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UNITED STATES v. JONATHAN AUGUSTUS SEAY was a 2018-22 Georgia federal criminal court case. In 2015, an unidentified female member of the McRae, Georgia Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses was diagnosed with ALS. In December 2015, a onetime JW Elder at the McRae, Georgia Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, named Jonathan A. Seay, then age 50, applied for and was issued a $250,000.00 life insurance policy on the aforementioned unidentified ill female Jehovah's Witness -- without the knowledge or consent of that unidentified female Jehovah's Witness or her husband. Jonathan Seay was designated as the sole beneficiary of the $250,000.00 coverage amount. Jonathan Seay falsely identified himself as the insured's "brother". The $30.00 monthly premiums were setup to be automatically deducted from Jonathan Seay's personal checking account. The last such deduction occurred in December 2017, which possibly indicates the death of the insured around January 2018. In February 2021, a federal grand jury indicted Jonathan A. Seay on one count of identity theft and multiple counts of wire fraud. Jonathan Seay pled guilty to one count of identity theft, in July 2022, in exchange for a sentence of three years probation. Seay reportedly did not collect on the life insurance policy.

SEE ALSO: UNITED OF OMAHA LIFE INSURANCE CO v. JONATHAN AUGUSTUS SEAY ET AL (2016-19).

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EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DEPT v. VINCENT S. PREINESBERGER AND SPOUSE was a 2007-08 State of Washington tax warrants case to recover overpayment of benefits from Vincent Preinesberger, then age 50s, of Raymond, WA, whose claim to JW fame was that his family had attended the 1958 WatchTower Convention at Yankee Stadium when he was a young child.

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STATE OF WASHINGTON v. JASON JAY GAUF AND SPOUSE is a possibly ongoing 2014-22 State of Washington tax warrants case to recover overpayment of benefits from Jason J. Gauf, then age 44, who was then living in Stevens County, WA, in 2014. A female "Jane Doe Gauf" was also named as a defendant. Jason Gauf received a Kingdom Hall funeral in Bellingham WA, in 2018.

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GO-FUND-ME CAUTION. A Tipster has brought to our attention a 2020 GFM fundraiser established by the wife and daughter of a deceased prominent African-American husband-father who received a Kingdom Hall funeral. This is a large extended A-A JW Family ranging from Florida to the Canadian border. The GFM solicitation claims there was zero life insurance, when in fact the deceased died while covered by what may be one of the BEST employer-provided health insurance policies available, which included a $10,000.00 death benefit. That same employer's benefit package also included optional life insurance coverage, which was available regardless of the employees' health status. Given the highly-paid deceased's longterm poor health, he would have been a FOOL not to have purchased maximum limits. Fortunately, only a few dozen JW koolaid drinkers donated to GFM, but a couple dozen nonJW sports "fans" also fell for the scam.

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UNITED STATES v. GREGORY KEITH KLIMA was a 2013-14 Ohio federal criminal court case. In July 2013, attorney Gregory Keith Klima, age 53, of Avon Lake, Ohio, and Timothy Grodzik, age 53, of Columbia Station, Ohio were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Gregory K. Klima, President, and Tim Grodzik, Vice President, of Westlake, Ohio real estate and insurance business, Title Access LLC, were alleged to have defrauded 27 companies and clients out of more than $290,000.00 between December 2009 and February 2011. 

Title Access was formed in 2000, and was in the business of administering real estate transactions by providing services including title insurance and escrow account management. Title Access used Stewart Title as an underwriter for the issuing of title insurance. Gregory Klima and Grodzik were accused of defrauding Stewart and parties to real estate transactions by diverting funds from Title Access' escrow account for their personal benefit. Around February 2011, Grodzik, with Greg Klima's knowledge, allegedly falsified Access' financial documents to conceal from a Stewart Title auditor the fact that they had diverted funds from the Title Access escrow account.

In October 2014, Gregory Klima pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Greg Klima was sentenced in December 2014 to 18 months in prison and three years of probation once released. Timothy Grodzik received 15 months in prison and three years of probation after his release. Gregory Klima and Grodzik were ordered to pay $290,484.00 in restitution to the 27 individuals and companies that they swindled. Although Klima managed to reach restitution agreements with some of the entities he defrauded, to date, no payments have been made to the parties.

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DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL v. GREGORY KEITH KLIMA were a series of 2014-15 Supreme Court of Ohio actions. In December 2014, Gregory K. Klima was temporarily suspended from practicing law after failing to respond to a July 2014 complaint from Ohio's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline. The suspension was made "indefinite" in August 2015. Klima began practicing law in November 1986.

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HATFIELD v. BERRYHILL, United States District Court, S.D. Ohio, Eastern Division, January 22, 2018.

"In the instant case, while Mr. Plymale was appointed as Plaintiff's attorney in March 2015, Plaintiff's more recent counsel, Gregory Klima, undertook her representation sometime before the hearing on March 19, 2015. While Plaintiff appeared without counsel at this hearing, she advised that she had secured new counsel, Mr. Klima. The ALJ instructed Plaintiff at the hearing on March 19, 2015, that her new attorney should advise if he thinks there is a need for additional records. Mr. Klima appeared and represented Plaintiff at the hearing on May 21, 2015. The ALJ again provided Mr. Klima another opportunity to present any additional relevant records and Mr. Klima agreed that he would communicate with the Court about such records. Based on this record where Plaintiff was represented by Mr. Klima prior to the hearings, Plaintiff has not shown that Mr. Plymale's alleged inadequacies or alleged mistakes had any bearing on her case."

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AUDREY RAYMOND ET AL v. MAISON ORLEANS ET AL. Around 2000, an elderly infirmed AFRICAN-AMERICAN male named Walter Kerry James wandered outside his New Orleans nursing home and was struck and killed by an automobile insured for only $10,000 liability, for which the plaintiffs "settled". However, Walter K. James' JEHOVAH'S WITNESS EX-WIFE Audrey Raymond and her three adult children came running and filed this wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home. Ultimately, Audrey Raymond was named Guardian of supposedly "mentally impaired" son, Michael A. James. A TYPICAL New Orleans jury awarded Michael A. James $300,000.00 "damages" as a "survivor" of the institutionalized infirmed Walter James. The two other siblings were awarded $50,000.00 each, while the Estate was awarded $230,000.00. (There could have been other children and  heirs who would have shared in the estate's windfall.) HOWEVER, Audrey Raymond and her three children took the damages award to mediation, where each child received only $200,000.00, less 40% attorney fees and costs, in 2003.

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Chemical Plant Sued in New Orleans

A woman claims the Chalmette Refining chemical plant polluted her neighborhood with a ton of clay dust and titanium oxide on Monday, sending her to the hospital and annoying the neighborhood with a "foul smell that caused personal harm, personal injury and property damage."

Audrey Raymond says she was injured by the "one ton of catalyst in oil refining" that permeated the air as she stepped out Monday morning to proselytize for the Jehovah's Witnesses. As she set out at 8 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 6, Raymond says, "she noticed a fine white dust covering the neighborhood, including her home, her yard, and her automobile."

She claims Chalmette released the dust, kaolin and titanium oxide, which are catalysts it uses in its chemical plant. She claims that a ton of the stuff "caused the foul smell that caused personal harm, personal injury and property damage."

She says she was treated at a hospital on Tuesday, for coughing, sore throat, burning and watery eyes and headache. "While the symptoms seem to dissipate slightly when the plaintiff is away from the vicinity of her home, those symptoms are exacerbated when she returns home, and she continued to suffer from a sort throat, burning in the nose and eyes and headaches," according to the complaint in Orleans Parish Court.

Raymond says the St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief warned that the dust can irritate people with respiratory problems and "advised residents of the area to wash off the substance, and to avoid the substance having contact with the eyes and mouth."

In addition to Chalmette Refining, Raymond sued the Department of Environmental Quality, claiming it failed to inspect and regulate the refinery's storage of the toxic substance and failed to respond to the release. ...

AUDREY RAYMOND ET AL v. CHALMETTE REFINING ET AL. AUDREY RAYMOND eventually became the lead plaintiff in this 2012 class action lawsuit. In 2016, the trial court judge awarded Audrey Raymond $600.00 for "cleaning costs".  That award was appealed and reversed in 2017 by the Louisiana Court of Appeal. Nothing heard from since. Likely "settled" thereafter.

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In January 2021, an AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE living in New Orleans, Louisiana, named AUDREY RAYMOND, received a $20,833.00 SBA Paycheck Protection Loan from local Cross River Bank, which was approved and guaranteed by the federal government as "PAYROLL"  for the "ONE EMPLOYEE" business operated by Audrey Raymond. That federal SBA PPP "loan" already is reported as "FORGIVEN".

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UNITED STATES v. LEAH HAGEN and MICHAEL HAGEN was a 2017-21 Texas federal criminal prosecution. In July 2021, a Texas federal jury convicted Leah Hagen, age 49, and her husband, Michael Hagen, age 54, of the greater Dallas, Texas, area of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and to pay and receive health care kickbacks, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Hagens are owners and operators of two durable medical equipment companies -- Metro DME Supply LLC, and Ortho Pain Solutions LLC; both operated out of the same location in Arlington, Texas. The Hagens paid illegal bribes and kickbacks to their co-conspirator's telephone call center in the Philippines that provided signed doctor's orders for orthotic braces. The Hagens paid a fixed rate per item in exchange for prescriptions and paperwork completed by telemedicine doctors that were used to submit false claims to Medicare. Their contract was disguised as one for marketing and other services. Through this scheme, the Hagens billed Medicare Parts B and C for approximately $59 million, and were paid approximately $27 million by Medicare. Sentence pending.

During her trial testimony, Leah Hagen revealed that she had been reared as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. What about her husband, Michael Hagen? What about their co-conspirators in the Philippines and elsewhere?

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WASHINGTON STATE OFFICE OF THE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER v. ELLA HIPES DBA MEASURED WEALTH CORP is an ongoing Washington state administrative action. In 2015, FINRA's Office of Fraud Detection contacted Washington state's Insurance Commissioner about annuity insurance policies being sold in the state by this unlicensed individual and company. In April 2017, the Insurance Commissioner issued a CEASE AND DESIST ORDER to Ethel Ella Hipes, age 61, of Spokane, Washington, an UNLICENSED insurance agent in the state of Washington, ordering her to:

Cease and Desist from engaging in or transacting the unauthorized business of insurance in the state of Washington; Seeking, pursuing and obtaining any insurance business in the state of Washington; Soliciting Washington residents to sell any insurance issued or to be issued by an unauthorized insurer; Soliciting Washington residents to induce them to purchase any insurance contract.

Ella Hipes, along with a second allegedly unlicensed insurance salesperson named ***Justin W. Smith, were alleged to have sold four annuities for nearly $600,000.00 to three Washington state consumers. Hipes allegedly retained nearly $35,000.00 of the commission, while paying over $4,400.00 of the commission to Justin Smith. The Order was issued after Hipes failed to respond to all inquiries from the insurance commissioner, and refused delivery of the final notification letter. Thereafter, Ella Hipes sought and was granted a "stay" of the Order pending an administrative hearing. Outcome pending.

*** We do not know the age or other identifying info for the "Justin W. Smith" associated with Ethel Ella Hipes, but in April 2007, in Spokane, Washington, "a" Justin W. Smith, then age 45, was arrested on the charge of FIRST DEGREE CHILD MOLESTATION, after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 10 year-old girl. Outcome unknown.

2018 UPDATE: In February 2018, Ella Hipes, then of Hanover, Maryland, was FINED $25,000.00, which was still less money than she had netted from the sales???

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TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND INSURANCE v. ETHEL ELLA HIPES and BRITTANY D. HIPES was a 2015-16 Tennessee administrative action in which the Insurance Agent licenses of Ethel E. Hipes, and her daughter, Brittany Hipes, both then of Knoxville, Tennessee, were REVOKED, and each party was issued a civil penalty of $14,000.00 relating to 14 counts of FRAUD, DISHONESTY, INCOMPETENCE, etc.

The "childless" victim, Anna Kirin Davies, became acquainted with Ethel Hipes and her daughter, Brittany Hipes, while all three were attending the Venice, Florida Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, sometime around the death of Davies' husband, Carl Davies, in 1998, and the settlement of the lawsuit resulting from such, in the amount of $488,544.00, in 1999.

In 2003, insurance agent Ethel E. Hipe (aka Ethel Ella Therrell, aka Ethel E. Therrell, aka Ethel Ella Barnhouse, aka Ethel E. Barnhouse) sold a $250,000.00 annuity to Anna Davies, then age 75. The Hipes relocated to South Carolina in 2003. In 2004, Anna Davies purchased the Hipes home in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and relocated there. In 2007, Ethel Hipes, then age 51, married Allen Wayne Therrell, then age 57, of Greenville, SC. In 2009, the "Hipes" relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee. In 2012, the "Hipes" moved back to Greenville, SC.

In December 2012, Ethel Hipes sold to Anna Davies, then age 84, two separate deferred annuities in the amounts of $100,000.00 and $80,000.00. Six weeks later, after convincing Davies to cash those two annuities, Hipes sold Davies two more annuities ("churning") in the same amounts with a different company. In November 2013, Hipes sold four more annuities (amounts unknown) to Davies. The Hipes thereafter moved back to Knoxville, Tennessee.

In March 2014, the Hipes moved the nearly-dead 86 year-old Anna Davies to their home in Knoxville. Davies died in November 2014. Three weeks after moving Davies into the Hipes home in Knoxville, "someone" allegedly forged Davies name to a durable Power of Attorney, which named Ella Hipes as POA. When Davies had to be admitted to UT Medical Center in May 2014, because she was not being given her diabetes medicine, Ella Hipes allegedly told staffers that she was Davies' daughter. Hipes also signed all medical documents for Davies as her POA.

Allegedly, while Davies was hospitalized, Ella Hipes also forged Davies signature and changed the "Beneficiary" of the two annuities totaling $180,000.00 making her own daughter, Brittany Hipes, the Beneficiary. Hipes allegedly also forged a withdrawal of $18,612.00 from the two annuities. That money was placed into a Davies checking account in July 2014. The next day, Hipes allegedly wrote herself a check from that account in the amount of $15,000.00, and thereafter allegedly used the balance to pay over $3000.00 of Hipes' own personal expenses. During the last six months of Davies' life, Hipes also allegedly placed over $7000.00 of her own purchases on Davies' credit card. In June and July 2014, Ella Hipes allegedly used COERCION AND UNDUE INFLUENCE to convince Anna Davies to sign two different WILLs -- each of which named Ella Hipes as the"Beneficiary", and Brittany Hipes as the contingent beneficiary. The Hipes also attempted but failed to cash in the two discussed annuities just prior to Davies' death.

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FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE v. ETHEL ELLA HIPES. In June 1999, Ethel E. Hipes was fined $500.00 for selling insurance in the state of Florida, while both residing in Florida and while having a place of business in Florida, but while being licensed only as a "Non-Resident" Insurance Agent.

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UNITED STATES v. ROBERT DAVIS and CARRIE DAVIS ET AL was a 1949-51 Indiana federal criminal prosecution of Robert Davis, age 43, and his wife, Carrie Davis, age 67, of Indianapolis, Indiana, whom had been prominent Jehovah's Witness activists during the "Central Indiana Disturbances" of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Around 1940, Robert Davis was disfellowshipped for unknown reasons, and even sued some JW Elders whom Davis claimed had assaulted him at an Indianapolis Kingdom Hall. However, by the time of this prosecution in 1951, Davis again was being reported to be a Jehovah's Witness Minister.

The Davises operated a NATIONWIDE SCAM called COORDINATIVE MEDICINES ASSOCIATION INC., which provided without cost dangerous concoctions of then inexpensive herbals to as many as 5000 "members" who "donated" $10.00 per month to join the association. This was a unique form of insurance scam. Although "members" were scattered across the United States, most of the Davises "patients" were ignorant poor whites and African-Americans living in the southern U.S. We did not find any source pointing to those "members" being "Jehovah's Witnesses", but one could assume that the Davises likely targeted JWs.

Robert Davis openly used the title "Doctor", despite having no medical training nor education. When confronted with such by the authorities, Davis then claimed to be a "Doctor of Homeopathy", which also proved to be false. The Davises also maintained a retail storefront in Indianapolis, where they advertised that a "Registered Physician" was on staff to analyse patient complaints and prescribe the correct herbal remedy. Davis' storefront also offered most other "quack" health treatments -- iridology, water therapy, light therapy, heat therapy, physical therapy, "adjustments", etc.

The Davises had been operating this scam since at least 1944. It was not until the late 1940s that the federal government began investigating the Davises. Federal laws regarding such scams were inadequate during the 1940s. The Davises only were charged with ten counts of "misbranding" nutritional supplements. The victims scammed by the Davises refused to believe that they were being defrauded even when confronted with the evidence of such. Most continued to believe that they had been helped by the Davises. Some "patients" even appeared at the trial as defense witnesses. Multiple medical professionals testified for the prosecution that Davis' concoctions were at best worthless, and at worst were potentially dangerous.

In the end, a friendly local federal judge convicted the Davises only on two counts of selling misbranded nutritional supplements via interstate commerce. They were fined a total of $2200.00, and sentenced to two years in prison. That sentence was immediately suspended, and the Davises were placed on three years probation. Thereafter, Robert Davis possibly became an audiologist in Indianapolis. (There supposedly is a major hearing aid company in the upper midwest which is owned and operated by Jehovah's Witnesses, and employs JWs around the United States.)

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF UNINSURABLE, SICK AMERICANS SCAMMED FOR YEARS

BY TEXAS JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SELLING FAKE HEALTH INSURANCE

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A recent, and possibly current, WATCHTOWER BETHELITE named Jeffrey Malone, aka Jeff Malone, previously of the Arlington, Texas area, once held significant responsibilities and corporate titles -- President, Director, Officer, etc. -- with multiple intertwined but now defunct Texas corporations which had been under multiple state investigations since 2004, or earlier, and was finally forced out of business in 2012 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Jeffrey Malone is believed to have been the President of the IAB Group of companies since around 1989. It is not known when Jeff Malone stopped running IAB on a daily basis, or when Jeff Malone and his wife, Karen Malone, went to work at WatchTower World HQ in Brooklyn, New York, but Jeffrey Malone was still listed as a Corporate Director on the 2011 IRS 990 linked below.

These intertwined corporations include but are not limited to the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES, INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES (2011 - IRS 990), INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AGENCIES INC. OF DELAWARE, and INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AGENCY. (Some of these corporate names are also used in similar incorporations in multiple individual states. If readers have a difficult time keeping straight the three similar IAB -- don't feel bad. Even one of IAB's Florida sales agents publicly stated the name incorrectly on multiple occasions.)

One can only wonder how many of the individuals named in the plethora of state and federal legal documents relating to this now defunct interstate "Not-Health Insurance" alleged Marketing SCAM were/are also "exemplary Jehovah's Witnesses". IAB had multiple affiliates and sales agents scattered across the United States, and it takes zero stretch of the imagination to assume that some of those individuals were fellow Jehovah's Witnesses of the President of the company. Jeff Malone also has a son with the same/similar name, thus it is not known if or how he may have been connected to IAB. Notably, an "Andrea Malone" aka "Andrea Brown Malone" (??Malone's daughter-in-law??) is included as a Director/Officer in multiple legal documents relating to IAB, including the 2011 IRS 990 linked above.

Sometime prior to 2011, the Malone Family appears to have been replaced in its day-to-day operation of the IAB companies by the Wood Family, also of the Greater Dallas-Forth Worth area. INTERESTINGLY, the WOOD FAMILY is a large, extended family of Jehovah's Witnesses -- dating back to the early 20th century (possibly to Russell's days). Despite the fact that James Wood founded IAB around 1982, neither James C. Wood or other Wood Family members consistently show up on 21st century IAB legal filings that we have found until around 2011. Significantly, neither Jeff Malone, Andrea Malone, nor any of their immediate Malone Family relatives are named in any of the federal court legal filings -- not as a Defendant, or otherwise -- despite the fact that the FTC makes note of the fact that IAB's illegal activities date back to 2005 (see multiple state investigations/actions posted below). However, six Wood Family members are named as Defendants in the 2012 FTC civil prosecution linked below -- James Wood (father), Tressa Wood (mother), James J. Wood (son), Michael Wood (son), Gary Wood (James Clayton Wood's brother), and Suzanne Wood.

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES, JAMES CLAYTON WOOD, TRESSA KAY WOOD, JAMES JOSHUA WOOD, MICHAEL JACOB WOOD, GARY D. WOOD, AVIS SUZANNE WOOD, ET AL. Despite multiple state investigations, multiple state agency actions, and one state court case (some of which are linked below), the aforementioned corporations continued doing business until 2012, when the Federal Trade Commission finally put them out of business. Click link to read voluminous details. Will appointed IAB "Receiver", Charlene Koonce "clawback" past donations made to the WatchTower Cult???

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Alleged Fraudsters Stole Millions of Dollars from Consumers Seeking Health Insurance

October 2014 FTC Press Release (edited)

A group of marketers who allegedly tricked consumers into buying phony health insurance are permanently banned from selling healthcare-related products under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The settlement resolves claims that the defendants, who operated as the bogus trade association Independent Association of Businesses (IAB), preyed on consumers who sought health insurance. Consumers submitted their contact information to websites purportedly offering quotes from health insurance companies. They paid an initial fee ranging from $50 to several hundred dollars, and a monthly fee ranging from $40 to $1,000 purportedly for comprehensive health insurance coverage, but instead they were enrolled in an IAB membership. The program included purported discounts on services such as identify-theft protection, travel, and roadside assistance, as well as certain purported healthcare related benefits, including limited discounts and reimbursements on visits to certain doctors or hospitals, subject to broad exclusions and limitations.

In 2012, the FTC charged the IAB defendants and those who ran IAB's largest telemarketing operation with violating the FTC Act and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). A federal court halted the operation until the case was resolved. A settlement order announced in 2013 bans the telemarketing defendants from selling healthcare-related products.

The settlement order announced today permanently bans the remaining defendants from selling healthcare-related products. They are IAB Marketing Associates LP, Independent Association of Businesses, HealthCorp International Inc., JW Marketing Designs LLC, International Marketing Agencies LP, International Marketing Management LLC, Wood LLC, James C. Wood, his sons, James J. Wood and Michael J. Wood, and his brother, Gary D. Wood. It also resolves the FTC's claims against relief defendant Tressa K. Wood, James C. Wood's wife, who benefited from but did not participate in the alleged scheme.

The order also prohibits the defendants from violating the TSR, misrepresenting material facts about any goods or services, and selling or otherwise benefiting from consumers' personal information.

The order imposes a $125 million judgment that will be partially suspended once the defendants surrender assets valued at almost $2 million, including $502,000 in IRA funds and personal property that includes five luxury cars (a Lamborghini, two Mercedes, a Porsche, and an MG Roadster). A separate settlement order requires relief defendant Avis. K. Wood to pay $60,000 from an IRA account that was funded by the defendants' allegedly unlawful activities.

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In this August 2008 BIZJOURNALS magazine article, the operator of United States Benefits LLC, named Timothy Thomas, is quoted as telling that reporter that the Nashville, Tennessee based UNITED STATES BENEFITS LLC was the "marketing arm" of Arlington, Texas based INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS.

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION v. UNITED STATES BENEFITS ET AL was a 2010-11 Tennessee federal civil prosecution which basicly put this reported IAB affiliated Nashville, Tennessee insurance marketing company out-of-business, and fined the business $15,738,941.00.

UNITED STATES v. TIMOTHY THOMAS and KENNAN DOZIER THOMAS is an ongoing 2014-16 Tennessee federal prosecution of the owners/operators of UNITED STATES BENEFITS. Timothy Thomas, age 52, was indicted on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and criminal contempt. Tim Thomas' wife, Kennan Dozier Thomas, age 56, faces charges of money laundering and criminal contempt. The contempt charges are based on the Thomas' transfer of funds, in violation of an order freezing assets of USB. Outcome unknown.

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TEXAS v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS FKA INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES was a 2005-06 Texas court case in which the Attorney General of Texas alleged that IAB had engaged in"false, deceptive and misleading acts and practices", in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices - Consumer Protection Act. IAB was also alleged to have violated the Texas Telemarketing Disclosure and Privacy Act by failing to include proper notice provisions in its solicitations. The Texas OAG and IAB reached a settlement in which IAB was permanently enjoined from numerous specified violations of Texas law, and ordered to pay $150,000.00 in fines/costs.

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ILLINOIS v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS ET AL was a 2005-06 Illinois court case in which the Attorney General of Illinois alleged fraud, misleading sales practices, etc. The Illinois OAG and IAB reached a settlement in which IAB was permanently enjoined from numerous specified violations of Illinois law, and ordered to pay $100,000.00 in fines/costs.

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IN RE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS ET AL was a 2010-11 Montana administrative action which resulted in a conditionally suspended $5000.00 fine, but IAB was ordered to pay $3500.00 costs based on alleged violations which occurred in 2008.

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IN RE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS was a 2007 Florida administrative action which resulted in $9000.00 fine/costs imposed on IAB after the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation discovered numerous violations of the Florida Insurance Code after a review in 2006. Note that "Jeffrey Malone" is still indicated as "President" in November 2007. Also note that signature of IAB's Executive Vice-President has been "hidden" on this public copy.

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WASHINGTON v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS, AKA INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES, FKA INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUSINESSES, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL MARKETING AGENCIES INC OF DELAWARE, JEFFREY MALONE, ET AL was a CEASE and DESIST ORDER issued in February 2012 by the State of Washington Insurance Commissioner. Jeffrey Malone and Andrea Brown Malone were named as two of the multiple Respondents in this Order given their positions as CORPORATE DIRECTORs. Outcome unknown.

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CALIFORNIA v. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BENEFITS wss a 2005 CEASE and DESIST ORDER issued by the Department of Managed Health Care, which had determined that per California law that the unlicensed IAB was marketing Health Insurance products to California consumers. Outcome unknown.

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Both the states of Indiana (2009) and Alaska (2005 and 2007) each issued Cease and Desist Orders against IAB which were eventually rescinded. In the case of Indiana, IAB was fined $500.00 and issued a license as a "Discount Medical Program Organization". It is possible that California also eventually licensed IAB as a "DMPO", but Washington did not. It is possible that some states chose to license "DMPOs", while other states would not do such.

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ALFA MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY v. DANIEL S. GREGERSON and JOHN THEODORE GREGERSON ET AL (1993) and PATTERSON v. CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF ANNISTON ET AL (1995) are related Supreme Court of Alabama decisions which involve multiple members of the PROMINENT Alabama GREGERSON FAMILY of Jehovah's Witnesses. The additional defendants, William Thomas Harris and Jeffery Mark West, may also have been Jehovah's Witnesses, at that time, given William T. Harris's intimate business relationship with Dan Gregerson, and Jeffery M. West's employment relationship with the Gregersons.

Dan Gregerson and Ted Gregerson, father/son and both Jehovah's Witness Elders, were equal partners in a then unincorporated partnership located in Glencoe, Alabama, known as CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF GLENCOE. Dan Gregerson and Ted Gregerson also owned a similar unincorporated business in Anniston, Alabama, known as CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF ANNISTON, along with family members Julie Gregerson, Ronald P. Gregerson, John Gregerson, and Jason Gregerson.

William Harris owned a cargo van on which Harris had purchased routine automobile liability insurance coverage which protected Harris, members of the Harris household, and anyone whom Harris or his household gave permission to temporarily operate that van. In October 1991, a vehicle operated by Kevin Patterson stalled on an Alabama highway. Patterson got out of his vehicle to check under the hood. While standing in front of his vehicle, Patterson was seriously injured when his stalled vehicle was rear-ended by the cargo van owned by William Thomas Harris. Interestingly, at the time of the accident, the Harris cargo van was being driven by Jeffery Mark West, who at that time was working as an employee of CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF GLENCOE, and Jeff West was on his way out-of-state to Dalton, Georgia, to pick up a load of carpet for the Gregersons.

When Kevin Patterson sued all of the defendants in October 1993, they sought liability coverage under William Harris's personal automobile insurance policy. Alfa Insurance Company then filed this declaratory judgment action in which it denied coverage to all of the defendants, because Harris's policy specifically excluded coverage for any vehicle while it was "rented to others". During that trial, it was revealed that from May 1991 through October 1991, that CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES had made seven of William Harris's van payments directly to Harris's bank. During that same period of time, CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES also had given Harris a check in the amount of $125.30 for "truck insurance".

(Readers should first note that, since the Gregersons gave William Harris only one check in the amount of $125.30 for "truck insurance" during the aforementioned 7 month time period, then $125.30 was probably Harris's 6-month insurance premium on the cargo van. Readers should second note that, since there was an outstanding loan on William Harris's cargo van, then that $125.30 six month premium included not only liability coverage, but FULL comprehensive and collision coverage. Even back in 1991, a Commercial Truck insurance policy providing Liability and Full Coverage insurance for a cargo van being used in interstate trucking operations would have cost MORE than $125.30 per month -- much less for six months. We don't believe for a second that all of the involved parties were stupid enough to believe that it was okay to leave that cargo van on Harris's Alfa Insurance Company policy and simply reimburse Harris for the original premium that he was being charged by Alfa. Alfa Insurance Company was DEFRAUDED as to whom actually possessed that van, DEFRAUDED as to how that cargo van was being used, and DEFRAUDED as to whom regularly operated that van. Assuming that Alfa would have even agreed to continue to insure the van knowing all of the above, Alfa was DEFRAUDED out of the appropriate premium. In actuality, once the Gregersons took full-time possession of the Harris cargo van, that van should have been placed on their business insurance policy.)

The Alabama trial court ruled that there effectively was a "rental agreement" between William Harris and the Gregersons, and further ruled that Harris's personal automobile insurance policy did not cover the Gregersons, their businesses, nor their employees. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Alabama, the trial court's decision was affirmed.

Interestingly, the Alabama Supreme Court took the time and made the effort to point out in its decision that William Harris had testified during the trial that his "arrangement" with Dan Gregerson was made either in consideration of their "long-standing friendship", or alternatively, was "a loan". However, the Supreme Court further pointed out that William Harris had testified during his deposition that Dan Gregerson had not simply "volunteered" to make seven of Harris's car payments "out of the goodness of Gregerson's heart", but rather that Dan Gregerson had made those seven car payments because doing so also"benefited" Gregerson.

After that 1993 decision by the Supreme Court of Alabama, Kevin Patterson continued to pursue compensation from the group of defendants. In September 1994, the trial court summarily dismissed all the defendants except for the driver of the van, Jeff West. INTERESTINGLY, we do not know whose fault it was, or why, but only the CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF ANNISTON partnership had been named as a defendant in the lawsuit by Kevin Patterson's attorneys.

In 1995, on Patterson's appeal, the Supreme Court of Alabama upheld the summary dismissal of the van's owner, William Harris, but reversed the dismissal of the CARPET INSTALLATION AND SUPPLIES OF ANNISTON partnership, and remanded the case back to the trial court for further litigation. The Supreme Court of Alabama decision noted the highly interesting way that the Gregerson Family intermingled the two partnerships:

The materials submitted in support of Mr. Patterson's response would support a finding of the following facts: that the partners of the Glencoe partnership are also partners in the Anniston partnership; that the rental agreement for the cargo van was an informal arrangement between Mr. Harris and Daniel Gregerson as opposed to a formal one between Mr. Harris and either or both of the partnerships; that Mr. Gregerson began keeping the cargo van full-time in the summer of 1991 because of an increase in its use when the Anniston partnership was formed and that partnership began operating a store in Anniston; that, as advertising, the "Carpet Installation and Supplies" logo was painted on the side of the cargo van, the word "Anniston" was painted on the front, with the Anniston store's telephone number, and the word "Glencoe" and the Glencoe store's telephone number were painted on the back; that the Anniston partnership and the Glencoe partnership share a bank account at First Alabama Bank; that the account is in the name of the Glencoe partnership, but money is put into the account from the Anniston partnership and the bills of the Anniston partnership are paid from that account; that Jeffery West was paid for his services either by a check from the partnerships' shared bank account or by cash drawn from that account; that the Anniston partnership sold carpet hauled by the cargo van; that Daniel Gregerson, John T. Gregerson, and Beth Gregerson, Daniel's wife, are authorized signers on the partnerships' shared account; and that John T. Gregerson works solely for the Glencoe partnership, and Jason Gregerson works solely for the Anniston partnership, but the other members of the family involved in the partnerships work in both businesses. Cumulatively, this evidence is of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment could reasonably infer that the Anniston partnership was so identified with the Glencoe partnership as to be potentially liable for torts committed in the operation of a vehicle that benefited both partnerships. ... We conclude that this evidence, submitted in opposition to that presented in support of the defendants' motion for summary judgment, is sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact.

Outcome unknown. Some researchers might be interested in knowing that we found "a" Dan Gregerson mentioned multiple times in Raymond Franz's autobiography, CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE, and briefly mentioned in Ray Franz's second book, IN SEARCH OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM.

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Anton Zorick died in 2015, and as an "exemplary" Jehovah's Witness received a Kingdom Hall funeral at the Rockport, Texas Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses. The following 4 civil lawsuits disclose much about the moral character of this exemplary Jehovah's Witness.

ANTON ZORICK v. CUSTOM BUS CHARTERS was the 1999-2009 Lousiana civil lawsuit in which Anton Zorich sued the owners of the bus on which he was being transported in May 1999 to the Casino Magic Casino in Mississippi for injuries sustained in a single vehicle accident. Outcome unknown.

ANTON A. ZORICK v. MARYLAND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY ET AL was the 1963-65 Lousiana Civil lawsuit in which Anton Zorich sued the operators of a motor vehicle which had collided with Zorick's vehicle in New Orleans in January 1963. The trial court dismissed Zorick's lawsuit, stating "emphatically" that Zorick "did not tell the truth" during his testimony. On appeal, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana also ruled against Zorick, stating, "We are of the opinion that no useful purpose would be served by indulging in a protracted discussion of the testimony adduced herein or by endeavoring to reconcile the respective litigants' version of the manner in which the accident occurred. Suffice it to say, that the whole tenor of the record fully supports the trial court's rationale, and the judgment is therefore correct."

ANTON A. ZORICK v. EDWARD D. JONES was the 1962-66 Louisiana civil lawsuit in which Anton Zorich was sued on a real estate contract. Anton Zorick and Edward D. Jones, Jr. were both residents of the State of Louisiana when they executed a contract in 1962. Jones agreed to transfer to Zorick certain property in New Orleans, and in exchange, Zorick agreed to transfer to Jones 50 acres of land in Hancock County, Mississippi. Jones conveyed the New Orleans property to Zorick in accordance with the contract. When Zorick refused to carry out his part of the bargain, Jones filed suit and obtained a judgment in April 1964, declaring Jones to be owner of the Mississippi land, and ordering Zorick to specifically perform his obligations under the contract. On Zorick's appeal, the Louisiana Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's judgment.

ANTON A. ZORICK v. EDWARD D. JONES was the 1966 Mississippi civil lawsuit in which Anton Zorick forced Jones to litigate the legality of the order of the Louisiana courts within Mississippi all the way to the SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI, simply to get Zorick to do what he promised to do back in 1962.

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In March 2001, Allstate Insurance Company filed a lawsuit against Advantage Medical Diagnostic Inc. which alleged that AMD was a "broker" of MRIs and other diagnostic services, which had billed Allstate for services which it had not performed. The complaint further charged, "AMD has also engaged in a pattern of criminal activity by paying and receiving commissions, bonuses, rebates, kickbacks or bribes or in kind or engaged in a split-fee arrangement with referring physicians or with the actual diagnostic facilities." Outcome unknown.

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ADVANTAGE MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC v. STATE FARM INSURANCE COMPANY was a 2001 Florida civil lawsuit which AMD ludicrously filed against State Farm to collect for MRI services allegedly performed on one of State Farm's policyholders in July 1999. In December 2001, the case was summarily dismissed, with the court stating in part:

Plaintiff which did not perform necessary medical services and is not a physician, hospital, clinic, or other person or institution lawfully rendering treatment to an injured person for a bodily injury covered by PIP insurance is not entitled to payment for MRI services from insurer or insured.

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Advantage Medical Diagnostic Inc. was closed as a result of the 2005 criminal investigation. Victor Chery currently owns and operates Quality Diagnostics of Tampa, Inc. at the same address.

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NEW YORK STATE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT v. JOSEPH J. ARMATO ET AL was a 2009 New York state administrative action which involved Joseph J. Armato, who is a greater NYC area businessman whom disgruntled former employees publicly declare is a Jehovah's Witness Minister who also employs some fellow Jehovah's Witnesses (thus named employees and business associates may or may not also be Jehovah's Witnesses).

At various times, Joseph Armato has been licensed to do business as both a "Public Adjuster" and a "construction contractor", which are businesses which on occasion may both be hired by the same individual/entity. Public Adjusters are not permitted in all states, but where lawful, Public Adjusters offer loss adjustment services to property owners who have experienced a property loss which is potentially covered by their property insurance policy. For a fee, Public Adjusters negotiate on behalf of the property owner coverage and settlement amounts with the insurance company and their own adjusters. In this process, the client property owners may also ask their Public Adjuster to "suggest" a construction company willing to perform the agreed repairs for the agreed repair price. That is where things can sometimes become a little sticky because New York allows the same entity to own a contracting firm and a public adjuster firm so long as there is "full disclosure of the relationship to prevent a potential conflict of interest and to make sure the insured is properly informed."

Public Adjusters in New York are licensed and regulated by the New York State Insurance Department. In September 2009, two Westchester County public adjuster companies, EXECUTIVE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU INC. and ADJUSTRITE INC., were EACH FINED $25,000.00 by NYSID for improperly soliciting business between the hours of 6:00 P.M. and 8:00 A.M. ADJUSTRITE INC. was also cited for operating without a license. BOTH COMPANIES are located at 333 Fifth Ave., Pelham, New York.

Executive Adjustment Bureau Inc., which is licensed by and through Joseph J. Armato, sub-licensee, agreed to pay its fine after admitting that it improperly solicited business outside of the hours allowed under the law. The solicitations on behalf of Executive were made by John H. Capriles, Brad Barnett, and Brett D. Joseph, who are also individually licensed as public adjusters. Also cited for soliciting outside of the permitted hours was Kevin M. Taylor, who is individually licensed as a public adjuster. Adjustrite Inc., which is currently licensed by and through John H. Capriles, sub-licensee, agreed to pay its fine after admitting after-hours solicitation violations and conducting business without a license.

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In February 2013, NBC 4 NEW YORK broadcast and published a report entitled, "INSURANCE ADJUSTERS STEER FIRE VICTIMS TO PREFERRED CONTRACTOR", which alleged that Joseph "Armato has been the subject of seven complaints to the New York Department of Consumer Affairs since 2001 and at least four complaints to Westchester County's Department of Consumer Protection."

The report features a former client of Joseph Armato and Adjustrite Inc. who alleged that after Adjustrite negotiated a settlement with his insurance carrier that Adjustriterecommended one particular contractor -- Joseph Armato. What that client alleged that he did not know was that Joseph "Armato is also one of the founders of Adjustrite. He sold the company in 2007, but still worked in the company's office and was still listed on the company's website." Several former clients alleged that Joseph "Armato's work was shoddy, prolonged and often incomplete."

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NYC DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS ET AL v. JOSEPH J. ARMATO and VENETIAN CONTRACTING INC. At a May 2013 hearing, which was not attended by Armato nor Venetian, one of the above former clients presented their claim that unfinished, improperly performed work by Venetian Contracting was going to cost them an additional $20,921.12, to have completed by another contractor. That amount was awarded by default. Additionally, Venetian Contracting was fined $9350.00, and Joseph J. Armato was fined $7000.00. All licenses were also REVOKED immediately. Claimant was given additional time to present evidence of additional expenses, including $5000.00 in code violation fines.

The respondents were granted a Stay of Enforcement in July 2013. Given that both entities are currently doing business in NYC, we assume that the license revocations were reversed. Status of ordered restitution, additional restitution, and code fines unknown.

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In the early 1990s, a Jehovah's Witness Elder, who was a prosperous independent Insurance Salesman, informed the Body of Elders at his local Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses that he, his wife, and his son would be moving out-of-state sometime within the following year. What that JW Elder did not tell his fellow JW Elders was that he was moving out-of-state for the very same reason that he had moved into their state only 8 years earlier. This JW Insurance Salesman specialized in selling life and health insurance policies to SENIOR CITIZENS. The reason this JW Insurance Salesman was so prosperous was because he engaged in a sales practice that the insurance industry considered to be "unethical", and was prohibited by the insurance companies with whom this JW Insurance Salesman held sales contracts. Because the insurance industry is not federally regulated, but is regulated by each individual state, the contractually prohibited, unethical practice then was only slowly being legally outlawed from state to state during the 1970s-90s. Evidently, this JW Elder had moved out of his home state when his favorite business practice was outlawed in the early 1980s, and now he again had to relocate to another state where his favorite business practice had not yet been legislated as "illegal". Amusingly, later, while making preparations to move, JW Elder's employed Wife informed him that she would not be moving with him. Now that this JW Couple's son was nearing majority, employed JW Elderette did not want to move away from her longtime boyfriend.

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

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UNITED STATES v. GEORGE ALEXANDER was the 1983-86 Pennsylvania federal criminal prosecution of African-Trinidadian George Alexander, age 40, of Allentown, Pennsylvania. A citizen of Trinidad, George Alexander apparently had been a U.S. resident long enough and with enough success to convince a lender to finance the downtown Allentown three-story building which housed Alexander's shoe store.

By December 1983, the business was failing, and as sometimes happens, a "friction fire" erupted when Alexander's fire insurance policy began to rub against Alexander's mortgage. Alexander telephoned a relative enrolled at TEXAS A&M, and offered him $10,000.00 of the insurance proceeds, plus expenses, if he would fly to Allentown and set the "over-insured" building on fire. (Who was more stupid, Alexander's lender or his insurance agent?) Alexander's relative turned down the offer, but his Trinidadian dormmate and another student did fly to Allentown and set Alexander's building on fire. The amateurs used gasoline as the accelerant, which allowed the arson to be easily discovered.

Those "three stooges" eventually pled guilty and received a favorable plea agreement and sentence. George Alexander was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for orchestrating the December 1983 arson. Alexander also was ordered to make restitution of around $35,000.00. Alexander also received five years probation after release from prison. Robert Dunton, a respected local Jehovah's Witnesses ELDER, appeared at Alexander's sentencing, and spoke on Alexander's behalf.

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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 ... .

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. The USDC ruled in favor of Montgomery Ward, stating in part:

Although the plaintiff and his son testified that these mowers remained boxed from June, 1987, to August or October, 1987, and were only used once, an examination of the mower itself indicates a much more extensive use of the mower. It is inconceivable to this court that the hard plastic wheels of the machine could show this amount of tread wear after one use. Additionally, the marks on the machine indicate extensive use, not one time use as testified by the plaintiffs; the deck was worn on the front, paint was chipped off of the front and rear, the rear of the blade edge was fairly well worn, the wheel mounting was completely worn, the left wheel was bent and the "up stop" showed wear from use. ... ... ...

Based upon the testimony of [Chief Engineer ], inspection of the mower in question as well as the companion purchased at the same time, and inspection of the rear guards which supposedly fell off the machines on their first use,this court totally rejects the contentions of the plaintiffs that the guard fell off when first used. The court in fact finds that the guards were intentionally removed by forcefully pulling them off as testified to by [Chief Engineer ].

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One Tipster reports that a JW Family with children moved into their rural, isolated congregation during the 1990s from a large urban congregation over 1000 miles away. The New JW Family painted themselves as "needgreaters" who were looking to"serve where the need was great". The new JW Family actually followed through with their plans for both the two parents and their teenaged children to regular and auxiliary "pioneer".

Local JWs were concerned by the NG Family's plan to support themselves with a carpet-cleaning business -- given the fact that that rural congregation had already lost several previous needgreater families who had attempted to support themselves with carpet-cleaning businesses which were failures due to the sparsely populated area where only a small number of homes had carpeting. As the local JWs had expected, during NG Family's first year in the community, the children of the NG Family occasionally let it slip that their JW Father was barely making enough money from his carpet-cleaning business to pay for the advertising in the local newspaper. Occasionally, local JWs would inquire of the NG Parents whether they needed help, but the NG Parents would always say that "Jehovah was providing", although there were rumors that the NG Family was accepting "help" from certain local JWs whom the NG Family required to be very discreet with their financial assistance. NG Family made it through their first year, then a second year, and then a third year. Although living spartanly, the NG Family seemed to be prospering.

Then, while off work the day before Thanksgiving, Tipster worked in field service with the NG Family. Concerned with NG Family's finances, Tipster had offered the use of his own van and gasoline, but NG Father related that he preferred to drive his own van. At the end of field service, Tipster offered to buy lunch for NG Family at a local restaurant, but instead, NG Father invited Tipster back to their home for lunch, which Tipster hesitantly accepted due to believing that NG Family was barely making ends meet. Once at the home of NG Family, Tipster was shocked to see a better television and stereo system than the ones that he owned. The NG home was well decorated, and during a trip to the bathroom, Tipster observed a fully stocked large pantry that would make a restaurant envious. The NG home's furnishings simply did not match the NG's hooptie automobiles nor the inexpensive clothing the NG Family wore out in public.

About a year later, Tipster learned from one of his non-JW relatives that a local manufacturing plant was attempting to hire a part-time janitor with carpet-cleaning experience to work from 10:00 PM until 2:00 AM five nights per week at a rate which matched the full-time weekly wage at other smaller local employers. Tipster immediately thought of NG Father, whose work experience was perfect for the job -- with the job's 20 nighttime hours per week being perfect for the auxiliary pioneering father. Tipster immediately telephoned NG Father with what Tipster believed to be a "blessing from Jehovah". Well, NG Father did not consider the prospective employment to be a blessing. Tipster relates that NG Father gave him a chewing out that came as close to being a cursing out that Tipster ever received from a non-relative JW Elder. NG father let Tipster know that he was doing just fine supporting his family with his carpet-cleaning business, and that working from 10:00 PM until 2:00 AM five nights per week would destroy his spiritual life with his wife and children.

Tipster relates that he was shocked at NG Father's reasoning, and decided that he needed to do some further inquiring into NG Family's financial situation. It took Tipster several months, but Tipster finally discovered that NG Family was receiving WELFARE and FOOD STAMPS, and was being regularly financially "helped" by an old widow in the congregation, who was herself living at poverty level. Tipster also eventually learned that this was nothing new for NG Family -- that this was how NG Family "existed" when they lived in the previous large city. Tipster was also eventually told by the aforementioned "poor widow" that one of the children had let it slip one day that BOTH NG Father and NG Mother, whom had never mentioned nor ever shown the slightest bit of physical or mental impairment, were receiving MONTHLY DISABILITY CHECKS of unknown variety.

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