The latest iteration of the web site
for serial scammer/fraudster/recently-released convict Kevin Trudeau's mega-scheme GIN (the Global Information Network) has been launched -- and it's
looking a lot like vintage GIN. But this "exclusive" and
"secret" club is now more exclusive and secret than
ever, if we're to believe the hype on the new site, though it
remains glaringly transparent for anyone who has even a
rudimentary knowledge about scammers and the way they operate.
Currently the top priority for GIN seems to be
the revival of the grandiose Utopian visions
that suckered so many people into GIN 13 years ago, but what it
all boils down to is that Trudeau is intent on getting as many
marks as possible to give him as much money as possible as
rapidly as possible so he can recreate the lavish lifestyle of
his dreams.
Not that Trudeau is necessarily begging directly at this point.
It appears that he is still remaining more or less in the
background for now, at least on the publicly accessible pages;
it's possible that it's a court-order/parole issue and
that he's trying, for now at least, to comply with the terms. I'm
not sure about the details there, since I don't have any recent
court documents, but I'll welcome any input or additional
information on this matter. In any case, Kevin Trudeau is clearly
guiding the communications, which seem orchestrated to make it
appear that his grateful minions are doing all of that mundane
fundraising stuff while he devotes himself to (pretending that he
is) Humbly Serving Humanity.
Optics aside, however, make no mistake: this is the same old
grift in a tawdry new suit.
In other words: Caveat emptor.
The launch of the new old GIN site was announced on the official Kevin Trudeau Fan Club page on Facebook on
June 7, 2022.
From Kevin: We just launched this today https://globalinformationnetwork.com
Introductory limited time cost of joining is just $10.Read the site and it will answer all your questions. Join and see for yourself the value of membership.
Granted, $10 doesn't sound like much -- until
you consider the fact that once upon a time you could join GIN for
free for one full year as an "Associate Member."
These daze, your "Associate Membership" will cost you
$10 up front, and $8.95 a month thereafter. But I suppose
inflation has hit the scam market too, so it's going to take more
of your hard-earned bucks to get Kevin Trudeau sitting in the lap
of luxury again. Suck it up, Buttercup, and remind yourself that
it will be well worth the expenditure if Kevin can start wearing $12,500 cuff links again while
he is Humbly Serving Humanity.
You may wonder what you get for your Associate Membership. You
get this, according to the Membership Levels page:
- Access to the associate Membership sections of the GIN website
- Access to all GIN events
- Other benefits are CLASSIFIED
But what if you want to be more than a mere Associate? You become a Member, of course. As far as I know, there are still only seven extant levels of GIN membership, with Level 8 on the verge of being launched, though the goal, as it has been since GIN began, is to ultimately have 12 levels. Be that as it may, here you go with the (utter lack of) details:
Membership Levels | Qualifications | Benefits | Cash Bonuses “Perks” Rewards |
Associate Member | • $10 Initiation Fee • $8.95 Monthly Dues |
|
None |
Level 1 Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 2 Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 3 Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 4 Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 5 Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 6 Executive Member | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 7 Senior Officer | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 8 Director | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 9 Presidents Club | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 10 Chairman’s Club | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 11 Inner Circle | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
Level 12
Partner |
CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED |
No doubt, the "Classified" info
becomes "Unclassified" as you pay your way up (and up
and up and up).
History repeats itself, and so do I
As you know if you've been following this blog regularly, since very early in 2009, I've
published hundreds of pages about Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, aka
Katie on this Whirled. I first posted at length about GIN in December 2009 (with numerous
updates that stretched into subsequent years).
In its heyday, GIN was not only an "exclusive" and
"secret" club for success-oriented, like-minded suckers
people, but also, and very importantly for Kevin's bottom line, a
very expensive MLM (multi-level marketing) scheme. GIN never
called its MLM an MLM, but instead dubbed it an "Affiliate" program. But clearly it was an MLM, and a pyramid scheme to boot,
although to my knowledge the courts never specifically ruled on
whether or not it was an illegal pyramid scheme. The product
being MLM-ed was not a tangible physical item such as overpriced
laundry products or vitamins; rather, it was an overpriced
"Level 1" GIN membership, which cost $1,000.00 for the
initiation fee (or, for a while, $1,500.00 if paid over time),
with a $150.00 monthly membership fee for as long as one remained
a GIN member.
Trudeau's mega-scam machine also offered numerous other
"opportunities" for people to give him their money,
such as his "Inner Circle" program that cost $50,000 or
$75,000 or more, cash upfront, without the bother of working
one's way up through the membership "levels." Over the
years there were also all sorts of "bonus" and
"incentive" schemes that turned out to be scams
orchestrated to put money directly into Trudeau's pockets to
cover his legal expenses and support his lavish lifestyle.
In case you're wondering, I am not including links here to
information about the individual GINcentive programs, or for that
matter to sources on some of the other GIN background info I've
recapped here, because most of the relevant links were wiped long
ago. But if you want more details from a former true believer and
"Inner Circle" member who eventually realized he'd been
snookered, check out John Foster's self-published book, Kevin Trudeau's Road-Kill Victims He Doesn't Want
You To Know About: The $100 Million Pyramid Scheme.
For those who couldn't afford to buy their way into the upper
echelons outright, there were of course GIN membership levels
beyond Level 1; as I noted above, the original plan, and one that
still seems in place though yet to be realized, was for there to
be 12 levels. The actual cost for these higher levels, however,
was generally kept a deep dark seekrit -- in other words,
"CLASSIFIED." However, according to John Foster in the
above-cited Road-Kill book (page 50), the upfront costs
for the first six levels were:
- Level I: $1,000
- Level II: $1,500
- Level III: $1,500
- Level IV: $3,000
- Level V: $10,000
- Level VI: $25,000
What members were supposedly paying for were,
in essence, ascending levels of "Success Mastery"
training: a curriculum created/curated by Trudeau, with a lot of
help from selfish-help/McSpirituality/motivational material
generated over the past century or so. Members presumably had to
study the material for each level, and were then required to take
a test in order to pass from one level to the next. (There was
also a shipload of Scientology-like indoctrination involved.)
Apart from the "Success Mastery" training, members were
promised numerous other "benefits," much of which
apparently consisted of little more than nebulous promises of
exciting things to come, including lots of secret information
that just wasn't available anywhere else, such as life-saving
info about what would happen when the world ended, or failed to
end, in December of 2012. You could find out more details about
these exciting things, and you could learn more exclusive
life-saving information, if you paid more money so you could be
promised yet more details and information if you would pay yet
more money... and so forth, and so on. As well, there were all
sorts of pricey "tools," aggressively promoted by
Trudeau cronies such as Blaine Athorn and Chris McGarahan, that
were supposed to help you build your own GIN MLM business rapidly
and achieve wealth and bliss beyond your wildest dreams.
If you didn't want to commit any money to GIN at the outset,
there was, as I also indicated near the beginning of this
post, an option to sign up as a free Associate Member, a
membership that was only good for twelve months, and would be
automatically canceled when the time was up. If you desired more
GIN but couldn't afford the initiation fee, for a while there was
a deal that allowed Associate Members to join GIN for free (at
least free initiation -- they'd still have to pay the $150
monthly membership fee) if they could successfully sucker four
paying members into joining under their personal Information
Code. But even or especially if they did nothing, Associate
Members could count on being continually pressure-marketed to
upgrade to a Level 1 membership. And regardless of how little
they paid to get to Level 1, they would pay through the nose to
climb to more advanced levels.
On the origin of feces
GIN -- not to be confused (though apparently it
often is) with a much older, and legitimate, nonprofit news
organization by the same name -- was
officially launched in the latter part of 2009, though it had
apparently been years in the planning. A blurb on the
home page of the new site claims:
The Global Information Network was conceived in Istanbul Turkey at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in 2003 by over 15 global luminaries and formally established in 2009. We currently have Members in over 160 countries.
Not surprisingly, those "over 15 global
luminaries" are not named, which is part of that whole
"secret and exclusive" appeal, which apparently worked
so well in 2009 that it is enjoying new life. Shades of the infamous though nonexistent "GIN Council" that drew in so many gullibles back in the day...
In the years after its launch, GIN continued to
grow, raking in many millions of dollars for Kevin and a very few
of his very close buddies, though for everyone else... not so
much. But the wild party continued, on land and on sea, until in
2013, when the legal sh-t started really hitting the fan for
Kevin regarding a longstanding civil-turned-criminal case not
related to GIN (the case that eventually led to his being sentenced to a
ten-year Federal prison term). GIN was
taken over by a receivership, after which the MLM was
discontinued for a while. Eventually, in May of 2014, GIN was sold to a group of Trudeau's
longtime associates.
The lineup of owners changed over the years, with the most recent
group that I know of being Blaine Athorn and chiropractors Ted
and Tom Morter, as announced on the Morters' web site in February 2018. In light of Trudeau's apparent release and the rather significant changes to the GIN site, it's possible that ownership has
changed yet again, and I'll report that when/if I find out any
new information.
The sale of GIN led to a bit of re-branding for
the club, including a new web site and a brand new logo
consisting of an ultra-modernistic rendering of the letters
"GIN." Frankly, I kind of liked the more modern look of
that initial redesign, but I've heard buzz that the folks
responsible for all of that were fired once Kevin was more free
to dictate things from the shadows. I suspect that Trudeau never really cared for the new logo, no doubt preferring the original
mock-US-government seal, but while he was cooped up in prison he may not
have had full artistic control. (Not that he didn't remain a
distinct presence in GIN throughout his sentence; more on that
momentarily.)
Following the sale of GIN to Katie's buddies, the MLM remained
dormant for a while, though the hustling for members continued. At some point, the MLM was restored, though
assertively branded as a "referral" program, and the
costs for membership at all levels was significantly reduced.
Though no longer the owner of GIN on paper, Kevin Trudeau continued to run schemes and scams of his
own from prison, and he kept in very close touch with his buds who
"officially" owned GIN.
Towards the end of his prison term, while he was on "home
release," it became increasingly obvious that he was, at the
very least, shadow-running GIN. And as his
release date neared (supposedly the official date was May 9,
2022), the KT fraud machine appeared to be revving up to full
speed again.
The new old GIN and its new old secrets
And now here we are. It's a brand new day with the
same old same old, with Kevin apparently back at the helm again
full time as if he'd never really left. (And, as indicated above,
he never really did.) At least the question that I first raised back in December 2019 and then
asked again in January 2020 has seemingly
been answered for the moment. Those Whirled posts referred to extensive
content on some new-at-the-time pro-Kevin sites that had
described, in great detail, Kevin's magnificent visions for
"The Club," and "The Ship" and whatnot.
The question I raised was whether the un-named Club was GIN, or if
Kevin had plans to form his own new club once he was released. It
appeared then that he was keeping his options open, and I
speculated that he was prepared to stab his stalwart buddies in
the back and poach the GIN membership if the cronies didn't do his
bidding once he got out. For now, at least. it appears that those grandiose
visions are invested in GIN. Why reinvent the wheel?
But the question remains: where are the last-known
"official" owners, Athorn and the Morters? The
FAQ page on the new site isn't exactly
forthcoming about GIN ownership.
Q) Who owns, runs, and manages GIN as an entity?
A) The Club is owned by a small group of “Stewards” all of who have been Members of the Club since its inception. Several are also Founders of GIN. The Club has a number of full-time staff members, all who were high-level members of our Club for many years before they were brought on as full-time staff. We also have over 150 GIN Members who are part of the Volunteer Service Corps. The full-time staff and part-time volunteers, all who have been long-time GIN Members, “run” and manage the Club under the direction of the “Stewards” and the main “Founder” of GIN.
Oooo... more seekrits! "Stewards"...
my goodness, that does sound mysterious and important. The main
"Founder" of GIN is Kevin himself, of course, though
his name is only mentioned on two of the site's public pages.
The Stewards are apparently taking great care to distance
themselves from GIN's past MLM scam. From
the FAQ page again:
Q) Is this Multi-Level, or are there any “commissions” or some kind of compensation plan for recruiting new members?
A) We are not Multi-Level, nor do we have any “affiliate” program or recruiting bonuses. We do not pay to “recruit”. In fact, we do not recruit. Members do not earn any commissions under any circumstances. Those who want to join our Club must apply for Membership. Not all applications are accepted. Additionally, we have high standards, and a strong Code of Conduct that must be adhered to. Memberships are sometimes cancelled due to violations of our Code of Conduct.
But we outsiders really don't know for sure if
any of that is true, because all of those "Benefits"
and "Cash Bonuses/Perks/Rewards" and such are
"Classified." I would assume that Judges Robert
Gettleman and Ronald Guzman -- who presided over Trudeau's civil
and criminal cases, respectively -- are paying close attention,
though.
The "Kevin Factor" and other bullship
visions
As I mentioned above, there are only two pages on
the entire publicly accessible GIN site that actually mention
Kevin by name -- and it's only his first name. The first is the "Club Vision"
page, which, among many other pipe dreams, envisions a global
chain of ideal "villages" built by and for GIN members
only.
...The whole community will be built using sacred geometry and infused with energy and attractor fields that will make this village “magical”. This will be an “organic” community who respects the Earth.
Everything will be run by renewable energy and “free energy”.
This will be the “greenest” and most environmentally friendly village on earth; a model for the world.
This community is the epicenter of The Club on land (The Club Flagship, Freedom is the epicenter for The Club on the Seas).
Everything will be the best of the best.
Kevin lives in a “Shangri-La” village (and on the ship), and everything will be better than world class!
All the “Shangri-la” villages are “connected” and regular “rallies” are organized between Members of each village to share different view-point, be together in energy and create a “world-connected” community sharing the same vision and ideals.
And the second area where Kevin's name is
mentioned is the page devoted to the vision of a floating garbage
barge luxury cruise ship, to be
named "Freewinds"
"Freedom," designed to house Kevin and
potentially thousands of minions in splendid opulence. The page
features a stock photo of a cruise ship with the name
"FREEDOM" and the new old GIN logo photoshopped on.
(And yes, I realize my own Photoshopping (or, actually, Corel
Photo-Painting) job is even cruder, but the icons for various
retouching and blending tools disappeared from my tool bar, and I
can't figure out how to get them back, and I don't want to bother
my husband Ron because he is busy.)
Some highlights from the bullship page:
Kevin’s New Residence
The Founder of the CLUB and Visionary of this idea of a ship named “FREEDOM” is Kevin.“Freedom” would be Kevin’s main residence and his “Home”.
“A Better Life” for everyone on board.
As a Member of The CLUB, you’ve earned the privilege to live the life you once dreamed you would. FREEDOM could be a multipurpose large ocean liner providing you the opportunity to live the life you deserve.
A “Floating Clubhouse” and World Headquarters for the CLUB.
When in port, FREEDOM could be open to all CLUB Members and their guests to come onboard and enjoy all the amenities on the SHIP including dining, entertainment, seminars, workshops, exclusive “SHIP ONLY TRAINING”, Upper Level CLUB training, meetings, and events...
As I've noted on several previous posts, being on
board a world-cruisin' ship full time would certainly make it
easier for Kevin to skirt US laws. I'm just saying. Law-skirting
aside, the bullship "vision" is a little too close for
comfort to Scientology and that whole Sea Org/slave ship thing, given that the big boat will require a sizeable crew
to cater to the wishes of Himself and His minions. The current
presentation of that part of the "vision" has been
softened quite a bit from the way it was back when I first wrote about it, see under the sub-head, "Kevin's big dream: life
on a cruise ship..." etc. (Then again, I've been told by
more than one person who knows Trudeau personally that he has El-Ron-ish aspirations.)
But wait, there's more -- there's the "Kevin Factor!"
Why is living and working on FREEDOM “A Better Life”?
The SHIP could provide a living, working and vacationing environment that is “better” than anything you have ever dreamed of or imagined.
Everyone on the SHIP could work, live or vacation with Kevin, just like Kevin. Those who have seen first hand how Kevin has lived can imagine the lifestyle you would enjoy with him in the future.
The “Kevin Factor” means everything in Kevin’s “world” is better than the best, and more glorious than one could ever imagine.
- Everything is better than First Class.
- Everything is grander than Grand Class.
- Everything is finer and more opulent than World Class.
- Everything is even beyond Royal Class.
- FREEDOM could be the world where the “Kevin Factor” reigns supreme.
The “Kevin Factor” mostly means that everything is FUN and that life truly has meaning and purpose.
The “Kevin Factor” means that life is fulfilling and satisfying, and that one has inner peace, joy and bliss.The “Kevin Factor” is living “A Better Life” than you have ever experienced or imagined. And it COULD be yours!
On the SHIP you might sleep on the finest mattress, on the most luxurious sheets, with the world’s greatest pillow, all that have been cleaned and pressed by your personal maid.
You might wake with the programmed sounds of chirping birds and a special full spectrum lighting system that slowly brings the room into full brightness, just like the rising sun. It is the perfect healthiest way to be awakened from the best sleep of your life.
Your personally selected affirmations play automatically as you are still in your Alpha brain wave state, “programming you for success, health, and happiness”.
You shower in the cleanest, purest filtered, energized water that can be produced....
But this, and all of the other Utopian wet
dreams laid out in garish detail on the web site, can only become
a reality if you start pumping money into GIN, as soon as
possible and as much as possible.
By the way, in case your vibes are so low that you
encounter a significant problem with GIN and Kevin and the
Stewards, and you decide that you want to take any of them to
court, good luck. From the Terms of Use page:
These Terms of Use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the country of Nevis, without regard to its choice of law provisions.
Nevis...why, yes, of course. It was Nevis from
the beginning, and Nevis now. And for good reason.
Some things never change.
Would be interesting to know if he's actually in breach of copyright for using the name 'GIN' or any of the old naming of the conpany (see what I did there? ;0) )
ReplyDeletePeople have been messaging me for weeks about this and asking me if I'm going to write anything about it. My answer?
Probably not.
Maybe a mention or two but maybe not - I don't know, I'm just so past all of that stuff now. New wife, new family, new home, new job, etc....
Although deep down there is a spark that's trying to ignite ....... (insert evil emoji face here)
Bernie
aka GINTruth!
Hi, Bernie, and thanks for weighing in. (And I apologize for the delay in posting your comment; I only just now saw it.) I think your past work on GIN stands on its own, and I have numerous links throughout my own blog to your old GIN posts. But hey, if you feel like writing about this "conpany" again, even just in passing, your voice would be welcome.
ReplyDeleteNobody else seems to give a damn about it at the moment, and the journalists who had been covering kt and GIN in the past have been silent. That could be because most of Trudeau's activities have been more or less undercover since he's been released, and he just isn't newsworthy in their view. He's probably still maintaining a low profile in order to make it seem as if he is complying with the terms of his release.
But I'm sure he's busily spreading his toxins via Telegram and his super-secure email account(s), in addition to continuing to let his proxies do the heavy lifting in the marketing area (e.g., his "official fan club" posting messages for him on Facebook, and marketing overpriced products/frauducts for him via their Facebook page). And I wouldn't be surprised if he were actually violating the terms imposed on him by the courts; he'll do anything he can get away with.
As for copyright issues, I doubt if there are any, at least regarding the company that he launched. He's basically been in charge of GIN since its inception, even after GIN was sold and rebranded. The current (to my knowledge) owners on paper, the Morters and Blaine Athorn, are beholden to Trudeau and have always known that he was the main draw, even during his prison sentence. I can't speak for the original Global Information Network, the other organization I mentioned in this post (the seemingly legit news org that was formed in 1986). It seems that if they'd wanted to sue for copyright breach, they would have done so back in 2009 when kt's GIN was launched.