From Bonnie, linked to on the Droid site, the court document detailing the civil suit for wrongful death, false advertising etc in the case of Colleen:

[www.courthousenews.com]

'Mitigating James Ray’s Conduct: What Can We Expect'

Twinkie Wrangler takes a close look at the pre-sentence defence strategies in this post, and highlights some confusion over whether or not James Ray has lost his house, as claimed, when he still appears to be running a business from it.

[twinkiewrangler.wordpress.com]

Well worth reading in its entirety, here are some snippets:

'The defense is trying to elicit pity from the judge by claiming that Ray’s home was foreclosed on. I doubt that we’ll see him at Occupy Beverly Hills anytime soon. The truth turns out to be that Ray is attempting to sell his home at a $1 million loss. This site shows that 11964 CREST Pl Beverly Hills, CA 90210 is authorized for short sale at around $3 million dollars.

The mansion was purchased by Ray through the company “Quantum Shift inc.” The corporation sounds to me like something associated with Oprah and has an active status with entity number: C3187154. [kepler.sos.ca.gov] Ray used the company to purchase his mansion in February of 2009. This was only 6 months before he negligently caused the deaths of three human beings. He claims to have made $9.4 million in 2008 on his way to becoming the first New Age billionaire. So if he bought a $4 million dollar Beverly Hills mansion slightly after that, where did the remaining 5.4 million dollars go? Plus, we know he made at least another half million on the “Spiritual Warrior” fiasco. How do you spend $6 million dollars in slightly more than two years?


In September, Ray sent out emails trying to get people interested in numerology with a return address that was a Hollywood PO Box, that is not his parents Oceanside address. That’s curious because if he’s broke and staying with his parents in Oceanside, CA, then why is he using this address in West Hollywood:

PO Box 691689, West Hollywood, CA 90069, USA

And why is he also still using his old address? 5927 Balfour Ct Ste 104, Carlsbad CA 92008, USA

Why is he promoting this guy’s numerology scam if he isn’t getting a piece of it?

[www.numerologist.com]

Ray claims he’s rehabilitated himself, but this site is using the same hard sell tactics that Ray used to swindle people prior to the sweat lodge deaths. The site claims that ancient text found on a Chinese turtle shell can change a person’s life forever. The marks are subjected to high pressure sales techniques and were told that they could change their lives, but they must act immediately before closing the web page. It seems that Ray has no interest in good works or rehabilitation and is still up to the old hard sell to make a fast buck. If you go to the next page as instructed you’re asked for $67.00 for a “Life-Changing Numerology Reading package + 100% Money-back Guarantee” You find you can’t leave the page until you enter your credit card number.

[losangeles.blockshopper.com]

Ray also has a non-profit corporation aside from JRI, The Institute For Global Harmony And Integration, Inc. located in Henderson, Nevada. (entity number C10060-2004) [is.gd] It’s status seems to have been revoked, but where did all the millions he claimed to have raised in “good works” go to. It seems to me that defense is opening the door with all this talk of James Ray’s success and good works for the state to investigate all these other potential sources of income.



On the emotional ploys being used to garner sympathy for Ray:

'Claims that Ray must care for his parents as a mitigating factor seem very disingenuous to me. His parents, with all their health problems, were living 100 miles south of James’ Beverly Hills mansion and his brother was living hundreds of miles away in Kansas City. Neither of the two brothers in this close family found it necessary to move in with their parents to care for them, before the trial. If James Ray is such a devoted son and brother, then why didn’t he move his frail parents and his brother into his Beverly Hills mansion? There was plenty of room, even if mom had to stay in the “maid’s quarters.” Before James Ray was put on trial, he was free to travel all over the country collecting large sums of money for his ‘wisdom.’ He organized trips with rich people to Egypt and Peru. If he it wasn’t a problem to be away from his parents while he was globe-trotting in order to become the world’s first New Age billionaire, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to be away while he pays his debt to society. Most people I know who care for their parents, have them move in with them. If James Ray is truly so family oriented, then why didn’t every single member of his close family share his luxury accommodations? How close a family can you have living hundreds of miles away from each other?

It’s telling that the defense spends more time in the memorandum arguing about restitution than providing any substantial proof of Ray’s good character. It disgusts me that they are still claiming the releases that the Browns and the Shores signed preclude any further restitution in a criminal case. I find it obscene that they would even use such arguments, but it’s just further proof that it’s all about the money with them. [is.gd]

Forever corporatists, the dream team clearly does not want to pay damages for pain and suffering, The claim that Ray is only obligated to pay for any ‘economic’ loss. This is not exactly a spiritually evolved way of thinking from a man who is truly remorseful for the pain he has caused.

The memorandum states that “Mr. Ray spent a lifetime as a productive, contributing member of society.” This phrase comes up a lot in the corporate world. It’s unfortunate that no one ever stops to question the value of this productivity. James Ray never fed, clothed or sheltered anyone. The ‘good deeds’ he supposedly did left no one demonstrably better off. You can’t point to a building he’s improved, a single family he rescued from poverty, a receipt for money given to a charity, nor any group of disadvantaged people who can vouch for his good works. It seems all his good works are in his mind and are measured solely by his insatiable accumulation of wealth.

Did his “good moral character” drive him to aspire to be the first new Age billionaire?

Ray did “good works” if you call posing with the locals in Peru to try to prove you have some spiritual connection to them and having the World Wide Wealth Society pay him thousands of dollars do a few token projects while engaging in spiritual tourism “good works.” I certainly don’t. I call it exploitation.'

and:


'Appeals to emotion can be used to see that justice is done or to prevent it from being administered. While compassion and empathy are needed to in the justice system, they are all too often afforded to the “successful” and not to the people who need and deserve it most. Native Americans have been aware of this for a long time.'

Let me tell you something.

The FIRST thing you learn at the advanced professional seminars for LGAT seminar salesmen/saleswomen...that is, professional seminars for those who want to run their own seminars...like the seminars James Ray was taking as he learned to run seminars...

DAY ONE, the FIRST thing they tell you is to NEVER KEEP YOUR ASSETS IN YOUR OWN PERSONAL NAME.
That is Rule #1.

Because they know that damages from civil lawsuits from all the people you are "helping to lighten their wallets" can wipe you out.

so the first thing these guys do is set-up separate companies, charities or RELIGIONS, and then put the money in there, and then move it somewhere else.
Like many small numbered accounts in the Caymen Islands.

That is Day 1, Lesson 1.
Hide your money.

So of course, James Ray house is going to be held by some bogus entity, like everything else.

Unless the seminar leader is a pill-popper, coke-head, boozer, who blows all their cash...then their money is not going to be in any personal accounts.

This is what they teach day one.
They will SCREAM at you that Americans are lazy pigs and born crooks, who want to steal all your money with lawsuits. They will literally go psycho over this. They will yell for hours about this, eyes popping out of their heads.

So as these conmen are literally robbing thousands of people, in their mind, they believe everyone is out to rob them.
So they ROB YOU FIRST.
Then hide the money offshore in secret accounts, jewels in safety deposit boxes in their dogs name, holes in the ground in their moms backyard, wherever.


James Ray was very reckless though, so there is a good chance he left lots of tracks and made many errors in that process.
The average person has no idea of what really goes on in that game.

Sentencing tomorrow, 9am--12, which may be televised.

One example of many.

All seminar income goes into some sort of company, or charity entity.
Then "expenses" are taken from that entity, at wildly inflated rates of course, often in cash, or some type of cash kick-back scheme.

Then that money is gone.
The company is always run at break-even, like an empty shell.

Meanwhile, the millions that have been extracted from the company, are controlled by the seminar Guru in an untraceable way. The money has been moved out, and washed.

this is why EVERY SINGLE SEMINAR GURU has some sort of "offshore retreat" in a third world country, like a private island or estate.
They also have a private plane they use.

So they find ways to move that extracted income offshore.
There are experts they hire to take care of everything.

James Ray learned all that stuff in the seminars on running seminars he took on the way up.

Hopefully James Ray is going to get the maximum, which is no where near enough.

If Ray gets just a few years, he'll be back running the same seminars as soon as he is out.

[www.dcourier.com]


'In her closing statement to the court, Polk reiterated her stance that only prison will prevent Ray from putting more people in danger, calling him "a dangerous man without internal boundaries who needs to be locked up for the next nine years."


She reminded Darrow that, because of his lack of knowledge and qualifications, Ray "focused on creating the hottest sweat lodge ever," telling his clients that the altered mental state which is a reliable sign that someone is coming down with fatal heatstroke was instead a beneficial condition that brought about enlightenment.

Ray, she said, violated every tenet of leadership and, for added measure, continued after the tragedy to sell his materials online, learning nothing from the deaths he brought about.

You nailed it, Sheila.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2011 06:17PM by Stoic.

The Anticult wrote:

Quote

If Ray gets just a few years, he'll be back running the same seminars as soon as he is out.

Here is something even scarier:

If he is jailed and released after just a few years, he will have spent time in the joint, meeting other scary people. Making connections that will turn him into an even more skilled operator after he is released into the unsuspecting general population.

Twenty years ago, I met a pair of prison guards. They told me that the best and most skilled psychologists in the world are prisoners doing hard time.

'They dont have a thing to do except watch you. They study your every move, verbal, do tiny tests on you that you dont even know about. They figure you out better than your own shrink or priest can ever do, because they have all the time in the world to watch you, 12 hours at a time.'

"And these are guys who dont have consciences and dont have your best interests at heart'.

As TAC put it, Ray already had the seminar training on how to manipulate people and hide money.

Unless he is in the can for a decade or more, he will emerge still vigorous and with new lessons learned from the Big Cons.

A cautionary tale.

A friend of mine, who wrote People Farm saw his cult leader go to prison for ten years. This was just after Jonestown, when public awareness of cults and their dangers was at an all time high.

His former cult leader was a brilliant psychopath with a legit psychotherapy credential, which he lost.

But, after prison, years and years later, my buddy was mailed a Sunday supplement from a newspaper.

To his horror that supplement carried a profile of his former cult leader. The reporter, a woman, was obviously charmed by him and had failed to do the journalistic Prime Directive--fact check first.

SHe'd have learned the guy had a prison record, had she done that and would have learned his was in prison for having sex with an under aged girl who had been his patient.

But..the journalist didnt fact check. Instead she was charmed by the fellow, wrote a lovely profile of him.

His new occupation was....operating a mail order foreign bride service!

Back in business.

Ray is going to know that people these days are negligent about fact checking, especially in the human potential scene where skepticism and caution are viewed as negative and unloving.


Or as the watchword is, for all who do remember history and past catastrophes produced by human madness and greed:

"People be vigilent"

"Never Again"

"Fact Check before you open your heart

"When in any doubt, trust your gut"

Bob Ortega, live tweeting from the courtroom:

[twitter.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2011 02:18AM by Stoic.

Quote
Stoic
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=100173

In that article, there is the sad and revolting fact, that some followers will even ruin their own reputations/lives defending their Guru, even after multiple DEATHS occurring under the Guru's instructions and directions.
How much worse can it get?
4 people die, many others are hurt, and a few are still defending the Guru.

If Jim Jones had lived, there would still be some defending him, calling Jonestown an "accident" and blaming someone else.

Just like James Ray's mom BLAMES HIS LAWYER for James Ray leaving the scene of the crime.

Important lesson in cultic studies.
Some followers will defend their Guru at all costs, even after multiple deaths.