Robinson Drops Suit Against Publishing Firm

Mel Robinson, a plaintiff in a libel lawsuit filed last Feb. 25 against Arkansas Business Publishing Group, one of its publications and three employees, has voluntarily dismissed his suit.

ABPG of Little Rock publishes the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, Arkansas Business and arkansasbusiness.com.

Robinson was the senior trustee of a Bentonville entity called the Genesis Trust.

That entity was closely linked to Golf Entertainment Inc. of Springdale through sworn depositions and public records, including a brokerage account once shared by a Genesis officer and Golf General Counsel John Dodge. Golf was traded “over-the-counter” but has since been delisted.

In August 2002, the business newspapers published an in-depth story based on public information and first-hand interviews about the questionable activities of Golf and Genesis. Another lengthy report published last March reaffirmed and expanded documentation of the appearance of impropriety.

A claim by Jim Bolt, the former COO of Golf who later joined the civil complaint filed in Washington County Circuit Court, has been automatically stayed by virtue of his recent filing for bankruptcy.

ABPG filed a motion for summary judgment in November. Trial was set for Feb. 3.

“We knew this suit was baseless from the beginning, and we were confident the court was going to grant summary judgment against Robinson before he filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the case,” said Jeff Hankins, president and publisher of ABPG.