JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES FINANCIAL HONESTY: PAGE 2 OF 2

ADA TOWNSHIP v. CASCADE CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES was a 2006 Michigan civil lawsuit which arose out of the construction of a new Kingdom Hall in Cascade Township, Michigan. During the typical hurried "Quick Build" construction of the Cascade Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, one of the JWs' contractors broke the sanitary sewer line, which belonged to Ada Township.

Because the JWs were in such a rush to get the Kingdom Hall completed, the Ada Township utility department agreed to help out the JWs by going ahead and themselves securing a contractor who was licensed and qualified to repair the sanitary sewer line. Ada Township did so only after first getting the JWs' verbal commitment to pay the expense of the repair. However, when presented with the $40,000.00 bill, the JWs reneged on the agreement. Thereafter, Ada Township filed this lawsuit. Eventually, the Cascade Jehovah's Witnesses offered to reimburse Ada Township for only $25,000.00 of the $40,000.00 that Ada paid to the repair contractor.

At a November 2006 Board Meeting, the Ada Township Trustees voted to accept the settlement offer of the Cascade Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Trustees publically remarked that they were essentially "stuck" because they made the mistake of trusting the JWs' promise to pay the bill, rather than making the JWs sign a contract or secure a bond.

KEYERLEBER v. EUCLID CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES was a 1956-7 Ohio Court of Appeals decision. Paul and Anna Keyerleber were the joint owners of a house and lot in the Village of Richmond Heights, Ohio. The Euclid, Ohio Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses wanted to purchase a vacant lot on which they could construct a new Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. Observing that the Keyerleber's home was constructed at one far end of their 200 foot lot, these Jehovah's Witnesses schemed with a local real estate firm to deceive the Keyerlebers into selling off the vacant portion of their lot adjacent to their home.

The Euclid Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses employed Powers Realty Company to approach the Keyerlebers to propose the purchase of 140 feet of the 200 foot lot. The Euclid Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses also authorized the realty broker to approach the Keyerlebers in the name of "Robert J. Wendt", who actually was the "Congregation Servant", or head Elder of the Euclid Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The Euclid Congregation also authorized the realty broker to not inform the Keyerlebers who was the real purchaser, nor the purpose of the purchase.

A "Mr. Adams" (possibly also a JW) from The Powers Realty Company made the solicitation. When the Keyerlebers asked who was the broker's client, and what would be done with the lot, Adams described Robert Wendt variously as "a splendid young man", "a single man", and "A young man who wanted to buy property for his personal use." Adams also led the Keyerlebers to believe that Wendt was going to construct a home adjacent to their home, and even told them, "The residence will not be built immediately". The Keyerlebers asked to meet Wendt, but Adams refused their request. Based on the fraudulent info, the Keyerlebers decided that they would sell off the majority of their lot to Robert Wendt, and they signed a sales contract which listed "Robert J. Wendt" as the purchaser. The Keyerlebers had paid no attention to the fact that the words "except restrictions of record" had been crossed out on the contract.

Interestingly after the closing, the escrow agent mistakingly sent Wendt's check back to Wendt, who then took it to the Keyerlebers. It was only then that the Keyerlebers were told that Wendt was going to transfer the land to his JW Congregation for the construction of a new Kingdom Hall. The Keyerlebers restrained their displeasure with having been scammed, but thereafter telephoned members of the Village Council and its zoning board, who reassured the Keyerlebers that the lot was zoned strictly for residential residences, and that no variance would be granted to the Jehovah's Witness scammers.

However, when the rezoning was denied, the JWs typically filed a lawsuit, and the Village quickly gave in rather than fight it -- just as the JWs had anticipated. A building permit was issued, and construction began. It was only then that the Keyerlebers employed an attorney to go after the JW scammers and have the deal undone. A local court did stop construction with a restraining order, but on the JWs appeal, the Ohio Court of Appeals held that although the Keyerlebers had beed deceived and defrauded by the Euclid Jehovah's Witnesses, the Keyerlebers had waited too long under the equitable doctrine of "laches" to have the deal ordered rescinded by a court of equity. However, that did not stop this Ohio Court of Appeals from publishing a record of the fraud perpetrated by this JW Congregation:

NORTH FORT WORTH CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES v. HALTOM CITY TEXAS was another "Kingdom Hall Construction" court case which occurred around the same time as the KEYERLEBER case. WatchTower Society Lead Attorney Hayden Cooper Covington represented the Texas JWs during the successful appeal.

Sometime in latter 1953, the North Fort Worth Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, who were seeking to build a new Kingdom Hall, purchased a residential zoned building lot located on a quiet residential street in a Fort Worth suburb, which the Fort Worth Jehovah's Witnesses KNEW would have to be granted a zoning exception by the City before a Kingdom Hall could be built on the lot. However, instead of first applying for the zoning exception before purchasing the lot, or making grant of a zoning exception part of the purchase deal, the Fort Worth Jehovah's Witnesses did something which anyone familiar with Jehovah's Witnesses knows was totally foreign to normal procedures for the construction of new Kingdom Halls. The Fort Worth JWs contracted with the lot's seller, a man named Clayton, to build a new Kingdom Hall for them, per their specifications, on that residential zoned lot prior to the conveyance of the deed to them. In January 1954, supposedly without the JWs knowledge -- at least that is what all the "honest Jehovah's Witnesses" swore to in court -- Clayton DEFRAUDED and DECEIVED the City by applying for a building permit to construct a "single family residential dwelling" on the lot.

The North Fort Worth Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses was practically completed before the City discovered the true intended occupancy and stopped further work. Yet, in June 1954, despite the facts that the JWs knew that Clayton had DEFRAUDED and DECEIVED the City as to true occupancy of the building in order to obtain a building permit, and knew that the building was sitting empty under a stop-work order, the Fort Worth JWs did not hesitate to fulfill their contract with Clayton and accept transfer of the deed. The Fort Worth JWs immediately applied for a zoning exception as a "church", and a certificate of occupancy as a "church".

The JWs thereafter unsuccessfully appealed to the Zoning Board and the City Council before filing this lawsuit in Texas district court. Recognizing the obvious fraudulent conspiracy, the Texas district court also ruled against the JWs. However, on appeal, the Texas appellate court FORESEEABLY ruled in the JWs favor. Via the reasoning in their ruling, these appellate Judges made it apparent that they would find whatever reasoning necessary to allow the JWs to use the already constructed Kingdom Hall owned by them. Their opinion even included the ridiculous statement that they believed that the Fort Worth JWs had not known of Clayton's fraud and deception until the City issued the stop-work order.

WOODLAWN HILLS KINGDOM HALL OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES v. ALTA TSCHIRHART was a 1968-9 Texas court case. In March 1968, a San Antonio, Texas area Jehovah's Witness Elder, conveniently listed as "J. M. Norris", purchased two adjacent "restricted" single-family residential dwelling building lots in the Woodlawn Hills Subdivision from Alta Tschirhart. J. M. Norris immediately transferred the two lots to the Woodlawn Hills Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, who in turn immediately began construction of a "Kingdom Hall" on the two lots. Since "Kingdom Halls" are rectangular boxes resembling ranch-style homes, the adjacent property owners were clueless as to the intended occupancy until it was too late. After the hurriedly constructed Kingdom Hall was nearly completed, and after two WatchTower meetings were held in the Kingdom hall for sake of anticipated legal action, Tschirhart and other subdivision property owners sought and obtained an injunction from the local district court stopping any further construction. However, just as the WatchTower Society directed Texas JWs had anticipated, the Texas appellate court found a technical clitch in the restrictive covenant so as to allow the JWs to use the already constructed Kingdom Hall. Jehovah must have been so proud of His "only true worshipers".

NORTH POUGHKEEPSIE CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES v. WILLIETTA BOOTH was a 1971 New York "Kingdom Hall Construction" court case (is anyone staring to notice a trend). In 1968, Jehovah's Witnesses in Poughkeepsie, New York, decided to build a new Kingdom Hall on the northside of the city. Instead of purchasing any number of available lots for sale which had already been zoned for a "church" by the City, in January 1969, the Poughkeepsie JWs instead purchased a tract of land which the JWs KNEW was subject to a restrictive covenant which stated, "The premises shall be used for residential and farm purposes only." Although the court decision does not state such, it is suspected that the JWs may have again used a "straw buyer" during the purchase negotiations. In May 1969, the JWs began constructing their "Kingdom Hall". The seller of the lot became aware that it was a "Kingdom Hall" that was being constructed on the lot only after an unforeseen circumstance arose, which will be revealed later in this summary. The lot seller and other adjacent property owners quickly sought and obtained a court order halting construction.

Since the Kingdom Hall was only approximately 15-20% complete, this New York appellate court ruled against the JWs. In fact, this appellate Court found the actions of the Jehovah's Witnesses to be deceptive, although the court never used the term. In addition to pointing out that there were lots available already properly zoned for construction of a Kingdom Hall, the court noted that the JWs had been completely aware of the covenant restrictions that they now were attempting to have the courts override. The JWs even testified during the original trial that they had been told by the seller at the closing that they could ignore the covenant restrictions. This appellate court wondered why, if such were true, then why hadn't the JWs simply obtained a written waiver.

This New York Court apparently had also read the KEYERLEBER, FORT WORTH, WOODLAWN, and maybe other previous court cases, given this resounding parting shot at the Poughkeepsie JWs:

ROY LIONEL BELL, LAURA MCGEE BELL, JARRELL M. BELL, CORY J. BELL, LIONEL D. BELL and AGATHA D. BELL v. MONTGOMERY WARD was a 1992 Louisiana federal civil court case which included the sworn testimony of multiple members of a Shreveport area family of Jehovah's Witnesses.

In October 1987, Roy Bell cut off portions of two toes when he slipped while mowing a wet, inclined portion of a customer's yard. The rear toe guard was missing from the lawn mower responsible for his injury, which Bell claimed that he had purchased from Montgomery Ward. Thereafter, the Bell Family filed this lawsuit against Montgomery Ward making claim under strict liability, negligence, and redhibition.

Bell testified that he bought two lawn mowers from Wards in June 1987. Although Bell had an active lawn service business, Bell testified that both lawn mowers remained unassembled in their boxes for approximately 3-4 months until his other mowers stopped working. After assembling the mowers, one rear guard fell off the first time the mower was used, while being operated by Jarrell Bell, who was then 12 years-old. Jarrell Bell testified that he had been using the first mower for approximately an hour and forty-five minutes when he pulled the mower back over some grass and the toe guard fell off. The rear guard fell off of the second mower a few days later.

Both Laura Bell and Jarrell Bell confirmed Roy Bell's testimony that the two MW mowers had not been used for 3-4 months after purchase. Laura Bell also testified as to how her husband's injuries had reduced his ability to financially support their family; reduced his recreational activities; and reduced his religious activities given that Roy Bell "had been very involved in their church work".

MTD actually manufactured the two MW mowers, and MTD's Chief Engineer examined the mowers in question and testified at the trial that both mowers had been used much more than the Bell Family testified. He also testified that both guards had been intentionally ripped from the mowers.

IN RE THE ESTATE OF LOUIS HEE was a 1971 Florida probate court case which represents one of many similar cases over the decades, in which, shortly before their death, an elderly homeowner, either without immediate family or estranged from their immediate family, is befriended by door-knocking Jehovah's Witnesses who influence that elderly homeowner to make or change their LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT to make the individual JWs, and/or the local JW Congregation, and/or the WatchTower Society the beneficiaries of the elderly homeowner's WILL.

In the case of Louis Hee, his brothers and sisters fortunately learned of the situation in time to have the JW WILL, which previously had been admitted to probate, revoked, and the appellate court upheld that revocation. Unfortunately, there have been many other cases in which the deceased's relatives did not learn about the matter in time, or the deceased's family was not able to develop sufficient facts about what occurred prior to their family member's death in order to convince the court that something amiss had occurred.

Readers should know that John Hartley, Jr. was no out-of-control low-level JW Elder. During the 1950s-60s, John Hartley served as the WatchTower Society spokesperson for the south Florida area.

IN RE ESTATE OF BRACKETT was a 1959 Florida probate court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness Elder named A. G. Wakefield and an elderly, legally incompetent homeowner named Laura M. Brackett, of Clearwater, Florida. Laura Brackett was an 81 year-old childless widow who had lived alone for twenty years after her husband died in 1946. Shortly after the death of her husband, Brackett had executed a WILL naming her sister and sister-in-law as her beneficiaries.

Laura Brackett died in December 1956, and JW Elder A. G. Wakefield offered for probate a WILL, executed by Brackett in June 1956, which named Wakefield as Executor, and which named the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society as the sole beneficiary. Laura Brackett had been baptized by Wakefield into the WatchTower religion in September 1955. In February 1956, Wakefield contacted an attorney of his choosing to draw up a new WILL for Brackett, although Brackett already had her own attorney. This new attorney had Brackett examined by a physician, who declared Brackett to be legally incapable of making a new WILL. A second examination was conducted, with A. G. Wakefield present this time, and the second physician declared Brackett to be legally capable of making a new WILL.

Brackett's sister and sister-in-law were notified of the execution of the June 1956 WILL, and quickly initiated competency proceedings in local county court. In July 1956, the county court adjudged Brackett to be legally incompetent by reason of chronic senility. Her sister was appointed guardian of her person, and The First National Bank of Clearwater was appointed guardian of her property.

Despite such, A. G. Wakefield still offered the June 1956 Will for probate. After the probate court proceeding, at which Wakefield and a number of other Jehovah's Witnesses testified (indicating the direction and approval of the local Clearwater Congregration of Jehovah's Witnesses, if not the WatchTower Society itself), the probate Judge declared the June 1956 Will invalid for lack of testamentary capacity, stating in part:

DIETZLER, ET AL v. LEMAY, MISSOURI CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, RAMONA LYNCH, AND AL LYNCH was a 1986-91 Missouri probate court case whose outcome is unknow. The following facts are extracted from the 1990 appellate case opinion, which reversed the probate court's ruling, which had favored the JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Anna Marie Garrett died on November 18, 1986. Thereafter, Ramona Lynch, her husband, Alfred C. Lynch, and the LeMay, Missouri Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses offered to probate a will dated August 28, 1985, which the probate court admitted in August 1987. Garrett's will left her entire estate to a "pour-over" trust, which had been established the same date as the will. The Named Trustee was "Ramona Lynch", and the beneficiaries of the trust were "Al and Ramona Lynch" and the "LeMay Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses."

Helen Dietzler and the other named plaintiffs/appellants were Anna M. Garrett's "heirs-at-law". The HEIRS-AT-LAW filed a petition to contest the will claiming that the will was not properly attested, that the decedent was of unsound mind at the time she executed the will, and that Alrred and Ramona Lynch, exerted "undue influence" over the decedent. The HEIRS' petition named as defendants: Al and Ramona Lynch, individually, and the LeMay Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, an unincorporated association (as listed in the Trust document).

In April 1989, the LeMay, Missouri Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, A CORPORATION, entered its appearance and filed a Motion to Dismiss the petition on the TECHNICALITY that the petition failed to name them as a defendant, and thus failed to serve all necessary parties within 90 days of the filing of the petition, as required under Missouri law. In May 1989, Al and Ramona Lynch filed a motion to dismiss which incorporated by reference the SAME TECHNICALITY utilized in the CORPORATION'S motion. WWJD ---- WWJD ---- WWJD --- WWJD ----WWJD

In June 1989, the probate court dismissed the HEIR's petition and found that: 1) the plaintiffs did not timely serve all necessary parties; and 2) the plaintiffs failed to name and serve the Trustee of the trust, Ramona Lynch, as a defendant. On appeal by the HEIRS, the appellate court reversed and remanded, stating in part:

ELLIOTT v. NASH was a 1995 Ohio probate court case which is extremely interesting even despite the fact that most of the juicy details never made it into the published decision. This drama involved several African-American members of a Cleveland, Ohio area Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, who apparently did not like each other, and the non-JW relatives of the deceased, who were prominent Cleveland citizens active in local politics and civil rights. Can you guess who the JW Elders sided with?

Howard Hawkins was an elderly, widowed, and childless Jehovah's Witness, who died in July 1993, without having executed a will. Hawkins' "heirs-at-law" were Clover Elliott, a prominent Cleveland political activist, and her son, Steven James Terry, a prominent Cleveland attorney. Clover H. Elliott was appointed Administratrix of Hawkins' estate. As Administratrix , Elliott brought an action in probate court seeking a declaratory judgment to set aside a quit-claim deed and a Veterans Administration Change of Beneficiary Form, both of which had been executed by Howard Hawkins in April 1992.

Clover Elliott and her son, Attorney Steven Terry, and her brother, Howard Hawkins, had been estranged since 1981/2, which was the result of previous litigation between Elliott and Hawkins, which involved a trust estate that had included a $100,000.00 rental house owned by Hawkins'.

The Change of Beneficiary Form named Ples Nash as Hawkins' beneficiary, and the quit-claim deed transferred Hawkins' ownership of the rental house to Minnie Nash, wife of Ples Nash. The Nashs were fellow Jehovah's Witnesses, and longtime friends of Hawkins and his deceased wife. The Nashs began helping take care of Howard and Ethel Hawkins back in 1981, after Howard was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, because Ethel had already suffered a stroke. Ethel Hawkins died in 1991. The Nashs then moved into Hawkins' residence for a ten month period, and took care of all Hawkins' needs, including the inserting of catheters.

During this time, the Nashs and Hawkins agreed that the Nashs would move into the run-down rental house, and renovate it such that Hawkins and his elderly, invalid brother, Ulysses Hawkins, could live there with, and be taken care of by the Nashs. In exchange, Hawkins agreed to transfer ownership of the property to them. In March 1992, Hawkins gave Minnie Nash power-of-attorney over his affairs. The quit-claim deed and the Change of Beneficiary Form were executed a few weeks thereafter.

Soon after Hawkins gave power-of-attorney to Minnie Nash, the Body of Elders at the Nash's and Hawkins' local Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses decided that they needed to stick their noses into the dealings going on between Hawkins and the Nashs. Two JW Elders, Mark Smith (now of Toledo, Ohio) and Leroy Farmer, asked the Nashs and Hawkins to meet with them, which they did -- twice.

At trial, both JW Elders Leroy Farmer and Mark Smith testified on behalf of local power broker Clover Elliott, and against their fellow JWs, Ples and Minnie Nash. Farmer and Smith claimed that the local JW Elders intervened only after Hawkins asked for their help with his property matters, and that Hawkins actively participated in both meetings. At the second followup meeting of the parties, Farmer and Smith claimed that they submitted the BODY OF ELDERS' "Recommendations" as to how Hawkins should manage/dispose of his property, which are not disclosed in the appellate opinion. Curiously, Leroy Farmer (and probably Mark Smith) testified that Hawkins wanted his estate, including the rental house that had already been transferred to Minnie Nash, left to his estranged nephew, Attorney Steven James Terry. Hawkins lived another 15 months before he died. If those were in fact his wishes, he had opportunity to memorialize such.

According to the Nashs, Howard Hawkins had himself once been a JW Elder, but that he had been "deleted" at the instigation of Leroy Farmer. Farmer also had been noticably absent from Ethel Hawkins' funeral. The Nashs claimed that Hawkins opened his mouth only one single time during both meetings with Farmer and Smith. On cross-exam, Leroy Farmer refused to discuss the deletion of Howard Hawkins as a JW elder by claiming "ecclesiastical privilege". (In June 2011, Judge Steven J. Terry was convicted on three federal corruption charges -- soliciting bribes for favorable rulings.)

Hawkins' attorney testified that Hawkins had discussed with her much of his dealings with the Nashs, and that he was of sound mind during that time period. A second attorney who drew up the power-of-attorney also testified accordingly; as did the LPN who regularly provided Hawkins with in-home care which the Nashs were unable to provide. Despite the testimony of the two JW Elders, the local probate court ruled in favor of the Nashs. On appeal, the Ohio appellate court affirmed that decision.

Labeled as "The Biggest FRAUD in Australian Corporate History", the story of a Jehovah's Witness named Tim Johnston and his business named Firepower, which collapsed after investors lost nearly $100,000,000.00 in its' scheme to market a fuel additive that was promoted as being able to increase fuel mileage while decreasing pollution, will simply be linked below since this website tries to stick to frauds committed by American Jehovah's Witnesses.

However, readers should be aware that many Australian Jehovah's Witnesses sold Firepower's products, and several Australian Jehovah's Witnesses were investors and employees. Given that Johnston and Firepower did business internationally, including the United States, one can't help but wonder whether Johnston's associates and co-conspirators in other countries were also Jehovah's Witnesses. Readers familiar with the names of prominent Jehovah's Witnesses in California, in particular, might find it interesting to see whether such names are mentioned in connection with this or similar "fuel additive" frauds.

Readers can locate newspaper articles and much more by simply googling the names and key terms. Here is a link to the Googled book, FIREPOWER: THE MOST SPECTACULAR FRAUD IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY. This book also mentions a New Zealand Jehovah Witness, named Graeme Clegg, who allegedly was accused by the Australian government of operating an illegal pyramid scheme in the 1980s.

CROWN v. NELSON RIVERA was a 2010 Australia criminal court case in which a 23 year-old Jehovah's Witness Accountant named Nelson Rivera pleaded "Guilty" to three charges of theft relating to his stealing $549,000.00 AU, in 2008, from three bank accounts entrusted to him by his employer, Prime Pharmacy Group. The El Salvador native reportedly fled to Mexico before returning to Australia to face prosecution.

Nelson Rivera reportedly spent the money on illicit sex, gambling, travel, and high living. Rivera's attorney blamed Rivera's employer, telling reporters that the "Jehovah's Witness had been exploited in unfavourable work conditions and became distraught and confused where the 'money he saw on the screens didn't seem to have any value'''.

Nelson Rivera's mother, Anna Rivera, told reporters that it was "horrible seeing her son suffer for two years without him saying anything."

In August 2010, South African media reported the arrest of a German national named Michael Schreiber, age 65, who is allegedly an international con-artist. South African Police reportedly arrested Schreiber outside of a Capetown, SA Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses where Schreiber attended services. Michael Schreiber is alleged to be an internet savvy conman who used multiple aliases and multiple business names in the operation of multiple international cons. Schreiber reportedly is wanted by the German government on tax evasion charges, and by the governments of Liberia and Dubai on forgery and fraudulent diamond and gold dealing charges. Michael Schreiber reportedly also conducted business in Malaysia, U.A.E., and other countries through companies named Dubai Diamond Club, Knife Sharpening Company, Isorast Development and Properties, Isorast Construction, and Isorast SA.

A now-deceased Jehovah's Witness, who had for many years worked as an I.R.S. Auditor, once admitted having lived many of those same years in a state of spiritual depression because of their repeated professional encounters with fellow Jehovah's Witnesses -- particularly individuals who that JW discovered in the course of their work to be Elders and Ministerial Servants. In the early part of their career, that JW dealt psychologically with the "problem" by naively writing letters to the WatchTower Society outlining the widespread nature of the "problem", and encouraging the WatchTower Society to admonish its JW members to be honest when filing their tax returns. After years of seeing the "problem" increasing, rather than decreasing, this JW eventually started having doubts that the WatchTower religion was "the only true religion" given the state of "honesty" amongst the religion's very "leaders" observed over a wide geographic area. Finally, this JW came up with a solution. The JW went to their management and told them a watered-down version of what has been related above, and requested that in the future they be relieved from any case once that case was identified as a Jehovah's Witness. Their request was granted.

UNITED STATES v. METCALF was a 1997-8 California federal criminal court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness named Kevin Metcalf. Metcalf and a co-conspirator (unidentifed by source, but probably a fellow Jehovah's Witness) manufactured and attempted to sell counterfeit checks, which were copied from genuine checks issued to Metcalf by mortgage companies and other firms who had employed Metcalf to perform real estate appraisals. This JW Duo also manufactured and attempted to pass counterfeit $20.00 bills.

Metcalf was found guilty on one conspiracy count and four counts of counterfeiting, and was sentenced to three years in federal prison. Metcalf was also ordered to pay a $15,000.00 criminal fine and $2,068 in restitution to California Federal Bank. In sentencing Metcalf, Judge Kram found that Metcalf obstructed justice by giving false testimony during his trial, and that he was the organizer of the conspiracy. Judge Kram rejected Metcalf's request for a reduced sentence based on his claims that the counterfeiting operation was "aberrant behavior" because he was a Jehovah's Witness who was active in charitable causes. Metcalf's co-conspirator pled guilty to unidentified charges - possibly an indicator that they assisted in Metcalf's prosecution.

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MICHIGAN v. LONGO was a 2000 Michigan criminal court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness "Ministerial Servant" named Christian Longo. Chris Longo was reared as a Jehovah's Witness by parents who were prominent JWs. Longo's father was an Elder, and his mother was a "Pioneer". In the mid 1990s, the WatchTower Society selected Longo's parents to travel as special delegates to JW Conventions in several eastern European countries and the Baltic republics.

In September 2000, Chris Longo pled guilty to two counts of forgery and two counts of uttering and publishing in connection with a series of forgery and fraud crimes committed in Summer 2000. Similar to the modus operandi in the METCALF case above, Longo had manufactured, signed, and cashed checks which he duplicated from genuine checks issued to him by a construction contracting firm which had employed Longo to provide janitoral services. In actuality, Longo had faked and forged six checks amounting to approximately $30,000.00.

By the summer of 2001, Christian Longo was again manufacturing and cashing fraudulent checks duplicated from employers' legitimate checks. Longo was never prosecuted for such, because by that time his criminal activities were swiftly esculating to theft of automobiles, boats, construction equipment, and the finale -- murder of his wife and three children (see OREGON v. LONGO).

In 1992, an 18 year old Christian Longo had been convicted of misdemeanor embezzlement after he stole cash out of the cash register at a Michigan photographic equipment store where he was employed as a clerk.

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The Not-a-JW spouse of a Jehovah's Witness submitted several real-life accounts involving Insurance Agents who are Jehovah's Witnesses. Not-a-JW relates that they once worked in what may best be described to the general public as an Insurance Company's (not agency) "internal affairs" department.

Not-a-JW relates that an internal audit once disclosed that a certain Commercial policyholder had for several years been paying an annual premium of approximately $12,000.00. The problem was that the premium should have been approximately $2000.00 annually. In the initial fact-finding stage of the investigation, in trying to determine whose fault was the excessive premium -- policyholder, agent, or company -- and why had the overcharge gone so long undiscovered, Not-a-JW had telephoned the policyholder's bookkeeper to verify certain information submitted to the company by the policyholder's agent. As it turned out, the business was owned by a JW, and all of the employees were JWs, including the talkative bookkeeper, who initially misunderstood for whom Not-a-JW was employed. Thinking that Not-a-JW was employed by their Insurance Agent, talkative bookkeeper inquired whether Not-a-JW was also a Jehovah's Witness. She made that assumption because, as she later explained, their Insurance Agent was also a JW. Cutting to the chase, ... , Not-a-JW eventually telephoned JW Insurance Agent to inform him of the "problem", and to get his recommendation as to how to handle such. The options were: (1) Inform Policyholder of the overcharge and refund $30,000.00 for the past three years, which would have forced the JW Agent to repay $4800.00 in commissions; (2) Not inform Policyholder of the error, but correct the premium at renewal, which would mean the Agent's commission on this policy would go from $1920.00 to $320.00; or (3) Continue to overcharge the Policyholder. JW Agent informed Not-a-JW that he and the policyholder were "friends", and that he had been the policyholder's agent for many years preceding when the account had been placed with Not-a-JW's company, and that the policyholder had not and would not question the premium, and that he could move the account to another insurance company if Not-a-JW's company had a problem continuing the policy at the current premium level.

Another independent Agent representing Not-a-JW's company came under the scrutiny of Not-a-JW's department. After two years of monitoring this Agent's transactions, one day Not-a-JW told a supervisor that this particular Agent was the most persistantly dishonest insurance agent that Not-a-JW had ever encountered. About a month later, Not-a-JW acompanied JW Spouse to the Saturday morning session of that summer's WatchTower district convention. After a series of short opening talks, an hour long symposium was on the schedule. Bored and sleepy, Not-a-JW literally almost fell out of the seat when the symposium director was introduced to the crowd. Guess who was a Jehovah's Witness Elder sufficiently respected within that District to be given direction of the largest part of that morning's session.

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UNITED STATES v. STEVEN C. ROBERTS was a 1998-2000 Texas criminal court case which involved a fraudulent investment scheme that eventually led to Roberts pleading guilty to seven counts of mail fraud. Roberts was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment, and ordered to make restitution of $3,373,000.00. Steven Roberts was not a Jehovah's Witness.

However, Kerry R. Maiden, whose name and company, M.K.M. Marketing Inc., are referred to in this USDC decision, is a Jehovah's Witness Elder in the Houston, Texas area Garden Oaks Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Without comment, or judgment, here are excerpts of those references:

"17. Beginning in the summer of 1996, Steven C. Roberts (Roberts) was introduced to an investment program operated by Randall L. Garrett (Garrett) by Kerry Maiden (Maiden). The Garrett program was a Ponzi or "pyramid" scheme. Roberts collected investor funds and Roberts forwarded those funds to Maiden, who forwarded the funds to Garrett. Roberts was allowed to recruit his own brokers to sell the investment program. ...

"19. Roberts and Maiden agreed that Roberts would receive some percentage as commission. All commissions were paid at the same time that the investors received their returns.

"20. The Garrett program stopped paying returns in February, 1997. The Garrett program ceased operations in May, 1997, when the F.B. I. executed search warrants at Garrett's business and arrested Garrett. Garrett was later convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering ... . ... ... ...

"71. Initially, Roberts was working with Kerry Maiden of MKM Marketing. Roberts had approximately ten investors and Roberts placed their funds with Maiden. ... ...

"80. Burgess said that Roberts used investor money to pay Roberts' expenses. Burgess never saw money coming into Roberts' account from MKM Marketing, but Roberts continued to pay investors in the MKM Marketing program until June, 1997. Roberts "rolled" these investors into the Cord program. ... ." [The "Cord program" was another scam that was shut down by the F.B.I. in August 1997. Cord was also convicted of mail fraud, fined, and sentenced to 60 months in prison.]

Readers should read the linked USDC decision to place these excerpts into context. At some point, at least Steven Roberts understood the score with both Garrett and Cord. None of the $6,700,000.00 collected from investors by Roberts was ever legitimately invested by Garrett, Cord, or Roberts.

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UNITED STATES v. MEYER was one or more 1993 Federal criminal and/or civil court cases in New York or Pennsylvania. Incomplete details.

In 1983, a Long Island, New York, Jehovah's Witness Millionaire Real Estate Developer, named Robert J. Meyer, purchased and began restoring a historic 42 room, 22,500 square foot Mansion on a 158 acre estate located in Muttontown, New York. The mansion was then known as the George S. Brewster Mansion, but later was known as the Fox Run, and later as Fox Meadow, and even later as the Hoffman Center. The restoration project attracted media coverage which publicized the fact that Robert Meyer was using more than 100 of his fellow Jehovah's Witnesses to perform the restoration. Media articles included photos of Bob Meyer, a son named Micha Meyer, a daughter named Monica Meyer, a daughter named Bethany Meyer, and Meyer's other three children.

In 1990, Robert Meyer filed an insurance claim for $831,000.00 in water damage to the mansion -- a figure which the F.B.I. later labeled as a "grossly inflated" amount. The Insurance Company eventually issued three claims checks totalling $379,000.00 as partial payment on Bob Meyer's claim. The three claim checks were made out to both Robert Meyer and Hill Financial Savings Association, which was the Philadelphia S&L which financed the project for Meyer. At the time, Meyer's loan reportedly was in default.

In April 1993, Robert J. Meyer, 48, was indicted in Pennsylvania on federal charges that he defrauded Hill Financial Savings Association of $1,000,000.00, and charges that Meyer submitted false financial statements to the S&L. According to the indictment, Meyer submitted three false financial statements to Hill in connection with approximately $13,000,000.00 in loans that Meyer obtained to acquire and develop the Muttontown property. The indictment charged that the financial statements overstated Meyer's assets and failed to disclose his substantial debts.The indictment also charged that beginning in March of 1984, Meyer developed a scheme to defraud Hill by causing Hill to issue checks to pay invoices submitted for subcontractors work. According to the indictment, many of the invoices were fraudulent because they were not prepared by the subcontractors and/or they did not represent work actually performed. Meyer allegedly obtained more than $1,000,000.00 through this scheme.The civil complaint charged that the Fox Meadow property represented proceeds from fraud and were, therefore, forfeitable to the government. The case against Meyer resulted from a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service. Robert J. Meyer reportedly pled guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

In May 1993, Robert Meyer was indicted in New York on federal charges of defrauding Hill Financial Savings Association of $379,000.00 by forging the S&L's signature on the three aforementioned insurance claim checks. Robert J. Meyer reportedly pled guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

R.T.C. v. MEYER. In 1995, the Mansion and surrounding 158 acre estate was sold by the Resolution Trust Corp as an asset of Hill Financial Savings Association, after the S&L went under in 1989, and after a civil forfeiture lawsuit between Meyer and the RTC.

I.R.S. v. MEYER. In 1996, Robert Meyer's wife, Rosemarie Meyer, was ordered to pay $59,718.00 federal income tax on the couple's income in 1989 from one of their corporations, which had not been reported, plus $7258.00 in additional tax, plus $11,944.00 penalty.

In 1990, Robert J. Meyer was awarded an approximately ONE BILLION DOLLAR contract by the National Park Service to renovate Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York. Multiple 1992 media article mention that the project had been put on hold because of a probe into whether the highest-ranking African-American NPS official had "steered" the contract to Bob Meyer. Reportedly, that official had previously done personal business with one of Meyer's companies. Outcome unknown after NPS official cried racial discrimination. One media article also quotes a federal prosecutor who alleged that Bob Meyer had submitted fraulent financial statements to the Interior Department in connection with his bid on the Floyd Bennett Field contract. It is not known whether there was an indictment or prosecution with regard to such bid documents.

Some of Meyer's corporations were East Coast Investors, Ltd., Grand-Perridine Development Corp., Union Street Consultants, Inc., American Express Development Corp., and American Express National Development Corp.

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GLOVER v. WILLIAM KLINGLESMITH and IN RE WILLIAM ALLEN KLINGLESMITH were related 2009 and 2010-11 Florida civil and bankruptcy court cases. Curiously, googling the various business entities mentioned in the bankruptcy case indicates that William Klinglesmith's middle name is "Edward", which is also William Klingesmith's father's first name, rather than "Allen".

William Edward Klinglesmith, owner of Landmark Realty Associates Inc, Outlaw Trading LLC, Island Towers Development LLC, and Landmark Capital Funding Corporation is amongst other things a Florida real estate broker and developer. In 2009, Klinglesmith's three business partners in two other real estate development projects, Harbor Gardens, LLC and Diamonte Sands, LLC, filed a civil lawsuit to collect outstanding capital call contributions. They received a judgment against Klinglesmith in the amount of $438,205.00, in August 2009.

Sometime thereafter, Bill Klinglesmith filed Chapter Seven Bankruptcy. In that proceeding, the bankruptcy trustee objected to Klinglesmith's homestead exemption claim of $109,000.00 -- alleging that Klinglesmith had "laundered" non-exempt cash into the exempt homestead during a December 2007 real estate exchange with his wealthy Jehovah's Witness Parents, Ed and Sharon Klinglesmith, in anticipation of a possible later bankruptcy filing. The bankruptcy court ruled in Klinglesmith's favor.

Readers are encouraged to read the entire linked decision. There are some interesting tidbits scattered throughout, including the court's note that it found it "troubling" that Klinglesmith could not account for the $356,250.00 cash that he received from his JW Parents in the aforementioned real estate exchange. In fact, the bankruptcy trustee presented evidence of "numerous transfers and transactions the debtor could not explain", including a $250,000.00 transfer between Klinglesmith, his JW Mother, and Landmark Realty in June 2008. Other tidbits include divorce, drinking, and time spent out of the country, in the Philippines, in 2008.

One especially interesting tidbit was a $130,000.00 donation that William E. Klinglesmith made "to the Jehovah's Witness church" in December 2007. Did the court really mean the "WatchTower Society"? Or, was the donation made to the Kingdom Hall which William Klinglesmith attended? Or, was the donation made to the Melbourne Florida Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, where his father, Edward Klinglesmith, is an Elder?

Googling "William Edward Klinglesmith" yields an arrest in February 2004, marriage to a 26 year-old female in March 2004, and another arrest in July 2004. Was this really the first marriage for this 38 year-old wealthy real estate developer, as the bankruptcy decision states?

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The Mildreada Andrews Jehovah's Witness Crime Family. Referred to by federal prosecutors as the "Grand Dame of Identity Theft", a Jehovah's Witness named Mildreada Andrews (amongst other surnames) was finally partially exposed for who she was, and she and her children were finally convicted in United States Federal Court, in 2005-6.

Given that Mildreada Ruiz was a Cuban immigrant, it probably is not even a sure bet that Mildreada's maiden name is "Ruiz". The only surname that is a certainty is "Andrews", and that is a known fact only because it can be established that the then 20 year-old Mildreada "Ruiz" married a fellow Jehovah's Witness named Mark Andrews, in Florida, in January 1980, and they thereafter had a son, named Michael Lee Andrews (1981), and a daughter, named Melanie Marie Andrews (1983).

Reportedly, Mark Andrews met Mildreada "Ruiz" at a "Jehovah's Witness Get-Together" in Hollywood, Florida, sometime in the late 1970s. The day after they returned from their honeymoon in January 1980, the FBI knocked on their front door looking for Mildreada on forgery charges, since their wedding, honeymoon, etc had been paid with checks that she had forged.

Although only 20 years old at the time, Mildreada Andrews' life of crime probably pre-dated those 1979-80 crimes, and it is known to have continued long after Mark Andrews and she divorced in the mid-1980s. Mildreada Andrews apparently was even somehow able to con the Florida family courts into garnting her custody of Michael Andrews and Melanie Andrews, despite having served an unknown amount of prison time during the 1980s, and rearing the two children in "the family business" At some point, Mildreada Andrews also started using the surname "Rapa" with some regularity. It is not known whether Mildreada may have married a second time, or whether "Rapa" was simply a "clean alias".

Mildreada Andrews used "identity theft" as a way to facilitate the family's many other financial crimes. Thus, even after the 2005-6 federal prosecutions and convictions of all three family members, the FBI probably has no idea of the actual number of crimes which were committed during the nearly 30 years long multi-state crime spree, because even when arrested, and/or prosecuted, and/or jailed, it is known that at least some of those arrests, prosecutions, and convictions were under ever-changing aliases.

Mildreada Andrews apparently also used the Jehovah's Witnesses' proclivity for packing up their families and moving every few years in order to perform WatchTower recruiting in a less often worked area as a means of moving from state-to-state and lying-low as honest-beyond-reproach citizens. While JWs holler that Mildreada Andrews also victimized fellow JWs, interestingly, it was not until the 2001-3 crimes against several JWs in Washington State that law enforcement was able to uncover who was the real Mildreada Andrews. If Mildreada Andrews had a pattern of victimizing JWs prior to then, then show me the proof.

Apparently, only because she was either arrested, prosecuted, or convicted under her own name, Mildreada Andrews is known to have operated in Florida, New Jersey, possibly Texas (a "Mildreada Ruiz" was indicted in Jefferson County -- east Gulf coast of Texas -- in December 1992), Arizona, California, and Washington. It is anyone's guess as to where else this "Jehovah's Witness Gang" may have conducted criminal operations.

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UNITED STATES v. RAPA, UNITED STATES v. ANDREWS, and UNITED STATES v. ANDREWS. In 2006, "Mildreada Rapa", her daughter Melanie Andrews, and her son Michael Andrews (using the surname "Hernandez"), were convicted in Washington state federal court of Fraudulent Use of Social Security numbers, real estate fraud, false statements to HUD, and income tax fraud. "Mildreada Rapa" was sentenced to 8 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to make restitution of $550,000.00. Melanie Andrews was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay restitution of $60,000.00. Michael Andrews had already been sentenced in October 2005 to18 months in prison and ordered to pay $243,224.00 in restitution after pleading guilty to related identity theft charges.

Among the many criminal schemes conducted during their stay in Washington State from around 2001 to 2003, the family got overly greedy and even started victimizing several of their fellow Jehovah's Witnesses. Having prepared Federal Income Tax returns for some JWs, they inflated the W-2s of those JWs, and had the refunds paid to their own accounts, and then either kept the entire refund or kept the inflated amount and paid the correct refund amount to the JWs. The family also submitted several returns using false identities. Altogether, they stole only about $60,000.00 from the IRS, which corresponds to the restitution Melanie Andrews was ordered to pay.Some of the family had been arrested in Washington State back in 2003, but they even used forged bonds to gain their release. After fleeing Washington State, the family eventually settled in Arizona.

Michael Andrew's wife, "Isis Pellon Andrews", as well as other aliases, is named in media reports as being charged in connection with crimes in California and Arizona, but it is unknown whether she was ever charged in connection with the crimes in Washington State. Given that she was supposedly only 19 years-old in 2005, she possibly could have an "unavailable" juvenile record.

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ARIZONA v. RAPA and ARIZONA v. ANDREWS. In 2004, "Mildreada Rapa" and Melanie Andrews were indicted by an Arizona grand jury on 10 counts of fraud, theft, forgery, and identity theft in connection with their impersonation of and employment as Registered Nurses at two renal dialysis clinics. Using stolen identities to gain employment, the JW-Gang then used their employment access to patient records to steal even more identities. They plea bargained down to only one theft count for which the Mother received a sentence of 30 months in jail, and the Daughter received a sentence of 18 months in jail. They also were ordered to pay $32,500.00 in restitution.

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CALIFORNIA v. NIDIA JIMENEZ BERNAL (Mildreada Andrews), CALIFORNIA v. STEPHANIE MENDOZA (Melanie Andrews), CALIFORNIA v. MICHAEL LEE APODACA (Michael Andrews), and CALIFORNIA v. DEIDRE ANN MENDOZA (Isis Pellon Andrews). Possibly again using forged bonds to gain release in Arizona, the family members were arrested in California in February 2005, where they had set up shop in the Palm Springs area. The three female family members were arrested at medical clinics in Indio and Palm Springs, where they had taken jobs so that they allegedly could steal the identities of patients and co-workers. Michael Andrews allegedly was developing a con related to a pool business.

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UNITED STATES v. MILDREADA ANDREWS. Sometime in the early 1980s, Mildreada Andrews was charged with passport fraud.

FLORIDA v. MILDREADA ANDREWS. Around 1987, Mildreada Andrews was charged in south Florida with over 100 counts of various frauds and theft.

FLORIDA v. MILDREADA ANDREWS. In 1999, Mildreada Rapa (?) was convicted in Key West, Florida for filing $59,000.00 in fraudulent insurance claims. The Monroe County Prosecutor had been investigating Rapa since the 1987 spree. Sentence unknown

FLORIDA v. MILDREADA MARTINEZ. Under this Florida alias, Mildreada Andrews is currently wanted for parole violation.

FLORIDA v. MARIA ANNA MARTINEZ. Another outstanding Florida warrant under even another alias of Mildreada Andrews.

Even Canadian authorities have said they intend to seek "Mildreada Rapa's" extradition for a credit card fraud committed in Canada around 2000.

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FLORIDA v. BRANHAM was a 1995-7 Florida criminal court decision. In January 1997, a Jehovah's Witness, named Dale C. Branham, then 52, presently of Boca Raton, Florida, pleaded "no contest" to criminal charges relating to the 1992 collapse of Charter American Casualty Insurance Company, 100 East Linton Blvd, Ste 400A, Delray Beach, 33483, which was an automobile insurance company that was owned by Dale Branham (see D&O list below). Dale Branham was sentenced to 4 years in prison, and 5 years probation thereafter. Branham was also ordered to pay restitution of 15% of his annual income for a number of years thereafter.

Although specifics are not known, it appears that Charter American Casualty Insurance was an upstart "high-risk" automobile insurance company, which attracted $6,700,000.00 in evidently underpriced premiums in 1991-2, but had nearly $12 million in claims and expenses. CACIC was incorporated in Januray 1989 by the following individuals: Walter H. Samples, President and Director; Richard M. Decario, Vice President and Director; John E. Branham, Vice President; Thomas W. Clash, Secretary, Treasurer, and Director; Carolyn V. Webster, Director; and Dale C. Branham, Chairman and Director.

John E. Branham and Veronica C. Branham, and Dale C. Branham and Linda C. Branham, owned Charter American Holding Company, which used Charter American Casualty Insurance Company to issue the insurance policies, and a subsidiary named American Underwriting Group, Inc. to sell the policies and collect the premiums.

It is unclear to what exact charges Dale Branham pled, but he was initially charged with racketeering, grand theft, and conspiracy, all arising out his efforts to inflate the company's finances in reports to the Florida Department of Insurance. Investigators also alleged that Branham had disguised $1,287,930.20 of customer's premiums as "loans" from Charter American Holding Company, so that that money could be transferred out of the CACIC's trust account to the Holding Company before CACIC collapsed.

Josefa M. Kolodziecayk, 41, who was also involved with Dale Branham in at least 4 other Florida corporations, was also criminally charged with regard to the collapse of Charter American Casualty Insurance. The disposition of his case is unknown.

Some of Charter American Casualty Insurance Company's other employees and corporate officers were also the subject of various court orders relating to the liquidation process. The multiple other businesses operated at the same location by the Branham family were not involved in this case. Neither were any individuals prosecuted other than Josefa Kolodziecayk and Dale Branham. Thus, no illegal activities should be attributed to any other persons or entities.

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MARIANNE MADSEN v. AMERICAN GROUP MGMT INC. was a 1987 Florida civil court case, which had Dale Branham, John Braham, and their business, American Group Management, Inc., named as defendants. Specifics and disposition are unknown.

BARNETT RECOVERY CORP v. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT INC was a 1993 Florida civil court case, which had Program Management Inc, and its President, Dale Branham, named as defendants. Appears that Barnett received a $3316.95 judgement.

DESMOND v. DALE C. BRANHAM and LINDA C. BRANHAM was a 1985 Florida civil court case. Specifics and disposition are unknown.

INVEST CORP v. DALE C. BRANHAM ET AL was a 1986 Florida real estate foreclosure court case. Specifics and disposition are unknown.

ALEX SYSTEMS v. DALE BRANHAM was a 1992 Florida civil court case. Appears that Alex received a $2926.62 judgement.

Click HERE to access several additional cases in which John E. Branham or Linda C. Branham were parties.

Click HERE and HERE to access a lawsuit that involved some of the Branhams and other corporate officers of CACIC. This FORTUNE magazine article will provide some additional details.

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VIRGINIA v. WEAVER was a 1995-6 Virginia employee theft court decision. In late 1995, 24 year-old Lloyd Mitchell Weaver, Jr., of Richmond, Virginia, pleaded bargained "guilty" to seven felony charges relating to the theft of $560,000.00 from his employer, Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Lloyd M. Weaver, Jr. was sentenced to 50 years in prison, with all but 6 years being suspended.

Lloyd Weaver had been reared in a Jehovah's Witness family, along with several siblings, and he had graduated with honors in 1988 from Varina High School. Weaver thereafter was employed as a Claims Clerk with the local health insurance company. Weaver's oldest sister told a reporter that he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer "several years" prior to 1995. She also stated that Weaver had been "under psychiatric care" since the diagnosis. Interestingly, Weaver's application for "disabled" status and "long-term disability" benefits had been denied by his own health insurance company employer. Later, after Weaver was arrested, he also claimed to be dying from AIDS.

Supposedly believing that he was terminally ill, and probably angry at his employer for apparently not also believing such, in early 1995, Lloyd Weaver started issuing claims checks through a policyholder's account, which he somehow managed to cash himself. Weaver managed to steal $560,000.00 before he was caught in August 1995. During his six-months long crime spree, Weaver used the money to purchase nearly $100,000.00 in clothing, two homes, a Land Rover, and a turbo Volvo 850. Weaver also had taken several lavish trips all around the United States, and given expensive gifts to friends.

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ILLINOIS v. THOMPSON was a 1994-5 Illinois criminal court case. In September 1994, a Jehovah's Witness Elder, named Robert C. Thompson, who was President of the ten year-old Chicago area insurance and investment firm, Corporation of Financial Planners Inc., was indicted by a Cook County grand jury on one count of theft and one count of securities fraud. In October 1995, Thompson pleaded "guilty" to the theft charge only, in exchange for a 9 year prison sentence. The Illinois Secretary of State already had shut down Corporation of Financial Planners Inc. in February 1994.

According to the Attorney General's office, Robert Thompson approached a fellow Jehovah's Witness congregation member, named Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine, in July 1992, after she survived a car accident that killed her husband and oldest son. Thompson urged Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine several times to secure a solid financial future for her surviving son by signing over three death benefit checks, which totaled $224,590.00. Thompson claimed that he would invest the money in blue-chip stocks that would earn 10 percent annually. According to the attorney general's office, Thompson used his position as a Congregation Elder to instill a sense of trust, and used Bible quotations in his sales pitch. Once Thompson had his hands on the money, in typical "Ponzi" fashion, Thompson used Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine's money to payoff investors in an even earlier investment scheme. Several of those previous investors reportedly were Thompson's own Jehovah's Witness family members, who apparently did not return Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine's money to her, given that Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine reportedly had only recovered about $2000.00., as of Thompson's sentencing. Patricia Bridgmon-Balentine reportedly was also considering a civil lawsuit against Thompson in an attempt to recover more of her money, but he claimed to have no assets.

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UNITED STATES v. GIST was a 1994-6 Illinois federal criminal court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness named Thelma Gist. Gist was a travel agent who was originally charged with 22 counts of bilking $350,000.00 from 800 customers, many of them senior citizens and fellow Chicago area Jehovah's Witnesses. The FBI even investigated allegations of threats to victims during the investigation. Gist eventually plea bargained to one count, and was given 9 months jail time, and three years' supervised release. There appears to have been state involvment prior to 1994 given references to court orders in 1992.

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FLORIDA v. MIMS and UNITED STATES v. MIMS were related 1994 Florida and 1993 federal court cases, which involved a Jehovah's Witness Ministerial Servant, from Largo, Florida, named Gerald D. Mims. Gerald Mims, a commodities futures trader, pled guilty in state court to defrauding seven Pinellas area investors in 1991 and 1992. Mims was ordered to pay $266,000.00 in restitution, and was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison, followed by 25 years probation. The state prosecutor told the court that Mims has been under a federal court order to pay back 20 victims, for more than a year, but that only two victims had received any money -- $200.00 that very week. When sentencing Mims, the judge stated, "You are exactly the type of thief and liar and crook who belongs in prison." The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES wrote, in part:

"Three years ago, though, Mims seemed like the anything but a thief, say his victims. His luxurious house convinced them he knew how to make money, and his ability to quote the Bible convinced them of his honesty.

"'He's a Jehovah's Witness and he told us he was trying to become an elder,' said Janice Perry, one of the victims. 'He really used his religion as a front.' ...

"'Actually, less than half their money was ever invested in anything. Most went to support Mims' lavish lifestyle,' Kurash wrote in an affidavit.

"'Meanwhile he either handed his 'clients' fraudulent statements about their profits or else gave them no statements at all,' Kurash wrote. ...

"'When they began to figure out what had happened, Mims employed his religious knowledge to fend off discovery,' [John]Moore said.

"'He used the Bible Scriptures on me to keep me from going to the elders in his congregation,' [John] Moore told the judge. And when the elders did question him about it, [John] Moore said, 'he cried and everything.'

Unbelievably, the TIMES also reported that after the sentencing that victim John Moore went to make nice with his fellow Jehovah's Witnesses, Gerald Mim's wife, Virginia Mims, and her JW Father, Charles Wolfersberger , who had served as the Tampa, Florida area spokesperson for the WatchTower Society from the early 1980 to as late as 2007:

"[Charles] Wolfersberger told [John] Moore he would answer for what he had done to [Gerald] Mims, and Mrs. Mims waved a hand and told him, 'Get out of here!'"

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COMMONWEALTH v. McMILLAN was a 1992-3 Massachusetts criminal court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness named David A. McMillan, then 48, of Lunenburg, Massachusetts. David McMillan was originally indicted on 36 counts of larceny, fraud, and securities law violations. McMillan used the typical fraudulent investment scheme of promising unrealistic investment returns to bilk five people out of $230,000.00 over a three year period. One or more of the victims were McMillan's fellow Jehovah's Witnesses, whom McMillan claimed had "loaned" him the money, rather than gave such to him to invest.

McMillan was convicted of six counts of larceny by false pretenses, one count of larceny by a common scheme, and seven counts each of fraudulent sale of a security and selling securities without being registered as a broker or agent. David A. McMillan, who for some unknown reason had given up career as a schoolteacher before this "career",was sentenced to 5-7 years in state prison, plus five years probation. At the sentencing, the judge called McMillan "a common and notorious thief". McMillan reportedly collapsed and began hyper-ventilating after his sentence was read.

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UNITED STATES v. WILSON was a 1986-9 Illinois federal criminal court decision. In April-May 1986, a 29 year-old "Jehovah's Witness", named Otis Wilson, conspired with five others to commit what is labeled, "The Largest Embezzlement In Chicago's History". (Wilson's then membership status is unclear, but one media report stated that "most of his family are Jehovah's Witnesses".)

The scam was hatched by a Detroit con-man, named Armand Moore, and his Chicago cousin, Herschel Bailey, who somehow "knew" Otis Wilson. Wilson had been employed at The First National Bank of Chicago for six years. In Spring 1986, Otis Wilson worked in the bank's department which was responsible for "wire transfers" of money. Bailey apparently convinced Wilson to join the conspiracy, and apparently because Wilson could not do everything that needed to be done in the scam, Wilson enlisted another department employee, named Gabriel Taylor. Bailey initially wanted to steal $232 million, and Wilson and Taylor's cut was to be $28 million of the $232 million.

Together, Otis Wilson and Gabriel Taylor provided the others with confidential information regarding the bank's wire transfers procedures, including the verbiage and codes that would be needed during the request and confirmation stages. The Duo also studied bank records to determine which bank customers had the highest amount of protection against overdrafts, and which had the highest volume of transactions in their account, so that missing funds would be difficult to reconcile.

On Friday, May 13, 1986, the outside conspirators telephone the bank and requested $69,125,000.00 be transferred from the accounts of Merrill Lynch, United Airlines, and Brown-Forman to bank accounts in Vienna, Austria. Taylor manuevered the inside situation such that he was the bank employee to "confirm" the requests, and the funds were transferred as requested. However, the scam was discovered the following Monday by practically every party involved, because Wilson and Taylor were ignorant of nearly everything that such large wire transfers would trigger outside their own department's function.

The $69,125,000.00 was quickly recovered, and Wilson's and Taylor's roles in the scheme were unraveled just as quickly. Both Wilson and Taylor cooperated with the authorities. Taylor even helped the F.B.I. "sting" some of the outsiders. Otis Wilson provided a detailed confession to a federal grand jury, which incriminated himself and his co-conspirators. In 1989, Otis Wilson was sentenced to only 36 months in prison.

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S.E.C. v. HERBERT M. KIRSCHNER was a 1986 Connecticut federal court case which involved a Jehovah's Witness named Herbert M. Kirschner. In 1982, Herbert Kirschner formed HMK Management Corporation. As HMK's sole stockholder, Director, and President, Kirschner managed, directed, and controlled its stock trading and other investment activities. Neither Kirschner nor HMK was licensed or registered as a stockbroker or investment advisor. In violation of state and federal law, Herbert Kirschner issued unregistered securities to Jehovah's Witnesses and other clients in exchange for cash. Kirschner then used the proceeds to "play the stock market" in hopes that he would make a profit over and above the interest payable on the worthless securities he had issued. Kirschner not only failed to make sufficient profits to pay the interest, but HMK went bankrupt, which resulted in the loss of the investors' principal. The exact ruling in this specific case is not known. It is also not known how many other civil and/or criminal cases may have been filed against Kirschner. The federal bankruptcy court case was litigated into the 1990s.

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In 1991, the Miami Springs, Florida Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses changed its name to the Virginia Gardens Spanish Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. Interestingly, in March 1993, two checks on the Congregation's old checking account were cashed in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is unclear whether the Congregation had completely closed the old checking account, or had merely changed the name and retained the account number. In any event, who other than one of the Elders would have had access to those defunct checks?

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STATE v. STEPHEN VAN DER SLUYS was a 1986 New York criminal court case which involved Stephen Van Der Sluys, 34, who was an active minister in the Syracuse, New York; Farmington, New York; Mechanicsville, New York; and Canandaigua, New York Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. Van Der Sluys apparently first came to the attention of law enforcement in Spring 1985, when he was convicted and jailed for one year for sodomizing and raping a teenaged foster child ($$$) who had been placed in the family's home through the state foster care program.

At some point, New York authorities also began to investigate the deaths of Stephen Van Der Sluys' three children, which had occurred in the late 1970s. Heath, age 16 months, died in 1976, supposedly from choking on a quarter. Heather, age 3 months, died in 1977, supposedly from SIDS. Vicki, age 14 months, died in 1979, supposedly from SIDS.

The first two children each had a $10,000.00 life insurance policy. Vicki, the third child, had a $30,000.00 life insurance policy. After Vicki died, Van Der Sluys and his wife, Jane, then had three more children. Although there was no indication that Jane knew about the prior murders, a Prosecutor told a reporter that the only reason those three children were not killed was because Jane would not allow Stephen to buy a life insurance policy on them

In the 1986 murder trial, Stephen Van Der Sluys was convicted of second-degree murder for the suffocation death of Heather. Van Der Sluys pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in Vicki's death, which was also believed to have been by suffocation. Van Der Sluys was sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1977 murder, and 8 1/2 to 25 years for the 1979 slaying. The Prosecutor decided not to pursue the 1976 death. The primary motive in the deaths was the insurance money given the family's history of financial problems.

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COMMONWEALTH v. COUTURE was a 1970 Massachusetts bank robbery court case. In May 1970, William Couture, 56, of Sharon, Massachusetts, but originally from Central Falls, Rhode Island, was shot four times during his apprehension by police after he and two accomplices held-up and robbed a Tewksbury bank. Taken to St. Johns Hospital, in Lowell, Bill Couture refused to consent to needed blood transfusions before, during, and after surgery to remove the four bullets -- due to his beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. Couture was listed in critical condition. Outcome unknown.

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DAVIS v. UNITED STATES was a 1968 Mississippi federal appellate court decision. A Jehovah's Witness, named Robert Wesley Davis, was convicted on draft evasion charges after failing to report for his second assignment of "civilian work contributing to the maintenance of the national health, safety and interest as ordered by the local board", at Rush Foundation Hospital.

But, this webpage is about "JW honesty" not "JW draft dodgers". The reason that Robert Davis was assigned to a second hospital is because at his first assignment, at Mississippi State Hospital, Davis had allowed a "patient" to "escape" in exchange for a $50.00 bribe.

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OREGON v. BOYD (2003), BOYD v. PALMATEER (2007), and BOYD v. HOEFEL (2007) are rebuttably believed to all involve a female Jehovah's Witness (or ex), who spent nearly 20 years as the wife of a now deceased Oregon Jehovah's Witness Elder. The listed 2003 court case was her criminal conviction on the charges of second degree manslaughter, for which she was sentenced to Oregon State Penitentiary for a term of 75 months, and the unlawful use of a firearm, for which she was sentenced to six months. The man that Bimla Wati Boyd was convicted of killing was not her JW Elder husband, Charles Boyd, although one or more of her three children believe that she possibly may have also killed him. The two listed 2007 court cases have as defendants two administrators within the Oregon State Penitentiary system. Although the subject of the lawsuits are not known, just the existence of such lawsuits reveals something about who Bimla Boyd is in the year 2007.

I have no evidence that Bimla Wati Boyd has ever been civilly or criminally charged, much less convicted, of any financial crime, or any other crime, other than that for which she is currently incarcerated. However, there have been multiple news media reports that raise questions about a series of coincidental deaths and many financial transactions connected to Bimla Boyd which occurred or took place over the decades

Before I summarize the information from those multiple media reports, web visitors should first read my summary of the "custody" court case CHECKLEY v. KEIZER CONGREGATION OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES, which is posted on this website's sister website. Bimla Wati Boyd is the party identified as "JW Elderette" in that summary. Only after reading the details provided in that summary will the following summary of various events and dates pertaining to Bimla Boyd make sense:

1956: Bimla Wati Lal was born in 1956, on the South Pacific island(s) of Fiji.

1974: Bimla's first child, James Maharaj-Lal, was born in Fiji. Bimla Boyd has stated in official U.S. documents that she was divorced in Fiji the next month after "James Boyd" was born. It is only an assumption that the husband was James' father -- assuming the marriage and divorce actually occurred. James' father was allegedly Bimla's high school teacher, named Sudesh Maharaj, who supposedly moved to New Zealand rather than accompany Bimla and James to North America.

1980: Bimla and James immigrate to Canada -- Vancouver.

1981: Bimla and James immigrate to Springfield, Oregon, where Bimla marries someone named "Schultz". After Bimla gains U.S. citizenship, they divorce. Bimla moves to Portland, Oregon, where she moves in with "relatives", and enrolls at Portland Community College, where she studies "nursing".

1982: Bimla meets a Molalla, Oregon, USPS mail carrier named Charles Boyd. Converts to his religion -- Jehovah's Witnesses. Then, they marry.

Latter 1980s: Bimla's second son born in January 1986. Girl born in March 1988. The Boyd family moves to Keizer, Oregon

Early 1990s: In Keizer, Charles Boyd is an Elder in the local JW Congregation. The Boyds gradually develop a relationship with severely disabled fellow JW -- Shad Wagner.

February 1994: Charles and Bimla Boyd take Shad Wagner to lodge a complaint with Oregon Disability Services regarding Ronald Checkley's activities as Wagner's guardian and conservator.

1995-6: Wagner files petition with local Court to remove Checkley as his guardian and conservator. Months pass before case is actually heard. Court declines to replace Checkley.

1996: Checkley files lawsuit against the Boyds and the Keizer Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.

1996: The Boyds file for a "legal separation", yet reportedly continue to live in the same home. It has been alleged that such was nothing but a ploy to allow Bimla to qualify for state/federal assistance.

November 1996: The Boyds open an adult-foster-care business in their Keizer home.

January 1998: The Boyds purchase 31 acres of rural property about 10 miles west of Salem, Oregon, and obtain a loan to build a 2700 sf home. They close the Keizer adult-foster-care business, sell their home, and move into a $1500 Mobile Home setup on the rural property while their new home is being constructed. The Boyd's new property is located at the end of a 1-mile long sparsely populated country road.

Sept/Oct 1998: The Boyds advertise the now vacant dilapidated Mobile Home "free in exchange for housework". Out of an alleged 300 responders, the Boyds pick an unmarried couple (26 and 24) who have been alleged to have manufactured and sold methamphetamine from the trailer.

November 23, 1998: At 3:57 p.m., 9-1-1 receives a call from Bimla Boyd reporting that she has discovered the dead body of the male "employee" in the kitchen of the Mobile Home. Bimla claims that she was motivated to go check on the "caretakers" after seeing smoke coming from the trailer (a reportedly stormy day). Police discover the bodies of the female caretaker and a second female underneath the trailer. All three had been "executed" by a small .22 caliber shot to the head. Police arrest Philip Scott Cannon later that night after Bimla Boyd, and possibly others, report seeing Cannon at the Mobile Home earlier that afternoon. Cannon, a convicted felon, who earns a living as a local handyman, admits being there that day, but he claims that he was asked to come to the trailer to give a bid on some plumbing work.

December 1998: Checkley's Lawsuit goes to trial. Boyd's win. Checkley appeals.

Mid 1999: Bimla Boyd gets into a dispute with relatives of the three murder victims. She denies them permission to retrieve their loved one's belongings from the mobile home until they pay $500.00 for damages inside the trailer. Boyd also demanded that the families sign a waiver releasing her of any liability if they contracted a disease from the dried blood.

Fall-Winter 1999: Several people report that Bimla was extremely nervous/anxious about having to take the witness stand at the upcoming murder trial. An attorney allegedly reported that Bimla consulted with him about the ramifications of her going to Mexico until the trial was over.

Jan-Feb 2000: Cannon murder trial. Autopsies showed that the male and female "caretakers" had used meth within only a few hours of being killed. There were no witnesses to the killings. Just Bimla, and possibly others, who seen Cannon at the trailer, which he admits. The district attorney produced no motive during Cannon's trial. The DA theorized that the slayings resulted from a drug deal gone awry. No murder weapon was found. Bullets and/or shell casings of the same caliber, same manufacturer, and same chemical composition were discovered at the crime scene and at Cannon's home. (I wonder how many boxes of 50 cartridges the local WalMart sold from the same case?) Cannon was convicted and sentenced to life without parol. Cannon still denies that he killed the 3 druggies. [2010 UPDATE: Scott Cannon's conviction was overturned by an appellate court in 2009. Local Prosecutors decided not to retry Cannon after being unable to locate stored evidence. Cannon was released in December 2009.]

Fall 2000: Robert Daniel Spencer, 54, who receives SS Disability, moves into the rent-free Mobile Home located about 100 ft from the Boyd home in exchange for performing various caretaking duties on the property.

November 2000: Appellate court reinstates most of lawsuit against Boyds.

Latter 2000: The local housing authority discovers that the Boyds have fraudulently received $5-7,000.00 in state housing assistance after claiming that they are legally separated, that the realty belongs solely to Charles, that he rents the house to Bimla, and that he lives at their former residence in Keizer. The Police fiddle around with the complaint until they also forget to refer the it to the DA. This scam appears to be a repeat of the one alleged in 1996, and possibly other years.

2001-2002: An unidentified elderly man and woman also died sometime around 2001-2 while staying at Bimla Boyd's home. They had lived with the Boyds when they operated the adult-foster-care business from their Keizer home. The elderly couple moved with the Boyds to their new home in Polk County. The two deaths were assumed to have stemmed from natural causes, and raised noone's suspicions.

October 15, 2001: Boyds divorce final. Terms of divorce settlement required Charles Boyd to continue making the mortgage payments, and provide child support of $200 a month.The divorce decree also required Charles Boyd to keep Bimla as the primary beneficiary of his $400,000.00 life insurance policy. It is alleged that the Boyd's divorce was as genuine as their previous legal separations that were used for one scam or another.

December 2001: The Monmouth Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses disfellowship both Charles and Bimla Boyd. Reason(s) not announced, but it could have been for any number of possible reasons. It was rumored to relate to the Boyds continuing to live together after their divorce. It would be typical that the JWs would hone in on the decoy rather than what the decoy was used for.

2001-2002: The deed to the Boyd property is put into first one of their names, and then the other, allegedly depending on who they were trying to scam at the time -- including worrying about losing the ongoing Checkley lawsuit.

January 2002: Allegedly, the Boyd's realty was deeded to Spencer (caretaker) for a few weeks.

Jan-Feb 2002: Charles Boyd becomes severely depressed after being disfellowshiped from the JWs, and decides to do whatever the JW Elders required him to do in order for him to be reinstated.

February 2, 2002, Charles moves out (possibly the only time he actually did so in all the years of claiming such in order to scam various government programs).

Feb. 13, 2002: Charles, Bimla, and their two children attend the evening meeting at the Monmouth Kingdom Hall together in an attempt to do what was needed for he and Bimla to be reinstated. After the meeting, Charles spends the night at Bimla's (their) house. According to Bimla, Charles sleeps in a downstairs bedroom, while she sleeps upstairs.

February 14, 2002: When Charles fails to get up for work at USPS the next morning, rather than checking on him herself, Bimla summons Spencer to come and check on Charles. Spencer told detectives that when he opened the bedroom door that he instantly recognized that Charles was dead. Spencer said he tried but failed to revive Charles with chest compressions. Bimla told investigators that Charles had committed suicide by overdosing on prescription pills. The Medical Examiner determined that he had taken a non-lethal amount of Oxycodone, a painkiller, and sertraline, an anti-depressant. The Coroner's report listed the cause of his death as undetermined. However, it concluded that three combined factors - his large, 6-foot-1, 220-pound body; the medication; and a dilated heart - probably caused his death. (Keep in mind that Charles, only 44, daily walked a mail delivery route for USPS. Also keep in mind that Bimla trained as a nurse. Friends reportedly alleged that she was also a notorious hypochondriac, who monitored the pill-taking of everyone around her.)

Sometime 2002: Boyds again win at trial. Checkley again appeals.

September 29, 2002: Around 6:00 p.m., 9-1-1 receives a call from Bimla Boyd's 16 year-old son reporting a shooting at the Boyd residence. Around 6:30 p.m., Police find Spencer's body in Bimla's bedroom. Spencer died from a single rifle shot to the face. Some of Spencer's relatives later claimed that Spencer had wanted for some time to quit his "rent for work" deal (and maybe tit for tat) with Boyd, but that Spencer could not afford to do so given that SS Disability was his sole income. They suspect that Spencer had finally had enough and told Bimla that he was leaving.

October 2002: Bimla Boyd pleads not guilty to the murder charge.

January 2003: Bimla Boyd's attorney negotiates a second degree manslaughter plea deal after the DA "investigates" and learns from Bimla, Bimla's 14 year-old daughter, and Bimla's 16 year-old son that Bimla shot Spencer after discovering Spencer and the daughter having sex in Spencer's trailer. Spencer, 54, recipient of SS disability, who had likely carried on a sexual relationship with Bimla, allegedly had been carrying on a sexual relationship with Bimla's 14 year-old daughter for about six months. Supposedly, around 5:00 PM on 11/29/02, Bimla had decided to go for a walk on her property. She stopped at Spencer's trailer, about 100 ft from her house, and interrupted Spencer having sex with her daughter. Bimla then escorted her daughter back to the house, where Spencer was stupid enough to follow around 6:00 PM. Bimla and Spencer argue, and in the heat of the argument, somehow wind up in Bimla's bedroom, where she retrieves one of two loaded rifles from beneath her bed, and proceeds to shoot Spencer one time in the face, killing him. Bimla claims that she did not intend to shoot Spencer, but that her finger must have slipped in the anger, confusion, frusttration, etc of the moment. Neither of Bimla's two children saw what occurred in her bedroom.

January 2008: Boyd's 75 month sentence is still running. She is required to serve all 75 months, and it is unclear whether the six months for the lesser charge is additional, and unclear if and how much credit she received for jailtime.

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ADDITIONAL UNDOCUMENTED INCIDENTS

Readers specifically interested in the topic of Jehovah's Witness Honesty and Integrity should be aware that related court cases are scattered throughout this website -- specifically the JW Business Owners, Managers, and Supervisors page. Readers should also refer to the 8 webpages of other types of thefts and other criminal court cases posted on the JW CHILDREN website linked from this website's Homepage.

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