Police quiet about SIST sect’s threats; secretive group facing financial problems

Sect linked to list of 60 area targets, investigators say

SHAWANO — More than three months after police announced they had a person of interest in custody for making threats against 60 Shawano-area residents, investigators have offered little about their efforts to solve the case.

People named on the threat list are getting frustrated.

Shawano police said they have connected the secretive Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology to the list, which named 60 public officials, residents and members of the media. A Canadian citizen — a former business associate of the Samanta Roy sect — contacted authorities on Oct. 30 with information about the threats and received the list from sect members on Nov. 3, police said.

Shawano Mayor Lorna Marquardt, whose name is on the top of the list, said she knows little more now than she did in November.
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FBI Public Affairs Specialist Leonard Peace confirmed Tuesday that the probe is continuing, but released no other details.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Roach said Tuesday he could not comment on a pending investigation.

The police informant told authorities that institute members listed people “who they feel were causing them problems in the community,” Shawano Police Chief Ed Whealon said in November

“This individual provided names and indicated to the Shawano Police Department that these (sect) members wanted these people ‘taken care of,'” Whealon said.

“It’s definitely frustrating,” Marquardt said. “I can’t say my first emotion is fear, because it is not. My first emotion is disgust. I am really aggravated about the whole situation.”

Marquardt said the FBI agent told her they still consider this a legitimate threat and asked that she remain vigilant about her personal safety.
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SIST facing financial problems

SHAWANO – The secretive Shawano group linked to an alleged threat list against 60 people is facing more financial problems.

Court documents show the Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology, or SIST, is facing foreclosure on four of its properties. The group also failed to pay its 2008 property taxes.
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Next month, SIST’s Shawano gas stations (1381 E. Green Bay St., 1206 E. Green Bay St., 716 Main St.) will be auctioned off by the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department. The auction is a result of the properties being foreclosed on.

Foreclosure activity also started late last year on the USA International Raceway (W5901 County Rd. BE), another SIST holding. Court documents show that more than $2 million is still owed on the racetrack’s mortgage.

The group also missed the deadline to pay its 2008 property taxes. SIST and its subsidiaries now owe the city of Shawano in excess of $500,000.

The group’s attorney, Alan Eisenberg, declined an interview for this story. In the past however, Eisenberg has admitted the group was having some financial problems. He also said the group did not pay its taxes because it was being harassed by Shawano law enforcement.

Shawano law enforcement officials deny any unfair treatment.
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