To err is human, to bullsh-t is Devine

If you've been keeping up with the saga of jailed serial scammer Kevin Trudeau's Global Information Network (GIN), you know that there has been quite a ruckus as various scavengers fight over the seemingly moribund beast even before its actual demise. I wrote several updates on this post (and in the comments section), and before that here, and before that here, and before that here. Although numerous ex-GIN speakers/principals have gone off to flog their own schemes, inspired at least in part by GIN, the chief factions in the war for GIN itself appear to be (1) GINtervenor and prospective WINner Perry Kiraly and his followers, represented by Perry's Shimkos; and (2) the remaining GIN staff, most notably interim Chief Operating Officer and longtime Trudeau buddy Jeffrey Devine, presumably under the guidance of the court-appointed receiver.

We've been hearing a lot from Perry, but the GIN staff hasn't been idle either. This Devine missive was issued yesterday evening (January 14). I shared it on several Facebook forums then, but here it is for a wider audience.

GIN UNITES! January 14, 2014

We, at GIN Headquarters, would first like to apologize to all of our Members, speakers, believers, and supporters. We have been working tirelessly every day, and many times throughout the night, to regain ground control and stabilize this amazing club! Guess what... it’s working! It's time to thrive. Here is what we have accomplished so far:

Since the Receivership, we have been able to successfully weed out the majority of the compliance issues brought against the club in order to prove that we are operating correctly and legally. We were able to accomplish this because of our staff’s loyalty, efforts and true belief in this club. Without people like Nick, Lisa, Joel, Jeanette and many others, we would not be here today to announce this. Thanks to all of you!

In the last five months, we have been able to reinstate and upgrade previous Members who were unable to continue their GIN Membership due to cost or concern. Our Members are coming back! This cannot be denied and our numbers are showing it! And why not? Everything that the Members have received, learned and earned from this club is life-changing. Now we have begun to regroup. It’s a perfect time to combine our minds and show the world that we can thrive!

A regional education “road show” has been put in place and is ready to launch! This will not only include some of your favorite speakers from the past, but also some new speakers who are sure to inspire! Keep in mind—these will not replace GIN Major Events; they will only enhance the existing event lineup! These regional events are designed to be frequent and more accessible to all.

We have a new and improved Member Reward Program that will be coming out shortly that is sure to impress!

This is the part where we need to apologize. With all of this great news…and more to come…we have failed in one area. As the staff has been working tirelessly to maintain this great club, keep it growing, and offer even more benefits, we have failed to inform you of all of our progress, successes, and achievements.

We have also failed to set the record straight with certain comments and attacks from others. This will not happen any further.

First, let us say we have the endorsement and support of GIN’s key players. Contrary to rumors and other reports, the fact is that GIN has a dedicated faculty of educators and speakers that have been here all along! Troy McClain, Coral Thomas, Ed Foreman, Dr. Tom Morter, Dr. Ted Morter, Blaine Athorn, Chris McGarahan, Dr. Theresa Dale, Ron Ball, Aadil Palkhivala, Jacques Patenaude and many others are with us today, and will be with us tomorrow and in the future.

Secondly, we cannot let the club fold due to misguided management practices from the past. It is imperative that we remain united, informed, and stay the course. Our chief aim must be to comply with legal and ethical business practices in order to move onward and upward with our club. This is in fact what the Receivers are doing. They are allowing us to operate and work within our system of beliefs, while guiding us to create sustainability for the future.

Finally, there is no WIN outside of GIN! Some reports and letters are suggesting that it would be easier to start over and build a new club from the ground up. The fact is that GIN already exists. Our staff is here. Our speakers are here. We will continue to fight. Why? Because we know that its right to fight for what we believe in, what we’ve built, and what we love. As a team, we made it through 2013. As a club, we will grow for all to see in 2014. Together we will thrive!
Sincerely,
Jeff Devine,
GIN Operations

"Life coach" Coral Thomas -- who apparently makes most of her dough by teaching others to be "life coaches" rather than by actually coaching people -- may be one to watch; she is reportedly a big contributor to the Katie legal defense fund and has been rumored to be working on some new schemes with Janine Nubani Contursi (the one who is allegedly writing those schlocky jailhouse Facebook posts for Katie) and some other Katie cohorts, past and present. In fact most of the folks named in Jeff's letter are reportedly still loyal to Trudeau, and the buzz is that they may be more than willing to hand the keys to the kingdom back to him when/if he is ever released. (There are credible rumors afloat that Coral and Jeff Devine may be making a move to buy GIN, by the way.)

Notably absent from Jeff's list of B- and C-list luminaries: Fred Van Liew, aka Fred Van Loony, and Mary Miller. Even so, judging from some conversations on the GIN International page -- I'm not privy to them but someone kindly copied and pasted for me -- Fred van Loony is apparently siding with Perry et al., indignantly claiming that the receiver has no right to sell GIN. He called Perry "selfless." Fred -- who also still expresses loyalty and gratitude to Katie -- appears to still be on board with the plan to starve the receiver out so that the receiver will just leave and give GIN "back" to the members (who, as they don't seem to understand, never owned it in the first place).

I strongly suspect that there is at least a little bit of sour grapes here and that there's no place for Freddy at the new GIN table, but perhaps he is still trying to keep his options open. Maybe when it all shakes out Freddy will still be able to sell his magickal swamp water and E-pendant and other frauducts to the GINfolk. And if not to them, then to Perry's WINfolk. Meanwhile, Fred is hanging out with the Pitcocks and workin' that MLM -- the 90forLife scheme, which is a combo of the Pitcocks' Livinity and veterinarian Dr. Joel Wallach's Youngevity. This is another example of that "no neat and tidy endings" thing.

More importantly, and as I noted on some Facebook forums, one thing to keep in mind is that Jeff Devine is not exactly an unimpeachable source (some of you who know him are no doubt snorting at my understatement). I would be willing to bet that significant chunks of his January 14 letter are mostly wishful thinking (actually the missive sounds more than a little desperate). Reportedly a couple of those fabled "advisory board" members have already quit, and despite Jeff's claims that the GIN staff has been diligently working on "reinstating and upgrading" members, the GIN membership continues to decline. And it seems that Jeff feels at least a little threatened by Perry and gang, since he closed his letter with that tiny snark about "no WIN outside of GIN."

In any case, the final decision is not in Jeff's hands -- and he knows it. Nothing is certain about GIN's legal status until the court makes a decision. Maybe the hearing on January 30 will accomplish something.

I'm only keeping up with this because I find this whole dueling-scavengers thing highly amusing, and I am also entertained by the propaganda war that the opposing parties are waging to win the hearts, minds, and souls of the remaining GIN members and on-the-fence ex-members. I expect another drama-queen missive from Perry Kiraly either today or tomorrow. [NOTE: See update below. ~CC]

Meanwhile, Katie's former marketing director Peter Wink, who since being fired from the Katie scampire has gone on to perpetrate a cheap GIN knockoff called IBMS Master's Society, wrote this on self-described "GIN destroyer" Abe Husein's Facebook page a couple of days ago: "All Gin members should consider getting out now before the receiver lowers the boom, possibly as soon as the end of the month. Simply go into your back-office and delete the credit card information from your account to prevent further charges. The receiver ruined Gin. End of story." ("End of story" is one of little Loony Coldwell's fave phrases in his videos. Loony and Peter are becoming more and more alike; have you noticed? They do make quite the team.)

At any rate, I am puzzled. I thought it was Abe who ruined GIN, and did it almost single-handedly, according to previous statements Peter and Loony and Abe had made. But now I guess we have to blame the receiver. In all fairness, though, Peter and Loony have both been righteously ragging on the receiver for months -- at least since last September. Receiver or no receiver, they would probably sell their moms for a chance to suck the remaining GIN members, as well as a big chunk of ex-GIN members, into their failing IMBS-ing U Master Baiter's Society vortex. 

Click to enlarge.

And speaking of Abe, he tossed out another difficult-to-understand video early this AM (when he really gets going he giggles and guffaws, and his words stumble over each other -- and the YouTube auto-transcript is worse than useless). However, I was able to understand some of the vid, which seems to be 25-plus minutes of Abe misrepresenting most of the recent communications about GIN, boasting that he was right about everything, touting himself as the most reliable source of all GINfo, bragging about his involvement in the GIN movie, saying he respects Perry Kiraly (though just a week or so ago he was still calling Perry a brain-dead zombie and threatening to sabotage his new club), and inviting Perry and anyone else in doubt to join the IMBS-ing U scam. (The screen shot is from a conversation about a letter one of the Shimkos sent out to Perry last week, which I copied and pasted, with commentary, on this post (scroll down to "Update 9 January 2014: The Shimko weighs in"). I kind of get the feeling that Wink is behind Abe's turnaround re Perry. Perhaps Peter recognized Perry's gift of b.s., and maybe he also considered the fact that Perry does have some followers and even has Jeff Devine worried... so maybe Peter thought Perry's influence might be useful for the floundering IMBS-ing U club.

In his video Abe also emphasizes that "Dr." C (that would be Loony Coldwell) and Wink, the Supreme Founders of the BS klub, still have great relations with some of the beloved GIN speakers, including some of those mentioned in Devine's latest missive. Well, so much for any of Abe's long-time claims not to be involved at all with the Winkwell scam. He's soaking in it. And let's not forget that he is touting THIS MAN -- yes, THIS ONE -- as a leader who can show the way to a successful life.

The two points on which I agree with Abe, and always have, are that the GIN staff is still lying, and that GIN itself was built on lies. But I was writing about that more than a year before Abe had even heard of GIN.

In any event, it's very clear that Perry Kiraly and Jeff Devine don't hold the monopoly on GIN-related bullsh-t.

Update, later on, 15 January 2014

Well, we didn't have to wait long for Perry's response.

From: Perry Kiraly
Date: January 15, 2014 at 3:51:24 PM EST
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: SWGF/WIN Update 01-15-14

Dear Fellow GIN Members,

This is a brief update to comment upon the "GIN UNITES!" message released yesterday evening from GIN headquarters.

It unfortunately would better read: "Those that work for the legal entity known as GIN FDN have been compelled to unite with the Receiver that was sent there to liquidate it."

In the message it was stated that, "our members are coming back." Whether any members did come back I do not know. What I do know is that the overall numbers show, that before the Receiver, GIN had approximately 8500 active members. GIN now has less than 4000 active members and the decline continues.

Next, it was stated in the message that "key players" are still endorsing the GIN Receiver controlled foundation. I would suggest if one really wants to know where these key players actually do stand; first ask that their identities be reviewed, then call them and ask them personally. As for at least two that have spoken at GIN events and where they stand I re-post the emails received from Mr. Ed Foreman and Fred Van Lew [sic], as follows:

===

December 23, 2013

Perry,

Thanks for your clear message about the destruction of GIN by the Receivers.  It has been my opinion, all along, based on similar situations, that they would "milk the cow" 'til she goes dry...then barbecue and eat her remains.  Afterwards, they would offer the bones to the "dogs" for their highest bid!  Like vultures, they usually start with the eyeballs and brains first.  It ain't a purty picture!

Luv,
Ed Foreman

===

Fred Van Liew

"You are getting nothing but web access as long as the receivers are in control. They have defrauded you of the people and services you contracted for. No referring payments, no cruise. Just out right theft of our private club owned by the membership. I would send your dues to the legal fund headed by Perry Kiraly. Look him up. You don't even have to resign. Just go delinquent for a couple of months. Our lawyer is excellent. Thank you, Perry!!!"

Sent from my iPad

===

January 3, 2014

Perry,
Heartiest congratulations to you on the tremendous, excellent work and progress you are making in saving our great club...and going from GIN to WIN is terrific!  I am out of the Country now...will be back after the 15th and in touch with you.  Keep On Keeping On!

Ed Foreman

===

Next, in a previous message from Receiver/GIN headquarters it was stated that the budget wouldn't allow for the payment of Inner Circle or other programs.  But it would appear that maybe they could have been paid? See the attached Receiver Report of Oct. 25, 2013. In this report the Receiver mentions having $2,000,000.00 in an escrow account it hasn't accessed yet and an additional $990,000.00 in the Receiver's bank account. That amounts to almost $3,000,000.00 in reserve and that was in October 2013 before the Affiliate program was cut out. So a more accurate statement would be that the budget won't allow the payment of Inner Circle and other GIN programs, and the payment of the Receiver's salary and Mr. Trudeau's fine of 37-million.

Lastly it suggested in the GIN/Receiver message that there is no WIN outside of GIN. Well, yes there is. World Information Network Foundation LTD or WIN is now a legal entity established in the state of Ohio.

Better stated, there is no GIN outside of WIN, for WIN currently consists of those that believe in the ideals upon which GIN was initially founded and welcomes what is left of the membership that believe likewise to join us. The ideals I speak of are truth, integrity, the pursuit of happiness and Freedom.

Thank you,
Perry Kiraly

Let it be noted that I am a citizen of the United States of America and have exercised my 1^st Amendment right to express my opinion herein. Perry Kiraly
###

That escrow account was actually set up years ago by Kevin, as part of one of the agreements he signed with the FTC, to be used specifically for paying on fines in case he violated any more orders. It never belonged to the GIN members or to the receiver.

I will continue to keep y'all posted as new twists and turns surface in this increasingly silly story.


Update, 16 January 2014: Very early this morning, Perry K issued yet another January 15 update, in response to another missive from GIN Headquarters. I don't have a copy of that yet -- I will insert it here when I do -- but here is Perry's response.

From: Perry Kiraly
Sent: 1/16/2014 1:30:59 A.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: WIN/SWGF Second Update 01-15-14

SWGF Update: PERRY KIRALY
Second Update January 15, 2014

Dear Fellow GIN Members,
I must say that if nothing else I’ve shaken things up enough to get some movement to take place down at GIN Headquarters. I’d also like to thank you HQ for keeping me on my toes…

To respond to the latest release entitled "Fast Facts from Headquarters," I believe we should first take a look at the title which may be quite revealing…"Fast-facts." In fact I had to look up the definition of "fast-facts" after reading the release to be sure I understood the meaning, then re-read those fast-facts in that light definition.

The informal definition for fast..facts is defined as: a deceptive or unscrupulous trick (esp. in the phrase pull a fast one). So let’s take a look at some of the more relevant question/answers and see if they’re trying to in fact pull a fast-one here:

1. Who is the official "voice" of GIN?

GIN HQ answer: something about a collective. .. (i.e. Non Answer)

Truth: The Receiver

2. Is the staff controlled by the receiver?

GIN HQ answer: …Non answer…gibberish.

Truth: Yes

3. Why has the receiver terminated several GIN Staff Members?

GIN HQ answer: …financial stability….

Truth: More money for the Receiver & KT fine

4. Are my Membership dues paying the receivers’ fees?

GIN HQ answer: …for operations… (this is a partial truth + gibberish added)

Truth: Yes and the Receiver Estate fund to pay KT’s fine.
5. Have any GIN funds been applied to Mr. Trudeau’s debt?

GIN HQ answer: None as of the date of this message.(this may be true but…)

Truth: All GIN funds not used for operations and the Receivers fees go to the Receiver Estate fund that will be used to pay Mr. Trudeau’s debt. The only reason it hasn’t gone there yet is the judge will have to order it.
6. Why is the receiver in control of GIN?

GIN HQ answer: Here GIN HQ affirms this truth which answer the above two question HQ asked being: "Is the staff controlled by the receiver? And "Who is the official "voice" of GIN?"

Truth: GIN HQ admitted by their admission here the Receiver is the official voice of GIN and in control of the staff messages.

7. Is the receiver "milking" the organization?

GIN HQ answer: (Non-answer…gibberish)

Truth: Yes, all programs costing money have been eliminated. All cash not use to operate GIN goes to the Receiver’s fund and fund for KT’s fine.

8. Have the receivers cancelled Membership benefits?
GIN HQ answer: …yes…removed for legal compliance…. (so, the BMW winners lease payments was illegal…the Inner Circle payments…the lazyman’s purchases…Really!)
Truth: Yes, 22 to date and counting all legal
9. Why won’t the receiver pay previous promotional obligations?

GIN HQ answer: …blamed it on poor management prior to Receiver interference. (even though all programs were being paid – some over time – but all were being paid before the Receiver interfered with GIN)

Truth: The Receiver won’t pay previous GIN promos because that more cash in their pocket…

11 .If past bonuses and promotions were not fully paid, why should I trust future program rollouts?

GIN HQ answer: …trust the new management…!!!!!!
Truth: If rollouts means payouts…how can they be trusted to do what they have not done to date?

12. Why is the new Leadership Roundtable held in secrecy from the GIN Members?

GIN HQ answer: …there is absolutely NO secrecy as to the members of the new LRT.
Truth: We still don’t know who they are nor did the general membership vote for them.

13. Where is the contract between the LRT Members and the receivers?
GIN HQ answer: … there is no "contract" between these parties.
Truth: in the conference call to the Inner Circle which I have a recording of it is stated that the Receiver has endorsed, in writing the Round Table group.
14. Why does the GIN receiver control the LRT (…Round Table)?
GIN HQ answer: It would not be a correct representation to describe the receivers as "in control" of the LRT.

Truth: GIN HQ admitted in question #6 that the Receiver is in control of GIN and is therefore in control of anyone they endorse in writing!

15. Have the LRT Members endorsed the idea of giving all GIN Members the opportunity to participate in the acquisition of the club?

GIN HQ answer: Yes…

Truth: Oh, now we, the Members, need a self-elected, Receiver endorsed group of yet unidentified Round Table members to endorse "giving all GIN Members" the opportunity to participate in the acquisition of the club? (know that I am holding back what I’d really like to express regarding this).

16. Why did a recent communication state that GIN paid Mr. Troy McClain to write a recently released letter?
GIN HQ answer: …Perry Kiraly claiming Troy McClain was paid to write the letter he wrote is a complete FALSEHOOD….

Truth: I personally spoke with Mr. McClain for over an hour by telephone several days prior to Mr. McClain writing that letter GIN HQ posted. Mr. McClain stated that he was being paid to get communication unstuck between the Receiver and GIN members. He further stated that he would be doing a conference call with the Receiver and HQ on Monday the 6th.

In that I felt it would be a breach of confidence to reveal a private conversation with Troy regarding how I knew Troy was being paid and by whom, I decided to state it as I did in my previous update knowing that Troy was at one time on retainer and believed him to still be so retained. And knowing that having a financial interest in writing what Troy did should be considered.

I hereby publically apologize to you Troy McClain for revealing a part of our private telephone conversation but I do so for what I believe to be the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics in this situation.
17. What was the original intent of the Intervenors’ efforts?
GIN HQ answer: …the original intent was to purchase GIN. It appears that in their latest communications that the intention is to shut down GIN and start a new club; however, they want to do so under their own appointed governing board rather than one appointed by the Membership.

Truth: Purchasing the "assets only" was something considered by us. It then became very clear that the Receiver planned to milk the club until dry then sell what was left to the highest bidder. This left one course of action…find a way to get free of Receiver control.

We also recognized the extensive liabilities of GIN FDN created by the Receiver’s interference of GIN business affairs. The only solution was to form a new legal entity with which to carry on future club activities, hence, we created the World Information Network Foundation Ltd which will be member owned and controlled (please see SWGF/WIN update of 12-31-13 for WIN’s open Member leadership structure).

Note that GIN HQ makes a real issue of stating in question #17 above: "they (the Interveners) want to do so under their own appointed governing board rather than one appointed by the Membership." Isn’t this a funny thing to accuse us of when the GIN HQ secretly appointed a Round Table group endorsed by the Receiver in writing to represent the general GIN Membership which had no part in their election?!!!
18. Would it be easier to keep GIN alive, or just start a new club?

GIN HQ answer: … it would no doubt be a MASSIVE undertaking to start an entirely new club…

Truth: It is a MASSIVE undertaking but as a Founder, Level-6 candidate, Inner Circle, Platinum, Go-Getter I, Sanctioned Speaker, and Member who loves the ideals upon which this club was founded and wants to see them continue I have and am willing to undertake this massive effort for the greatest good of all of the current and future Members that believe in these ideals!

19. Are the numbers stated by the Intervenors and their legal counsel accurate?
GIN HQ answer: No

Truth: Attrition rate over 50% since Receiver interference. Approximately 8500 before the Receive, less then 4000 now. (If these numbers are inaccurate I challenge GIN HQ to post the numbers that are accurate from your non-secret transparent current leadership)?

20. Why has a lawyer stated his opinion is that GIN will soon only have 2000 members and that all of GIN Staff will be fired?

GIN HQ answer: This is not the opinion of a lawyer representing GIN. It is the opinion of the Intervenors’ attorney, paid by the Intervenors.

Truth: This is an honest opinion based upon an extrapolation of the attrition rate and numbers listed above.

21. Will future GIN owners make due on all previous liabilities?

GIN HQ answer: This cannot be answered at this time and can only be answered by future owners. However, acquirers of GIN will have to conduct their own financial assessment of past liabilities to see if it is possible to meet those previous obligations of GIN. It should be noted that new owners of GIN will not acquire GIN's previous liabilities at the time of acquisition; rather only GIN’s assets will be sold.

Truth: No – and note that if the new acquirers do not create a new legal entity as I have already done they will be subject to all of GIN FDN’s liabilities. What you are not being told is that the new owners WILL create a new club or legal entity or be strapped with GIN debt they don’t want. In short the new owners will do what they criticize me for doing regarding the establishment of a new legal entity under which to do club business.

22. How will the GIN Members’ voice be heard?

GIN HQ answer: …GIN HQ…LRT (Leadership Round Table)….

Truth: Receiver controlled GIN HQ & LRT.
23. Who will create the next level of training?

GIN HQ answer: … faculty of expert trainers, LRT, consultants, and staff…

Truth: A Receiver controlled government influenced faculty of expert trainers, LRT, consultants, and staff…

24. If funds are raised by any members of the LRT, would those funds be under the escrow control of the receivers as stated by the Intervenors’ communications?

GIN HQ answer:…Absolutely not….

Truth: The Order Appointing the Receiver gives him complete control, admitted by GIN HQ in HQ’s answer to question #6. So of course the Receiver will have control of funds raised by GIN HQ & Receiver the appointed Round Table group if it chooses to exercise this control.

25. Did the FTC want to dismantle GIN?

GIN HQ answer: In cooperative efforts with the receiver’s office, GIN has made substantial strides to make its operations legally and financially sound. GIN is confident this will demonstrate a clear effort of cooperation with any government authority and to demonstrate that the new GIN management has the best interest of its Members and the interest of consumers in mind.

Truth: If what the Receiver has done so far is any indication of what their employer wants to do the answer is a resounding YES.
26. Why did GIN lower its Membership Level price structure and "fire sale" the organization?

GIN HQ answer: …direct result of continuous feedback from the GIN Membership and statistics, resulting in a recommendation to the receiver

Truth: Fire-Sale. (Raise money to keep operations from folding because of massive attrition rate of membership)
27. Is it a direct violation for a GIN Member to defame or use the information on the GIN website (contact info) to directly solicit, intimidate, insult or defame another GIN Member? Does GIN have a policy to prevent harassment of Members or hurting the reputation of others?

GIN HQ answer: …The Intervenors’ counsel stated that a new club can be started, however he failed to refer to two important sections of GIN's own Membership Agreement listed below:

12.8. I agree to never jeopardize the reputation of GIN, any of its Members and Affiliates, staff, speakers, presenters, and contractors, in any way, including but not limited to using any social media platform (Face book, Twitter, Google+, etc.), email, telephone, print, or public announcement.

12.17. I agree to never solicit Members and/or Affiliates, directly or indirectly, to promote other business opportunities, loans, investments, products, or services.

Truth: Representing and taking sole responsibility for the Interveners [sic] and all 500+ Members that requested to be on the Plaintiff list. My only intention has and continues to be to preserve the club for its current Members out of love for the club. I have been a Member of GIN since June of 2009, even before its official launch, and I will do whatever it takes to see it continues in accordance with the ideal of truth and freedom upon which it was founded.

As a final note please search the historical record and you will see that virtually all oppressive dictator based governments have made painstaking efforts to silence those that shinned the light of truth upon their activities. I mention this because GIN has locked me out of my account though my dues are current and have been current since June of 2009. The above question #27 is asked as a precursor justification to terminate my membership. I kept my dues current anticipating this and for the reason of staying in good standing until our motion to Intervene was heard on January 30th. Do you really want to be a part of a club that takes efforts to silence or punish those that reveal oppressive acts?

Do you really want to be a member of a club who’s leaders and potential purchasers would allow this! If so know that if it has happened to me it will happen to you…
Let it be noted that I am a citizen of the United States of America and have exercised my 1st Amendment right to express my opinion herein.

Thank you,
Perry Kiraly

It's still just a propaganda war, as far as I am concerned: Devine et al. versus Perry et al. I do of course still agree with Perry that "GIN Headquarters" is lying, and good for him for calling that out... but... well, something about pots and kettles comes to mind.

Someone asked my opinion of who is winning this propaganda war. I said that we who are watching it are winning, because we are getting all of this entertainment for free. But on a more serious note, I continue to look upon this as an example of how desperately some people cling to the dream of having a piece of the Scamworld pie. It still seems to me that Perry wants to preserve all of the parts of GIN that were most objectionable, ethically if not legally -- and that the "valuable information" GIN offered was secondary.

In a related amusing development, Abe H continues what appears to be a clumsy (and probably Wink-driven) effort to persuade Perry and his followers into the IMBS-ing U Master Baiter's Club. As snarky as I have been and will no doubt continue to be about Perry, I have a strong feeling that he has more sense than to get involved with those jokers.

This is from early AM, January 16 2014,
less than a week after Abe threatened to sabotage
Perry Kiraly's new proposed club WIN.
(See small screen shot towards the beginning of this post.)

And meanwhile in the MCC, caged Katie is happily playing Gin every day (no, I'm not making that up), experiencing diversity, and "communing with others" in a truly "special" way. They're one big happy band of bros there in the jailhouse. I wonder when he'll introduce his and Lee Kenny's baccarat scheme to his fellow brothers in orange. Word has it that sentencing in the criminal contempt case for which he was convicted will be on Saint Paddy's day, March 17. And life goes on.....

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GIN is dead! Long live GIN!

Just because serial scammer Kevin Trudeau has been convicted of criminal contempt and is currently in custody pending sentencing (scheduled for February 6, 2014 -- his birthday), that doesn't mean the story is over. ("No neat and tidy endings," remember?) A rash of post-trial motions will no doubt show up around mid-December (they're due by December 17), with replies due on January 3. Lots can happen between now and February 6, is what I'm saying.

As for what is arguably Trudeau's biggest and most elaborate scam to date, the Global Information Network (GIN), there's been a lot of buzz about that in the past week. Some who have made GIN's demise their life's mission are crowing because GIN is finally dead, thanks to announcements made to the GIN staff last week by the court-appointed receiver, Robb Evans & Associates.

Before we go any further with that, here is a link to the newest court documents filed by the receiver: Document 790 and exhibits, filed November 15. (Exception: 790-2 (89 pages of photocopied/scanned financial exhibits) is not included because I could not get it to load properly. But the docs I am sharing should give you a very good idea of the receiver's activities.)

Basically Document 790 is a summary of the receiver's activities between August 7, 2013 -- the day they took over Trudeau's business entities -- and September 30. It's also a bill, and a hefty one, which of course has fueled a whole new round of invectives from the Loony-tic fringes, which we'll get to in a while.

The big news regarding GIN is that, provided the court approves the receiver's recommendations (which will presumably be presented before Judge Robert Gettleman at the upcoming civil case hearing on November 21), the affiliate program is being $hit-canned. That's the MLM scheme, the legality of which the receiver had been questioning for months, and I have been questioning for years. And that has apparently caused quite the uproar: celebration and self-congratulations from the "GIN Destroyer" contingent, and shock and outrage from some of the remaining GINfolk at all levels.

Although almost nobody got rich from the GIN affiliate scheme except a few at the very tip-top of the pyramid (Kevin, his lovely estranged bride Nataliya, Neo-stinker Mark Scamilton, and a guy named Brian Baschnagel who apparently downlined a lot of French folk), lots of people did have downlines and were making some income. Not being the successful elite billionaires that GIN had promised them they could be, some were actually counting on that extra income to help make ends meet. And no doubt lots of folks were able to get and keep their downlines by promising people that they could eventually become a rich elite by selling GIN memberships. So there's that unicorn dream down the toilet. No wonder people are pissed off. Add that to all of GIN's other broken promises (see Bernie's GINtruth.com site for documentation), and you can see that there may be a few...um... problems keeping GIN alive.

Nevertheless the GIN leadership is putting a positive spin on the changes, as indicated in this email from last week. And some remaining members -- including some with whom I am friendly -- are trying to keep the faith.

Here's that email:

November 15, 2013

GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Valued Members and Affiliates,

In order to improve your membership experience, solidify GIN’s future stability, as well as improve our operational and financial feasibility, we would like to inform you of some of the exciting developments that are underway. These improvements will be implemented in the near future and are designed to build on our strong foundation as we prepare for an exciting 2014!

First, this year’s Family Reunion event was a tremendous success. We welcomed dozens of newly inducted Level V and Level VI Members, joining the ranks of some of our most highly trained and decorated Members. And, we are excited to inform you that we will be holding GIN's next Major Leadership Event in early 2014. The details will be released in the coming weeks. We look forward to seeing you at this event!

As many of you may know, GIN has been under recent and close scrutiny. We at GIN Headquarters are sensitive to the uncertainties and inconveniences this may have caused. Please know that necessary changes will pave the way for many new and exciting club enhancements as outlined below.

Operational Enhancements
As evidenced at our recent Family Reunion event in Washington, D.C., several key members of the GIN Staff and the GIN Advisory Boards guided the organization through many of the recent transitions that GIN is undergoing. The dedication, perseverance, and leadership of these individuals through these times of change have provided our organization the transitional foundation needed to carry GIN to its next phase of growth and development. We would like to thank each and every one of these individuals for their incredible hard work and dedication through this phase of GIN’s lifecycle.

Moving forward, GIN is pleased and excited to announce that the appointed Receiver has named a new Chief Operating Officer (COO). It is with great pleasure and optimism that we welcome Jeffrey Devine as the organization’s new COO. Jeff’s background and expertise in association management, organizational governance, and convention management, along with his tenure within the Global Information Network will help align GIN’s new business operations model with our future Member initiatives. We are confident that he will prove to be a leading partner alongside the GIN leadership. Please join us in congratulating and supporting Jeff in his new role!

Affiliate Program
In recent weeks GIN has undergone an Affiliate Program evaluation regarding the program’s offerings. As a result of that evaluation, and with the advice of legal counsel, it has been determined that some immediate transitions will be necessary. However, we will continue to review replacement programs, including those listed below, now and in the future.

These transitions will secure the best possible future for our club, as well as provide legal stability as we set the new direction for growth. With future enhancements to come, the Affiliate Program as you know it will conclude as of November 30, 2013. For those of you receiving commissions, your last payment from the Affiliate Program will be in December 2013 for commissions earned during the month of November 2013. Any modifications to the Affiliate Program will not affect or change the number persons recorded in your personal business organization or the current recognition pin level. In addition, Affiliates will continue to have access to the website.

Member Rewards
Updates that take the place of the current Affiliate Program will include a new program called Member Rewards, the initial details of which will be announced in December. This program is designed to allow you easier methods to invite your network of family, friends, and colleagues to join the many expanding benefits of GIN membership.

Member Rewards will offer promotions for recruiting that will pay out in various ways when you introduce a new Member into GIN. Some of these may include:

Earning Credits for recruiting new members into GIN
Earning Credits when someone in your organization upgrades
Earning Credits to attend Member Events
Frequent Recruiting promotions and discounts
Enhanced Recognition programming

Increased Education
Introduction to a new event format was made at Family Reunion in October. Members and Affiliates enjoyed the offering of a diverse education program. It consisted of Breakout Sessions never before offered at our Major Events. The Breakout Sessions focused on education topics to which GIN Members will begin to have greater access in 2014.

Beginning immediately, GIN Headquarters will continue to embrace and partner with the membership via the Advisory Boards to guide the new direction of GIN. Some of these new enhancements under consideration and in the works include:

An expansive new multi-track educational curriculum
A dynamic certification curriculum
New online training portals
An increase in live training seminars and events
Advanced Level Trainings
Additions to the Online Library
The impressive new Member2Member program

Member Engagement
Additionally, we are looking at adding new programs for Members to participate in during the Major Events and throughout the year. One of the member engagement programs is the new Volunteer Corps. There will also be opportunities for Members to get involved in the future direction of the organization via specific committees. The committees will serve as important contributors to the strength and effectiveness of the organization. This will allow the current leaders of GIN greater influence and may be supported by a new apprentice program. The apprentice program will groom new Members to be our future leaders as we continue to grow and will provide a field mentor to ensure a successful membership journey for new Members.

A Bright Future
GIN is a club that has touched the lives of many people. We continuously receive many testimonials and stories about the incredible benefits of being a part of GIN. We recognize the strength of the networking within the club, the success of the business partnerships that have been formed, and the life-long friendships that have been made. This organization is held together by the incredible and unbreakable bonds and relationships within the GIN community.

GIN has recently undergone changes that we have never faced in the past. However, we are optimistic that with our new leadership alignments, future membership benefits, and a continued sense of community, we will together as ONE, arrive in 2014 bigger, better and stronger than ever before!

As our GIN training has taught us, no matter the challenges we face, the future and foundation of GIN is about more than any one person. More than one purpose...it is a community bound together by a belief system committed to improving the lives and experiences of the family Members it serves.

May this serve as a call to action to drive forward and build a palace upon our current GIN foundation. We appreciate your continued loyalty and commitment to the organization as we move forward together.

Sincerely,

GIN Headquarters

Of course, some people still don't get it and are now (or once again) accusing the receiver of fraud and deceit for continuing to run a fraudulent organization. They still don't understand that the receiver was under a legal obligation (per court order, which is on public record) to keep GIN running until and unless they could prove that it was illegal. Also, my understanding is that any decision the receiver makes has to be confirmed by the court -- Judge Gettleman, in this case, as this is part of the civil case. (It is possible that the court has already granted the receiver permission to take the actions regarding GIN, and I just haven't seen the documents yet. I am keeping an eye out for them.)

As I noted above and have explained previously on this very blog and on various Facebook forums, months ago the receiver raised the question about the legitimacy of GIN's affiliate program. Their question was based upon their doubts about whether or not there was a real "product" for sale. Some of us could have told them years ago that paid membership in a scammy scheme run by Kevin Trudeau is not a real product, but courts don't tend to listen to bloggers. Anyway, they apparently finally decided that the MLM does not offer a real product so they are apparently recommending that the MLM portion be shut down.

But some resentful little lunatics just won't let up on the receiver. Here's Katie's ex-b.f.f. and former alt-health front man, Mocktor Loony Coldwell:

Coldwell has been ragging on the receiver for months. Here's something from this past September, in case you missed it. As for those "800 GIN members" Loony claims have contacted him in the past few days, we know how fast and loose Loony plays with numbers. And regarding Loony's claim that the GIN web site contains "false, deceptive, outdated information," my friend Gina pointed out, "This is funny coming from him, considering he Photoshops GIN pictures for his website, so it looks like he has followers."

Pot meet kettle... again. Coldwell accuses GIN web site of containing
deceptive info, when his own Facebook cover photo was Photoshopped
using a GIN event to make it appear he has many more followers than he does.

Not to mention all of the other false and deceptive content on Loony's web sites and his Facebook rants.

Anyhow, just in case you do not feel like plowing through the legal documents I linked to above, the passage to which Loony is referring, re the GIN web sites, is this:

Case: 1:03-cv-03904 Document #: 790 Filed: 11/15/13 from Pages 4-5 of 11 PageID #:14193-94:

11. Mindful of the Court’s direction in the Receivership Order that the Receiver may only continue and conduct the business of any of the Trudeau Entities to the extent it is possible to operate such business legally, the Receiver has continued to review the legality of such businesses and has commenced tailoring the Trudeau Entities’ operations accordingly. For example, the Receiver has begun the process of causing the Trudeau Entities to remove false and misleading claims from its websites. As reflected in its First Report, the Receiver is continuing to work on a marketing plan that can be operated lawfully. As provided by the Receivership Order, if the Receiver determines that a Trudeau Entity cannot be operated legally, the Receiver will promptly notify the Court and parties and seek the Court’s permission to terminate the entity’s respective operations.

No matter how you spin it, though, the news about the GIN affiliate program very probably coming to an end is significant indeed. I'm not trying to downplay that at all.

Not surprisingly, some are spinning this development as the result of grass-roots efforts initiated by a single disgruntled ex-GIN member. I continue to believe that it would have happened with or without those efforts because for better or worse, the government and courts were on this case for years. And the seeds of GIN's demise were actually planted during the now well-documented planning sessions between Kevin Trudeau and his asset protection attorney, Marc Lane, back in 2007 and 2008, before GIN was even launched.

This doesn't take away from the satisfaction that many may feel about GIN in its original form going away, though as indicated above, GIN is apparently not dead yet. I actually do feel bad for those who lost thousands or perhaps even hundreds of thousands in this scheme. I know of some who spent far more than $100,000 in GIN. Some haven't come to the forefront because they would rather just forget it and put it all behind them.

I also understand the desires of some to keep GIN alive under new terms, and I do not wish them ill; there are GIN defenders and KT fans whom I like and respect. I just think that they are pursuing a pipe dream at this point... but in my view, they always were.

One point seems certain: These latest developments may provide the true litmus test for the legitimacy of the claims, by some defenders, that (1) the real value of GIN is in "the training," not in the get-rich promises; and (2) most people who joined GIN and stayed did so for the "training" and not for the promises of (eventual) wealth.

Meanwhile... this just in, and I will have more info as soon as I can sort through all of the new docs that were just filed in the civil case today (November 18, 2013) --- Ohio GIN member Perry Kiraly and friends have now officially "intervened" in the case and their motions are now on the docket. Among other things, they filed a preliminary injunction against the receiver to prevent liquidation of GIN's assets. This could get interesting. Or maybe not...the court could decide right off that the FTC made a strong enough case that GIN was/is a Trudeau-owned entity that Perry and gang's case will be moot. Anyway, for those of you on Facebook, the court documents in question are currently available on the publicly viewable GIN Network Truth page.

Update 19 November, 2013: Here is a link to the entire group of documents on Scribd.com. It doesn't take a fine legal mind to speculate that Perry et al. are probably fighting an uphill battle, particularly since the lawyers they retained, Daniel and Timothy Shimko, seem to have had some challenges of their own (as indicated in Document 792 and 795). And then there is the matter of Perry's own past troubles, as previously noted on this blog (scroll down to, "And in other news...").

Still more legal threats from Loony...
Loony Coldwell is apparently continuing his pattern of using the promise of "class action lawsuits" to lure people to his daft and chronically under-attended events. He first did it in May-June 2012 for his South Carolina exploitation fest (where he first "edified" Abe, and where he and former GIN marketing principal Peter Wink rolled out their new Longevity/Youngevity MLM affiliate scam). Of course, nothing came of that class action suit -- an outcome I accurately predicted on my first Loony post --  but Loony was able to get plenty of people to send him their personal info for his own use.

More recently Loony has been blathering about another "class action law suit" against GIN et al. (and possibly the receiver). He was boasting a while back that the law firm of Merritt Webb had agreed to take it on (here's another September 2013 post containing some info about that). But nothing has come of that that I know of.

Now it appears that Loony is targeting Jeff Devine, the newly appointed COO of GIN, with his impotent threats. This is from Sunday, November 17.

One noteworthy point is that apparently, if you go as a guest of Abe's, Loony's $200 wingding in Panama City, Florida this December will be free (except for travel and hotel and meals and intoxicants). My pal Tim speculates:

Tim Donohoe The seminar is now free, makes me think less than 5 paying members want to go. It will be the 3 lackeys who go for free, and maybe 4 others who would be willing to pay. This could turn into a 3 figure weekend for Loony and Wink. I bet they will fight over the $200 they make.

As for Abe, he will apparently not be satisfied until and unless GIN is completely dead. And he is earnestly recruiting people into Loony and Wink's IMBS-ing U web.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the latest announcements, master copywriter Wink has issued this all-caps directive on the Facebooks...

ATTENTION GIN MEMBERS AND AFFILIATES!

NOW THAT GIN TOOK AWAY ALL YOUR COMMISSIONS AND NO LONGER HAS AN AFFILIATE PROGRAM --- BE SURE TO GET REFUNDS FROM THE GIN STORE ON ALL USELESS AFFILIATE TOOLS, CDS, DVDS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

CALL YOUR BANK AND ASK THEM TO ISSUE A CHARGEBACK.

Once again, here's Tim:

What Wink really doesn't understand is how transparent he is and how little respect people have for him. This is an obvious ploy to position himself as an anti GIN crusader in front of a small group who got ripped off by Gin and Wink. He goal is to get people to forget that he was a big part of the scam for which he is advocating the charge back. Once he gets the most gullible members on his side, he can pitch the IMBSingU plan to them.

So, it's bidness as usual: More GIN scavengers, "carrion" on a proud Scamworld tradition.

The big question now is this: Will GIN be totally shut down or will it go on, like Celine Dion's heart in the Titanic theme song? If the latter, can GIN truly thrive without Katie? Will it become a ho-hum Generic Information Network, brimming with hustledorks and B-listers and Scamworld wannabes... or will the members actually be able to sustain it and restore it to its rightful place in Scamworld? Stay tuned.

The story is not yet over.


Related posts about GIN scavengers:

• Another GIN scavenger: "carrion" on a proud Scamworld tradition (former KTRN Radio guy Matt DuBiel's newest schemes)
  http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/10/another-gin-scavenger-carrion-on-proud.html
• Meet the new scam, same as the old scam, Part 1 (IBMS Master's Society): http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/01/meet-new-scam-same-as-old-scam-part-1.html
• Why Kevin Trudeau's GIN lost its soul: http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-kevin-trudeaus-gin-lost-its-soul.html
• Trudeau still caged, vultures still circle, and Wink seizes the moment, blabs to press, and pimps for Loony Coldwell (again):
  http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.com/2013/10/trudeau-still-caged-while-wink-seizes_27.html

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