I
have encountered lots of scams that have gone through our ranks
over the last few decades, damaging greatly the people on our
side. Because this has been and still is a very serious problem,
I wish to note some of these scams here so that others may learn
what has happened and protect themselves. The specific parties
and programs are discussed below. Clearly, a number of
these scammers suffer from the Dunning–Kruger
effect, which is "a cognitive bias in which people
mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it
is."
Ken
Hunter: Back in the late '90s, Ken Hunter appeared on the
scene selling a tax program that was nothing but a method for
him to defraud the innocents who fell for his scam. Eventually,
he was indicted for mail fraud and for a while faked his own
death to avoid arrest.
Richard
and Bridget Jones: A client drug me to a meeting with
Bridget where she presented her program. For several thousand
dollars, you could get on her list to receive millions from a
rich Saudi who wanted to fund people wishing to restore America.
She and her husband were later indicted and convicted of running
a different scam.
Phil Marsh:
In about 1991, Marsh created the Pilot Connection Society which
sold a tax "exit" program for $1500. That program
consisted mostly of worthless arguments that not only got fellow
promoters of his program in trouble, but it also did for
him.
Lorentz
Opdahl, Bob Moussallem and alleged bribes: Moussallem, a
guru, thought he had a crooked IRS agent who would take bribes
to settle cases, and he went into the business of settling tax
cases. My client, Opdahl, was deceived into this program that
got him indicted. It took a trial and appeal to clean up this
mess, and Opdahl lost at least 169,000 bux to Moussallem.
Al
Carter and the "railroad bonds": Al Carter bought old,
worthless railroad bonds from antique and junk shops, and then
started promoting their sale because of their "immense
value".
Elton
Silkman lost the farm: Farmer Elton sold his entire
farming operation shortly before the IRS attempted to collect
taxes allegedly assessed against him. More than a million in
proceeds were deposited into trust accounts, which were then
transferred to banks accounts in Europe, and then "lost." And
Elton got indicted.
Roger
Elvick: While in jail, Roger developed the "redemption
process" that ultimately got lots of people in trouble.
David
Wynn Miller: Miller, a "judge" just like fake judge Anna
Von Reitz, invented a new, present tense "language", and then
convinced the gullible to use such in court. Nobody can
understand his language.
Joe
Flickinger: Joe scammed his clients to buy cars and toys
for himself and his girlfriend, but then got scammed himself.
National
Trust Services: Roy Fritts and Rick Prescott operated this
company that provided trust services. However, both were common
scammers, as explained here
and here.
John Wayne
Zidar: A Ponzi scheme operator made populist appeals to his
investors, lost millions and got indicted, convicted and
sentenced.
Leroy
Schwietzer: A Montana Freeman, who claimed to be other
than crazy.
Jeffrey
Thayer and Corporations Sole: In the late '90s and early
part of this century, there were many corporation sole
promoters, all of whom got their ideas from Thayer, who
pretended to be other than a crook.
Shawn
Rice: Rice was a prominent "guru" promoting and selling
lots of popular ideas, until he got into trouble.
Fake
Judge Anna: This woman appeared on the scene
several years ago, pretending to be a judge who could issue orders
to anybody and everybody. Some of her arguments published on
various places on the Net are analyzed here. She simply invents
historical facts and legal arguments.
Austin Gary Cooper: Cooper operated Take Back America selling typical guru arguments. He has recently been convicted for filing fake liens and sentenced to serve 25 years.
One
People's Public Trust: A few years ago, Heather Ann
Tucci-Jarraf created this "trust" that then filed "UCC liens"
against perhaps all governments in the world, and many banks and
large corporations. Allegedly, she thereafter foreclosed on the
liens, consequently freeing the entire world.
Tony
Davis: This scammer ripped-off his victims through his
"advance fee" loan broker business, for which he was convicted and
spent 5 years in jail. When he got out of jail, he went into
a new business: scamming desperate victims wanting a legal
argument to get out of jail.
Winston
Shrout: Shrout was a devotee of Roger Elvick and started
promoting the filing of 1099 OID tax returns. "Dr. Sam
Kennedy" (Dr. Glen Unger) thought this was a great idea and
convinced hundreds of people to follow Shrout's program. Shrout
was indicted, convicted at trial and sentenced to 10 years.
See Tim
Turner, President of TRAP.
"Snoop 4 Truth" has investigated and written
about other scammers here: Carl
Miller, Rod
Class, Deborah
Tavares, and Eddie
Craig.