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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Kevin Trudeau in court again: Something big... something really big!... or maybe not

From courtship to the court room: it's been a whirlwind five years
for Kevin Trudeau and the lovely Nataliya Babenko,
who celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary June 26!

Today, beginning at 10:00 AM Central Daylight Time, serial scammer Kevin Trudeau is appearing in court for a hearing related to his long-dragged-out civil case with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). [Case number 1:03-cv-03904, United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, the Honorable Robert W. Gettleman presiding.]

The last time he was in court regarding this case was a little over a month ago, on May 21. Today the court will be hearing from Marc Lane, one of Kevin's former legal eagles who helped him form his huge scam, the Global Information Network (GIN). It remains to be seen whether Marc will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights a few hundred times, as KT did in May.

Even though Kevin Trudeau is presumably not the star of this show, he has been ordered to appear in court for this hearing, and is currently prevented from traveling outside the jurisdiction.

And it's this latest bit that has excited ex-GIN member Abe Husein, who gleefully shared the news on his Facebook forums yesterday. The news apparently invoked a multi-sensory experience for Abe, who could just "smell the sweet taste of justice and victory."

Several people had questions about Brandy's "testimony." Abe replied:

My own first response was that I wasn't surprised that Brandy might eventually turn on Kevin. I think Kevin has placed her in an untenable position. However, that assessment was a bit premature. It seems that Brandy -- "mistress" or not (officially she has been Trudeau's producer and assistant) -- is still loyal to her Katie, at least on Facebook.


Here, if you can get to it, is the Facebook thread from earlier today, indicating that Brandy is still supporting Kevin -- and that at least a few people are willing to "testify" on Trudeau's behalf, if only by email. https://www.facebook.com/brandy.kt/posts/618748794816990

Meanwhile, Loony Lenny Coldwell, whose name change from Bernd Klein just celebrated its fifteenth birthday yesterday (we had a Quinceañera fiesta on this very Whirled, and we're still celebrating!) has been crowing about the prospect of his ex-b.f.f. being in jail. He just can't quit talking about Katie and Bubba... or Babba, as the case may be. Loony seems to have an almost unnatural obsession with jailhouse rape, which I don't actually think is anything to joke about.


I know this will come as a huge shock to you, Dear Ones, but the actual court documents seem to tell a slightly more nuanced story. First off, Kevin hasn't actually had his passports "revoked" (or "revocked," as the blurb on Abe's newest vid says) -- he has simply been ordered to surrender them, at least temporarily, because the court deems him a flight risk at the moment. The same thing happened back in February of 2010 after a contempt issue revolving around a Kevin-fueled email blast to the judge in his civil case, Robert Gettleman.

Here are the June 25 documents that Abe and Lenny were so excited about. You can judge (so to speak) for yourself, though I have it on good authority that the judge himself is not expected to make any decisions today. As usual, click on the pics for an enlarged view.

Kevin's next scheduled court appearance will be on July 8 at 11:00 AM. Subject to change, of course -- as always.

What does seem clear in these latest documents, as well as numerous other recent court docs, is that the plaintiffs -- that would be the Federal Trade Commission -- as well as the judge, are running out of patience with Trudeau. But whether he will end up in jail or not, thus giving some of the faux-heroes of this saga their fake happy ending, is anyone's guess. And whether he will stay in jail -- again, that is anyone's guess, though right now I am pretty much doubting it. All the FTC is really interested in is getting their $37.6 million fine from Kevin, or satisfying themselves that he really, really, really does not have the money, as he has been claiming for a while now (when he wasn't busy claiming that he is not going to pay it because it's simply an unjust fine).


Abe originally said that he would be in the court room giving live updates via Facebook, but apparently he will not be there after all, although he will still be giving frequent updates via Facebook. Unfortunately Facebook has temporarily blocked him again, so he may be posting under one of his Facebook aliases, "Angel Sharp." He'll also be posting via a Facebook event page he set up specifically for this hearing. Here's his first video update.

I suppose it's just as well that he won't be in the court room, since his high vibrations -- as noted in a June 24 Facebook post -- apparently upset the proceedings on May 21, causing KT's attorneys to kick him out.

Of note, that email blast, though kind of lame and last-minute, was actually only directed to people who had bought Kevin's weight loss book, had successfully tried the hCG protocol Kevin recommends in his book, and did not feel deceived. After all, the book's claims are at the center of this longstanding civil lawsuit. A German Facebook friend of mine received a copy of the email, and here is what it said:
Kevin needs your help
As you may know, Kevin is being sued by the FTC for saying the weight loss protocol in his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to know About,” was easy. Kevin has another court date coming up soon in Chicago.

Here’s how you can help .... if you saw information about his book, and you bought the book, did the diet and did not feel misled, would you be willing to come to Chicago to testify on Kevin’s behalf?

If you are willing to help, please email [redacted by me] for more details.

Thank you for your continued support!

Global Information Network

The point is that unless there was another email blast that I don't know about, this email was not an open invitation to "all the zombies" who support Trudeau to come to court "and testify on his behalf about how good of a man he is." The email was directed to a specific subset of Trudeau customers. It's the same campaign in which Brandy is apparently still engaged.

Anyway. It's a bit past 10:00 AM as I finish this, and I'm sure that somewhere in Chicago, a court room is buzzing in antici....pation.

But I don't want to let this day go by without wishing Kevin and the lovely Nataliya Babenko a happy, happy fifth wedding anniversary. Yep, 'twas five years ago on this very day that the lovebirds tied the knot in an extravagantly unromantic ceremony at a Massachussetts courthouse. Kevin stressed at the time that they wanted it to be a U.S. marriage, and they chose that courthouse because it was so lovely, and so near to the little town where Kevin had grown up and where his parents still live. He also said that at some point they would have a much more elaborate ceremony overseas.

Well, there's been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Not long after the touching courthouse ceremony, Kevin presented his lovely bride with a huge shot of GIN for a wedding present, a present she may currently be regretting. But no matter what happens today in court... no matter what the fate of Kevin and Natalie and a possible third in the threesome, Brandy... they'll always have Paris.

 And contrary to the graffiti on Jim Morrison's grave, what happens today will almost certainly not be... The End.

Update, PM: My source was correct; no ruling was made today. It was not, after all, Doomsday for Kevin or GIN. Both judges -- Judge Gettleman for the civil case, and Judge Ronald Guzman for the related criminal contempt case -- are expected to make rulings some time on Thursday morning, June 27. Meanwhile, here's a clip from Chicago's ABC 7 (it may not play on all devices). Those rascals stole my "True-dough" pun, which I've been using on this Whirled for more than four years.



Update, 27 June 2013: This just in from the Facebook page of Ryan Kath at KSHB-TV (Kansas City), who had just posted an update earlier today:

UPDATE FROM MY PREVIOUS POST:
Folks in the courtroom in Chicago are telling me that Trudeau's hearing is continued until Monday morning. In the meantime, he's been asked by Judge Gettleman not to transfer assets "outside of ordinary and customary living expenses." Trudeau has been asking to make a trip to Canada, but they want him to surrender his passports and post a collateral bond first.

Also--it sounds like Marc Lane spent a considerable amount of time on the stand yesterday, and even more today. FTC attorneys would've asked him about what kind of advice or knowledge he had about shielding money in offshore accounts.

The saga continues next week...

So it would appear that June 26 really wasn't Doomsday and GIN didn't end and Katie wasn't thrown in jail. (I know you're as shocked as I am that Loony Coldwell and his little buddy could be wrong.) And today wasn't "huge" either. Maybe Monday, July 1, which is currently KT's next scheduled court appearance... maybe THAT will be the huge day that everyone has been waiting for. And maybe not. And so the story goes.. on and on and on and on...
 
Addendum, a little later... Chuck Goudie at Chicago's ABC-7 posted a follow-up story about Kevin's latest court woes. Seems that the court is not going to be getting its hands on Katie's Italian passport. Trudeau told the court that he had left the passaporto in his Swiss residence inside a biometric safe that requires his fingerprint to open. Something tells me that Katie, though on a short leash for now, will not be ending up in a cage any time soon. Unless of course the Feds decide to escort him back to that safe in Zurich to get the passport.



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