0000007360 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. 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.. 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. Originally the organization distributed goods such as home-care products and cosmetics. Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs. )[6] Even then, he never stopped explaining. NEWS RELEASE SUMMARYSeptember 1, 2021. 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. What a fine madness it was, the heyday of Dare to Be Great. The good that I have done outweighs the bad. v. Robert W. Warren et al. "They come from all over this country and abroad. 0000008424 00000 n 0000041306 00000 n /b+;*R2VL5 WC^ ;_>[AM "su`/d_w$3qhTGS;#m!bytBefF~s*GB9z\eBUK,nrEYXn u.$leJrk5@ [28], CEO and President Roland R. Nocera pleaded guilty to securities fraud, in the case United States v. Nocera, et al. startxref 0000032500 00000 n [1], In 1974, after almost 10 years in operation and tied to pyramid schemes and controversy, both Leadership Dynamics and Mind Dynamics ceased operations. Ward, et al. Dougherty said he had received "hundreds" of letters in support of Turner. ={w5d[#"zM#h:.d\r,&4* 76I\@yH'H}T4idJq$nVsL(sXk TN4%8k;|PqK+I:p*K"&Z{Z;o;}X8z}r%. 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. ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) _ A three-story, 16-room castle owned by onetime motivational entrepreneur Glenn Turner is going on the auction block, with the Internal Revenue Service and other creditors splitting the proceeds. House Permanent Select Committee on Small Business., 1973, P. 127, 137, 157, 203. [7] Disillusioned recruits testified against Turner or his companies, and one judge cited the phrase ('fake it until you make it') as evidence of malfeasance. 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. torture involving a mouse that was supposed to eat a recalcitrant witness's heart (Good Lord! 0000006135 00000 n 72-390. But Turner seems to have genuinely convinced himself he was offering the little people a splendid opportunity. 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. Even as Turner attracted increasingly negative attention in 1972, he was arrested on 86 counts of violating securities laws the phrase gained popularity in a more earnest context within Alcoholics Anonymous. 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. 5 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT AND SEC. 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. [3] An estimated 70 companies (as of 1972)[4] were owned by Turner (owned by Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc.):[1] Dare to Be Great, which sold motivational and self-improvement courses, and also functioned as a multi-level marketing company;[5] Turner had also briefly worked for Holiday Magic, another multi-level marketing company that sold home-care products and cosmetics, and through related companies sold self-improvement programs. Traditionally, businesses have had to state their returns using metrics that can only be faked by lying. DARE TO BE GREAT. [1] In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Koscot, charging restraint of trade. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Dougherty also ordered Turner and Rector to pay $44,000 each in fines to be distributed to victims. The Last Podcast on the Left, a podcast covering topics like serial killers, conspiracy theories, and cults, discussed Holiday Magic on a 2023 episode about David Miscavige. A technicality of the law is what got me.[1], Turner passed away in his home in Lake Mary, Florida, on 8 January 2020[13] with a much lower profile than during the peak of his success.[14]. endobj 0000003018 00000 n "They come from preachers, lawyers, housewives, plumbers, carpenters," Dougherty said. A nine-month trial ended in a hung jury. But the real bait was the right to sell the righttosell to other suckers on the principle of a chain letter. Unsatisfied investors also filed lawsuits. Cryptocurrency arrived, basically a fake it till you make it form of money. 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. [7] He told reporters as he was led away to jail: The good that I have done outweighs the bad. 0000045154 00000 n (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.). [28] Holiday Magic distributors were invited, though not required, to attend the Leadership Dynamics Institute self-improvement sessions at a cost of $1000 each. 164 0 obj <>stream Lotstein acknowledged that not all of the Challenge "victims" were pleased that Turner was prosecuted. Attached to the side stands connected a lone, cylindrical tower that contains a stairwell on the inside. Mr. Turner and Mr. Rechtor, who also received seven years, were. Mr. Maxa has missed very little about Turner's operations and the soueces of his appeal. [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". 0000031782 00000 n [6], In February 1973, Holiday Magic was sued for calumny by Avon Products. The Arizona case marked the first felony conviction for Turner, who built a fortune around his Orlando-based pyramid sales 20 years ago. In my business, theres just no faking it, Stewart said. 0000045154 00000 n 0000003297 00000 n "They conspired to get Mr. Turner," said another woman. JrsJk**j;{:[Z{&N. Morrow. [4], The Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a lawsuit in 1972 charging that Koscot's program should be considered a security and comply with securities laws and regulations. trailer In re HOLIDAY MAGIC SECURITIES AND ANTITRUST LITIGATION., James J. Targets for citations in Chain Letter Evolution. 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. It didnt. 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. 0000006933 00000 n Holiday Magic was a multi-level marketing organization, founded in 1964, by William Penn Patrick (19301973) in the United States. Yes, the ethos can lead to success, as long as you actually have the goods and the skills. Glenn Turner's Koscot charges $2,000 for the right to distribute "kosmetics." Holiday Magic (Bus. At the same time, the federal government became less likely to prosecute obvious malfeasance. 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. According to a presentence investigation, Turner, who has been living in North Carolina, is broke and has no assets or income. He was paroled in November but must be supervised by. 271 0 obj The companies collapsed in 1973 under lawsuits filed by investors and investigations by state and federal agencies. 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. One bought a cosmetics distributorship for $4,500 and became entitled to sell distributorships to others, pocketing a fat commission. 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. 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. 0000003563 00000 n [5][29], William Penn Patrick bought Mind Dynamics in 1970. 0000031782 00000 n 0000001660 00000 n 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. However, the focus of the company was more about selling distributorships than cosmetics. GLENN W. TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC., a Florida corporation, et al., Defendants. 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. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 0000006135 00000 n Glenn W. Turner worked briefly for Holiday Magic in 1966. <> The government says Turner owes tens of millions of dollars in taxes and judgments, which have hopelessly tangled the ownership of his partially completed castle on a lake in south Seminole County. 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. 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