0000007782 00000 n /b+;*R2VL5 WC^ ;_>[AM "su`/d_w$3qhTGS;#m!bytBefF~s*GB9z\eBUK,nrEYXn u.$leJrk5@ These circumstances have led us into a society that is both more cynical and more predatory, both more receptive to and encouraging of outright fakers. Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates. Rector's only asset is his house, and his only income a $200-a-month military pension, the investigation found. Citation Needed, a podcast, has an episode about William Penn Patrick (and Holiday Magic). 0000037159 00000 n Lets fix that. 0000003839 00000 n Koscot Interplanetary. [11], In 1973, a federal judge in Pittsburgh combined more than 1,000 lawsuits by unhappy Koscot investors and regulatory officials into "a single class-action lawsuit seeking more than $900 million. PHOENIX, ARIZ. Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. Mailman and Beekman, who pleaded guilty to one count each of violating pyramid laws, will be sentenced next month. "The first time I ever heard those words from those men was in this courtroom," Rector said. A few of their supporters cried as the sentences were read. 0000041122 00000 n Mr. Maxa has missed very little about Turner's operations and the soueces of his appeal. vlyiJ)pd*n\[PN>8Yl^1cyO"`CC\=bu3hB Mencken, Mr. Maxa says, would have loved Glenn Turner as one of those colorful rogues who enliven the American scene, a sort of cross between Elmer Gantry and Charles Ponzi, whose name is to financial pyramids what Tutankhamen's is to the original. An interesting man, Glenn Turner, and Rudy Maxa, a Washington Post reporter, has an interesting problemwhat do you do with a con man who doesn't know he's a con man? Psychiatrist Alfred Adler, writing in the early 20th century, argued people could change habits by embracing an act as if strategy: assume a behavior and, eventually, it will become real. And as Turner understood, making lots of money will get you almost anything, including an invitation to lecture at the Harvard Business School. 58.95. Turner and a partner, Edward Rector, 57, were sentenced to seven years in prison in Arizona in August on charges of operating a pyramid scheme there and defrauding investors through a self-motivational company called Challenge Inc. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Bids on the Castle property will be advertised over the next few weeks to notify any other bidders of the pending sale. But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. [1], Pyramid schemes being illegal, Koscot became involved in substantial litigation from government agencies and Koscot's customers. [5][29], William Penn Patrick bought Mind Dynamics in 1970. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/20/archives/dare-to-be-great-a-sincere-con-man.html. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 23:43. C-74-1067-LHB., No. After more than a decade of court cases, Turner was convicted in 1987 for running a Ponzi scheme. Turner packaged this dubious enterprise with a religious fervor that would make Billy Sunday look like the Archbishop of Canterbury. )[6] 0000031782 00000 n The state officer who conducted Turner's investigation noted, "Mr. Turner has demonstrated to this officer an uncanny ability to confuse issues and extend compliments.". I have remorse for these people that did not benefit by what we set out to do. One report has him convicted of running a pyramid scheme in Arizona in 1985 and released after five years in prison. xref Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Investment of $5,000. DeMuro, RG. ", United States Congress, Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, 1977, P.53. By the spring of 1969, Turner was living in a large home on Lake Maitland near Orlando Florida, and "had eight Cadillacs and a Rolls-Royce, three Learjets and a closetful of tailor-made suits and alligator shoes". Glenn W. Turner, 53, was sentenced along with Edward G. Rechtor by Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Dougherty, who said he had received scores of letters on behalf of the two Goldenrod, Fla., men. Turner, who was pale and appeared tired, and Rector, his former bodyguard, had no visible reaction to the sentences. They were convicted last month on charges of conspiracy, fraud and illegal pyramid sales in connection with their Challenge Inc. motivational program. Some "schemes" are specifically developed to sidestep Pyramid Scheme legislation by offering a "product" or "service". Turner, 57, served nearly two-thirds of a seven-year term in Arizona for fleecing investors in a scheme for distributing motivational tapes. 0000037159 00000 n 0000006135 00000 n They would peddle mink oil makeup and his Dare to Be Great motivational tapes, and collect more money by recruiting others and taking a percentage on their sales. The history of fake it till you make it offers a lesson here, if we want to heed it. The unfinished castle, its boathouse, stables and surrounding 79 acres will be sold to the highest bidder after a federal court hearing April 26, according to court documents. Its not clear who originated the exact wording of fake it till you make it, or how Turner and his followers adopted it. Anyone can read what you share. Turner, the son of a sharecropper, told people they. They drove new Cadillacs and wore alligator shoes. "Our intent was to help people believe in themselves.". [11] 1974 hearings before the Congressional Oversight panel of the Federal Trade Commission described Holiday Magic as a "Multi-level marketer of cosmetics", that used an "unfair and deceptive pyramid distribution scheme". ), it's too late to put the book down. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. was an Orlando, Florida based multi-level marketing cosmetic company selling mink oil-based cosmetics, owned by Glenn Wesley Turner (19342020). "They have for years.". Z t{Hd)a^lEHuw-GB9Y/S5zcWC8,)X9W^kjx,:h*#H_TNG^Od i~l={'Zg^-0z V|0P%* &C?UG b^>'V/~`C\a(bG Two dwarfs would hop out and unroll a red carpet. [19] Tobias poked fun at the pyramid nature of the organization, in his book The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need, telling readers to be wary of "..Holiday Magic - where the big money to be made was not in selling cosmetics, but in selling franchises to sell franchises (to sell franchises).."[20] Howe wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that Holiday Magic was "..one of the largest of all pyramid schemes.."[21], Holiday Magic is used as an example in graduate level criminal justice coursework to analyze the nature of corporate scams. [9] "The end began in October 1969, when 14 Koscot distributors in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana sued Turner for failing to pay promised dividends. 0 0000008424 00000 n 235 0 obj %PDF-1.7 % Jurors found them innocent of 27 counts of securities violations involving Challenge Inc., a motivational company. GLENN W. TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC., a Florida corporation, et al., Defendants. United States Senate election in Florida, 1974, "Meet the con man who sold America on 'fake it till you make it', "Dare to be Great, Inc! Today, the phrase is also a way to push back on the feelings of self-doubt we call impostor syndrome, or to put forward an advantageous personal or professional confidence we might not entirely feel. the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. The company had been investigated by the Market Court of Sweden,[3] United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the State of California. United States House of Representatives. He seems to have been equal parts P. T. Barnum, Horatio Alger, snake oil salesman and evangelist. Well, it was never really worth all that, and when blizzard of Federal and state charges of fraud, securities irregularity and other actions drove him nearly into bankruptcy, he ended up selling one of his companies for $15,000. "They come from all over this country and abroad. ", "Opinion This all-but-forgotten con man sold America on 'fake it till you make it', Juice Plus AKA National Safety Associates, European Grouping of Marketing Professionals, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Koscot_Interplanetary&oldid=1142208959, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 02:56. During the eight-week trial, however, two former top Turner aides testified that Challenge officials knew their operation was illegal. Lawyers for Turner and Rector asked Dougherty to let their clients remain free while they appealed their convictions. "[7] Turner, attorney F. Lee Bailey, and eight others were also indicted by a federal grand jury on conspiracy and mail fraud charges. "The Role of Small Business in Franchising, Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Minority Small Business. <>stream According to 2019 surveys done by the Pew Research Center, almost half of us say Americans are not as reliable as in the past. 0000004119 00000 n Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. All these characters in bright red polyester doubleknits, with rhinestone flag lapel pins, dashing around the country making people hum, MMMMMMMM MONEY!. He then started two multi-level marketing companies, Koscot Interplanetary, selling cosmetics, and Dare to Be Great, selling motivational and self-improvement courses.[30]. 256 pages. . Under this type. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge. The election of Ronald Reagan marked the beginning of an era of worshiping wealth, one in which more and more people came to believe that anything that made money was by definition a success. [1][5] Navarro described the training as having "overtones of strict military training techniques. "And so can you," they would tell the crowd. No. [30] In popular culture [ edit] [28] The Mind Dynamics course was described as providing "a means of achieving personal success through the conscious use of the subconscious mind". 0000037334 00000 n But it draws on older strains in American life, marrying psychological concepts on how to change human behavior with the positive-thinking self-help culture that might as well be Americas unofficial state religion. Dougherty also ordered Turner and Rector to pay $44,000 each in fines to be distributed to victims. that our program was a crime," he said. 235 37 The distributors could make thousands. Turner was a former sewing machine salesman and son of a South Carolina sharecropper and an unwed mother, born with a cleft palate and a hair lip, who dropped out in the eighth grade, did a short stint in the U.S. Air Force before successfully finishing a school for those who had dropped out of high school. 0000023584 00000 n A lot of books have been written about Mr. Turner and today weve put the final period in the final chapter of the saga of Glenn Turner, Lotstein said. trailer Abe F. March held several executive positions for Holiday Magic and parent company U.S. Universal; Regional Vice President, Canada (19711972), Vice President, Greece (19721973) and Managing Director for Sta-Power, Germany (1973). [4], Patrick, a student of Alexander Everett (founder of Mind Dynamics), used Mind Dynamics techniques as well as the Silva Method in the Holiday Magic organization. Lotstein said 202 Arizona residents participated in the program. Mr. Turner and Mr. Rechtor, who also received seven years, were. This is a good little book about an earnest con artist who ripped off the American public for $75 million. The saying became so pervasive in Amway that it would be the title of a 1980s expos by Phil Kerns. [3] Summary of this case from Great Western Bank & Trust v . It is here that Mr. Maxa shows unusual ability to compress tedious and protracted legal wrangles (one trial lasted nine months) into an absorbing account. The House was supposed to grow with population. 0000002201 00000 n Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick (19301973) in the United States. [2][vague] The organization was dissolved in 1974, subsequent to the death of Patrick in 1973. . WASHINGTON, May 17 The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a Federal District Court today to halt the sale of Glenn W. Turner's pyramid franchising scheme on the ground that it is. PHOENIX, ARIZ. Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. In 1967 Turner borrowed $5,000 to start his Koscot Interplanetary Inc., a cosmetics firm in which distributors could sell other distributorships for commissions. Since his victims were usually the little people, the guys who are always getting it in the neck from the system anyway, it was a matter of hitting cripples. 0000001769 00000 n When newly minted salespeople found it impossible to make a go of it, they were told to fake it until you make it, by wearing expensive clothes and waving around $100 bills to lure in others, a disillusioned Oregon recruit testified in court in 1972. Ward, et al. But the notion that you can fake it until you make it began to spread through multi-level marketing efforts such as Turners, where studies show few earn a profit and deception is rife. Pyramid Schemes Versus Ponzi Schemes The labels Ponzi scheme and pyramid scheme are often used interchangeably to describe specific forms of investment fraud where sustainability depends on the influx of new "investors" to the scheme. 2(a) OF THE CLAYTON ACT Docket 8834 (1974), MLM Law - Lawyer Grimes & Reese PLLC - Attorney Specializing in Multilevel Marketing - Marshall v. Holiday Magic, Inc. (1977) 550 F.2d 1173, Door to Door Selling, Pyramid Selling, Multilevel Marketing, "L.A. Con Artist Behind Alleged Electricity Scam: Pyramid scheme linked to coming deregulation", "First Amendment Protection for Commercial Advertising: The New Constitutional Doctrine", "The Chaos of Multilevel Marketing and Pyramid Sales Laws: A Federal Remedy", In Re Koscot Interplanetary Inc., 86 F.T.C. The sentencing of Dare to be Great supersalesman Glenn Turner, convicted of operating an illegal pyramid scam in Arizona, has been delayed for a week. Glenn Turner's Winter Park castle currently is for sale for $1.8 million. JrsJk**j;{:[Z{&N. 0000031956 00000 n Dougherty said he had received "hundreds" of letters in support of Turner. Originally the organization distributed goods such as home-care products and cosmetics. 235 37 What a fine madness it was, the heyday of Dare to Be Great. Attorneys for the two said their convictions would be appealed and asked that they be freed on bond until their appeals are heard. Corbins office won a civil case against Turner over Challenge in 1983, ordering him to pay $1.5 million in restitution and $1 million in penalties. There, it appeared as a way for people in recovery to project themselves forward into a more sober future. Koscot Interplanetary was a company from Orlando, Florida, selling mink oil-based cosmetics and was started by Glenn W. Turner in 1967. Prosecutors said Challenge officials misled investors by telling them they would not have to put up their own money. (Free Speech issue - dismissed), Juice Plus AKA National Safety Associates, European Grouping of Marketing Professionals, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holiday_Magic&oldid=1140202664, Companies based in San Rafael, California, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles needing clarification, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2009, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Holiday Magic, Inc. v. 0000045154 00000 n Glenn Turner was, as he liked to tell anyone within earshot of his pitch, sharecropper's son 'and a gradeschool dropout and had a harelip (albeit corrected by surgery) who had lifted himself. 0000003839 00000 n See the article in its original context from. 2/10/75, p. 38) and Bestline . Unfortunately, the multi-level cosmetic company became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and went out of business in the . But perhaps the most accurate description of Turner's victims was that of some cynical lawyers at the Securities and Exchange Commission who referred to them as Thalidomides.. Dropping the creator of Dilbert is free speech at work, Ron DeSantis shows how not to run an education system, False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes. 0000008799 00000 n Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. Turner would emerge under a banner reading "Dare to Be Great" and vacuum up money through a pyramid marketing scheme based on selling motivational tapes containing the secret of getting rich. [1] Distributors for Holiday Magic, who took the course, have considered it as a Holiday Magic Business expense. At the same time, the federal government became less likely to prosecute obvious malfeasance. The judge refused and the men were led away to jail by deputy sheriffs after they gave their wallets, watches and jewelry to friends in the courtroom. The Arizona case marked the first felony conviction for Turner, who built a fortune around his Orlando-based pyramid sales 20 years ago. Food delivery services such as Grubhub and Postmates included restaurants on their platforms that didnt have contracts with them. 72-390. "They come from preachers, lawyers, housewives, plumbers, carpenters," Dougherty said. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The castle and boathouse have been vacant for several years, and the castle has been used only for tours by the public for charitable events. 0000000016 00000 n 0000001660 00000 n Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. In the low-interest-rate environment of the past decade, investors put up money with little diligence, and fake it till you make it turned toxic. A technicality of the law is what got me., But Barnett Lotstein, an assistant state attorney general who helped prosecute the case, said the sentences satisfied the interest of justice.. startxref 1973), participants in a pyramid sales scheme were found to be security holders, since they invested their funds in a common scheme dependent for success directly upon the collective sales efforts of the organization. The good that I have done outweighs the bad. [3], The company was termed as part of the "big three" scams, in a 1974 United States Senate hearing before the Consumers of the Committee on Commerce that dealt with pyramid sales. Holiday Magic Inc. et al. In the end, Turner was saved by New Orleans evangelist, known as the Chaplain of Bourbon Street, who also pointed the way to fiscal salvation by introducing Turner to his own business managera former minister himself. Within a few years Turner's enterprises had made an estimated $300 million. No surprise, trust is cratering. 0000045154 00000 n ", United States Congress. What happened? 0000003563 00000 n Glenn W. Turner is now all but forgotten. [1], In 1974, after almost 10 years in operation and tied to pyramid schemes and controversy, both Leadership Dynamics and Mind Dynamics ceased operations. Glenn Wesley Turner August 19, 1934 - January 8, 2020 Lake Mary, Florida Set a Reminder for the Anniversary of Glenn's Passing Forward to Family & Friends Share a Memory Print Contact Support Upgrade Death Certificates Share This Obituary Make a Memorial Donation Tributes.com partners with over 100 national charities. 0000001791 00000 n As it turned out, investors would have to pay $5,000 apiece to participate in the program, which revolved around distributorships for sales of motivational cassettes, classes and books. The companies collapsed in 1973 under lawsuits filed by investors and investigations by state and federal agencies. 0000001036 00000 n <> Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. In 1975, Turner pleaded guilty to a single charge of violating securities laws and was given probation. Glenn W. Turner, who was frequently described himself as a harelipped sharecropper's son (leaving some doubt as to which of them was afflicted), built an ephemeral fortune on a pyramid selling scheme in the late 1960's and early 70's. 748 as an example of pyramid schemes. 0000002472 00000 n 0000004799 00000 n Even as she spoke, the housing bubble riven with fraud committed (and invited) by banks, ratings agencies, mortgage brokers and appraisers was growing bigger. [28], Ben Gay, a high-level instructor at Leadership Dynamics, was President of Holiday Magic in the United States. Targets for citations in Chain Letter Evolution. Government needs to return to enforcing meaningful financial regulation; politicians and entrepreneurs who deceive their supporters need to face consequences. The IRS, which had a $15 million claim, has been awarded a judgment of $9.275 million, but appraisals put the value of the Turner property at $1 million to $2 million. Prosecutors said Rector and Turner also failed to warn investors that Challenge had been sued and was facing large judgments. 0000023769 00000 n "[1], Sales Dynamics was another program of instruction for pay available to Holiday Magic Distributors to help them in their business activities. 11106 (1975). [7] (In 1972 he built a "$3.5 million white stone castle with a helicopter landing pad" on Bear Gulley Lake, also near Orlando. SAN DIEGOGlenn Arcaro of Los Angeles pleaded guilty today in federal court for his participation in a massive conspiracy involving BitConnect, a cryptocurrency investment scheme, which defrauded investors from the United States and abroad of over $2 billion. 84 F.T.C. These levels (as in "multi-level marketing") could make money by getting commissions from recruiting other participants to work as salespeople, supervisors or directors, and getting commissions on orders of cosmetics from other lower level recruited participants. Martha Stewart sparked headlines in 2005 when she fired a contestant on The Apprentice who embraced the phrase. Mr. Maxa, Washington Post reporter, describes this ripe chapter in the annals of Boobus Americanus with clarity and an eye for the juicy detail. We dont trust the government, media or big business. If he never quite tells us what made Glenn Turner runthat is was he a con artist or merely an overeupeptic free enterpriser?no one else knew either, including perhaps Turner. (unrelated to Holiday Magic). Referring to Charles Ponzi, who earlier this century put together a huge investment swindle that still bears his name, Lotstein said, "I imagine there are still people that feel that Mr. Ponzi was doing good for the world. According to a presentence investigation, Turner, who has been living in North Carolina, is broke and has no assets or income. The promised El Dorado, however, was reserved for those who put up the requisite amount for becoming distributors; this gave them the right to sell distributorships to others, retaining a healthy percentage of the fee. "Pyramid Sales: Hearing Before the Subcommittee for Consumers of the Committee on Commerce, United States Congress", 1974, United States Congress, Pp. But this salesman extraordinaire in flashy suits was once all but omnipresent in American life. And we need to be less credulous and stop falling for the next shiny thing. In my business, theres just no faking it, Stewart said. But Turner seems to have genuinely convinced himself he was offering the little people a splendid opportunity. Civ. Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. "There have been a lot of books written about Mr. Turner," said Barnett Lotstein, the assistant attorney general who prosecuted the case. v. Holiday Magic, Inc., et al., N.D. California, Civil Action No. 0000003297 00000 n 0000001769 00000 n "Franchising in Hard Times: Hearing Before the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives. Mr. Turner's business, osten sibly, is cosmetics, the keystone product in a bizarre conglom erate called Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc. 0 Turner barely escaped jail in 1975 when a federal jury in Florida was unable to reach a verdict after a nine-month fraud trial. . .to various charitable organizations. 0000003563 00000 n But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. Before the IRS gets its share, Seminole County has the right to collect $16,900 in unpaid property taxes for 1987, said county Tax Collector G. Troy Ray. A nine-month trial ended in a hung jury. U.S. District Court documents in Orlando indicate there are dozens of other Turner creditors, but it is unlikely they will be paid from any proceeds from the Castles sale, officials said. But that came later. Employing a pyramid selling scheme and an evangelical, downhome platform style, Turner cajoled thousands of ordinary folks into putting up varying amounts, in return for which they would sell Turner's beauty products. 0000003018 00000 n But faking it in matters of money is another matter entirely. 0000043655 00000 n For more information, visit the listing at bit.ly/2mgnmna. . Mr. Maxa cannot resist quoting H. L. Mencken's observation that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. 0000037334 00000 n What Turner really sold was hope, which is the stock in trade of others beside pyramid sales pushers. Turner and his best friend, Edward G. Rector, were each sentenced to seven years in state prison. New York: William Morrow & Co. $8.95. The premise of Koscot was that participants could sell cosmetics door-to-door or at parties. By Rudy ???trated. Turner, imprisoned in Arizona prison for fraud, has owed the IRS millions of dollars in back taxes for more than a decade, and the agency has succeeded in foreclosure proceedings against the property in Seminole County. ", Dougherty said he also took into account that Turner "has on a consistent basis and a generous basis contributed large sums of money . (As for The Apprentices more famous host Donald Trump, a nepo baby who cosplayed a successful mogul on the show we all know how that turned out.). Even then, he never stopped explaining. what would happen when these distributorships reached the saturation point, when there was no one left to buy a distributorship, and so many people selling cosmetics that it was impossible to recover the large investment from the small cosmetics commissions? While prosecutors and defense attorneys haggled over legal issues for an hour before the sentencing, Turner, wearing a blue suit, boots and a shirt with a wrinkled collar, yawned and winked at more than 20 friends and supporters in the courtroom. Turner himself offers one cautionary tale. Participants could pay $2,000 to be a supervisor or $5,400 to be a director. v. Robert W. Warren et al. Today, fake it till you make it has come to represent the scrappy, optimistic mind-set of American hustle culture. xref 0000004278 00000 n Corporate shareholders began to prioritize quarterly profits over long-term results. 271 0 obj But Dougherty denied bond and ordered both men to begin serving their sentences immediately. Glenn W. Turner, 53 years old, was sentenced along with Edward G. Rechtor by Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Dougherty. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Just before he was sentenced, Turner told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bernard Dougherty, "My intent has never been to hurt but to help. 0000003018 00000 n However from a technical perspective, there are differences in the way the two types of schemes operate. 0000001036 00000 n One bought a cosmetics distributorship for $4,500 and became entitled to sell distributorships to others, pocketing a fat commission.
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