Friday, July 12, 2013

Killer James Arthur Ray is nearly* free, and the big sick machine hums on


As noted here a couple of months ago, convicted negligent homicider James Arthur "Death" Ray is scheduled for early release from an Arizona prison today -- July 12, 2013. He has served a less-than-two-year sentence for the October 2009 deaths of three people in his phony-baloney "sweat lodge" in Sedona, Arizona. Those three are Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman.

That short prison sentence equals scant justice for Kirby and James S. and Liz and those who loved them, but there has been no justice at all so far for a fourth person, Colleen Conaway, who had perished under highly questionable circumstances at a San Diego James Ray event a few months previously. Thirteen days from now, on July 25, Colleen's family and friends will mark the fourth anniversary of her death, which was apparently covered up for a while by Ray and his top minions so that the event could go on and the participants could party on into the night without knowing that one of their own had died.

And while Colleen's loved ones are remembering that sad anniversary, the Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), known to some of us as the Trained Liars Council, will be holding their summer conference in some swanky resort (they never announce the location in advance on their web site; it's a seekrit, but this year's summer event runs from July 24-28). The TLC provided most of Rhonda Byrne's talking heads for The Secret, and for that and other reasons it is an integral part of the big sick machine. (James Ray was a founding member of TLC but was kicked out after the sweat-lodge debacle came to light. But hey, maybe they'll let him back in if he can show that he's still bankable after his time in the joint.)

Anyway. As you can imagine, my pal Salty Droid, who has done more than any blogger I know of to try to get justice for all of James Ray's victims, has once again expressed his wrath over what many of us see as a travesty of justice. His latest blog post connects some more dots in the picture of the big sick machine, as he explains James Arthur Ray's connection with notorious MLM Herbalife. This passage really stuck out for me.
Liz Neuman’s journey through JAR via [Herbalife] ended :: tens of thousands of dollars later … with her limp body being dragged over two dead bodies and deposited in the hot mud to die … as James Ray strolled away triumphantly and did NOTHING.

Such high costs can never be incorporated into the dry mathematical estimations of the damage being done to our societies by the likes of Herbalife :: but they are real … as real as death.

Do take the time to read that post, and follow the links to the statements made by MLM-ers defending Ray's character. It is really pretty disgusting.

James Arthur Ray prison release photo --
notice the new SNAG-gy hairdo. Is it an attempt to re-brand,
or is it just for incognito purposes till some of the heat is off?
Anyhow, it looks as if someone was able to take his Propecia even behind bars.

One small glimmer of hope is that the outrage of Ray's early release is getting at least a little bit of mainstream media attention, such as this editorial by Christine B. Whelan in USA Today. Although like a few other reporters Whelan semi-incorrectly states that the sweat lodge ceremony was a "surprise culmination" of the event (it had been part of previous Spiritual Warrior retreats, and more than likely the participants were expecting that it would be part of the 2009 event too) -- and despite the fact that she has a fondness for the selfish-help genre that I don't totally share -- her piece contains a good cautionary message. And Whelan succinctly demonstrates Ray's seeming lack of remorse over the deaths he caused.
In the weeks after the incident, an unrepentant Ray continued to hold his workshops. "I have chosen to continue with my work. It's too important not to," he wrote in an e-mail to his newsletter subscribers.
From prison, Ray has teamed up with another suspect guru to market "success" CDs. His website is currently under renovation to "offer more" to visitors as he relaunches a career that exploded with his participation in the The Secret, a 2006 film and book preaching the unscientifically proven claim that positive thinking "attracts" life-changing happiness, wealth and health.

That other "suspect guru" was Whirled-class snarget and serial scammer Kevin Trudeau, and the CD set Ray was promoting from prison (or was directing what remained of his organization promote) is Your Wish Is Your Command, the 14-disc upsell for Trudeau's big pyramid scheme, the Global Information Network (GIN). This means that more than likely Death Ray has, or at least had, a GIN downline. I wrote about this a couple of times last year, most notably in this July 2012 post and before that, at the end of this April 2012 post.

I have speculated that in addition to trying to make a few bucks off of GIN and keeping at least a couple of his filthy fingers in the selfish-help pie, Ray may have also felt an obligation to stroke Kevin True-dough, who had publicly come to his defense the year before.

Cozy, eh? It really is one big -- and sometimes deadly -- circle jerk.

I've also speculated that perhaps James Ray might end up doing more for GIN than just pushing CDs. Perhaps True-dough and gang will welcome him into the fold as a GIN speaker. They probably have a few openings for that position.

Another glimmer of hope: In the years since the Sedona deaths, Kirby Brown's family has attempted to educate the public about the self-help/motivational/pop-spirituality industry, and towards that end they have founded an organization called Seek Safely. They've even approached scads of major players in the industry, asking them to sign a simple pledge of transparency, integrity, respectfulness, and -- yes -- safety. Seek Safely is not pushing for more stringent policing of the industry, nor are they plotting for its destruction. All they want is for the gurus to agree to at least try to abide by a few simple guidelines:

THE SEEK SAFELY PROMISE 

A person’s journey to self-empowerment and personal improvement is deeply personal, emotional and often times spiritual. We/I acknowledge and support every individual’s right to a safe and constructive journey so that each person might find the personal growth and change he/she seeks.
As an organization/program we/I are committed to providing an environment and experiences that are:
1. Truthful.  Consumers will receive accurate information about the author’s, leader’s or speaker’s professional degrees, credentials and experience.
2. Accurate.  We will clearly delineate what is personal opinion, belief or speculation as opposed to information that is supported by third party scientific research.
3. Respectful. Participants will be able to freely express opinions, without fear of public humiliation, ridicule, shame or physical abuse.
4. Protective.  When people reveal deeply personal experiences, we recognize the responsibility to advise all seekers to enlist the aid of licensed professionals to provide service that may be beyond the scope of the event, seminar or retreat.
5. Integrity.  The leader will provide personal witness by living the program being taught.
6. Safe. If engaging participants in a physical activity, there will be appropriate medical support available in case of injury. The leader will have a comprehensive risk management plan to minimize any risk taken by participants and clearly explain any potential risks that are part of the event.
By agreeing to this promise we/I will adhere to the above principles and practices and will be guided in all actions by the best interests of participants.

I don't know how long ago the organization began sending out the Seek Safely Promise to the New-Wage/selfish-help/McSpirituality gurus, but the list of who hasn't responded yet is a veritable Who's Who of the industry. And this includes some of the notorious Internet Marketing gurus that Salty Droid has lambasted on his blog.

I noticed, however, that neither Kevin Trudeau nor Lenny Coldwell is on the list of those who have been approached. Boy, those would be some sticky transparency and integrity issues. I also noticed that Esther and Jerry Hicks, creators of the imaginary-friend collective "Abraham," are on the list. Good luck getting Jerry's signature, him being dead and all.

To date only three people have signed the Seek Safely Promise, and frankly, they are far from being players in the industry. Alas, their apparent integrity may doom them to eternal obscurity.

I mean no offense whatsoever to Kirby's family, but they may be on a fool's errand with that Seek Safely Promise. Most of the gurus they approached probably wouldn't know integrity if it sat on their faces.

My friend Cassandra Yorgey, who doggedly covered James Ray when the Sedona story was first breaking and for many months after that (this is just one early link), wrote on Facebook today, "Are we taking bets yet on how long before JR gets caught doing something illegal again? I give it 2 years." And my response to that was that whatever happens, it is up to those who see Ray for what he is to make sure that nobody forgets what he did to land him in prison. It's the least we can do for Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Neuman...and for Colleen, whose family has not yet had their day in court (though lawsuits are in progress, according to Salty Droid).

Meanwhile, the big sick machine hums on and on. Whether or not he ends up teaming up with Trudeau and GIN in some way (Trudeau is still facing possible jail time again, but I seriously doubt he'll end up there), James Arthur Ray will no doubt find plenty of support in the selfish-help/New-Wage/McSpirituality industry -- and as soon as he is able, he will hit the ground scamming. In fact, it could be argued that the man who invoked the Magic Law of Attraction Genie in The Secret never really stopped scamming, not even when he was wearing the orange.


* Note: Ray will remain in Phoenix, Arizona while completing his probation.

Video about the JAR release, 12 July 2013

(from KPHO, Channel 5, CBS, in Phoenix, Arizona)

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Monday, July 08, 2013

Kevin Trudeau: Gone fishing? Or something...

Click to enlarge.

Apparently the buzz about Kevin Trudeau going to Canada for a GIN Adventures fishing trip was not quite accurate, so I have updated this post accordingly.
~ CC, 12 July, 2013

Which successful, happy billionaire, recently finding himself in a bit of a legal bind, was apparently unable to post a mere $209,000 bond, and allowed his aged and unabashedly middle-class parents to put up their modest home -- a home in which they have lived for 60 years -- just so he could go to Canada for...who knows what?
 
By now many people who have been following serial scammer Kevin Trudeau's legal woes know that his parents put their Massachusetts home up late last month to secure a bond in Trudeau's ongoing criminal contempt case [case number 1:10-cr-00886, the Hon. Ronald A. Guzman presiding], which is related to his civil case with the Federal Trade Commission [case number 1:03-CV-03904, the Hon. Robert Gettleman presiding]. Trudeau had previously been ordered to surrender his US passport to the court (he has an Italian passport too, but claimed that he left it in a biometric safe in Zurich). Well, he was given his passport back so he could travel to Canada, even though he had previously been ordered to stay in the Chicago area until his cases are resolved.

But The Great White North was calling, and the courts said, "Okay, bud, you can go, but you have to put up that bond." Or something to that effect. I can't access all of the documents yet, but I did access the Forfeiture Agreement, aka document #69 on the criminal case docket.

This isn't the first time Katie had his passport snatched away, and then requested permission to go to Canada. It happened in February 2010 too, during that whole email-the-judge debacle. That time, Katie was told he could not go to Canada and he had to stay in his room. Or in the Chicago area, anyway. There was talk of throwing him in jail for thirty days for contempt for that email campaign. But that sentence was vacated, and his passport was duly returned.

So why is Kevin in Canada now, apart from the fact that the court allowed him to go? The initial buzz was that he went on another GIN Adventures fishing trip, similar to others he has led, and for which he charges participants his usual exorbitant price for the privilege of hanging with him for a few days. Others, however, said that  the GIN Adventure trips are always in August, suggesting that perhaps that was not why Katie went to Canada.But if you think I'm going to let a perfectly good snark op get away from me, you have another think coming. Anyway, here's the PDF of the GIN Report featuring his 2012 trip.

If you peruse that report you'll know that a GIN-ventures excursion isn't just any fishing trip, no-siree. This is a chance of a lifetime for a few lucky GIN brothers (there don't seem to be any GIN sisters in evidence). Said one enthusiastic sucker...um...participant named Mike B, regarding the 2012 fishing adventure:

The Initial GIN Adventure...was a huge success! While the expected benefits of great fishing, great hosts, great location, and great weather were all certainly experienced, the trip went light years beyond that. The added benefits of it being an exclusive GIN event with fantastic, supportive, lively, warm GIN hosts, and fun loving and adventurous fishermen -- proved again that there is no club like the Global Information Network! And the fact that there were no phones or computers made it possible to connect completely with all in attendance, and to be present to the wonderful experience of fishing and masterminding together. I would strongly recommend GIN adventures to each and every member. I know that I will never be the same person after attending. Experience for yourself, the staggering life experience, at one of the next GIN adventures. You'll be glad you did. I personally cannot wait to go back, and do not plan on ever missing a future GIN Adventure.

Naturally, the various contingents are fiercely divided over the matter of the bond -- that is, if the conversations on Facebook and YouTube are any indication. Most of the anti-KT folks are saying that Trudeau was heartless and crass, or at least highly irresponsible and hypocritical, for "making" his parents do this, or asking them to do it, or allowing them to do it, or whatever the case may be, particularly since he is supposed to be so well off. Admittedly, though, none of us is really privy to the Trudeau family dynamics, so we do not know all of the details.

On the other side of the fray we have Kevin's defenders, who say the home is not at risk because Kevin will certainly -- no doubt about it! -- keep his commitment to return and face the music, just like he keeps all of his commitments. And besides, they contend, the whole FTC case is unjust, and is a clear example of judicial tyranny. Some have argued that we shouldn't assume that Kevin coerced or even asked his folks to put up their home; maybe, say the KT fans, the elder Trudeaus volunteered. Maybe they insisted.

Of course these defenders overlook the fact that...pardon me for stating the painfully obvious... a successful billionaire type like Kevin shouldn't have to depend upon his presumably much less wealthy parents to bail him out. And while I'll grant that not all of the issues with the government are black-and-white or a clear-cut case of good versus evil -- with the government being good and KT being evil -- it is not a clear-cut case the other way either. Kevin isn't the good one fighting the evil government. But he doesn't let a little thing like that get in the way of his continued dramatic misrepresentation of his entire struggle -- which he has been perpetrating for years, with his followers just eating it up.

The big question, for those of us who are concerned about the well being of two sweet old people, is this: Are Mr. and Mrs. Trudeau really in danger of losing their home because of their youngest son's misdeeds? Maybe, maybe not. My pal Tim suggested a few possible scenarios:  
  • Kevin's parents, who are getting on in years, were preparing to move into a condo or perhaps even an assisted living facility anyway. If they own the home free and clear [which according to the information on the Forfeiture Agreement they absolutely do... at least on paper ~ CC], the facility will lien the house and spend the money until they reach the maximum value or the elder Trudeaus pass away. So this could be a good way to set aside money for beneficiaries.  
  • Mr and Mrs T have been benefiting from KT's scams well enough to be involved now in the bad end of it.  [I don't want to believe that, though. They look like such nice folks. ~CC]
  • KT knows the FTC is ready to give up and settle so he has no reason to run away; the millions spent on lawyers is already spent anyway.  
  • All of this was done to bolster his bankruptcy case before August 30, which is the deadline for protesting the discharge of the case. The whole point of the bankruptcy was to convince the courts that KT has no money to pay the big ($37.6 million) fine that the FTC says he owes them. Maybe it will help his case if he can convince them that he doesn't even have enough money to post a paltry $209,000 bond, having to resort instead to allowing his folks to risk their home.
  • KT really is broke again and this was his last option... but it is a pretty big deal to do this just to go fishing in Canada [or whatever he is/was doing there ~CC], so it seems unlikely.  
Of course it could be that Katie is tired of fighting and he wanted just one more fishing trip with the boys -- another op to fish with them, get drunk with them, and pick their pockets -- before surrendering to whatever the FTC and the courts have in store for him. Maybe it's sort of the equivalent of letting your folks give you some money so you can go on a really neat trip before buckling down and starting college.

(There's also the remote possibility that his parents didn't understand what they were signing, but you would think that the courts would have their legal ducks in a row on that matter.)

But Kevin seems to have a contingency plan no matter what happens. Remember, he already has big plans to write a big heroic epic book if he gets thrown in the slammer. I may have mentioned that on this post. Anyway, I'm sure that everything is perfectly fine, and that the only reason Mommy and Daddy put up their home is that Kevin accidentally left his moneys in his biometric safe in Zurich, along with his Italian passport.

It does appear that Katie's folks have been striving to protect him for decades -- or at least his mom has, assuming that the now-famous 1991 letter to a judge, begging for leniency for Kevin, was really written by Mrs. Trudeau. Some speculate that Kevin wrote the letter himself, or had his mom write it. I've shared it before, but here's that link again -- the link to Page 1, anyway, and you can follow the arrows to read the rest.

And this raises another issue about the roles that parents and other loved ones play in enabling scammers and crooks. Most of us -- me included -- have a tendency to err on the side of compassion for loved ones who may be innocent bystanders or collateral damage, and who are "guilty" themselves of nothing more than unconditional love and loyalty for the wrongdoer in their life. But sometimes you just have to ask how much this unconditional love and loyalty have contributed, however unwittingly, to that person's wrongdoing. There are several books on this subject; one that seems useful is The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout, PhD.

Katie's defenders say that at least he is taking care of his parents, pointing to something learned from the recent deposition of Kevin's former financial guy, Michael Dow. I wrote about that here (scroll down to "The Dow deposition"). One of the FTC's lawyers, Mr. Mora, asked Michael Dow questions about Kevin's lavish property in Ojai, California. In the depo, Mr. Mora asked about some of the expenses related to the California property, and Mr. Dow said they included, "The monthly mortgage, a landscaping service, care for Mr. Trudeau's parents." Mr. Mora asked if the parents resided in the California home and Mr. Dow stuttered around and said he honestly did not know.

But Kevin's parents live in Massachusetts, not California. I don't know why the "care" he was allegedly providing for his elders would be listed as an expense against the Ojai house, but I've never claimed to be a bookkeeping expert. However, as my friend Tim also observed, "The Ojai house looks like a nice way to funnel money around. If they look more closely there might be checks from KT for expenses like roofers, gardeners, etc., and some of those people might be based in Massachusetts."

After his mission in Canada is completed, will Kevin somehow manage to slip the surly bonds of US judicial oversight and disappear somewhere overseas, perhaps even somewhere beyond the reach of extradition laws? If so, one can only hope that he is the good and dutiful son that his fans would like to believe he is, and that he'll at least find a way to make sure the bond is covered so his dear old parents won't lose their home. If so, the fans will applaud him for being a hero and looking out for his folks even while fighting tyrants, and they will mourn the fact that he had to leave his beloved United States to get away from the tyranny.

Whether he flees or comes back, there will be no neat and tidy endings (where have we heard that before? Oh, that's right: here!). For one thing, unless it gets cancelled, it appears that GIN will be holding a summer conference in Zurich on July 26-28, just as the judges are deciding Katie's fate (supposedly they are due to make a decision on July 26. At least that's when the hearings are currently expected to resume, and Kevin is required to be in court for that).



If/when Katie comes back from Canada, perhaps the courts will give him his passport back later this month so he can go to Zurich. For such tyrannical types, they sure have been letting him get away with an awful lot of stuff that would have probably landed most of us under the slammer.

Update, 12 July 2013: According to this piece in the Chicago Tribune, Kevin went to Canada for a "seminar-planning" session.
The legal consequences for Trudeau appear to be building. Just last week he nearly missed a seminar-planning session in Canada because prosecutors asked Guzman to force him to turn in his passports — he has dual U.S.-Italian citizenship — and post a bond.


At the hearing, Trudeau's attorneys sought to convince Guzman that their client had significant ties to Illinois and didn't pose a risk to flee. The seminars and speeches were his only way of eking out a living, they said...


...Ultimately, Trudeau was allowed to go to Winnipeg after his parents agreed to post their longtime Massachusetts home as collateral for his $200,000-plus bond. The judge ordered that Trudeau turn over his Italian passport in spite of earlier claims that it was locked in a biometric safe in Zurich that could be opened only with his fingerprint ID. On the scheduled day of the trip, the passport suddenly turned up.

So there you have it. For now.


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Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Kevin Trudeau: Rumors, lies, and SNAG support

IMPORTANT NOTICE/UPDATE, 4 July 2013: When I'm wrong about something I feel obligated to correct it as soon as possible, and I was wrong about one point regarding the recent court happenings with Kevin Trudeau. It turns out that one of the rumors Lenny Coldwell was spreading -- regarding the terms of a secured bond set in Trudeau's criminal case -- was not a rumor but was true. I was unable until today to retrieve a document stating that Kevin's parents put their Massachusetts home up to secure the bond. So I will make corrections in the text below to reflect this point. Corrections will be in this pretty red color.
 
As many of y'all may know, serial scammer Kevin Trudeau spent some time in court last week (and part of this week) for hearings on both his civil and criminal cases. Despite the crowing of his loudest detractors, who salivate over the prospect of Kevin being stuck in a tiny cell with some imaginary jailhouse rapist named Bubba, KT remains un-jailed. Reportedly there will be some actual judge-ly decisions made by the end of this month... but then, we've heard that before.

But there's a little bit of news anyway. For instance, while conferring with my seekrit pal PACER.gov for information about the most recent goings-on in court, I was made privy to an interesting little tidbit about Trudeau's April 2013 bankruptcy. Seems that this bankruptcy case has already been terminated -- as of June 3, 2013 -- due to failure to file required documents. I hadn't heard anything about this on the forums of those who are supposedly keeping the rest of the waiting world informed about Trudeau's cases, so it was news to me that the bankruptcy action was discharged a month ago.

The deadline for objecting to the discharge is August 30, 2013. Knowing the way Kevin and his legal team roll, this could be just another delay tactic, one of hundreds they've employed over the years that this case has dragged on. As a friend of mine observed, "This gives them until August to delay and maybe make a deal, and failing that they protest and refile and delay another 4 months. This is making 20 lawyers very rich."

I think that sounds about right.

Meanwhile, Loony Lenny Coldwell, former b.f.f./business partner/faux-physician for Trudeau, and now KT's daftest detractor, has been spreading rumors [okay, not just rumors ~CC] on Facebook about the latest court happenings. Earlier this week, Loony stated that Kevin's aged parents were willing to put their home on the line for their youngest boy. Or, as Loony put it:

Abe here is what happened: His Parents had to put up their house as bond for Trudeau. The judges (both) told him that he has to hand over his US and Italian Passport asap and that he will not get the passports back. The final ruling is set for the 26th of July.

Trudeau had to put up a secured bond of $209,000. [If you have read this far, you already know that I later found out that his parents had indeed put their Massachusetts home up for the bond.] He also temporarily got his US passport back so that he could go to Canada. Reportedly he's going there for a fishing trip with his buddies, but I don't know if that's true, and if so, I don't know if it's just a private trip with him and the Morters and a few others, or if it's the one where he charges a bunch of people several thousand dollars for the privilege of accompanying him. Here are pics from a previous fishing trip in 2011.

Anyway. Loony's followers were properly outraged about the prospect of the elder Trudeaus possibly losing their home if their little Katie flew the coop. I would have suggested caution before outrage, and would have advised that the outraged ones do a little research before flying off the handle, but I have been blocked from the forums where this was discussed, because both Loony and Abe are afraid of me for some reason.

Kevin's brother Bob, who is very protective of his folks, was particularly upset by Loony's "news."
Click to enlarge.

I thought my caution was well founded when I found out that Bob had spoken to his parents, and they told him the rumor was not true. Privately Bob has told me that he thinks even Kevin wouldn't deliberately do anything to hurt his folks. He said that Kevin doesn't own the house and couldn't put it up without their consent, but he knows that Kevin wouldn't do that to their dad anyway, even if he could. At any rate, Bob tried to set things straight on Loony's page.


Unfortunately, this is one time Lenny was right. And when I say "unfortunately," I don't mean it's unfortunate that Lenny was right about something. Even someone like Lenny can't be wrong about everything. And I don't have a problem admitting when I'm wrong about something, even if it means Lenny was right. I just mean that it is unfortunate that the elder Trudeaus' well being is contingent upon their younger son's doing the right thing.

While I was on PACER.gov I found a document that was filed on July 1, regarding Kevin Trudeau's criminal contempt case with Judge Ronald Guzman [case number 1:10-cr-00886]. This document told me most of what I needed to know: that Trudeau's previous plea of not guilty has been accepted by the court, and that, as I noted above, a secured bond was set in the amount of $209,000. Trudeau was given his US passport, which he had previously surrendered, for travel to Canada. (As noted on a previous post, he claims he left his Italian passport in a biometric safe in Zurich, so he couldn't surrender it to the court.) He has to surrender the US passport again upon his return to the US -- if he returns, that is. And given the bit about his parents' home... we have to hope that he does return.



I also downloaded the docket for this criminal case, and saw that several other documents were also filed on July 1. But when I tried to view them PACER indignantly told me that I do not have permission to do so. The docs PACER coyly mentioned but refused to let me see were listed on the docket as "Pre-trial Bail Report," "Bond," and "Order setting conditions of release." In other words, the deets of the bond are hidden from public view for now, or at least they were as of July 2. Note: Document Number 69 -- the Forfeiture Agreement (regarding Kevin's parents' home) -- was not even listed then, but is now, and is now available for viewing. When I checked, however, the other three documents were still not publicly viewable. Here is page 1 of the docket as I saw it when I first wrote this post:


I looked for the latest documents on the civil case too [1:03-CV-03904 with Judge Robert Gettleman], and retrieved a 27-page document that had also been filed on July 1. The document contains the June 25 opinion of one Mary O'Connor, ASA. Ms. O'Connor was engaged by Trudeau's law firm to provide expert witness testimony related to the question of whether Trudeau's various companies contain sufficient assets to pay the $37.6 million FTC fine. There are pages of figures, including a balance sheet for all of KT's companies as of June 24, 2013. As Ms. O'Connor explained, however, it is only relevant to the companies and not to Kevin's and/or his wife Natalie's personal assets. She wrote, "...we were not provided with information regarding the personal ability of the Trudeaus to pay this amount and therefore, we have no opinion related to the probability that this receivable could be collected."

There really isn't a whole lot of new information in the document, as much of Ms. O'Connor's report was based upon testimony and data previously supplied by Michael Dow, the former financial guy for Natural Cures and some of True-dough's other companies. I wrote about that depo on this post (scroll down to "The Dow deposition"). At any rate, the main point of Ms. O'Connor's report and the attached documentation seems to be to demonstrate that the FTC is not going to be able to get the moneys for that big fine from KT's companies.

In related news, self-described GIN destroyer (and Coldwell protege) Abe Husein posted a video yesterday. He says he is taking a break for now from the constant updates about GIN and KT, due to the fact that his mission to bring GIN to its knees is accomplished, according to him. I think we've heard that "Mission Accomplished" thing before...

But I digress. Abe opened the video with that dramatic tale of Kevin putting his parents' home at risk in order to get his passport. He made a big deal about how inconsiderate and heartless Kevin is. (By the way, he has since announced that he is going to be doing more media interviews and that he is going to expose some of the other scammers in GIN. So... maybe mission not-so-much accomplished after all.)

* * * * *

So that's pretty much the latest on the KT court cases (are you getting bored with them yet?). But before I go, I want to share some comic relief in the form of a couple of impassioned blog posts defending Kevin Trudeau. These are noteworthy in that they provide yet more evidence that Kevin has clearly captured the SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy/Gal) market, as well as the more secular selfish-help/hustledork wannabe market. Today's featured SNAG True-doughnut is named Etienne Charlatan... I mean, Etienne Charland... and he has a web site and blog called Spiritual Self Transformation.

Etienne, a native of Quebec, is a New-Wage dilettante, a self-described "Emotional Architect" who offers all sorts of services, including something called "Force of Life training." He seems to be obsessed with certain themes, most notably, sexual polarity. He has kind of a gay cowboy vibe going on too, not that there's anything wrong with that. And his professional dilettante creds are truly impressive:
  • Member of the Enlightened Entrepreneur Club
  • Master Alchemist
  • CEO Space Graduate
  • Reiki Master
  • Computer Science Diploma
Etienne, as I indicated above, is quite the defender of KT. At the time he first published this post about Katie's legal woes, he thought that his hero had actually been thrown in jail. Apparently Etienne had misread the headlines that merely indicated that the Feds want to throw Kevin in jail. Later Etienne corrected part of the post but not all of it, a few sentences read as if KT really is behind bars.

After writing that first post, Etienne apparently did a little more ruminating on KT's troubles, and managed to mostly convince himself that Trudeau is really A-Okay and a truly enlightened soul, as indicated in a follow-up post. He does acknowledge that there have been complaints about Trudeau's bidness practices, but apparently talked himself out of believing that those gripes were valid.
Then, there are a bunch of complaints about credit card overcharges and problems with refunds from those purchasing from his TV advertisements. Unless these are all made up to damage his reputation (which would be unlikely, unless someone can show me evidence of it?), that’s definitely not acceptable.

Edit: As Paul pointed out in his comment, it’s too easy to buy online public opinion. For $300 a month, you can get someone to work full-time in writing reviews and complaints.
Uh-huh. I am sure that every complaint and criticism about True-dough has been bought and paid for by the "They" who "don't want you to know" the truth about anything. I'm sure all of the hundreds of consumer complaints, and all of the scathing reviews of Trudeau's books on Amazon, and all of those critical blogs, are bought and paid for by Katie's enemies. Etienne, dude, you are beginning to sound a little bit like Loony Coldwell.

Etienne concludes his blog post with a rundown on the "polarity readings" of Kevin Trudeau, as well as "readings" of such New-Wage huckster notables as Secret stars Bob Proctor and John Assaraf. Scientist Bob has been a fairly frequent snarget on this Whirled (and I know some icky things about his "polarities" that I am not yet at liberty to write about), and I have even mentioned John Asshataraf a few times as well. On this post, for instance.

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And so it goes. Rain may be falling on GIN and KT, but the sky has not yet fallen and may not fall. Kevin Trudeau still has plenty of friends and fans, and they don't show any signs of giving up on him. GIN may end, but Katie will go on. The faux-hero prognosticators, who claim to be fighting on behalf of those who feel they've been screwed by KT, have been proven incorrect time and time and time again. They long for that neat and tidy ending that, as I've said so many times before, will probably never come. But shhh! Don't tell Loony and his pals. It will be our little secret.


More True-dough on this Whirled:
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