PatrickPretty.com

Month: February 2013

  • 2 Days After Judge Cites Specific Web Domain And Declares Kenneth Wayne Leaming Filing ‘Undecipherable,’ PP Blog Receives Would-Be Comment With Link To Page That References Same Domain And Case Against Different Purported ‘Sovereign’

    ponziblotterOn Feb. 13, the PP Blog reported that a federal judge who was quoting from a pleading by AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming had referenced a domain styled peoplestrust1776.org.

    U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton declared Leaming’s filing, which apparently cited the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), “undecipherable.” The judge exempted prosecutors from responding to a series of recent bizarre pleadings from Leaming, who is jailed near Seattle on charges of filing false liens against public officials in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi case. Leaming, 57, also is accused of other crimes.

    Like other purported “sovereigns,” the judge observed, Leaming is “fascinated” by capital letters.

    Some “sovereign citizens” appear to believe that pleadings that include capital letters or make UCC claims provide defenses or remedies for everything from murder charges to charges of targeting public officials in harassment campaigns.

    Less than two days after the PP Blog published its most recent story about Leaming’s strange defense efforts in the Western District of Washington, the Blog received a would-be comment it is treating as spam because it purported to be in response to a reader who left a comment on the PP Blog nearly two years ago on a different subject. Received at 2:55 a.m. ET today, the unpublished, would-be comment included a link to a post on a Blog whose URL was formed in part with the words “the-full-details-of-kidnapping-of.”

    One had to visit the site to determine who allegedly was kidnapped.

    The PP Blog visited the link and found a post about Patrick Cody Morgan, a purported Texas “sovereign” who was convicted last year of conspiracy and nine counts of bank fraud in a real-estate swindle involving repeated bids to scam residential mortgage lenders and FDIC-insured banks between 2004 and 2007. The scam involved “trust accounts” and “straw buyers,” prosecutors said. The PP Blog wrote about the Morgan convictions on Nov. 2, 2012. No readers left comments in the thread below the story.

    In any event, the would-be commentator apparently wants to generate discussion about the Morgan case and to enlist support for Morgan. Notably, the spammed link received by the PP Blog includes references to the same peoplestrust1776.org domain Leaming cited in an apparent defense bid in his criminal case.

    Content on the site whose post link was spammed to the PP Blog overnight appears to be designed to paint government officials or agencies involved in the Morgan case as “the Accused.” Apparently among the purported “Accused” are U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. District Judge Lynn N. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas and others. The site also published florid legalese attributed to Morgan that, like Leaming’s prose, made liberal use of capital letters.

    Legalese attributed to Morgan asserts he is “Patrick-Cody: Family of Morgan”; Leaming’s legalese asserts he is “Kenneth Wayne, born free to the family Leaming.”

    Some “sovereigns” appear to believe that using exceptionally formal prose, capital letters and/or specific forms of punctuation in court filings somehow provide for a winning defense.

    Leighton characterized Leaming’s prose as “gobbledygook.”

    Morgan — in his apparent defense — appears to claim he was the victim of criminals working for the government. Leaming has made similar arguments in Washington state.

    Precisely what role, if any, peoplestrust1776.org is playing in the Morgan and Leaming cases is unclear.

     

  • Some ‘ProfitClicking’ Members Who Scheduled Sea Cruise May Have Gotten Lucky Break — Sort Of

    ProfitClicking has had trouble since it evolved from the carcass of JSSTripler/JustBeeenPaid last year.
    ProfitClicking has had trouble since it evolved from the carcass of JSSTripler/JustBeeenPaid last year.

    Back in June 2012 — when the “program” later to become “ProfitClicking” still was known as JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid — a member told JSS/JBP operator Frederick Mann that she was arranging a sea cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines “out of Galveston, Texas” during the last week of January and the first week of February of this year.

    It would not have been the first time members of a Ponzi scheme got together on a ship at sea to talk up a “program.” Members of the AdViewGlobal autosurf, which federal prosecutors later linked to the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, reportedly advanced the AVG scam on the high seas in 2009.

    Whether the JSS/JBP sea cruise ever came off is unknown. What is known is that the Carnival Triumph, whose home port is Galveston, has caused an epic PR disaster for the famous cruise line. The ship experienced an engine-room fire on Sunday, after departing Galveston Feb. 7, the company said.

    A passenger on a recent cruise aboard the Triumph told CBS News that the ship had trouble on Jan. 28 as it was preparing to leave Galveston.

    If JSS/JBP-related trip announced last year went ahead as planned, some JSS/JBP (now ProfitClicking) members could have been on the ship during the trip immediately prior to the disastrous cruise. Or if the trip was delayed by a week, they could have been aboard when the engine room caught fire.

    Just how disastrous was the trip?

    Well, no one was killed. Even so, passengers described the excursion as a venture into hell on the high seas. The fire crippled the ship at sea. A CBS reporter described the vessel as “the makings of a floating biohazard” because the Triumph’s toilets and waste systems were not working.

    Fox News, meanwhile, cited reports of “vile conditions onboard” and used the phrase “shanty town.” Passengers were forced to live on the deck because of filthy conditions inside the ship.

    With the aid of tug boats, the crippled Triumph arrived in Mobile, Ala., late last night.

    The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board have launched probes.

    Even if JSS/JBP/ProfitClicking members weren’t on board, there are reports of ongoing, major problems with their “opportunity,” which purported to pay 2 percent a day.

    If they were on board, they got the double-whammy.

     

  • In Report On ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Movement, North Carolina TV Station Revisits Strange Case Of Jennifer Melisa Herring

    Jennifer Herring. Source: Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.
    Jennifer Herring. Source: Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office.

    WWAYTV3 of Wilmington, N.C., aired a report on “sovereign citizens” during its 6 p.m. newscast today. The station revisited some of the strange circumstances surrounding Jennifer Melisa Herring, who was arrested in December 2012 by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office after an alleged 15-minute car chase.

    After the PP Blog reported on Herring’s arrest, it received a bizarre communication suggesting the Blog would owe Herring $500,000 for each instance her name was used in a story.

    Tonight’s WWAYTV report was not exclusively about Herring.

  • JUDGE: ‘All The Fancy Legal-Sounding Things’ ASD Figure Kenneth Wayne Leaming ‘Has Read On The Internet Are Make-Believe’

    “The Court therefore feels some measure of responsibility to inform [Kenneth Wayne Leaming] that all the fancy legal-sounding things he has read on the internet are make-believe. Defendant can call himself a ‘public minister’ and ‘private attorney general,’ he may file ‘mandatory judicial notices’ citing all his favorite websites, he can even address mail to the ‘Washington Republic.’ But at the end of the day, while sovereign citizens and Defendant cite things like ‘Universal Law Ordinances,’ they are subject to both state and federal laws, just like everyone else.” —  U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton, Feb. 12, 2013

    Kenneth Wayne Leaming
    Kenneth Wayne Leaming

    A federal judge in the Western District of Washington has issued an order exempting prosecutors from responding to wild assertions made by AdSurfDaily figure and purported “sovereign citizen” Kenneth Wayne Leaming.

    Like other purported “sovereigns,” Leaming is “fascinated by capitalization,” Judge Ronald B. Leighton said in the Feb. 12 order.

    In a recent filing, the judge said, Leaming used the word “REGISTRY” in all uppercase in a pleading that was “undecipherable.” On at least five occasions during the course of the case, Leaming has filed documents that used the phrase “Mandatory Judicial Notice,” including one in which Leaming asserts he “relies in good faith on the public/commercial REGISTRY entries as published at
    www.peoplestrust1776.org, inclusive of Universal Law Ordinance, UCC #2012096074 . . . .” the judge said.

    “For lack of a better term, this is gobbledygook,” the judge said.

    Leaming also recently argued that “the REGISTERED FACTS appearing in the above Paragraph evidence the uncontroverted and uncontrovertible FACTS that the SLAVERY SYSTEMS operated in the names UNITED STATES, United States, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and United States of America . . . are terminated nunc pro tunc by public policy, U.C.C. 1-103 . . . .,” according to the judge.

    “He appears to believe that by capitalizing ‘United States,’ he is referring to a different entity than the federal government,” the judge said. “For better or for worse, it’s the same country.”

    And Leighton quoted again from Leaming’s filings:

    “COMES NOW, Kenneth Wayne, born free to the family Leaming, 20 December 1955, constituent to The People of the State of Washington constituted 1878 and admitted to the union 22 February 1889 by Act of Congress, a Man, ‘State of Body’ competent to be a witness and having First Hand Knowledge of The FACTS . . . .”

    Purported sovereign citizens, “like Mr. Leaming, love grandiose legalese,” the judge said, ordering that “no response is required by the Government.”

    Leaming, 57, is detained near Seattle on charges of filing false liens against government officials involved in the ASD Ponzi case. He also is accused of other crimes, including harboring fugitives, assisting others in the filing of false liens, being a felon in possession of firearms and attempting to pass a bogus “Bonded Promissory Note” for $1 million. He was arrested in November 2011 by an FBI Terrorism Task Force.

    “Sovereigns” have been known to engage in what has been described as “paper terrorism” to try to hamstring law enforcement. Some “sovereigns” have been linked to various forms of securities fraud and tax fraud.

    On Sept. 5, 2012, the PP Blog reported that an “opportunity” known as “Wealth Creation Alliance” was using a strange mix of capital letters in its communications with prospects. Whether WCA has any “sovereign” ties is unknown.

    In September, a judge in Canada deconstructed some bizarre arguments from “sovereigns” and others.

     

  • In Explosive New Allegations, Receiver Says Jeremy Johnson Associate Opened New Bank Account In November 2012 And That Firm Owned By Johnson’s Parents Wired $500,000 Into It — And That Almost All Of The Money Was Removed By Associate On Same Day In Cash

    From Feb. 6, 2013, filing by the receiver in the Jeremy Johnson/IWorks fraud case. (Redaction by PP Blog.)
    From Feb. 6, 2013, filing by the receiver in the Jeremy Johnson/IWorks fraud case. (Redaction by PP Blog.)

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Utah has been abuzz since the Salt Lake Tribune reported on Jan. 11 that a plea deal between Jeremy Johnson and the government had unraveled when prosecutors balked “at placing a list of people into the record that Johnson said prosecutors had promised not to indict if he entered a guilty plea.”

    “Included on that list were Johnson family members, business associates, friends — and Utah Attorney General John Swallow,” the newspaper reported. Johnson planted the seed that Swallow had been involved in a bribery scheme to make FTC civil allegations of fraud against Johnson go away in 2010. Swallow denied the allegations.

    Johnson has been engaged in a long-running media campaign to discredit the government. Among other things, he has claimed he had no money to mount a defense to the FTC charges brought in December 2010. But in an update to the court a year ago this month, the receiver in the FTC case raised allegations that some of Johnson’s family members and friends were helping him hide money through scores of business entities.

    Now, receiver Robb Evans has filed a new document (Feb. 6, 2013) that alleges a company owned by Johnson’s parents wired $500,000 to a new bank account opened by a Johnson business associate referenced in last year’s receivership report 10 months after the report was filed. The suspicious transactions involving Kerry and Barbara Johnson and Jason Vowell allegedly occurred in December 2012.

    Although the receiver’s Feb. 6 filing does not reference Johnson’s collapsed plea deal last month, it may lead to questions about the credibility of Johnson, his parents and certain of his business associates. Vowell, for example, is alleged to have withdrawn in cash nearly all of the money supplied by the firm owned by Johnson’s parents just a little more than a month before Johnson’s plea deal collapsed, reportedly in part because prosecutors refused to commit to not charging his parents and others.

    ** _______________________________ **

    The court-appointed receiver in the Jeremy Johnson/IWorks fraud case has advised a federal judge that KV Electric Inc., a company owned by Johnson’s parents, wired $500,000 on Dec. 6 into an account opened Nov. 28 through Johnson business associate Jason Vowell.

    In court filings, receiver Robb Evans said that bank records suggest Vowell removed $499,500 from the account on the same day the wire deposit was made. The withdrawal appears to have been made in cash. An evidence exhibit shows what appears to be a counter check drawn on The Village Bank. The check was filled out in longhand, with Vowell’s name in the “Pay to the order of” line. The words “Living Expenses” are written on the memo line of the check, and the name of Taggart Management LLC is written in longhand at the top of the check.

    Taggart Management, through Vowell, opened the account only days earlier with a deposit of $100, according to the receiver. On Dec. 6, $500,000 flowed into the account via wire from KV Electric, which is owned Johnson’s parents, Kerry and Barbara Johnson, according to the receiver.

    “The transfer of $500,000 to Taggart for the immediate withdrawal of $499,500 in cash by Jason Vowell has no discernible business purpose and is highly suspect under the circumstances,” the receiver said, noting that Taggart is part of the receivership’s investigation into Jeremy Johnson’s business affairs and that Kerry and Barbara Johnson are defendants in a receivership lawsuit to recover ill-gotten gains from their son’s alleged scam.

    Various suspicious transactions involving large sums of money and the Johnson family and other entities have occurred since the FTC sued Jeremy Johnson for fraud in December 2010, alleging a massive Internet-based scam that gathered hundreds of millions of dollars, the receiver alleged.

    On Jan. 3, 2013, the receivership issued a subpoena to The Village Bank, which provided records of the alleged Vowell/Taggart and KV Electric transactions during the previous month, according to court filings. In November, the receivership issued a subpoena to Chartway Federal Credit Union as part of a forensic investigation into the banking activities of Johnson’s parents and others individuals and entities involved with Johnson. Chartway provided sought-after information on Johnson’s parents on Dec. 4.

    On Feb. 8, U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du authorized Evans in an order to continue the asset investigation of Johnson’s parents.

    Read Feb. 6, 2013, filing, including exhibits, by the receiver.

     

  • Legisi HYIP Pitchman Matthew John Gagnon Pleads Guilty, Admits He Didn’t Disclose ‘Touting’ Compensation Of More Than $1 Million And Caused More Than $7 Million In Losses

    Matthew John Gagnon
    Matthew John Gagnon

    Legisi HYIP Ponzi-scheme pitchman Matthew John Gagnon has pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Michigan to a criminal charge of not disclosing he’d been paid more than $1 million by Legisi and its operator Gregory N. McKnight to tout the “program” online.

    In a plea agreement now public after being fashioned in October and November, Gagnon admitted he’d caused more than $7 million in losses to more than 50 Legisi investors. Legisi gathered about $72 million and collapsed in 2008, according to court filings.

    Legisi was promoted on Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup. Gagnon, who was accused of willful blindness and potentially faces up to five years in federal prison when sentenced in May, pitched the “program” through Mazu.com. The MoneyMakerGroup forum is specifically referenced in an evidence exhibit in the Legisi case.

    In the agreement, Gagnon admitted he touted Legisi as a “winner” and “not a scam.” On any given day, any number of hucksters make the same claims about any number of “programs” on the Ponzi boards. Willful blindness — in no small measure — drives the scams.

    Legisi’s Terms of Service sought to make members affirm they were not an “informant, nor associated with any informant” of the IRS, FBI, CIA and the SEC, among other agencies, according to documents filed in federal court. McKnight, like Gagnon, faces sentencing in May. Prosecutors have sought a 15-year term for McKnight.

    Both McKnight and Gagnon also face millions of dollars in civil judgments that flowed from a case brought by the SEC in 2008. The U.S. Secret Service and state authorities in Michigan also investigated Legisi.

    Prosecutors recommended a three-level sentencing reduction for Gagnon, noting he has accepted responsibility for his role in the scam and has assisted authorities.

    U.S. District District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith is scheduled to sentence Gagnon on May 7.

    Zeek Rewards, an alleged $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid fraud, also was touted on the MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold forums. The SEC brought the Zeek case in August 2012.

  • NORTH CAROLINA: Jonathan Davey, Figure In Infamous ‘Black Diamond’ And ‘Divine Circulation Services’ Ponzi And Fraud Caper, Convicted On All Counts; Jury Returned Verdicts In 45 Minutes

    breakingnews72UPDATED 7:08 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Jonathan D. Davey, a Newark, Ohio, certified public accountant and purported hedge-fund manager, has been convicted of all four counts against him in the “Black Diamond” and “Divine Circulation Services” Ponzi and fraud schemes in the Western District of North Carolina.

    A federal jury, according to prosecutors, took only 45 minutes to return four guilty verdicts against Davey, 48. Ten defendants previously were convicted for their roles in the fraud, and CommunityOne Bank was charged criminally. Davey, who was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money-laundering and tax evasion, potentially faces decades in federal prison.

    Davey was charged last year.

    In a statement, prosecutors said Davey “used an elaborate network of shell companies to evade taxes and commit money laundering with the proceeds of the Ponzi scheme. In particular, Davey used an offshore shell company in Belize to funnel money to build a mansion in Ohio, creating a sham ‘loan’ by pretending that investors had ‘loaned’ investment money to the Belizean shell company that was then used to build Davey’s personal mansion.

    Black Diamond principal Keith F. Simmons was sentenced in 2012 to 50 years in prison.

    See statement by the office of U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins.

  • BULLETIN: CFTC Alleges Robert Stanley Harrison Of Easley, S.C., Was Presiding Over Fraud Scheme That Guaranteed ‘100 Percent Profits’ In 90 Days Through Investors Choice Advisors LLC Commodity Pool; Federal Judge Freezes Assets

    XXX
    The case against Robert Stanley Harrison appears to have one of the signatures of an investment-fraud scheme: a website asking for “patience” owing to purported “improvements” in progress. The site also claims that God “wants you to be so blessed . . . so keep standing, keep hoping and keep declaring His Word . . .”

    BULLETIN: In a case filed under seal last week, the CFTC accused Robert Stanley Harrison of Easley, S.C.. of presiding over a commodity-pool and Forex fraud scheme in which investors were guaranteed a return of 100 percent in 90 days. The seal now has been lifted, and U.S. District Judge G. Ross Anderson has granted an emergency asset freeze.

    The scheme traded in part via “regular teleconferences with Pool participants” during which Harrison “touted his trading ability and the profits he was purportedly making for Pool participants,” the CFTC said.

    Separately, the Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General of South Carolina accused Harrison last year of scamming investors through Investors Choice Advisors LLC, the same company referenced in the CFTC complaint. The Securities Division described Harrison as a man who “had multiple prior felony convictions which were not disclosed when he offered and sold securities.”

    Records in Pickens County, S.C., show several arrests on fraud charges for Harrison, including one on Dec. 19, 2012. The address in the Pickens County filings is the same address as Investors Choice Advisors LLC.

    Meanwhile, the website of the enterprise claims it is “undergoing improvements” and asks investors to be “patient.” A section of the website dubbed “Motivational Moments” carries this message:

    “During these challenging times, know that you are not alone. God has a plan to drive out the darkness — He will flood you with His light!”

    Here is part of what the CFTC said in the unsealed filing (italics added):

    Prior to expiration of their “Investment Contracts,” at least some of the Pool participants were solicited by Defendant and his agent to “roll over” their contracts for another 60 or 90 day term and, at the same time, to increase the principal amount of their investments.

    For example, after sending Defendant $1,000 for investment in the Pool in September 2011, one Pool participant received a contract via email from Defendant’s agent that reflected the Pool participant’s $1,000 principal investment and promised a return of $2,000 in 90 days.

    In November 2011, Defendant’s agent solicited this Pool participant to roll over her initial principal investment, along with her purported returns, and to invest additional funds in the Pool. Based on the representations that her initial investment was profitable, this Pool participant decided to roll over her initial investment and to invest an additional $28,000 in the Pool. After sending her funds to Defendant, the Pool participant received a new contract via email from Defendant’s agent in December 2011, which showed a principal investment amount of $30,000, including $1,000 in profits purportedly earned on her initial investment, and a guaranteed return of $60,000 in 90 days.

    The investor never got paid, despite repeated requests, the CFTC said. The agent’s name was not disclosed.

  • BULLETIN: Mass Shooting At Delaware’s New Castle County Courthouse

    breakingnews72A mass shooting occurred this morning at the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington, Del., multiple media outlets are reporting. Wilmington is the state’s largest city.

    The Wilmington News Journal is reporting that two women were killed by gunfire and three other people were wounded. Among the wounded are two Capitol police officers. The gunman reportedly is dead.

    A prosecutor in Kaufman County, Texas, was killed last month in a courthouse shooting.

    Vice President Joe Biden is a former Senator from Delaware. His son, Joseph R. “Beau” Biden III, is the state’s attorney general. The vice president’s schedule today includes an appearance at Girard College in Philadelphia to hold a “roundtable discussion with law enforcement officials and Members of Congress on gun safety,” according to WhiteHouse.gov.

    CNN is reporting that Wilmington’s police chief was expected to attend the event in nearby Philadelphia.

  • OHIO: Purported ‘Sovereign’ Citizen Allegedly Assaults Officer, Police Dog

    Police dog "Rek" allegedly suffered an injury this week at the hand of a purported "sovereign citizen" in Ohio. Source: screent shot from 10TV.com news report.
    Police dog “Rek” allegedly suffered an injury this week at the hand of a purported “sovereign citizen” in Ohio. Source: screen shot from 10TV.com news report.

    A police officer and a police dog allegedly were assaulted Thursday during a confrontation at the home of a purported “sovereign citizen” in the Columbus suburb of Westerville in central Ohio, 10TV.com is reporting.

    Westerville is situated in Franklin and Delaware counties

    The station reported that Gabriel Carnelian Pace, the purported “sovereign,” was wanted on traffic charges and allegedly not making child-support payments. He was arrested after the skirmish, as was his wife, April Dawn Pace. April Pace later was released.

    “Rek,” a police canine, allegedly suffered an injury below the eye while Gabriel Pace was resisting arrest, the station reported. It was not immediately clear if the officer was injured.

    A document that appears online at a website styled DivineProvince.org describes an individual known as “gabriel carnelian of the house of pace,” purportedly the “Living Beneficiary of The GABRIEL CARNELIAN PACE ESTATE.”

    An apparent caption on the document is styled a “Complaint of Breach of Trust by Original Writ.” It purports to name as “Respondent” the state of Ohio at 70 N. Union Street, Delaware, Ohio. That’s the address of the Delaware Municipal Court. The document appears to be dated Jan. 4, 2013, and includes the purported signatures of “gabriel carnelian” and “April dawn.”

    A second document at the same site is styled “Final Order” and describes “Gabriel Carnelian Pace” as “a commercial vessel, an official carriage registered under the universal post office and authorized to transport the official post and sacred cargo beyond the sea.” This document, also dated Jan. 4, purports to present the official seal of the “Postmaster General” of the “Divine Province.”

     

  • NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Witness Says Alcoholics Anonymous Members Were Recruited For Cash-Gifting Scheme And That ‘Largest Conflict I’ve Ever Seen’ In AA Ensued

    EDITOR’S NOTE: In May 2012, the PP Blog reported that three women had been arrested on federal charges in Connecticut that flowed from an alleged cash-gifting pyramid scheme. One of the women has pleaded guilty. Two others now are on trial.

    Cash-gifting often is associated with affinity fraud. The alleged Connecticut scheme centered around women with common interests, for example. Cash-gifting schemes also may be targeted at members of a common faith or belief system, members of a specific racial or ethnic group, members of specific occupations or members of virtually any group with common interests or common problems.

    No individual or member of an organization may be truly safe in the context of affinity fraud, considering that schemes even have been targeted at members of the military and their loved ones. Now, it seems, not even members of Alcoholics Anonymous — an American treasure with international reach that has helped countless participants in their daily struggle against the clutches of alcoholism —  were off limits to a person or persons desiring to recruit members into the cash-gifting scheme.

    ** _________________________________ **

    recommendedreading1The New Haven Register is reporting that “Julie,” a witness in the “Women’s Gifting Table” trial in federal court in Connecticut, testified that members of Alcoholics Anonymous were recruited for the scheme, which caused dissension among people battling to stay sober.

    “Julie” was introduced to cash-gifting by her AA sponsor, Julie testified, according to the Register.

    From the Register (italics added):

    Eventually, there were eight AA members involved in tables and Julie attempted to recruit more. What followed was “the largest conflict I’ve ever seen in Alcoholics Anonymous,” she said. “It’s a violation of a trusted relationship. I trusted people to save my life, and people trusted me to save their lives, and to take advantage of that situation was a problem.”

    “Julie” testified that she quit the scheme after news broke that former Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had launched an investigation.

    Gifting is the business of parasites, Blumenthal said in November 2009.

    Blumenthal now is a U.S. Senator.

    On Jan. 31, the Register reported that some people believe the unsolved murder of a woman in 2010 may be tied to the cash-gifting scheme.