58.95. GLENN W. TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC., a Florida corporation, et al., Defendants. 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. 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. the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. In 1964, after a bankruptcy and several business failures, Patrick (age 33) was walking by a garage in San Rafael, California, and noted that fruit-scented cosmetics were being sold. Since many of them were enmeshed as much by greed as by hope, one's sympathy is tempered. But what made him "really rich" was reportedly Koscot Interplanetary[6] (Koscot stood for "Kosmetics for the Communities of Tomorrow"). But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. 2/10/75, p. 38) and Bestline . they indicted me on aiding and abetting running a pyramid scheme. "They conspired to get Mr. Turner," said another woman. 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. Lotstein said 202 Arizona residents participated in the program. 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. United States House of Representatives. [7] He told reporters as he was led away to jail: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. [1][5] Navarro described the training as having "overtones of strict military training techniques. But the real bait was the right to sell the righttosell to other suckers on the principle of a chain letter. It all carne tumbling down eventually. "[23] One of the Holiday Magic Inc. cases was also cited by The University of Chicago Law Review[24] and the Columbia Law Review. His sales rallies became legend. 748 as an example of pyramid schemes. But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. See the article in its original context from. Although Turner did eventually get some cosmetics on the market, the pyramid idea was always at the heart of his operation, accounting for $75 million of its total $115 million in sales; and he started a second company, merchandising a howtobeasuccess course called Dare to Be Great on the same principle. Self-help culture took that to ludicrous places: Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve, claimed wealth guru Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 0000043655 00000 n On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [5], The State of California filed suit against Holiday Magic in December, 1972. Just before he was sentenced, Turner told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Bernard Dougherty, "My intent has never been to hurt but to help. . 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. Government needs to return to enforcing meaningful financial regulation; politicians and entrepreneurs who deceive their supporters need to face consequences. Turner, the son of a South Carolina sharecropper and a self-styled country boy, rose to fame in the early 1970s through inspirational speeches that promised great wealth if people bought distributorships in his operations. This is a good little book about an earnest con artist who ripped off the American public for $75 million. "And so can you," they would tell the crowd. 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.". "They come from preachers, lawyers, housewives, plumbers, carpenters," Dougherty said. 271 0 obj %PDF-1.7 % %PDF-1.7 % 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. . Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. But this salesman extraordinaire in flashy suits was once all but omnipresent in American life. startxref 748 - IN THE MATTER OF HOLIDAY MAGIC, INC., ET AL. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge. <<7C981AD2C2A8B2110A00B0784D58FC7F>]/Prev 803466>> Assistant U. S. Attorneys Daniel C. Silva, Mark W. Pletcher, Lisa Sanniti and Carl Brooker. 0000004278 00000 n Its inherently manipulative, deceptive, fraudulent, inauthentic, says Robert L. FitzPatrick, co-author of False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes. Yet, he adds, its just entered the culture, and its completely normalized.. 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. 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. Turner's long gone from the Koscot and Dare to be Great grew rapidly and Turner became famous. 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. 72-390. It didnt. [28], Ben Gay, a high-level instructor at Leadership Dynamics, was President of Holiday Magic in the United States. The companies collapsed in 1973 under lawsuits filed by investors and investigations by state and federal agencies. This page was last edited on 18 February 2023, at 23:43. By Rudy Maxa. 0000009459 00000 n It is apparent from this Court's findings of fact that the defendants are promoting a type of scheme commonly known as a pyramid operation. (Javice has denied the banks claims.) The two men told Dougherty before sentencing that they never intended to break the law. In SEC v. Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc., 474 F.2d 476, 482 (9th Cir. Summary of this case from Great Western Bank & Trust v . "Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments and Consumer Leasing Act-1975., Hearings, United States Congress. If it can happen to Charles Colson, folks, you gotta believe. Prosecutors said Challenge officials misled investors by telling them they would not have to put up their own money. One representative pyramid venture, Dare to be Great, Inc., is de-scribed in SEC v. Glenn W Turner Enterprises, Inc. 8 . But what he is actually selling, he . : A Case Study of Pyramid Sales Plan Regulation", "Glenn Turner, Empire Toppled, Trying Again to Sell Motivation", "Glenn Turner -- Out Of Luck; Fraud Sentencing May Be His Day Of Reckoning", "Koscot Cosmetics Accused Of Illegal Business Actions", "Koscot and Turner Cited in Complaint Filed by the S.E.C. 0000004119 00000 n Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Turner pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor fraud charge in return for a probation sentence. The con artist became a business model, says Micki McGee, author of Self-Help, Inc. Its only in a market-worshiping economy that you can say defrauding people in the interest of profit would somehow be okay.. 0000001769 00000 n 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. endstream endobj 165 0 obj <>stream 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. Turner ran in the Democratic primary for the United States Senate election in Florida, 1974, but lost. But as Turners saga shows, theres a dark side baked into the fake it mentality: the fakers who attempt to win success through fraud, then never make good on their promises. . Some "schemes" are specifically developed to sidestep Pyramid Scheme legislation by offering a "product" or "service". They drove new Cadillacs and wore alligator shoes. the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. ), it's too late to put the book down. 0000045154 00000 n 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? However from a technical perspective, there are differences in the way the two types of schemes operate. The book has its lighter moments. Yes, Mencken would have loved it. 0000045154 00000 n To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 0000003563 00000 n Patrick bought all of the cosmetics supplies for $16,250, and founded Holiday Magic, Inc. After the purchase, Patrick began selling distributorships in his new company. Some of the most famous pyramid schemes in U.S. history. 0000037334 00000 n Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. was an Orlando, Florida based multi-level marketing cosmetic company selling mink oil-based cosmetics, owned by Glenn Wesley Turner (19342020). 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. 11106 (1975). ", Dougherty said he also took into account that Turner "has on a consistent basis and a generous basis contributed large sums of money . Rector's only asset is his house, and his only income a $200-a-month military pension, the investigation found. https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/20/archives/dare-to-be-great-a-sincere-con-man.html. [1] In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Koscot, charging restraint of trade. %PDF-1.6 % Attached to the side stands connected a lone, cylindrical tower that contains a stairwell on the inside. Dougherty also ordered Turner and Rector to pay $44,000 each in fines to be distributed to victims. The saying became so pervasive in Amway that it would be the title of a 1980s expos by Phil Kerns. As he was led off to jail, he told reporters: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. [12] The indictment said that Bailey had appeared in a film made for Turner's organization and had appeared with Turner at several rallies. 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. A list of over 350 print sources on paper chain letters and pyramid schemes. 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. [3] Another has him convicted in 1987 along with Edward Rector, on charges of conspiracy, fraud and operating a pyramid scheme, and sentenced to seven years in prison. 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. endstream endobj 166 0 obj <>stream I didn't take it seriously because I was running for . v. Holiday Magic, Inc., et al., N.D. California, Civil Action No. of plan, which will be referred to as the Glenn Turner or multi-level distributorship scheme, the promoters offer to the public a series of contracts called "Adventures." Two dwarfs would hop out and unroll a red carpet. ", United States Congress. Glenn W. Turner is now all but forgotten. Warren., 497 F.2d 687., C.A.Wis. One report has him convicted of running a pyramid scheme in Arizona in 1985 and released after five years in prison. 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. And we need to be less credulous and stop falling for the next shiny thing. 0000001769 00000 n Donate Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs. [13], The company was cited by the United States House of Representatives in a 1975 hearing[14] as an example of consumer fraud, again in 1977,[15] and in 1991, in a hearing by the House Committee on Small Business. [28] Holiday Magic distributors were invited, though not required, to attend the Leadership Dynamics Institute self-improvement sessions at a cost of $1000 each. Its not clear who originated the exact wording of fake it till you make it, or how Turner and his followers adopted it. Pyramid schemes are inherently unstable and eventually must collapse. 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. This book may be edifying but, having long believed, considerable evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, that The People Is Not Dumb, I found it depressing. 0000009459 00000 n Just before sentencing, Rector told Dougherty that Challenge had done nothing wrong. 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. 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