Thursday, May 29, 2014

Kevin Trudeau: GIN sale approved, Katie's in Alabama, still crying poor, and still selling coaching sessions


So it's time for more of the latest news on caged serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, Whirled name Katie. I would have blogged about all of this yesterday, but that whole Death-Ray-on-the-comeback-trail video thing had me kind of upset. It's important to continue to keep our focus on the entire context of Scamworld, and James Arthur Ray is such a huge, horrible, glaring example of that. But still... there's Katie. And there's his big boondoggle GIN, the Global Information Network. And the fact that there are no neat and tidy endings in his or any Scamworld story. So here goes.

GIN sale: Motion granted on 27 May 2014
As expected,
the court appointed receiver's motion to sell GIN to a group of Katie buds, the AXS Investment Group, was granted on May 27. It seems that GIN, despite the best efforts of the GIN destroyers, will live on. Below is the notification of docket entry; that's all that's up so far. But I'm sure the judge's signed, dated order, and possibly other docs, will be up soon. I will share as soon as I get them.

UPDATE, 30 May, 2014: Judge Gettleman's order approving the sale, which was signed and filed on May 27, is finally available on PACER (I did check every day, and now here it is).Word is that the GIN sale was actually finalized yesterday (May 29) and all but three staffers were let go... which is pretty much as expected. My pal Bernie has details on GINtruth.

I've also heard that the women who work for new GIN co-owner JeffDevine (who months ago had told me he wasn't in the market to buy GIN) are safe because they are on a different payroll -- Jeff's company, The Hybrid Group.

Word is that in an effort to get back some of the best ones they let go, GIN has dangled the carrot of a promise of a job, at reduced salary and commission-only basis, which is consistent with the buzz we'd been hearing for months. Reportedly, though, they can only get their jobs back if they can lure people back into the club. I don't know if they were given quotas or not, but in any case I've heard that at least some of the fired staffers aren't biting, and are actually relieved to be out of the drama. They are realizing that it is time to start a new chapter in their lives. I wish them well. I hope they can find good jobs outside of Scamworld. Despite what some of the GIN principals have told me, and despite their efforts to convince me that GIN is just another professional org like thousands of others, in my view GIN is part of Scamworld, and always will be.


Sweet home Alabama: Katie's new digs
As you may have heard, Katie has finally been moved to his new home-for-the-next-decade-or-so. He's now in a federal prison camp in Alabama, FPC Montgomery. You will be delighted to know that it has been rated as THE best prison camp in the United States. "Way to manifest, Kevin!" wrote his proxy on a May 28 Facebook post (which was met with the usual round of "likes" and adoring responses).

FPC may be cushier than your normal everyday max-security lockups. But it's still prison.

But still.

So now with his big club GIN in control of his loyal buddies, and Katie staying in a prison camp that's about as good as prison can be in the U.S., and thousands of fans still adoring him and thinking he's a hero and a martyr... Well, you know what that obnoxious Cosmic blogger likes to say: "No neat and tidy endings." Personally I'm glad he's in a nice place, because if I'm going to end up in the same cell with him due to my criminal blogging activities,
as Loony Coldwell predicted a few months ago, I'd rather it be a nice place than a not-nice place.

Anyway, if you want to write to Katie, here's his new addy:

Kevin Trudeau -- 18046036
FPC MONTGOMERY
Federal Prison Camp
Maxwell Air Force Base
Montgomery, AL 36112

And the poor boy drama continues...
There's another Katie drama that I have
previously mentioned here and on Facebook, and I thought it was more or less over, but no, it continues. This has to do with Trudeau's criminal case -- or rather, the appeal, which is now a separate case, Case no. 14-1869. Ever since his conviction, Katie and his lawyers have been going back and forth with the courts trying to convince them that Katie is too poor to afford the $505 filing fee for his appeal. The court has already denied him the right to waive the fee, per the government's request; the government has cited all of the money that Katie has had in his prison account since his confinement, and has spent.

But Katie -- or rather his law firm Winston & Strawn, who have said they will now represent him pro bono -- wouldn't give up, and tried again. They are the ones who were pushing to have the filing fee waived, and they also wanted to be reimbursed for their travel expenses and whatnot. At the very least, though, they want the court to appoint a new lawyer,
Christopher M. Bruno, as counsel of record. (Bruno is with Winston & Strawn and is a winner of the 2012 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, High Honor Roll.)
 
Anyway. Here are two of the latest appeals documents, filed May 21 (the government) and May 23 (Katie's lawyers).
Trudeau-criminal-appeal-14-1869-Documents-12-and-13-re-In-Forma-Pauperis-etc-05-21-and-05-23-14.pdf
(Note: this is a Facebook download. If you can't access it don't worry;
here is the Scribd link.)

But... personal coaching from Katie is still available!
Someone forwarded an email to me announcing that Katie is still doing in-person or over-the-phone "coaching" sessions, now for the bargain-basement price of only $2,000.00 for two hours (formerly $5.000.00 for one hour):

Spots still available for coaching with Kevin Trudeau
You still have an opportunity to buy a 2-hour coaching session with KT, either in person or via energy work for $2,000. This offer has previously been sold for $5,000 for one hour. It is only being offered to those in our company.

KT is now in Montgomery, Alabama.

Please respond if you are interested or have more questions.
Brenda Maetzold
The Secret To Life Coaching
That's right... the man behind bars, who claims to be too darned poor to afford a $505 filing fee for his criminal appeal, will teach YOU how to be successful. Heck of a deal!

Here's the link to a page on The Secret To Life Coaching company, which is run by long-time Katie bud Coral Thomas. You'll see Coral's bio and Brenda's as well. I've mentioned Coral a few times on this Whirled. A couple of C.I.s have told me to watch out for her and her pals, because they're still actively involved in enterprises that will benefit Katie. Coral and gang reportedly have an agreement with Katie to raise a certain amount of money -- $100k or so, according to some sources -- for his legal defense in exchange for rights to market some of his frauducts and flopportunities and/or other benefits. (A few months ago I was also told that Katie's old ITV Direct buddy Donald Barrett is somehow involved in some of the enterprises as well, but haven't followed up on that line of inquiry.)

Interestingly enough, although Coral's company has reportedly made claims that they will have $200 million in revenue,
The Secret to Life Coaching Company is listed on Facebook as being "Permanently Closed. Hmmm.
The road goes on forever, and the scamming never ends.

But no worries. TheSecretToLifeCoaching.com still has an active Facebook page
 
You know... no neat and tidy endings.



Addendum 5 June, 2014:  My pal Bernie at GINtruth.com did a short write-up on a June 3 story about the GIN sale, presented by Emmy Award winning reporter Ryan Kath (KSHB-TV/41 Action News (Kansas City, Missouri NBC affiliate). Good for Ryan. As noted on this Whirled a few times, he's one of the few reporters (outside of Katie's former home base, Chicago) who has kept on this story since he did his first one in November 2012. That story even got a positive nod from Salty Droid, who isn't easily impressed.

Addendum 18 June, 2014: On June 16, just in the nick of time (he only had until June 20), the pauper Kevin Trudeau came up with the $505 to pay his filing fee for his appeal. Whew, close one!


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

who in their right mind would take manifestation or any life coaching lessons from someone in this situation: everything he wanted to manifest- didn't and everything he didn't want to manifest- did and in an extreme way

Cosmic Connie said...

True, Anon. But I am pretty sure that the co-scammers pushing this "coaching opportunity" are banking on potential customers NOT being in their right minds.

Even so, their task hasn't been easy, as evidenced by the fact that they have to keep dropping their prices. From a marketing standpoint, they're faced with what used to be known as a sticky wicket, aka a difficult situation (to say the least).

In a way it's even more difficult than the situation in which the new GIN owners find themselves. The new GIN's task is to appeal to Kevin fans as well as Kevin detractors -- and there are still plenty of fans, and they might still have some money left. Even so, GIN's board of scoundrels can possibly make the club successful by rebranding and filtering out Kevin, for the most part. (They still have to convince those who felt burned by the old GIN that the new GIN will offer a payoff of some sort.)

Since the owners are all Katie buds, I don't expect them to really throw him under the bus or sweep him under the rug. Accordingly, they can gloss over the lies and multiple layers of deception and the whole criminal-history thing, and the party line can be that Kevin taught a lot of good and useful things, and that the new GIN is retaining only the good stuff. The point is that they have a fighting chance, IMO.

On the other hand, the scammers behind the "Coach Kevin" promo are having to actually market KEVIN, and despite the fact that there is a loyal fan base, this is a much more difficult sell. They can try to explain away the whole prison thing by presenting Katie as a hero/martyr; indeed, that's the tack that Katie himself has taken for years. But they're going to have a hard time marketing him as a qualified teacher of LOA and manifestation, given his present circumstances. And anyone who has followed the media accounts of how Katie cried and whined in court, begging in vain for his freedom or at least for leniency, is going to be difficult to convince.

The thing is, "success coaches" and motivators can only be truly convincing if they seem to be living an enviable lifestyle. (Think Tony Robbins and most of the a$$holes in The Secret, and most of those loathsome two-bit Internet Marketing scammers Salty Droid writes about.) So much of Scamworld is fueled by envy, or by the scammers' ability to incite envy in their potential customers. "Look what I have! And you can too!"

Incitement of envy is one of the main strategies Katie used to get people into GIN. So many of the promos for GIN included a laundry list of his "enviable" accomplishments: his opulent lifestyle, business "successes," history of dating gorgeous women, etc.

And now look at him. All his opulence has been taken away, and his gorgeous estranged wife is hiding out in Ukraine. And no matter how Katie's buds try to spin things on the Facebook fan page, prison is not an enviable lifestyle.

Jeremy A said...

You say that kevin trudeau's baccarat system can't work and it's been proven mathematically by people you've been in contact with. Could I please see this mathematical proof please, ma'am? I would like to know if it's really a scam.

Jeremy A said...

I don't know if this went through already, but you say that you've been in contact with people that mathematically proved Kevin Trudeau's baccarat system was a fraud. Could I please see this mathematical proof please, ma'am? I would really like to know if it's a scam.

Cosmic Connie said...

Hi, Jeremy, and thank you for writing. Sorry for not answering sooner. Had some real-life stuff to do. Re the baccarat scam: I'll go dig up my friend Tom Banjo and let him tell you all about it.

Tom Banjo said...

The ONLY way to make money with a Baccarat betting system is to find someone stupid enough to buy lessons from you.

If the system actually worked, it would be so much more profitable for them to simply play Baccarat with it than to sell lessons about it.

Cosmic Connie said...

Well said, Tom. And if you want more, Jeremy, there's some under "Baccarat bounty... or not" in this April 2012 post:
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2012/04/viva-lost-wages-sin-city-becomes-gin.html

Jeremy A said...

There isn't anything there that mathematically disproves what he said, i thought maybe you and/or others had a break down of some sort.

Jeremy A said...

There isn't anything there that mathematically disproves what he said, i thought maybe you and/or others had a break down of some sort.

Jeremy A said...

Also, thank you for responding.

Chu said...

Well I must clarify some things and express some genuine gratitude. First to Connie for keeping an up to date scoop on whats happening with KT. Thankfully I have the ability to "discern" and i'm not swayed by opinions of other people.

As for the baccarat system I can assure you that it is not a SCAM, so long as you know how to follow instruction.s As one of the original members in attendance to the private limited meeting, 1 of 50 in fact I can say that the method does in fact work.

I effectively turned $1000 in $2800 in about a months time. Of course my desire and the circumstances i was facing aka as the "energy" was right as well. Even with that being said i wasn't managing my money correct as in spending my bank roll and just living.I was able to pay off my court fee's and and effectively fly my self to Miami and attend the winter-leadership cruise.

I only "busted" one time and that was when i went "away" from the method and allowed greed and hunger to effect my judgment.

At the time I was already up $270 but had been there for 7-8 hours and was extremely tired, and hungry and really should have went home. I threw a $50 chip on the table. Which was out of my bank roll range and stopped following my sheet in effect "gambling" Prior to that I made MONEY EVERY SINGLE TIME I FOLLOWED THE METHOD. Take my opinion fom what's it worth. For all you guys know i'm just a guy on the Internet, but at the same time who isn't.

Regardless of what some people may think of KT, He's been a positive influence in my life WAY BEFORE gin with his health books; and to add wealth to the mix is a true blessing as well.

At the end of the day my friends. "who do you listen to" A. Listen to people who have what you want. B. Listen to people who have been where you are. BUT C...ULTIMATELY LISTEN TO YOURSELF....
Thank god for the power of DISCERNMENT...
T
hanks connine I know deep down you still love KT or else you wouldn't be so hell bent on trying to take him down. Your not so bad looking yourself ; ) in love and light always! - C

Jeremy A said...

Oh boy, well excuse me Mr. Random Guy, who could be one of KT's scam friends for all I know. I'll just take your word for it.

There is no proof for anything you said Chu.

Jeremy A said...

when they shuffle the decks together, all the cards have an equal probability of appearing anywhere in the group of shuffled decks, or shoe. So regardless of what cards are played, all the cards not played yet have an equal probability to show up next. So, It really is one continuous shoe. The point is with this system he's selling, once people start losing money, I would think some are going to want to play more conservatively, if they weren't doing that before. He say to be conservative only start at the beginning of the shoe and stop after winning a certain amount of "units" (units is how he tells people to break up their bankrolls), he calls this a unit win stop. This to me seems to be just a way to make people slow down and take longer to lose their money. Big bankroll (like in the April 2012 post that Cosmic Connie linked to) and, the very extra special part that he added to really try and slow things down, a unit win stop.

I think it's a scam. I would like to see him rot in jail for the rest of his life.

I have had success with natural, non-drug cures though.

Jeremy A said...

Also, If I missed something and it's not a scam, then great and I don't want him to rot in jail. I only want him to rot if it is.

Anonymous said...

You know, it's kind of too bad that notorious creationist, tax evader and structuring artist Kent Hovind is currently cooling his heels in the Elmore (AL) county lockup for distributing unwanted (Christian) literature. He had just been moved to the Maxwell AFB prison. It could have been epic if Katie and Kent had been roomies. You know, kind of like Jim Bakker and Lyndon LaRouche back around 1990 or therabouts.

Anonymous said...

It appears that Mevio.com now owns copyright of KT Radio Network material and is charging a subscription fee on iTunes to listen to it. We might guess they own rights to the success mastery course too, and are licensing the rights to AXS.

Cosmic Connie said...

Chu: I've never loved Kevin Trudeau, though I've often been grateful for the entertaining blog fodder he has provided.

Jeremy: Looks like you've figured out that Katie's baccarat thing IS a scam, and that's all that matters. Personally, I don't want anyone except the worst of the violent criminals and predators to rot in prison, but I understand your perspective. Many people share it.

Anon Sunday, June 08, 2014 11:42:00 PM: LOL. I bet Katie and Kent could come up with some great "Christian" scams together.

Anon Monday, June 09, 2014 9:14:00 PM: Interesting news about Mevio.com. I tried to get on that site and it requires a login. As for the Katie radio shows, I'll pass on paying a subscription fee to listen to that garbage. But thanks for the info!

Rob T said...

Cosmic Connie, I love your stuff, as I do all the other people who hate KT so much here. The most hilarious thing is that it is blatantly obvious that you lot, Abe and whoever else is bad mouthing GIN, KT and AXS have no idea what they are doing. You are making them stronger by giving them so much of your power. So, go for it! More fool you. I continue to piss myself laughing. Keep up the great work. As my mother used to say "Ignorance is bliss" and we should all be following our bliss. It is great to see you lot pursuing your bliss with so much passion!

Cosmic Connie said...

Hi, Rob. I am glad you are keeping the incontinence product manufacturers in business as you piss yourself laughing. Or do you just skip the diapers and wait for it to dry? Be careful; you might get a UTI.

Anyway, I cannot speak for Abe or for anyone else who has written or spoken critically of Katie and GIN and AXS. I can only speak for myself. And I think you know as well as I do that I do not write from a place of ignorance. The scammers will continue to scam and to find new and improved ways to scam regardless of what Abe or I or anyone else says or writes. I long ago accepted this fact. I long ago accepted that in some ways, writing about the scammers will just help to build a better scammer. I long ago came to realize that there are no neat and tidy endings in Scamworld.

But knowing this isn't going to stop me, because my words do reach some people, and my blog does its own small part to help raise awareness. And that's why I think I detect a little bit of nervousness in that pissy laughter of yours. But thank you for writing to me!