internet company wants to search for the treasure to satisfy a $12.8 million judgment it won in federal court in Virginia last year.
The Internet company accused Hawke of violating U.S. and Virginia anti-spam laws by sending massive amounts of unwanted e-mails to its subscribers. It won its case in a default judgment against Hawke, who didn't show up in court.
At the height of Hawke's Internet activities, Hawke and his partners earned more than $600,000 each month by sending unwanted sales pitches over the Internet for loans, pornography, jewelry and prescription drugs, investigators believe.
AOL believes Hawke may have buried gold and platinum on his grandparents' property and his parents' property in nearby Medfield.
Davis said it's highly unlikely that his grandson buried anything of value on his land. 'I think there's one chance in 10 million,' he said.
Hawke's mother, Peggy Greenbaum, has maintained she intends to fight AOL's attempts to search her property.
Nicholas Graham, a spokesman for AOL, declined comment Tuesday.
Davis said AOL had planned to begin the surveying work on Monday, but had trouble with its equipment. No new date has been set, he said.
He said if AOL detects anything underground and asks to dig up his yard, he may still oppose that. 'I don't want them digging,' he said.
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