RECOMMENDED READING: Anti-Defamation League Outlines Activities Of ‘Sovereign Citizen Groups’; Report Notes Instances Of ‘Bogus Liens’ Filed Against Public Officials, Including Former President Bill Clinton

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’ve been following the odd developments and conspiracy theories associated with the AdSurfDaily and Gold Quest International cases, we recommend you read this August 2010 report (see link below) by the Anti-Defamation League. The report notes various threats made against law enforcement, along with frauds and scams linked to the so called “Sovereign Citizen Movement.”

Both ASD and GQI are known to have so-called “sovereigns” among their membership ranks. Bizarre court pleadings have surfaced in both cases.

The ADL report specifically references Michael Howard Reed, shown in records to have been a harassing presence in the GQI Ponzi case brought by the SEC in May 2008. On Friday, federal prosecutors filed a forfeiture complaint that alleged ASD had a tie to E-Bullion, a shuttered digital-currency business. Other records show E-Bullion also had a tie to GQI.

Friday’s filing marked the first time that E-Bullion’s name had surfaced in the ASD case. The reference is important because E-Bullion now has been linked to multiple alleged fraud schemes. E-Bullion founder James Fayed was charged in California in 2008 with operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He also was charged with murdering his estranged wife, who sought to cooperate with prosecutors in the E-Bullion investigation.

Among the calling cards of the sovereign movement are bizarre court pleadings and vexatious litigation described as “paper terrorism.” The so-called sovereigns have sought to derail investigations and hamstring investigators and public officials by making them parties to lawsuits or subjecting them to threats of litigation or the filing of bogus liens against personal property, ADL reports.

Bogus liens filed against public servants in the performance of their duties is a “major problem,” ADL says.

One such lien even was filed against former President Bill Clinton, ADL reports.

“Many sovereign citizens have engaged in a variety of scams and frauds, some of them raking in millions of dollars, while countless more sovereign citizens have engaged in acts of harassment, retaliation, and intimidation against public officials, law enforcement officers, and private citizens,” ADL says.

“As it evolved, the sovereign citizen movement developed an ideology centered on a massive conspiracy theory,” ADL says. “Though different sovereign theorists all have their own varying versions of this conspiracy, including exactly when it started and how it manifested itself, the theories all share the belief that many years ago an insidious conspiracy infiltrated the U.S. government and subverted it, slowly replacing parts of the original, legitimate government (often referred to by sovereigns as the ‘de jure’ government) with an illegitimate, tyrannical government (the ‘de facto’ government).

“As a result, sovereign citizens believe that today there are really two governments: the ‘illegitimate’ government that everyone else thinks is genuine and the original government that existed before the conspiracy allegedly infiltrated it.”

Read the ADL report.

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One Response to “RECOMMENDED READING: Anti-Defamation League Outlines Activities Of ‘Sovereign Citizen Groups’; Report Notes Instances Of ‘Bogus Liens’ Filed Against Public Officials, Including Former President Bill Clinton”

  1. Quick note:

    A reader pointed us to this case in Florida:

    http://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/florida/flmdce/6:2010cv00668/244497/8/0.pdf

    Here are the words of the judge:

    This matter comes before the Court on the Motion to Strike Documents (Doc. 2) filed by the Defendant, Huntington National Bank (“Huntington”). Huntington seeks to have the Court strike various documents, titled “Registration of Foreign Judgment” (Doc. 1), which were filed by
    the Plaintiff, Nonnie Chrystal (“Chrystal”).

    Chrystal has not filed a response to the motion, but she has filed two “Notices” (Doc. 5, 7) in which she asserts, inter alia, that this Court lacks the authority to dismiss or alter her claim(s) without her consent.

    She is incorrect.

    Based on her papers, Chrystal – who identifies herself as “Ambassador nonnie: chrystal” of “satellite beach, Florida, Republic; near [32937]” – has fallen in with the Sovereign Citizen/Tax Protestor movement.

    In common with other so-called sovereign citizens, she appears to believe
    that ours is a legal system, not of statutes and precedent, but of sorcery, with parties prevailing as a result of their incantation of out-of-context passages from Black’s Legal Dictionary.

    The documents that are the subject of this motion are a pile of legalistic gibberish by which Chrystal seeks, so far as the Court can discern, to recover approximately $2 trillion from Huntington pursuant to admiralty law, the Uniform Commercial Code, and “Convention de La Haye du 5 October 1961,” among many other purported authorities.

    Included are “Notices of Claim of Maritime Lien” naming various human beings as the “vessels” on which liens are sought.

    The underlying legal theory appears to be that if Party A sends a letter demanding trillions of dollars from Party B, and Party B fails to respond with the proper magic phrase then – *POOF* – Party B owes Party A trillions of dollars. To paraphrase Wolfgang Pauli, Chrystal’s outlandish contentions are so far from correct that they’re not even wrong.

    According to Huntington, Chrystal filed the documents in a state court suit regarding Chrystal’s financing of a vehicle through Huntington. After the state court judge ordered the documents stricken, Chrystal filed them in this forum. Needless to say, these documents – none of which qualifies as a “judgment,” foreign or otherwise – are no more proper in this forum than in
    state court.

    Accordingly, it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion to Strike Documents (Doc. 2) is GRANTED, and the Clerk is DIRECTED to strike the documents (Doc. 1) from the public record. Any further attempts to “register” these or similar documents will result in the imposition of sanctions. And it is further
    ORDERED that this case is DISMISSED. The Clerk is directed to close the file. DONE and ORDERED in Chambers, Orlando, Florida on May 17, 2010.

    NOTE: The person who sent us the note also pointed our attention to this Blog:

    http://volokh.com/2010/08/14/historical-ignorance-on-the-right/

    Patrick