Mann sent his financial sidekick, Dave Wickett, to California to go over TM Systems’ books. Dickson insisted MCI have a presence at the meeting, so Pavlo gave Hennessy a free junket to Malibu. Wickett reported back that the company was foundering mainly because Ward and Dickson were taking big salaries for themselves, and paying salaries to Ward’s mother and sister.4 Pavlo studied their usage and became suspicious that they were siphoning off funds to launch a junk fax venture that specialized in polluting the world with mortgage pitches.
