6, 19, 24., Library of Congress. A Maricopa County Superior Court jury convicted Turner and Rector Tuesday on charges that they promoted a pyramid scheme, similar to chain letters, with their motivational company Challenge. Turner pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor fraud charge in return for a probation sentence. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 23:43. 0000003839 00000 n Lotstein acknowledged that not all of the Challenge "victims" were pleased that Turner was prosecuted. 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. A technicality of the law is what got me. By the time he died in 2020, it took more than a year for a newspaper reporter to stumble across his Legacy.com obituary and make note of his death. 0000004278 00000 n 0000045154 00000 n %PDF-1.6 % [1] It became entangled in numerous legal difficulties and went out of business in the 1970s.[2]. 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.. 0000004799 00000 n [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. [7] (In 1972 he built a "$3.5 million white stone castle with a helicopter landing pad" on Bear Gulley Lake, also near Orlando. [9] The FTC found that Holiday Magic was in violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and section 2 (a) of the Clayton Antitrust Act. By the time one arrives at the scene with the Washington lawyers who helped keep Dita Beard under wraps and the description of an old O.S.S. Turner, 53, created a $300 million empire in the 1970s by selling distributorships in his Dare to be Great and Koscot International companies. [28] The Mind Dynamics course was described as providing "a means of achieving personal success through the conscious use of the subconscious mind". TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 0000032500 00000 n . "Pyramid Sales: Hearing Before the Subcommittee for Consumers of the Committee on Commerce, United States Congress", 1974, United States Congress, Pp. 0000009459 00000 n Bids on the Castle property will be advertised over the next few weeks to notify any other bidders of the pending sale. Annotated bibliography on chain letters and pyramid schemes. C-74-1067-LHB., No. 0000008424 00000 n 0 The two men told Dougherty before sentencing that they never intended to break the law. 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. JPMorgan Chase fell for Frank, a college financial planning outfit whose customer base it later (allegedly) discovered was mostly made up of fake email addresses created at the behest of founder Charlie Javice. 0000009459 00000 n PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Promoter Glenn Turner, who became a millionaire through self-motivation businesses, was sentenced with his business partner to seven years in prison Thursday for defrauding. If it can happen to Charles Colson, folks, you gotta believe. House Committee on Small Business, 1991. Assistant U. S. Attorneys Daniel C. Silva, Mark W. Pletcher, Lisa Sanniti and Carl Brooker. 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. For more information, visit the listing at bit.ly/2mgnmna. Turner's long gone from the On May 16, 1974, a compromise settlement with approximately 31,000 class members, establishing a trust fund worth $2,600,381, was approved by the court. Generally, the product or service is of poor quality, overpriced, or has no purpose other than as a ploy to give the company the appearance of legality. In August 1972, he was charged with "86 counts of sale of unregistered securities and failing to register as a dealer". [28], Ben Gay, a high-level instructor at Leadership Dynamics, was President of Holiday Magic in the United States. "The first time I ever heard those words from those men was in this courtroom," Rector said. hb```e`` /`"\}!5|Z1O(s@Tu4t5UL- M-\\mm||=C#cbC"R32S 0000003297 00000 n House Permanent Select Committee on Small Business., 1973, P. 127, 137, 157, 203. 0000003839 00000 n Marjoe knew, Clifford Irving knew, but Mr. Maxa, who doesn't seem to be just anybody's fool, honestly believes that Turner honestly believed that he was honest. 0000000016 00000 n 0000003018 00000 n 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". 235 37 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. Last month Turner, who turned 53 on Wednesday, and Rector, 57, were convicted on one count of conspiracy, nine counts of fraud, and nine counts of running an illegal pyramid sales scheme. 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). [22] According to the Duke Law Journal: "Illegality permeated every facet of the promotion of the Holiday Magic marketing program. But Turner seems to have genuinely convinced himself he was offering the little people a splendid opportunity. The guy at the top could make millions. I have remorse for these people that did not benefit by what we set out to do. 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. 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. By Rudy ???trated. DeMuro, RG. 0000004799 00000 n 271 0 obj 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. 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. "Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments and Consumer Leasing Act-1975., Hearings, United States Congress. The saying became so pervasive in Amway that it would be the title of a 1980s expos by Phil Kerns. 0000006496 00000 n Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. The $5,000 investment paid for motivational seminars and tapes, but the indictment said the real business of the pyramid operation was to induce more people to invest money to become salespeople who, in turn, were expected to recruit others. Our intent was never to go out and commit a criminal act., Later, as he was leaving the courtroom in handcuffs, Turner told reporters, I think history will tell what I really was. He then started two multi-level marketing companies, Koscot Interplanetary, selling cosmetics, and Dare to Be Great, selling motivational and self-improvement courses.[30]. [28] Holiday Magic distributors were invited, though not required, to attend the Leadership Dynamics Institute self-improvement sessions at a cost of $1000 each. [1][5] Navarro described the training as having "overtones of strict military training techniques. 0000003563 00000 n Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 80+ Glenn Turner Houston, TX (Inner Loop) View Full Report Addresses Yoakum Blvd, Houston, TX TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. "[1], Sales Dynamics was another program of instruction for pay available to Holiday Magic Distributors to help them in their business activities. At the meeting Turner's proteges would run to the stage in their flashy suits and fancy shoes, with $100 or even $1,000 bills pinned to their lapels. [7] He told reporters as he was led away to jail: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. He was featured in an 11-page article in Life magazine in 1971,[8] and was reportedly worth $300 million at the time. "They come from all over this country and abroad. There, it appeared as a way for people in recovery to project themselves forward into a more sober future. <>stream United States House of Representatives. 1974., May 20, 1974. Koscot Interplanetary was a company from Orlando, Florida, selling mink oil-based cosmetics and was started by Glenn W. Turner in 1967. Turner, the son of a sharecropper, told people they could all be rich and successful like him if, that is, they made an investment in his multi-level marketing company. Mr. Maxa, Washington Post reporter, describes this ripe chapter in the annals of Boobus Americanus with clarity and an eye for the juicy detail. Turner, the son of a sharecropper, told people they. [15] Larry Stephen Huff, another key individual in the company, served two years in a Federal Prison, for charges related to a Ponzi scam (unrelated to Holiday Magic).[21]. %PDF-1.7 % "I think the court's ruling today put the final period in the final chapter of the book on Glenn Turner.". 164 0 obj <>stream 0000005760 00000 n 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. %%EOF hb```e`` /`"\}!5|Z1O(s@Tu4t5UL- M-\\mm||=C#cbC"R32S Turner barely escaped jail in 1975 when a federal jury in Florida was unable to reach a verdict after a nine-month fraud trial. Dougherty then passed sentence, despite receiving hundreds of letters in support of Turner. 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. 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. trailer <> Civ. 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? But Dougherty denied bond and ordered both men to begin serving their sentences immediately. A few of their supporters cried as the sentences were read. %%EOF 0000002472 00000 n USA vs Glenn W. Turner, Nash Publications, New York, 1976 Rudy Maxa . We dont trust the government, media or big business. 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