Scamdemic: Kevin Trudeau's enablers continue to push COVID-19 conspiracy tales along with KT hero/martyr/Guru narrative

At some point soon I really will blog again about something besides COVID-19 and the various hucksters, scam artists, and cynics (inside and outside of politix) who continue to push wacko conspiracy narratives about, and dubious or dangerous "cures" for, the coronavirus plague sweeping the planet. But for now, let's pop in and see what imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, aka Katie on this Whirled, is up to regarding the virus saga.

Or, more accurately, let's look at what his water carriers are up to, since it seems that rumors of his impending freedom have once again been exaggerated, and that continued lockdowns at Camp Cupcake are apparently restricting his ability to provide valuable COVID-19 upchucks... I mean, updates. To date, there have been 13 of these "updates," which are essentially overcooked sales letters for the Trudeau-founded GIN (Global Information Network), mixed well with stale whines about Katie being "censored," and well-seasoned with recaps of conspiranoid and right-wing talking points.

But what Katie can't do for himself, his enablers continue to do for him. On May 12, 2020, the admins of the Official Kevin Trudeau Fan Club page on Facebook posted this endorsement of the conspiracy-porn "documentary," Plandemic:

FROM TONYA AND RAHELIOS:Kevin has not viewed this, as he can not view any internet content from prison, but we have reviewed it. We have no documentation or substantiation about the facts being true in this video, but it does resonate with us. We suggest you view it, as it is in agreement with what Kevin has been saying in his books, "Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About", "More Natural Cures Revealed" and "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About". It also is in agreement with what Kevin has said in his Covid-19 updates.The mainstream media and all social media are censoring this video. It is banned from YouTube. It is banned from Facebook. They don’t want you to see this. Many people are downloading it and sharing it, so that it remains available to the public. After you watch it, you might want to do the same.Currently, it is still available at the website PlandemicMovie.com. Watch it now, while you still can...

By the way, I just now followed the link that was embedded in the Facebook post. Apparently some wag co-opted the URL after the movie was (once again) taken down. [Update on May 21: The content I referenced has now been removed as well, but never fear; I copied and pasted the content and took a screen shot; see the end of this post. ~ CC] At any rate, although I hadn't participated very much on Katie's Facebook fan page in a while, I felt moved to respond to this particular post. I wrote:

Connie Schmidt I imagine Kevin would indeed like "Plandemic," since he apparently never met a conspiracy theory he didn't like. Conspiracy theories and forbidden knowledge form the foundation of his marketing strategies. I don't know how long this comment will be allowed to stay, but I am taking the liberty of sharing an article that offers some perspective on the virologist, Judy Mikovits, whose work is at the heart of "Plandemic." BTW, there's nothing "healing" about the beach when the water is full of flesh-eating bacteria, as has been the case numerous times over the years in some US waters (e.g., the Gulf coast of Texas). The proliferation of these bacteria is apparently a direct result of global warming (climate change), but if I'm not mistaken, Kevin doesn't believe in that either.

This is the link I shared following my comment on the Katie fan page. It's a basic fact-checking piece that does indeed give some salient perspective about virologist Mikovits, and that I thought might be useful for those who are willing to entertain something besides the conspiracy narrative du jour. (One point the article addresses is Mikovits's questioning why public beaches should be closed, with her question framed around her claim that the beach is a healing place because of "sequences" in the sand and "healing microbes in the ocean in the salt water." That's why I mentioned the flesh-eating bacteria that have increasingly been popping up in salt water, and the probability that climate change is only making the threat worse.)

But my comment, link and all, now seems to be disappeared. I can only speculate that this is because the admins either thought that Kevin wouldn't like it, or that it might possibly shake the faith of the faithful, or both.

The admins of the page did, however, leave another comment of mine up there, though it's possible, since it was a reply that's nested under someone else's comment, that they just haven't seen it yet. My comment was in response to one by a long-time fan of Katie's, David Krueger, whom you may have met briefly on this blog back in 2012. Back in the day, David was thrilled right down to his toes to be on the same plane as Kevin Trudeau. More recently, he wrote this about the conspiracy vid Plandemic:

David Krueger Facebook and YouTube themselves have confirmed the truth of it for us with their censorship campaign.

To which I replied:

Connie Schmidt Facebook and YouTube are privately owned companies and they have a right to decide which content they want or do not want to host. But Facebook also allows pages like this one that push Kevin Trudeau's "information," so there's not really too much cause to complain, is there? BTW, many of my own comments have been removed from this page, presumably because Kevin would not like them. But I'm cool with that because the site admins have a right to remove anything they want to remove. However, using the same logic you used, it could be said that my offending posts have been removed because they were too truthful.

And I am actually cool with having my comments removed from a Facebook forum; it is the admins' right to determine, at least up to a certain point, what goes on their page and what doesn't -- the point at which their rights end being when Facebook gatekeepers determine that content violates Facebook's terms of service or "community standards" or what have you. But as I noted in my response to David Krueger, it is, after all, Facebook that is allowing those admins to push Kevin Trudeau's propaganda, despite all insinuations about Facebook and YouTube being involved in sinister censorship efforts.

GIN is still doing a lot of the heavy lifting for Trudeau as well
Meanwhile, in neighboring parts of Scamworld, some of Katie's other cronies continue to enable and promote him in various ways. For instance, on May 15, 2020, current GIN co-owner Tom Morter, aka "Dr. Tom" -- one of the "GIN fat cats" I wrote about earlier this year -- spent quite a few minutes on his weekly "GIN update" telling folks how they can send money to Kevin in the clink and to the lawyers who failed to keep him from going to the clink. According to "Dr. Tom," money sent to the KT Legal Defense Fund goes directly to Winston and Strawn, one of the main law firms behind Katie's failed attempts to stay out of prison. But then again, Kevin himself wrote, in a letter to Judge Robert Gettleman in January of this year, that his lawyers are no longer even speaking to him, so who knows what's really going on? Maybe the plan is to get the gullibles to send enough money to the lawyers so that they'll start speaking to Katie again, and will resume their futile efforts to get him sprung.

As I've also 'splained on this blog, there is a cozy symbiotic relationship between Kevin and the Morter bros and the other GIN co-owner, Blaine Athorn -- at least for now. But they probably need Katie more than he needs them, which is why they've been pushing so hard on various online forums for people to join GIN and pay up in order to possibly get a chance to see Katie in person some time in 2022 (maybe).

Watching "Dr. Tom's" tiresome performance on the latest GIN update reminded me once again that no matter how jovial and enthusiastic he or his brother Ted or their fellow co-owner Blaine Athorn are, it's a pretty safe bet that they will never come within spitting distance of inspiring the abject worship accorded to Kevin Trudeau, or "GuruKev" as he has fairly recently begun branding himself (with a little help from the above-mentioned water carriers).

I think it's also a pretty safe bet that Kevin is very well aware of that hero worship, and that he gleefully exploits it, sometimes employing false modesty, which seems to make the faithful love him even more. On April 15, 2020, there appeared on the KT fan page this somewhat puzzling post about the death of Nelson Mandela (who had actually passed away in 2013):

GURUKEV:
Nelson Mandela passed away… One of my heroes.

He was convicted of being a TERRORIST!

And spent 20 years in a jail cell!

A hero. A person I admired and respected. If I had only 1% of his character.

I mention to you many of my heroes....such as Jesus, Gandhi, Chavez etc. All people that were convicted of crimes in court and were sentenced to prison time.

I am not even in their league.

They are my heroes. They give me strength. Always look at people who walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And gain strength from what they had to go through. You will be inspired by those who went through much more than you or I have ever endured.

I look at my life and current situation and see that I have it so easy compared to others who went before me. You can always put things in perspective. Focus on the good things and what you want…and be happy right now!

I am!

Much love!
GuruKev

My blogging colleague Bernie at GINtruth and I are well aware of Kevin's history of comparing himself, sometimes implicitly and sometimes explicitly, to Mandela and Gandhi and Christ and others. We made quite a few comments about that topic on this thread, but the faithful insisted that Katie was definitely not comparing himself to these heroes of history. "Kevin even clarified it on the post," said one fan who had clearly been fooled by Kevin's faux-humility. Another fan wrote, "No point to argue and waste time, people. Because Kevin IS very similar to Mandela, Gandhi, and Jesus."

Oh, dear.

In any case, both Bernie's and my comments were subsequently wiped away, leaving only the worship.

But Kevin is still his own best promoter
While the Facebook admins and the GIN owners are diligently propping Kevin up and polishing his brand, he still remains his own most effective shill. Also on April 15, Kevin's 12th COVID-19 "Update" appeared on the Facebook fan page. In this post he doubled down on his claims that he and he alone has access to the real info about the coronavirus, "unlike the mainstream media." And once again he played on his GuruKev persona.

You may have noticed that all the predictions I have made in those updates and other communications have come true or are in the process of coming true. All I have stated has proven to be correct and true (unlike the mainstream media).

I have gotten thousands of communications from people all over the world who have been so amazed by the uncanny accuracy of my predictions about this "pandemic". Many are asking if I am some sort of "mystic" or "psychic" or have powers to see the future. Many ask if I am "channeling" some "higher entities" or "ascended masters" or "tapping into the Ether, Universal Field, Akashic Records or Universal Consciousness".

Others ask if my former membership in certain "societies" still gives me access to people that have direct first-hand knowledge of what really goes on in the power circles around the world, and things that are hidden "behind the curtain".

People ask me if certain current "insiders" actually "leak" secret information to me so that I can disseminate it.

The answers to the above questions are two fold.

1.) First, I do have first-hand insiders as some of my "sources". I have mentioned in previous updates who some of my "sources" are, and that I almost always use exclusively "first-hand" sources.

A first-hand source is the person who actually said the thing or did the thing. If I do not have a first-hand source, I always use a person who was actually there and witnessed the thing being done with their own eyes or heard a thing said with their own ears.

I still must have at least 2 other independent sources before I will report something. Second and third-hand sources are only used to verify, document and substantiate something. I authenticate everything before reporting it. I do not spread "rumors" or speculation or theories.

2.) Next, I do also "tap or plug into the Field". Some call this channeling.

You may hear of someone who channels "entities" or "frequencies" such as Esther Hicks who channels the group of entities called "Abraham", or Paul Selig who channels a different frequency thus a different group of "non-physical entities". But I do not tap into a specific frequency or group of entities. Rather I tap into the "entire Field" all at once. This "one Field" is the "one SELF".

One of my closest friends is an Enlightened Perfected Being, a "Guru", and is called a "Saint". We were talking about this as we both do the same thing when it comes to "plugging into the Ether". We discussed that the highest "frequency" is the ONE SELF. All frequencies are contained in the ONE SELF. Thus, when we "channel", we channel "our SELVES". We are not on a "lower frequency" or a "single band" of frequency. We are getting all frequencies ALL simultaneously. Therefore, I channel my "SELF".

This is important to understand. When someone "channels" a particular frequency, it is like getting a report from a person who is up on a mountainside. They have a much better view than you because they are higher up the mountain. They see more.

But a person high on one side of the mountain can only see the view from that side. Another person higher up on the same side will have a slightly different report, as they can see more and have a more complete view. Yet another person on the other side of the same mountain might have a very different report, because they are looking in a different direction.

This is why authentic "channellers" sometimes deliver different or conflicting messages from each other.

But the person on the very top of the mountain or in a helicopter hovering over the mountain has ALL views, of ALL sides and a COMPLETE and TOTAL perspective. They can see that all the "channelers" are giving accurate information from their limited perspective, but do not see the "Big Picture". They do not have a totally integrated view of EVERYTHING at the same time.

This total, all-encompassing "knowing" is the ONE SELF. This is what I "channel". I channel my SELF, not someone or something else.

So with both of these "Sources", 1 and 2 above, you can now see why the data being reported here and in the other trainings I have produced are so accurate.

"I channel my SELF?" Sounds a lot like #NotMyPresident Donald John Trump's past claims that his chief consultant on foreign policy and other matters was "myself, because I have a very good brain, and I've said a lot of things."

Next Kevin uses his own very good brain to spew some of the same "facts" about the COVID-19 pandemic that we've seen in his previous missives, and then, predictably, he segues into (yet another) sales pitch for GIN.

As I predicted, the worldwide numbers for this "created" horrific, global pandemic are a big nothing burger.

And the numbers for the USA are worse than other countries for the reasons I outlined previously, but still a big nothing burger.

Compare the number of "deaths" caused by this virus to the number of deaths caused by other health issues and viruses, and you will see that the media and governments around the world have misrepresented the facts and totally mislead [sic] everyone.

To get the real death numbers of other viruses and health issues to compare and see for yourself, go to these websites:

World Life Expectancy Website
https://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-rankings-total-deaths#WORLD%20RANKINGS

World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Data Repository
https://www.who.int/gho/database/en/

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) FastStats (USA Data)
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/default.htm

Our World In Data - Causes of Death

https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death

And of course, to get the “official” data on Covid-19 deaths, all you have to do is search online for “Covid-19 Deaths”.

You can also see that several countries such as Mexico, Brazil and others did not do ANY social distancing and did NOT shut down their countries. They stayed "business as usual". Their countries operated completely normally without changing anything. They did not buy into the big lie.

What happened? NOTHING! No "mass deaths" as the "experts" predicted. The funeral homes and morgues were NOT filled with dead people from Covid-19. Hospitals were NOT filled. Everything was exactly the same as it always is. Every day people die from a variety of things. Nothing changed. NO spike in deaths.

Covid-19 was nothing more than a “bad-flu-year” in those countries, and in most areas, Covid-19 was not even as bad as a normal flu. This shows that all the mass hysteria about "if we don't shut everything down, millions will die" was simply a BIG LIE. IT DID NOT HAPPEN in those countries that did not shut anything down and everyone went on living their lives as normal.

As I stated previously in other updates, I am being severely restricted now. My "voice" and Free Speech expression is being suppressed once again. I cannot say certain things on this public forum. This is one of the reasons why a "private club" is so vital and important now and in the future.Only through a private club, like GIN, will people be able to share information without censorship or fear of retaliation from powerful organizations, internet monopolies, and government. That is why the Global Information Network (GIN) is so important, and why it has "Information" in its name....

There are several problems with the above statements. A major problem is that one of the countries Trudeau specifically mentioned as having "stayed 'business as usual,'" Brazil, has, in fact, become not just the Latin American but also the global epicenter of COVID-19 -- while its fascist "leader" (and Trump bromantic partner) Jair Bolsonaro has continually played down the threat, joking about the "neurosis" of Brazilians who are actually worried about the virus. From Time, May 9, 2020:

Even by the standards of other right-wing populists who have sought to downplay the COVID-19 pandemic, Bolsonaro’s defiance of reality was shocking. From the favelas of densely packed cities like Rio de Janeiro to the remote indigenous communities of the Amazon rain forest, Brazil has emerged as the new global epicenter of the pandemic, with the world’s highest rate of transmission and a health system now teetering on the brink of collapse.

Unlike the previous global hot spots – Italy, Spain and the U.S. – Brazil is an emerging economy, with a weaker social safety net that makes it harder for local authorities to persuade people to stay home, and an underfunded health care system. When a particularly severe outbreak struck the city of Manaus, in the Amazon, in late April, hospitals were quickly overrun, leading to a shortage of coffins. On May 17, the mayor of São Paulo, Latin America’s largest city, warned that hospitals there would collapse within two weeks if the infection rate continued to rise. The country has confirmed almost 18,000 deaths as of May 19, with a record 1,179 people dying in the preceding 24 hours–the world’s second highest daily fatality rate. Epidemiologists say the peak is still weeks away.

And another country Trudeau mentioned, Mexico, is now among the top 10 countries for COVID-19 deaths.

On May 13, 2020, The Guardian reported that both Brazil and Mexico recorded their deadliest days from COVID-19.

And on May 19, the LA Times reported that COVID-19 is rapidly spreading past the hot spots of Brazil and Mexico, and threatening to overwhelm other Latin American countries. Chile and Peru and Ecuador are not doing well at all.

Even though the articles I linked to above were published weeks after Trudeau's "Update #12," at the time he posted it there had already been numerous published reports that things were not looking good in Brazil and Mexico. The point is that Kevin's "secret sources" and "self-channeling" and other exclusive tools have failed him and his readers.

But Kevin's fans aren't big on fact-checking his screeds, so it's not surprising that this one was met with the usual round of enthusiastic support. (I posted a comment that pointed out the inaccuracy of his statements about Brazil and Mexico, but it was wiped away.) Among numerous worshipful responses to Kevin's Update # 12 was this:

You are One And ONLY KING on this planet Earth !!!
Thank You Thank You Thank You ... For Everything You Are Givinig [sic] to us !!!!!!!
Thank You Thank You Thank You !!!!

Eat your hearts out, Morters and Athorn!

But seriously. If Katie's spiritual shtick, with its attendant responses, some of which are truly disturbing, isn't an example of "toxic spirituality" (to evoke the beat and book title of guru/cult scambuster Be Scofield), I don't know what is. (And this of course assumes that the worshipful comments are in fact sincere and aren't just a moderately clever form of trolling.) Kevin Trudeau may not be a sex predator like some of the "gurus" Scofield writes about, but for much of his career he has been a financial predator, as well as a conduit of other forms of exploitation that, for some followers, may be as harmful as sexual abuse.

Plandemic is a crock of shite
And bringing it back to the conspiracy-porn vid that kicked off this post, regardless of whether he ever sees or endorses Plandemic, I don't think one can go wrong by betting on Kevin Trudeau continuing to embrace and exploit conspiracy narratives and forbidden-info themes, no matter how wildly wrong, all in the service of lining his own pockets. People love that stuff because it's exciting and it makes them feel really special to be privy to information that "they" won't tell you -- and Kevin knows it.

But I'm thinking that all you really need to know about Plandemic can currently could, for a few days, be found on the link embedded in that May 12 post on the KT Facebook fan page. Just below the graphic is the actual text, in the event that you can't read it on the pic (Blogger seems to have forcibly scaled it down to the point of unreadability, and try as I might, I couldn't fix the problem).

FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Judy Mikovitz [sic] is bat shit crazy (COVID pun intended)
• Bill Gates is not patenting any of these drugs ... and what the fuck do you think he would do with >$100 millon more anyway?
• Masks aren't going to kill you
• The world is scary now. Believing that this is all part of a global conspiracy is more comforting than the truth. If we give into fear and ignore *actual* science things will only get worse

Amen.

This post has been revised since its original publication, most notably, to add information contradictory to Trudeau's COVID-19 "updates" (specifically, about COVID-19 in Latin America). ~ CC

GIN fat cats still in cahoots with Kevin Trudeau

If you're ever in a jam, here I am
If you're ever in a mess, S.O.S.
If you ever feel so happy you land in jail, I'm your bail
It's friendship, friendship
Just a perfect blendship
When other friendships have been forgot
Ours will still be hot
~ Cole Porter, 1939

Friendship can be such a wonderful grift -- especially decades-long friendships based on a mutual mission/compulsion to aggressively promote an endless series of frauducts and flopportunities to gullible or vulnerable people. Consider, for example, the decades-long bond between imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau (aka KT, aka Katie) and three of his bestest buds, Blaine Athorn and the Morter Brothers, "Dr. Ted" and "Dr. Tom."

On February 7, 2020, a message celebrating this enduring friendship was posted to Kevin Trudeau's "official" Facebook fan page. As I've explained in previous recent blog posts, I'm going to assume that this post, like virtually all of the messages on that and related pages, was directed by Kevin himself, and that one of his proxies posted it on his behalf.

Here's the post in its entirety.

Over the last 6 and 1/2 years, thousands of people have asked to be added to my visiting list and be allowed to visit. I have politely said no.

I desire to spend this time in mostly isolation, where I could meditate, read, write and do various mental and spiritual practices.

I did however allow a few people to visit. These included Blaine, Dr. Tom and Dr. Ted.

Over the last 6 years, these three have come to see me regularly. They are very special friends and very special people. For those of you who have the opportunity to spend time with them, or hear them speak, I encourage you to take advantage of those opportunities.

Blaine and Dr. Tom were just here recently and we talked about some extremely exciting things for the future. Get ready to blast off everyone, and to go to places you could never imagine.

I'm excited! How about you?

Much love,
your friend,
Kevin

Now, as it happens, Blaine Athorn and the Morter bros are the current owners of what was once Kevin's biggest scam of all, the Global Information Network (GIN), which I've blogged about many times since 2009. In fact, "Dr. Tom" seems to have pushed himself up to the front and center as the GIN web presence; he's now the one doing the GIN weekly updates. Frankly, I liked the other guy who was doing them before, but nobody asked me.
 
In light of the fact that GIN and Kevin are still in very much in love, even though (on paper) Trudeau no longer has ownership, it's not surprising that he would allow GIN's owners to visit him in the clink. Granted, Blaine and the Morters can't literally be his bail now that he's in jail, so the lyrics to the Cole Porter classic aren't a perfect fit, but they can do the next best thing to posting bail: visit him in jail -- or, more accurately, federal prison camp -- and cook up new ways to pick people's pockets.

And speaking of picking people's pockets, here's the February 7, 2020 GIN update from "Dr. Tom." I tweaked the link to begin it at the 2:32 mark, because that's when Tommy Boy really starts talking about the urgent need to "upgrade" one's GIN membership by a certain date. It all has to do with getting the Level 8 "teachings" for free, direct from "KT."

Is history repeating itself?
Tom says some folks have raised questions about preserving "the integrity of the system" if some members will be rushing through upgrades in order to qualify for Level 8 by December of 2021, which is the deadline for qualifying to receive Level 8 for free and getting to see Katie deliver it. (There's also a deadline of December 2020 to actually join GIN, though something tells me that if someone were to join later than that, they'd still qualify for the big Katie deal as long as they coughed up the money for the first seven levels by the December 2021 presumptive deadline. In fact, I'm willing to bet that if they joined after that deadline, but were still able to come up with what is more than likely tens of thousands of dollars for the prerequisites, GIN would gladly accept their money and deem them worthy of "Level 8" training.)

But Tom assures his audience that members upgrading by several levels quickly will not get access to all of the information at once; they'll still have to go through the process of assimilating the info for each level and passing tests to get to the next level. Presumably, however, they will still have to pay the increasingly costly upgrade fees upfront, for however many levels they wish to purchase. But hey, no worries; Tom adds that the leadership hasn't quite worked out the logistics yet, but they will, in plenty of time for the big event. Addressing the question of preserving "integrity" he says, "Trust me" -- which for several reasons should be a big red flag right there, for anyone paying attention.

I will concede that the current plot does not seem to be as extreme, on the scam-scale, as the schemes a few years ago when Katie was still running things and the GIN MLM was still going strong. I'm thinking of the "Lazy Man" scam, in which members were fraudulently sold expensive leads in order to build their affiliate business (after which both orders and money were reportedly withheld from many of them); and the infamous "Platinum Bonus" swindle in which members were implicitly encouraged to take shortcuts and even cheat the system in order to get to a certain "level" by a certain time, at which time it was promised that they would get a huge bonus that, for the great majority, was never delivered.

This time around, members aren't overtly being promised a big bonus or instant wealth or anything like that -- just a free entry to the as yet nonexistent "Level 8" in GIN, and a chance to maybe see Katie in person (barring any unexpected developments such as Katie being re-arrested or going into hiding on the other side of the world, but the GIN leadership doesn't go into that part). But I think that it's merely a matter of scale, and it's easy to see the flaws in the plan, given past history. While there may not be nearly as much money in the pot as there was a few years ago, the current promotion still appears to be a cynical money grab.

My guess is that if the leadership actually does try to pull this off, it will be an administrative nightmare for the few employees who are probably left at GIN and who most likely do the real work, and that if it all goes wrong, which has been known to happen in GIN, Blaine and the Morters and possibly "Lee" (that would be another Katie cohort, Lee Kenny, whom Tom mentioned in his update a few times) will still be able to pocket a lotta moolah, leaving pretty much everyone else in the lurch.

It's the same old circle jerk (and you're not invited)
On the PS to the February 7 Facebook post, there's a link to two videos of what Kevin-through-his-proxy describes as "me and my friends." Years ago I linked to the first one, which features the Morters, but here it is again. In this 2011 offering, produced during GIN's heyday as a super-scam, Katie and his well-fed buddies waxed profound about "Energy, GIN, and Fishing." Given the fact that they were, at the time, at the very apex of their scheme to scam hundreds of people out of many thousands of dollars, the vid kind of rubs me the wrong way.

Although Kevin himself does not appear in the second video, posted in 2018 but dating from 2011, he is very much a presence in it nevertheless. This video features Blaine "interviewing" Chris McGarahan Jr. (son of Voldemort, who as you may recall was one of GIN's top hucksters a few years back). In the guise of a frank discussion on Scamworld's youth movement, Chris Jr., sounding much more like a California stoner than an ambitious go-getter, shamelessly touts Kevin Trudeau as one of his most important mentors. And with Blaine's encouragement, he also flogs the 14-volume scamfomercial CD set, Your Wish Is Your Command (originally created to be a come-on for GIN), claiming that it's one of the essential self-help classics, on a par with Napoleon Hill's works and The Magic of Thinking Big.

But I wouldn't trust Chris the Younger or Chris the Elder as far as I could throw 'em. There's a substantial bit about both McGarahans in this June 2014 Whirled post. That was back when Chris Jr., still apparently masquerading as a leading member of the younger generation of go-getters, was pushing an MLM flopportunity called Vemma, about which my friend Jason "Salty Droid" Jones had a few things to say.

Nor would I trust Blaine Athorn or the Morters, and as indicated in the links in the first paragraph of this post, I've blogged about these guys several times over the years.

I first discussed Blaine at length in this April 2013 post about one of Kevin Trudeau's bankruptcies (particularly under the sub-head, "MLM fever"). In that same post I also cited a December 2004 piece (which for several reasons you really need to read if you haven't already), which references Katie and Blaine's Amway days. The piece claims that Blaine fired Kevin after the latter's 1989 credit card fraud, but apparently there was no bad blood between the two, because they're still buddies.

And I wrote at length about the Morters as well in this August 2015 post, mostly under the sub-head, "Trick and Morter." These guys have a real family scampire, which began with their late daddy and which they show every sign of continuing and expanding as long as they can get away with it.

Included on the February 7 Facebook post I referenced above are several photos of Katie and his fat-cat buds taken over a period of years. There's one of him and the Morters in a private jet; a pic of Katie and the Morters on stage jawing about GIN; a couple of pics of them at one of their "exclusive" fishing trips (paid for by GIN members, many of whom were vainly expecting their own lives to get better as a result of pouring money into Kevin's piggy bank); and an old pic of a pudgy Kevin and two guys whom I assume are either a couple of Morters or a Morter and an Athorn.

And below, you'll see a bonus photo that's not on the Facebook post. Appearing on this Flickr album, it was taken at a GIN event in the Bahamas on New Year's Eve of 2010, which was when the GIN scam was really hitting its stride, raking in lots of money by making all sorts of wild promises to the rank and file. The pic shows Kevin Trudeau and the Doctors T gabbing excitedly about something.

If you follow the link in the paragraph above the pic, you'll see several other pics of Katie and Blaine and the Morters and a few others lounging on a boat, clowning it up in a limo, dining scrumptiously, and just generally having a good old time at the expense of hundreds of GIN members who apparently didn't have what it took to be invited to the private parties held at GIN events, but whose money was certainly good enough to subsidize those parties.

Well, I guess that's understandable. The elite leadership has to escape from the riff-raff once in a while, don't they? There are several other albums on Kevin Trudeau's old Flickr collection that you might find interesting as well.

Every picture tells a story, and truly, it's the same old story: turds of a feather clump together. Or more specifically these days, they huddle together during visiting hours at a federal prison camp to plot and plan their next grift(s). As Kevin wrote, "I'm excited! How about you?"

As for everyone else, the writing has been on the wall for years, for those who are willing to read it: The only people who will significantly benefit from any project that even marginally involves Kevin Trudeau will be Kevin himself and a select few of his closest buddies. Everyone else is disposable and interchangeable, as long as that money keeps coming in. It has been this way for years and it will most likely always be this way.

In the future the big hook to catch all the little fishies may not be GIN specifically; it may be another big "exclusive" club or group of "like-minded" individuals. But I'd say that at this point, if you're not Blaine or a Morter, or possibly another one of a small group of long-time cronies, you are probably never truly going to get any tangible or lasting benefits from even the most worshipful treatment of Kevin Trudeau, no matter how much of your hard-earned money you give him. It's something to keep in mind.

But hey, no worries. As Eric Idle's character demonstrated at the close of the 1979 Monty Python movie, Life of Brian, just about everything looks more cheerful if you can turn it into a song. So go ahead and celebrate Katie's friendship with his nearly lifelong buds; Cole Porter and I will get you started.

If you ever need a scam, here I am
If you need to sell a lie, I'm your guy
If you ever feel you need to hide your cash, I'll help stash
It's friendship, friendship
Grab the gold and spendship
When the marks are bitching 'bout our latest breach
We'll be on the beach!

~Cosmic Connie, 2020

 Just purse your lips and whistle!

PS ~ Bernie at GINtruth is blogging again. And he's on Kevin's case too. I'm glad he's back, because it was getting a little lonely in this part of the blogosphere.
 
Related on this Whirled:

• 31 January, 2020: Kevin Trudeau asks Judge Robert Gettleman for post-prison scam guidance
  Kevin Trudeau and his buddies seem to be actively plotting his post-prison career. But is all of this moot? Realistically, what will Kevin himself actually be able to do, especially since he'll presumbably be on "supervised release" for five years? Anything could happen, and at this point we can only speculate, but Trudeau himself did reach out early in January 2020 to Judge Robert Gettleman, with an inquiry about these very matters.
•  27 January, 2020: Eight misbehavin'? GIN is using imprisoned founder Kevin Trudeau to promote their Level 8 "training"
  Quid pro Trudeau: You scratch my scaly back, I'll scratch yours (and possibly stab you in it if I need to). GIN needs KT as much as (or more than) he needs them, and it shows. But that dynamic could change when Katie gets sprung from the clink.
• 18 December, 2019: Saint Kevin Trudeau becomes GuruKev as Facebook clamps down on his "celebrity" page
  There's nothing like throwing in a heapin' helpin' of McSpirituality to the scamcake mix you're making in preparation for your release from prison. Kevin Trudeau will probably never abandon the conservative Christian part of his base, but his rebranding as "Guru Kev" is blatant pandering to the more "sophisticated" marks who have a more worldly view of "spirituality." But don't be fooled. All of that holy talk is just another hustle.

Kevin Trudeau: Katie's at Camp Cupcake, GIN parties on, and all's right with the Whirled

I have a ton of work but am determined not to let September slip away without at least one more post, and one that is about something besides the stupidest man in Scamworld. I've said my piece about that for the time being, and even though I'm not going to give up on this subject, there are so many other more interesting and more important topics to blog about. So. Even though it has been a busy month, work-wise, I am going to make good on my promise to post updates about the saga of imprisoned serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, aka KT, aka Katie, as well as some of the folks who are struggling to keep his legacy alive while he cools his heels at Club Fed. Or Camp Cupcake, as he calls his new home at Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Alabama.

The gushing (and eye-rolling) posts on Katie's Facebook fan page continue, most of them first-person homilies that lately seem to be seriously pandering to the New-Agey Law of Attraction crowd. Trudeau seems to be sounding more and more like a New-Age ninny, as opposed to some of the earlier Facebook posts when he appeared to be pandering to the more traditionally religious believers in miracles and such. The messages for the posts are still presumably being sent via email to, and then posted by, Katie proxies such as his long-time business associate and ex-girlfriend Janine. Occasionally, however, one of his cronies will pop on and talk about going to visit Katie in the clink, marveling at the fact that he is in such good spirits and is An Inspiration to All of Us, and is really Walking the Talk and Living the Training and so forth.

For instance, Earlene Vining, cohort of staunch Trudeau loyalist Ed Foreman, recently posted this, which looks like an attempt at free-verse poetry but may just be an unfortunate line-break glitch (as usual, click to enlarge):

"Kevin is a bright
Star in all of our lives..."

Do I hear the sound of some of you gagging?

And every few days there's a blurb about an upcoming legal fundraiser for Katie that will take place in Colorado on October 23, 2014. (Here's a link to a September 24 promo post on Facebook.) If you make a contribution of "only $200" to the Defense Fund, you'll get a complimentary ticket to the big rally that will be hosted by Katie's pal Coach Coral (Grant, formerly Thomas). Coral is currently being flogged as Trudeau's "protege," who "does not do public speaking engagements so this is a very rare opportunity to spend time with Coral live and in person." Which is utter bull crap. Coral, whom I've mentioned a few times on my blog (particularly here) reportedly has a deal with Katie that she gets to milk his brand for all it's worth (and it's still worth quite a lot, apparently) if she contributes an agreed-upon amount to his defense fund.

Kevin himself, through his proxy/proxies, continues to pile it on thick, as indicated by this September 16 bit of inspiration:

Everyone likes/desires/wants different things. That is why there are menus at restaurants! LOL

Some people LOVE to skydive, or ski, or scuba dive, or garden, or paint, or play tennis, or watch horror films, or read terrifying novels. I personally do not LOVE any of those and might even HATE some of those. I like/love challenging my physical/mental/and emotional limits be it hiking for days with limited food and no shelter! Or being attacked by the US Government and having all my possessions taken away! Or being thrown in a jail cell for 23 hours a day for months not knowing when or if you will ever be let out! [Apparently this is a reference to his experiences at MCC, not Camp Cupcake. ~CC] Or do mental exercises for days straight without food or sleep to access spiritual dimensions few have ever been! The list could go on and on. These are MY desires.

The point is we all want/love/desire different things, experiences and conditions. There is no right and wrong, or good, better and best when it comes to desires/wants or things you love. You love and get pleasure from certain things, and I love and get pleasure from perhaps the things YOU hate, or scare you the most. Many people however, are not deliberate creators of their life's experiences. Most people do not consciously choose what they experience in their life. Most people are not focusing on their preferences or what they decided they love/want/desire. And most people are not focusing on WHY they want these things/experiences in their lives. When you focus on what you want and WHY you want it, (instead of HOW you are going to get it), you will be happier and you WILL manifest what you want. Many people ask WHY I would want to experience what I am experiencing. The answer is simple. I LOVE this! You see, my desire is to teach, to share. (this is my destiny as decided on by ME long ago...longer than you realize) In order to teach and share with complete effectiveness, I must KNOW, not just KNOW ABOUT. I must have DONE what I am to teach. And I must first HAVE what it is I want to share. VERY few people will ever feel the desire or have the joy I (and others throughout history) have for living these type of experiences. When you are taught by someone who KNOWS (experienced it firsthand) you can then truly learn because YOU then experience it vicariously through that teacher. You virtually learn via osmosis. This is why throughout history, Guru's, Sages, Enlightened Ones, Saints, Masters etc have had such a profound impact on those who were READY, and physically close to the one who KNOWS. I am doing my part. I am going "places" you will never want to go, and experiencing things you will never want to experience first hand. I am increasing that which I KNOW. I will be out and among you sometime between mid next year and 2022! LOL The Universe KNOWS the best and perfect HOW and WHEN. If you are ready, the sky is the limit for you, and the best is yet to come!
Much love

LOL, LOL, LOL.

In other words (if I'm reading this right), Katie's time in the clink is turning him into a gen-yoo-ine spiritual guru. All the better to reach his hand into your wallet teach you stuff when he gets out -- that is, if you're ready to be taught. When the mark student is ready, the con man master will appear. To date that post has 763 likes, 112 shares, and 118 comments. A woman who calls herself "Lena Lemurian" (I sense that is not her real name) responded to Kev's message with a magickal incantation:

I intend for Kevin Trudeau to be released and I see him released within the year and so it is.

I'm not so sure those intentions and whatnot are very effective. Remember that group mediation for Katie that took place about a year ago? Not so effective in getting him cleared of all charges, was it?

In response to the September 16 post a man wrote:

How do you go for days without food or sleep and still feel good? What discipline! Your NATURAL CURES books ,Your wish is my command and GIN Has greatly improved my health and thinking . They have made me signifantly [sic] more positive and improved my relationship with my friends and family and made dream again. I thank you Kevin from the bottom of my heart , you saved my life! I am glade [sic] you are feeling good and getting gooder [sic] every day. You are one of my greatest hero's. Love you!

Well, I too am glade for Kevin that he's good and getting gooder. Speaking of Glade, they've come out with their fall collection and holiday scents, and even though that stuff is probably really bad for you, I fall for the marketing every year. It makes Ron roll his eyes, but it sure beats litter box odor.

But I digress. Katie also had this September 26 message for the troops:

Thank you for all your continued love and support. Please know I am more than good here at Federal Prison Camp Montgomery. I am the best I have ever been. And getting better. My appeal has been filed. I should get the decision sometime next year.

As my dear friend Sam points out, I am not attached to any outcome, so I yield to the Universe and am allowing the perfect manifestation of my personal goals/dreams/desires in the WAY Source knows is best. My desires are not about myself, they are about you, society, the planet, and the universe. Peace, harmony, love, and all people feeling the deepest contentment and appreciation for all experiences is one of my visions. My desires are my desires. They are not your desires. Mine are right for me alone. Yours are right for you alone. All our choices, preferences, desires/dreams/goals are always right for each of us. Do not try to force YOUR desires, or your ways of living on others. You will just live with frustration and never be truly at peace/contentment or experience true inner total bliss. Many wonder about my situation and make all kinds of assumptions. Consider stop looking at others and judging, condemning, assuming things, and criticizing their conditions and they way they choose to go through this game we call life and the situations/events they create. Wanting to make oneself right and others wrong is a motivation that will keep you from experiencing all your desires and feeling true bliss.

Know at the deepest levels, we create circumstances in life (that in fact just games we create), to experience a full range of emotions as well as conditions to allow us to exercise our invisible power!

I have a request. IF you feel moved to do so, could some of you send me pictures of Zurich, and of beautiful things/scenes/mountains/etc for MY dream board! Guess what I may want to look at each day and vibrate into physical manifestation! Know all the well. I will be out and with you as soon as is perfect! Much love

Well, Katie, I have some ideas for your vision board. You say you want some pics of Zurich?


I grabbed that still from a vid on this page, Katie. I thought you might appreciate revisiting that glorious day in Zurich when the "ambush" journos from ABC caught up with you.

Or I could send you some screen shots of some of the horrid things written by a little Teutonic twerp you unleashed on the world through the Global Information Network (GIN) -- not just the stuff about me and about some of the other critical bloggers, but the hate-filled, anti-Semitic rants as well. Since you have been playing at being Jewish, Kevin (at least you mentioned to Judge Gettleman that you have a rabbi), I'm thinking these rants might not look so good on your vision board. But they are part of what you helped to create.

For now, please accept the vision board, or dream board, that I made for you my own self, with the help of Google images. It's up there at the top of this post. I know that vision and dream boards are supposed to be about the future, but I think you need to ruminate on your present and recent past as well.

For the rest of you, here's something to consider: no matter how cynical one may be about all of this, Katie's fans continue to look upon him as a hero. Every one of those Facebook posts gets hundreds of likes and at least dozens of comments. One woman, who apparently just got back from the 2014 Global Information Network (GIN) Family Reunion in Phoenix (more about that below), wrote:

FAMILY REUNION was Exceptional! You can be proud of the "Magic 5" and all the "Maple Syrup" who were there (ask someone who was) [One] man birthed the dream (ThU KT), AND we would have proven the Training untrue, if we hadn't Re-Birth bigger & stronger than before. Mission Accomplished! Onward!

Nice to know that the GINtanic is sailing on even without Katie at the helm, isn't it?

Another woman had this to say:

I'm living two hour away from Zurich and I'm watching the mountains right now while listening to your cd's. the world needs people like you Kevin... the important is who you become, not what you have. .... time goes on, get out of there, we have so many wonderfull [sic] things to do ! don't wayste [sic] your time...

There are no two ways about it: Trudeau still has a large and loyal fan base -- from all appearances a much larger and more loyal base than that bitter little German gnome who used to be his sidekick. And while the posts on Katie's Facebook fan page are truly eye-rolling, other sources besides Trudeau and his proxies and long-time loyalists say he really is in good spirits at Camp Cupcake. (You'll read more about that soon; I'll be sure to provide a link when it's available.)

I suppose it's possible that Kevin truly has accepted his fate and is cool with it no matter what. But I'm thinking that more likely he is just a really good actor, as many sociopaths are, or he could be basing his seeming tranquility and optimism largely on his belief that his appeal will actually be successful. At this point I'm still thinking it won't be, but we'll know in a few months, and we'll also see if he continues the Facebook shtick if the appeals process fails him. And speaking of the appeal (and the case that made the appeal necessary in the first place)...

Camp may be fun, but Katie wants out: the appeals process continues
It's been quite a while since I did an update here about Trudeau's court cases; the last post was on July 22, 2014. I've been remiss on my Katie reporting duties for sure. At any rate, the appeals process for his criminal contempt conviction is still ongoing and there probably will not be a decision until some time in 2015. I know you're probably thinking the same thing I'm thinking: if he's so happy at Camp Cupcake, why waste any more lawyer money trying to get out sooner? I guess that's just one of those mysteries of the Universe that only Kevin knows, and will be glad to share with you if you pay him or his cronies.

So what's going on, court-wise? Let's take a look...

1. Opening appeals brief and supporting documents: On August 27, 2014, I shared the initial appeals documents on the GIN Network Truth page (a public forum) on Facebook -- here is that link. And here is a Scribd link, for the benefit of those who cannot access the Facebook file.
2. Criminal trial transcript: I also finally downloaded some court transcripts, although I will have to keep such activities to a minimum because with actual transcripts, PACER apparently does not place a 30-page cap on download fees as they do on other court documents. At ten cents a page, it can get pretty pricey. I was able to nab this transcript of Trudeau's criminal trial, which took place in early November 2013 in Judge Guzman's court. It's a big'un. Here is a Scribd link.
3. Sentencing hearing transcript: And here is a Scribd link to the transcript from Trudeau's March 17, 2014 sentencing hearing.

One more thing: My PACER connection is having some glitches so I haven't been able to download any court documents since late August. As soon as I get those glitches straightened out I will pop onto PACER again and check for any newer activity. Or you can do it yourself if you are so inclined. Why should I get to have all the fun?

GIN rolls on, tries to lure big spenders back into the fold
Anybody who thinks that Katie's biggest scheme to date -- GIN -- is dead, has simply not been paying attention. Granted, it may be a shadow of its former self, but it's still definitely hanging on, as indicated by the pics from the big wingding that took place this past weekend: the 2014 Family Reunion in Phoenix, Arizona. You can see some of the festivities on one of the GIN Facebook pages.

Troy McClain, CEO of AXS Investment/Management etc., the group that bought GIN, hosted the promo video. And the first thing I noticed was that it was branding for AXS as much as it was for GIN. No big surprise there.



And Jeff Devine's Hybrid Group was also very much involved, judging from this little event blurb on etouches. 

As noted on this blog previously, the new owners of GIN reportedly consist of Troy McClain, Chris "Voldemort" McGarahan, Blaine Athorn, Jeff Devine and Greg Kramer.

In case you can't get to the GIN Facebook page I linked to above, here are some highlights from the weekend:

Looks like fun, huh? And oh, goody, there's going to be a cruise in 2015. And, not to belabor a point, but even without Kevin, and even though GIN membership is way down, it still appears that the Family Reunion drew a far larger crowd than the events put on by certain GIN ripoff clubs. (Unless, that is, GIN hired a bunch of folks to make it look like a crowd, or used CGI like they do in the movies sometimes.) Just saying.

A reliable source let me know that Troy McClain and Chris McGarahan have been making serious efforts to get Inner Circle and upper level members back into the GIN fold; in other words, they're trying to woo back the big spenders. As you may recall, Inner Circle members paid either $50k or $75k for that dubious privilege, with the promise that they would receive a percentage of the GIN proceeds and other perks. Some of these people's GIN "investments" were six figures (one former Inner Circle member and Founding Member insists GIN owes him a million dollars). When GIN nearly collapsed due to Katie's legal troubles, those folks were out all of that money, and reportedly many quit. Now Troy and Chris are trying to woo them back, with the promise that GIN will make it a point to get them the moneys owed to them asap.
 
Word is that some of these people asked that their "initiation" and monthly fees be waived for the appropriate amount of time in lieu of as much of the money owed as was applicable and GIN said no. Now, it's possible that something in the court order forbade such an arrangement (after all, GIN is beholden to the receiver and the court for the first year under the new ownership), but whether or not that is the case, it sounds pretty sleazy to me.

Troy and Chris are also reportedly pandering to the Christian demographic to get them to join or re-join GIN, and some who know Chris find this disgusting, saying that he is about as far from being a Christian as anyone they know.

At any rate GIN seems poised to grow, and may very possibly restore the MLM program at some point, though it was discontinued last November (2013). They haven't removed mentions of it from their online legal documents. For that matter, they haven't removed the statement that GIN is a multi-level foundation based in Nevis. Maybe they just need to finish updating their web site.

The moral of the story, once again, is that in Scamworld there are no neat and tidy endings. But I bet you knew I was going to say that.

That's it for now, but rest assured that I'll be back soon with more.

AXS of evil: GIN sale pending

Note: This post was originally published on 17 April 2014. Several important updates have been made since then; they are below the original post, so be sure to read everything. ~CC

Remember what I've been saying all along about there being
no neat and tidy endings
in Scamworld?

Well, after months of speculation and flying rumors, it seems there's a sale pending for jailed serial scammer Kevin Trudeau's huge scam, the Global Information Network, or GIN. Yesterday GIN sent out an email (screen shot courtesy of Bernie O'Mahony at GINtruth.com):

Seems there's this group called AXS Investment Group, with Troy McClain, longtime Trudeau buddy/cheerleader and hustledork in his own right, at the helm.

I wonder what AXS stands for. Could the "A" be for Athorn, as in Blaine Athorn, an even longer-time Katie buddy and co-huckster? (Here's an April 24, 2013 Whirled post with a bit of Blaine and Katie's history.) Some speculate that Athorn is indeed involved, along with two other slimy Katie buds, Chris "Voldemort" McGarahan and Jeff Devine of the Hybrid Group money-funneling operation... oops, I mean EVENT PLANNING COMPANY. Other buzz has it that Jeff isn't part of the purchase group but that Greg Kramer, of GIN Store fame, is.

My understanding is that as a private investment group, the AXS of evil is not under any obligation to reveal the names of all of the parties involved. So at this point I have not been able to confirm for sure if Athorn et al. are involved; the only name on the "official" announcement was Troy's. I'll let you know when/if any more documents become available for public consumption. But given that Athorn's nose has been up Katie for decades, it would be surprising if he didn't have his fat little hand in the pie somewhere, somehow.


At any rate it goes without saying that a lot of people will be pretty ticked off if this sale, which of course is subject to final approval by Judge Robert Gettleman, goes through. As I understand it, the court has wiped away the liabilities so any purchaser(s) will be buying GIN free and clear (at least from a monetary standpoint; courts don't directly address matters of karma).
 
In case you don't recall who Troy McClain is, he was one of Kevin's cheerleaders, and one who was pushing hard to keep people from leaving GIN in droves in the latter days. He's apparently most famous for having been on the comically repulsive Donald Trump's "reality" show, The Apprentice. Troy was the country boy that everyone fell in love with, according to Troy. He failed three times as project manager, and got fired on Week 12 of Season 1, original air date April 1, 2004. He was fired mostly because he sometimes used unethical business practices during the interview process, and partly because he only had a high school diploma. 

The Jan. 12, 2014 update towards the end of this Whirled post has a bit about him, as do some of the comments.


Troy was/is a proud member of the GIN "faculty."

Troy has been very close with the GIN United group of GIN"leadership" and Katie buds, who have been talking for months about purchasing GIN.

And here's Troy in 2011, shilling with old-school hustledork Ron Ball on behalf of Katie and GIN. I think this one is pretty disgusting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgr9UjW1Ops


And here he is around the same time, lying to people about how easy Katie's version of the hCG diet is (he seems a little coked-up, but maybe he just had allergies):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WRIkLBhegY

Besides the KT Radio Network web site URL on that video, there's an hCG web site URL that, when you attempt to follow it, redirects to http://hcgchicago.com. According to that site, the "hCG support team" is led by one Thomas Drost, M.D., N.D., F.A.C.S., and his wife Lisa Drost, N.D. An alert reader pointed out to me that Dr. Drost is also a hemorrhoid doc who treats hemorrhoids and cures anal fissures in DuPage County and Chicagoland. Funny. On that 2011 KT vid I linked to above, Troy yammered on a bit about he LOVES to go fishing and always has. He gabs about both literal and metaphorical fishing. So... Troy is a fisherman. Dr. Drost is a fissure man. This opens up a whole new world of interesting Photoshopping possibilities. But I digress.

Here's more about what a superstar and master brander and co-brander our Troy is. http://theitfactorradio.com/alycia-kaback/tune-check-factor-features-troy/

And here's more about why you should hire Troy for all of his expert expertise.

Anyway. You get the drift. Troy seems perfectly poised to be a front guy who will take GIN to the next level of scamming. (His web site does say he specializes in "turnarounds.")

And besides, Katie has been on his client list for a few years now; note the "Natural Cures" and "Stand With KT" (his original legal defense fund) logos in the lineup below:

I see new infomercials in the making, with Troy as one of the spokes-hucksters. Maybe they can even get some really big names in Scamworld to join in the fun. It remains to be seen whether or not the GIN MLM/"affiliate" program will be reinstated; I do know that several of the prospective purchasers were very interested in exploring this possibility.

It also remains to be seen how or if the SciWINtologists, led by former GINtervenor and ex-con Perry Kiraly (and Scientology fan Yon Vetter Cole) will be involved. When their Plan A to snatch GIN from the clutches of the receiver failed in court, they began focusing in earnest on Plan B, and have been trying for months to cobble a GIN ripoff called WIN, or World Information Network. In the process they probably ran up a huge attorney bill, so expect some Shimkos to still be hovering around somewhere. But they have been kind of silent for the past several weeks, although Yon did send me a private message on Facebook explaining exactly why he is NOT a Scientologist. I told him to tell it to the blog. He said he might, but hasn't yet. [NOTE: See April 20 update below. ~CC]

The heads of another failing GIN ripoff, the IMBS-ing U MasterBaiter's Society, are already telling folks to write to the judge, though.


In his blog post about this pending sale, Bernie made note of this bit from the announcement email:

AXS and its management team will now be actively working hard to make our club the best it can be with the commitment to never over promise and under deliver.

Spoken like a true Scamworld scammer. "We promise not to screw you; trust us!"

At this point it seems entirely possible that even the hopelessly caged Katie might still have a hand in the club, even from behind bars. (Unless Judge G says no to the sale, of course -- but another group of Katie pals could always step up to the table.) The point is that Trudeau's legacy lives on. And despite the many folks who will be outraged if the sale is finalized, there are also many, many people who still love Katie nearly to the point of worship, and think that his conviction and sentence are gross injustices, and want more than anything for his legacy to continue through GIN. As I've noted on this blog before, the GIN "leadership" are going to have to find a way to pander to both the Katie lovers and the Katie haters.

But one way or the other, it seems that GIN is still alive and kicking.

As I said... no neat and tidy endings. There rarely are, in Scamworld.
Update, 20 April 2014:
We didn't have to wait long to see what the SciWINtologists are up to. They are apparently going ahead with their plan to compete head to head with GIN. Time to stock up on more popcorn and beer! This was sent out early Easter morning:

From: [email address redacted]
Sent: 4/20/2014 1:41:28 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: WIN Update 04-19-14

April 19th 2014

WIN Update:

Dear WIN Members & Supporters,
March 31st concluded the time line of the Private Placement Memorandum and we did well.

The launch of WIN’s Website is currently on target for early May.

An introduction video was professionally filmed on April 10th and should soon be completed and up for viewing and release to everyone for use in the promotion of WIN. The video outlines what the club is all about as well as the benefits and value of membership.

After months of consulting with WIN’s MLM attorney Thayer C. Lindauer, WIN has completed a sponsorship compensation plan Member/Affiliate program that I think will excite nearly everyone.

A few of the highlights of the Member/Affiliate program are:

Commission eligibility requires only one non-affiliate member in good standing personally sponsored in your downline; period. Not one per month – one non-affiliate member; period (and it doesn’t matter when that member was sponsored in as long as they’re in good standing you are commission eligible).

High percentage commission’s payback on the first four levels:
L-1: 20%, L-2: 20%, L-3: 5%, and L-4: 5%.

Our MLM attorney has thoroughly vetted this sales program for compliance with MLM rules & regulations and has authorized its use on a worldwide basis.

Upon the launch of the WIN site the Member/Affiliate program will be up and running.

To further start WIN’s site launch off right and in honor of former GIN Members - for thirty days from the date of launch the membership fee of $1,000.00 will be waved.

To join and become a member, initiation of your monthly dues of $150.00 is all that is necessary. To take advantage of the waved membership fee you will simply use the sponsor/affiliate code WIN or the code of the WIN Member that sponsors you in.

To all former GIN members that had downlines, and plan to participate in WIN’s Member/Affiliate program, now is the time to begin calling your downlines in preparation for the launch of WIN’s Website. Once the website is launched you can sign up using the WIN sponsor code. You will then be given your own code to sponsor Members under you. If any Member of your former downline inadvertently uses the WIN code and actually wanted to be and requests to be back in your downline that request can be granted.

Additionally, all former GIN member training levels achieved will be honored in WIN if you join within the 30-day period from launch. There will be additional testing requirements to acquire the equivalent Pin Level in WIN but no charge for the upgrade.

Lastly, negotiations with the Wynn Hotel Resort in Las Vegas http://www.wynnlasvegas.com/ are underway to do WIN’s first major event there. Details will be forthcoming.

Finally, WIN’s official Facebook page is up and running. Click on: https://www.facebook.com/WINFDN?ref=hl to connect with us. WIN’s official Linkedin and Twitter page is also under construction and will soon be available.

Thank you and have an excellent day,
Perry Kiraly,
Executive Director, World Information Network

With a convicted felon at the helm, WIN members who miss GIN should feel right at home. 

Update, 21 April 2014
Here is the court document filed today, regarding the terms of the proposed sale of GIN. Proposed sale price is $200k, with a few terms and conditions, including, for a period of one year, payments equivalent to 8% of the member dues for existing members, and 4% for new members. Favorite Whirled wag Tim Donohoe noted, "Essentially they are paying for a mailing list of suckers and paying the FTC a commission on everyone who stays suckered or gets suckered into GIN in the future." (At least for a year, anyway.)

Tim mused, "Not a bad deal for an up and coming scammer." Yep.

But as I noted above, if the sale is approved, the purchasers will not be purchasing any liabilities incurred by Kevin Trudeau's mismanagement. There may be some lawsuits filed by disgruntled ex-GINfolk, not to mention some justified ill will. But they won't have much luck getting any of their money back, since the court has wiped away the liabilities. And as I've said, there are still plenty of folks who love Katie.

What the purchasers will have is the intellectual property, including those all-important mailing lists. The various GIN ripoffs such as IBMS and WIN are probably seething with envy over the lists alone. There's still a chance that the purchasers can make money with the new, rebranded GIN. People seem to have an endless need to feel "special," and they'll pay dues to feel special, particularly if they think they can make some money from selling other people a chance to feel special. And the prospective purchasers have indicated that they will explore the possibility of starting up a new affiliate program. Hold on to your wallets.

As I've noted before on this Whirled, there is a bit of historical precedent here. Landmark Forum grew to a worldwide multi-million dollar company after the sleazy Werner Erhard (supposedly) sold the intellectual property that was est. So the people who are crowing that the prospective purchasers of GIN are making a bad business decision don't really know what they're talking about.

Meanwhile, Katie struggles to get his appeal going. He's claiming to be too poor to afford the filing fee, so he filed a form stating that he's a pauper. I saw the court docs the other day and shared them on Facebook. ABC7 (Chicago) picked up the story too.

UPDATE: Motion denied on April 24. The judge isn't buying that Trudeau is a pauper and can't afford the filing fee (click to enlarge).


Update, 24 April 2014
So apparently there was a GIN Conference call on the evening of April 23, 2014. My friend John Foster, one of the Founding Members of GIN and author of the new book, Kevin Trudeau's Road Kill Victims "He" Doesn't Want You To Know About (I'll be writing about it soon), informed some of us on Facebook that the call was "to announce the new GIN club owners, now the Five Amigos, Blaine Athorn, Chris McGarahan, Jeff Devine, Greg Kramer, and Troy McClain. The new GIN saviours."

So it appears that the buzz that Bernie and I had been hearing for months, and had heard more about recently, was pretty much spot-on. Apparently both Jeff and Greg are part of this deal.

Of course, the sale is still subject to final approval by the court. The receiver was scheduled to have formally appeared in Judge Gettleman's court today to present the Receiver’s Motion for Entry of an Order (A) Setting Hearing for Approval of the Sale of GIN Club Assets and (B) Approving the Form and Manner of Notice (which I linked to above, but here it is again). I'll post any updates but there's nothing on PACER yet as of this writing.

Meanwhile, the begging continues for caged Katie
As expected, Trudeau is going to appeal that ten-year prison sentence, but that costs money. So his good buddy in the UK, Lee Kenny, current "owner" of Natural Cures, used the NC platform to send out a begging email. Here it is in its entirety, with the usual Cosmic annotations:

Can you make a miracle happen for Kevin Trudeau?
For those of you who’ve been following the case of Kevin Trudeau, original author of the Natural Cures books, you’ll probably be aware that he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his infomercial for the Weight Loss Cure book.

Reports of a former congressman having to be hauled out of court after showing outrage, tells you all you need to know about the fairness of the sentence.

What will you watch on TV tonight?

As you watch TV this evening and see the incredible before & after shots of the latest Diet or Fad, or hyped-up claims for some life changing vacuum cleaner, spare a thought for Kevin, but also for any other would-be advocate for Natural health or process that bucks the system.

Money, Money, Money
Like in any case there are appeals that can be filed, but after 10 years the Attorneys still need paying, research needs to be thorough and maybe, just maybe his legal counsel can find a way to release him much sooner. The lawyers must go back and review every word said in the case and research the law to its fullest.

Now Kevin is a resourceful guy.

If it were up to Kevin, He’d write a book or some marketing for a firm who could pay him what its worth and he could use that cash to defend himself. Unfortunately though every penny he could earn would not be his own, it would be turned over to pay the crazy $37m judgment. So his friends have created something to try and help him raise funds for his next round of legal challenges. [Actually, on a vid last June he babbled a bit about how he pretty much knows he is going to prison, but will take the time to write a book while he's there. I wrote about it on this June 7, 2013 post. So don't give up on the book dream yet, Lee, even if he doesn't complete it in time to fund his appeal. ~CC]

Los Angeles 10th May:
There will be a huge rally in honor of Kevin in Los Angeles on Saturday 10th May. All of his close friends, well-known speaker and many others will be on hand to help raise money on Kevin’s behalf for his continued legal defense. No contribution is too small and every little bit will help in the quest to free Kevin!

Can’t Make Los Angeles?
There are no other planned events, the deadlines mean the lawyers either get on this or not, so if you can’t attend, then any donation would be greatly appreciated. You may have already given in the past, but if you feel like Kevin improved your life in any way, and you can afford to, then it would be wonderful to have you support Kevin one last time.

I wouldn’t ask you to do something I wouldn’t do.

I’ve known Kevin a long time, just over 15 years in fact. I know his good and his bad points and I know this is not a fair fight. Whether people agree with what he has said, no-one can feel that 10 years is a just sentence for what he said in an advertisement.

As many of you know Court records have shown that I’ve donated a 6-figure sum so far from my businesses towards these legal fights. [See info below. ~CC] Not because I owe Kevin anything legally but because I believe in him and what he stood for. I don’t tell you this to brag, believe me there are days my businesses could use that money, but to demonstrate that this is a cause worth supporting.

Donate Now
If you’ve read Napoleon Hill’s books…
The similarities between the inmate that Napoleon Hill describes in his Laws of Success books and Kevin are incredible. No he’s not a saint, but his personality will lead him to use the time he has to help others.

Through friends and email (Who’d have thought email was possible in these circumstances!) Kevin has been sharing his high, lows & pearls of wisdom on Facebook continuing to help people and think of others, even whilst incarcerated. [Ha! Those 'pearls of wisdom,' written by Katie's proxy, smell more like the 'nuggets' in my cats' litter boxes. ~CC]

So if you can, here’s the website to make a donation. http://ktlegaldefense.com/KT_Legal_Defense/Welcome

If you can attend, you’ll get tremendous value. Sharing a common goal with some wonderful speakers and of course with the other attendees too. If you can’t attend, please do consider donating anyway, it will be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best Wishes
Lee Kenny
Owner & CEO: NaturalCures.com

PS - Once you contribute and are confirmed you will be sent our hotel discount link)
PPS – I just heard that the people operating the Website are closing it after the event, so this will be your last chance to help other than sending money directly to Kevin’s attorneys.

Funny. I had just mentioned Lee Kenny the other day on a thread, wondering what he was thinking or doing since the sentencing, and mentioning what a "deal" he got when he bought Natural Cures for $100k (as reported by former GIN CFO Michael Dow in a May 2013 deposition).

As you may know if you've been following this saga, Lee has been pretending to be cooperative with the courts, but apparently the receivers ultimately gave up on getting any useful info from him about hidden money. But more importantly, as I also recall from court docs, and as I wrote about last August, Natural Cures was set up in the first place to feed KT's legal defense fund. Here is a direct link to some August 2013 court documents that clearly state when and why Natural Cures Health Institute (NCHI) was set up.

So this all makes sense. And Lee's claim that he has already donated six figures from his own pocket towards Katie's legal defense... well, that seems a little deceptive.

Of note, Lee has also used the Natural Cures platform more than once to send out email promos for his and Kevin's $997 Baccarat scam (also mentioned a few times on this Whirled). I wonder if all of that dirty money goes to Katie's defense.

The terms on the current KT Defense Fund page are simple: Everything goes to pay Kevin's "management and legal fees," and all amounts are strictly nonrefundable.

I still believe that the ten-year sentence is a little harsh, particularly in light of the fact that convicted killer and star of The Secret James Arthur Ray served less than two years for killing three people (and hasn't even been called to account for a fourth death at another event). And now he's back in the Scamworld pool, teaching people how to "turn crisis into opportunity." Kevin wrecked many lives, but as far as I know didn't kill anyone.

Even so, he's a serial scammer, and most likely incorrigible. And I feel for the well-meaning people who are suckered into continuing to throw money at him, believing that they are somehow fighting the good fight.

Update, 26 April 2014
This "Message from the Receiver" was sent out by GIN to the GIN mailing list on the evening of April 25 (click to enlarge). The receiver will appear before the court on May 27 to seek the judge's approval of the sale of GIN's assets to Troy, Blaine, Chris, et al. (AXS). Protestors have until May 12 at 5:00 PM CDT to file their objections with the court. This should be interesting. I wonder if any of the sleazes and lunatics running the GIN ripoffs will bother to protest. Of course I'm not suggesting that everyone who protests this sale is a sleaze or a lunatic. I think the sale is a bad idea myself. But Scamworld runs on bad ideas, and for the most part the government and the courts turn a blind eye.

In addition, the receiver finally has finally uploaded the April 16 court document regarding the sale. Here is that link. And here is the link to Robb Evans' Kevin Trudeau page.

Update, 5 May 2014
More documents in the Kevin Trudeau civil case; filed on April 28, 2014. These are regarding the pending sale of GIN to AXS Consulting, LLC. Here the receiver explains in more detail than in previous docs why they want to sell GIN to AXS and not to others. Also, as discussed previously, they want to sell GIN "free and clear." (Hence the document title: RECEIVER’S MOTION FOR ENTRY OF AN ORDER APPROVING SALE OF GIN CLUB ASSETS FREE AND CLEAR OF ALL LIENS, CLAIMS AND ENCUMBRANCES.) As mentioned previously, the deadline for filing objections to the sale is May 12, and a hearing will be held, and the sale presumably finalized, on May 27.