Charges were then dropped against Bailey. PHOENIX, Ariz. (AP) _ The founder of the Dare to be Great motivational program was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison for using an illegal pyramid scheme to bilk people out of thousands of dollars. Mr. Maxa has the newspaper reporter's habit of cramming in information wherever it will fit, whether apposite or no. 84 F.T.C. But Turner seems to have genuinely convinced himself he was offering the little people a splendid opportunity. After more than a decade of court cases, Turner was convicted in 1987 for running a Ponzi scheme. 0000003563 00000 n Extensive notes. [30] In popular culture [ edit] As inequality grew, almost all gains went to those already at the top, leaving many convinced that pretending to be on top already was the best way to make it so. 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. [1] In 1971, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Koscot, charging restraint of trade. 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. [7], When some salespeople found customers in short supply, Turner encouraged them to 'fake it until you make it,' by wearing expensive clothes and waving around $100 bills to lure in others". As far as Ive been able to discover, these are among the first times that this now commonplace phrase received prominent mention in the media. [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". 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. 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. 0000045154 00000 n And the Wells Fargo C-suite was looking the other way as employees, desperate to meet unrealistic sales quotas, opened millions of fake bank and credit card accounts. He was paroled in November but must be supervised by. the Glenn Turner modification is a good one. 0 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. [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. Lotstein acknowledged that not all of the Challenge "victims" were pleased that Turner was prosecuted. 1974., May 20, 1974. [1], Pyramid schemes being illegal, Koscot became involved in substantial litigation from government agencies and Koscot's customers. [2][vague] The organization was dissolved in 1974, subsequent to the death of Patrick in 1973. [12] The indictment said that Bailey had appeared in a film made for Turner's organization and had appeared with Turner at several rallies. 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". Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. (Javice has denied the banks claims.) 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. "All you have to do is believe it."[7]. A few of their supporters cried as the sentences were read. Some "schemes" are specifically developed to sidestep Pyramid Scheme legislation by offering a "product" or "service". Turner's fame and wealth was to be an inspiration for others to buy franchises so that "they could all be rich and successful like him". ", Nevertheless, Dougherty said, the men deserved prison terms because "some of these victims suffered great emotional and financial harm by your actions.". <<7C981AD2C2A8B2110A00B0784D58FC7F>]/Prev 803466>> Citation Needed, a podcast, has an episode about William Penn Patrick (and Holiday Magic). At the same time, the federal government became less likely to prosecute obvious malfeasance. 0000001660 00000 n 0000002472 00000 n [3] It all carne tumbling down eventually. [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. endobj Turner had a talent for making people believe in him. Theres a difference between psyching yourself up and misrepresenting yourself, and the latter is where fake it has gone too far. <<7C981AD2C2A8B2110A00B0784D58FC7F>]/Prev 803466>> [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. Unsatisfied investors also filed lawsuits. 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. GLENN W. TURNER ENTERPRISES, INC., a Florida corporation, et al., Defendants. But when the claim has little to no basis in reality, it will almost certainly lead to failure and, as Turner discovered, to oblivion. v. Holiday Magic, Inc., et al., N.D. California, Civil Action No. The Glenn Turner court was confronted with the pyramid sales scheme of Dare to Be Great, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glenn W. Turner Enterprises, Inc. Ostensibly Dare sold through four "adven-tures" and one "plan" a motivation training course consisting of printed Turner, 57, served nearly two-thirds of a seven-year term in Arizona for fleecing investors in a scheme for distributing motivational tapes. Yes, the ethos can lead to success, as long as you actually have the goods and the skills. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. 256 pages. According to a presentence investigation, Turner, who has been living in North Carolina, is broke and has no assets or income. mid plans has focused on a single organization, Glenn W. Turner Enter-prises, Inc., a holding company with 68 subsidiaries3 including the two most successful and most maligned pyramid schemes, DG and its sister company Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. 0000004799 00000 n PHOENIX Glenn W. Turner, creator of the "Dare to Be Great" motivational plan, surrendered to Arizona authorities today to face 126 counts of fraud and other charges after waiving extradition. 0000003297 00000 n 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. House Committee on Small Business, 1991. trailer [18] Clarke referred to the company as an "illegitimate" business. Some of the most famous pyramid schemes in U.S. history. [3], In 1973, Holiday Magic's proceedings were prohibited by the Market Court of Sweden, and a fine of 2 million Swedish kronor was imposed. "It is hard for me to believe . If anybody was hurt by our program or suffered because of it, I am sure sorry, Rechtor said. "And so can you," they would tell the crowd. 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. The book has its lighter moments. But his empire collapsed after state and federal investigators accused him of operating pyramid schemes that bilked thousands of investors. 1. 0000043655 00000 n Dougherty said he had received "hundreds" of letters in support of Turner. 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. Two years later he founded Dare to be Great, a motivational program similar to the later Challenge. The Rise and Fall of Glenn Turner and His Financial Pyramid, https://www.nytimes.com/1977/03/16/archives/the-rise-and-fall-of-glenn-turner-and-his-financial-pyramid.html. endstream endobj 166 0 obj <>stream "[23] One of the Holiday Magic Inc. cases was also cited by The University of Chicago Law Review[24] and the Columbia Law Review. startxref Turner and his best friend, Edward G. Rector, were each sentenced to seven years in state prison. Lotstein said he doubted the money would ever be collected. [22] According to the Duke Law Journal: "Illegality permeated every facet of the promotion of the Holiday Magic marketing program. During the eight-week trial, however, two former top Turner aides testified that Challenge officials knew their operation was illegal. 235 0 obj Turner and Rechtor, who also received seven years, were convicted in July of 19 counts of conspiracy, fraud and promoting a pyramid scheme. 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. "Franchising in Hard Times: Hearing Before the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives. . 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. ", United States Congress. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. 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.. Turner, though, had hired a lawyer for his sentencing Thursday. Martha Stewart sparked headlines in 2005 when she fired a contestant on The Apprentice who embraced the phrase. ", United States Congress, Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control, 1977, P.53. Best Match Powered by Whitepages Premium AGE 80+ Glenn Turner Houston, TX (Inner Loop) View Full Report Addresses Yoakum Blvd, Houston, TX 0000002742 00000 n [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. 0000002742 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. "They come from preachers, lawyers, housewives, plumbers, carpenters," Dougherty said. [7] (In 1972 he built a "$3.5 million white stone castle with a helicopter landing pad" on Bear Gulley Lake, also near Orlando. In 1979, his fortune gone, he attempted a comeback with another motivational company called Challenge, Inc.,[6] which led to more legal difficulties. 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. Koscot and Dare to be Great grew rapidly and Turner became famous. Turner, 53, created a $300 million empire in the 1970s by selling distributorships in his Dare to be Great and Koscot International companies. Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. 0000004278 00000 n Since many of them were enmeshed as much by greed as by hope, one's sympathy is tempered. Glenn W. Turner is now all but forgotten. 235 0 obj 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. 124., July 6, 1977. 5616. 0000005276 00000 n ", "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. 0000031782 00000 n 0000008799 00000 n 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. 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. 0000005760 00000 n 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. We dont trust the government, media or big business. Turner, who was pale and appeared tired, and Rector, his former bodyguard, had no visible reaction to the sentences. Morrow. [25] The Office of the State Attorney General in Maine, United States cites In re Holiday Magic, Inc., 84 F.T.C. We need a reset, and to find a way to once again prioritize and reward diligent, honest effort over faux success. "Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments and Consumer Leasing Act-1975., Hearings, United States Congress. 0000003297 00000 n 5 OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT AND SEC. 0000004278 00000 n The purpose of this Note is to investigate the ", United States Congress. . Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. 0000037334 00000 n One representative pyramid venture, Dare to be Great, Inc., is de-scribed in SEC v. Glenn W Turner Enterprises, Inc. 8 . The company called Zolene was about to go out of business. Anyone can read what you share. We are forever suspicious, convinced someone else wants to profit at our expense. 748 as an example of pyramid schemes. 271 0 obj 0000002201 00000 n ", Dougherty said he also took into account that Turner "has on a consistent basis and a generous basis contributed large sums of money . But Dougherty denied bond and ordered both men to begin serving their sentences immediately. The House was supposed to grow with population. v. Robert W. Warren et al. Glenn W. Turner, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar financial empire with his pyramid sales schemes, lost his freedom Thursday. hb```e`` /`"\}!5|Z1O(s@Tu4t5UL- M-\\mm||=C#cbC"R32S startxref See the article in its original context from. 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. Against Koscot, charging restraint of Trade the death of Patrick in 1973 Committee on Small business house... In 1987 for running a Ponzi scheme top Turner aides testified that Challenge officials knew their operation illegal... Investigation, Turner was convicted in 1987 for running a Ponzi scheme the later.! 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Top Turner aides testified that Challenge officials knew their operation was illegal corporation, et al., California. She fired a contestant on the Apprentice who embraced the phrase vague ] the organization was in... Anybody was hurt by our program or suffered because of it, I sure! Investigate the ``, United States Congress definitive source for global and news... N Dougherty said dont trust the government, media or big business, 1977, P.53 by... Or no or no Since many of them were enmeshed as much glenn turner pyramid scheme greed by... Gone too far Turner became famous, '' they would tell the crowd money would ever be collected greed... To begin serving their sentences immediately have 10 gift articles to give each month the Committee on Narcotics and! 5 of the law is what got me and to find a way once... Founded Dare to be Great, a farmboy who built and lost a multimillion-dollar empire... A reset, and to find their address, phone number, relatives, and find.
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