Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 110
have died from some ―outside intervention.‖ (BBC monitoring French Europe Radio 1,
Internet, 9/19/03)
Strategic Management Works
Wealth Guru Said to Manipulate Students
Anglican priest Dave Smith, who wanted to learn how to manage a church fund, says a
Strategic Management Works (SMW) week-long residential financial security program he
attended near Sydney, Australia, included five days‘ food and sleep deprivation and
manipulation to reduce the emotional defenses of the attendees, who each paid $5,500 for
the course. Some former students say they have gained from the ―Born Rich‖ experience
others say they have suffered emotionally.
Father Smith described how course facilitators urged students to cheer the entrance of SMW
head Roy McDonald — addressed as ―the government‖ and the only one allowed to wear
shoes — who has built a group of 24 companies with a $30 million annual turnover.
Graduates of the Born Rich course go on to become accountants, property developers, real
estate agents, and financial planners in SMW companies.
A former SMW manager who left because he was concerned about the charismatic
McDonald‘s methods says: ―Roy would break people down and then show them a way out. If
he made someone cry he would come racing out of his office announcing: ‗I got through.‘ ‖
McDonald says his method is an amalgam of influences from self-help gurus Tony Robbins
and Robert Kiyosaki, and confrontational self-awareness organizations such as Landmark
and Insight. He also says SMW is not a cult.
Critics believe McDonald‘s psychological techniques should not be used in public,
uncontrolled, without counselors present. Father Smith reports pressure on participants to
conform or risk group ridicule or getting soaked by McDonald‘s water gun. Some, he said,
broke down in tears or screamed.
Former Avondale College psychology professor Lyn [sic] Gow tells how McDonald
destabilized her, made her dependent, and then got $47,000 in course fees in less than a
year from her family. She became disillusioned after mortgaging her home, losing her stock
shares, and experiencing the deterioration of her family‘s health and relationships.
Paul (who would not give his last name) says that the Born Rich course made him and his
wife a half-million dollars in property trading profits and ―changed our lives.‖ Many
graduates pay $400 to join McDonald‘s ―SSS‖ and receive commissions for recruiting new
members. (John Garnaut, Sidney Morning Herald, Internet, 9/13/03)
Superior Universal Alignment
Leader Acquitted of Ritual Murder
Valentini Adrade, the 72-year-old leader of a satanic cult in Belém, northern Brazil, has
been acquitted in connection with the ritual murder and sexual mutilation of several young
boys. Four of her followers were earlier convicted of the crimes, committed in the western
Amazon region of Altamira. She was accused of ordering the murders in connection with a
―black-magic‖ ritual. (AP in Canoe, Internet, 12/5/03)
Tekely (Alan Tekely)
Breathing Without the Stomach
Four members of a religious group, including reported leader Alan Tekely, have been
charged in the death of Antoni Rolfi. They allegedly handcuffed him and beat him to death
after Rolfi returned home the night before naked and incoherent and threatened the other
―family‖ members with a spear gun.
have died from some ―outside intervention.‖ (BBC monitoring French Europe Radio 1,
Internet, 9/19/03)
Strategic Management Works
Wealth Guru Said to Manipulate Students
Anglican priest Dave Smith, who wanted to learn how to manage a church fund, says a
Strategic Management Works (SMW) week-long residential financial security program he
attended near Sydney, Australia, included five days‘ food and sleep deprivation and
manipulation to reduce the emotional defenses of the attendees, who each paid $5,500 for
the course. Some former students say they have gained from the ―Born Rich‖ experience
others say they have suffered emotionally.
Father Smith described how course facilitators urged students to cheer the entrance of SMW
head Roy McDonald — addressed as ―the government‖ and the only one allowed to wear
shoes — who has built a group of 24 companies with a $30 million annual turnover.
Graduates of the Born Rich course go on to become accountants, property developers, real
estate agents, and financial planners in SMW companies.
A former SMW manager who left because he was concerned about the charismatic
McDonald‘s methods says: ―Roy would break people down and then show them a way out. If
he made someone cry he would come racing out of his office announcing: ‗I got through.‘ ‖
McDonald says his method is an amalgam of influences from self-help gurus Tony Robbins
and Robert Kiyosaki, and confrontational self-awareness organizations such as Landmark
and Insight. He also says SMW is not a cult.
Critics believe McDonald‘s psychological techniques should not be used in public,
uncontrolled, without counselors present. Father Smith reports pressure on participants to
conform or risk group ridicule or getting soaked by McDonald‘s water gun. Some, he said,
broke down in tears or screamed.
Former Avondale College psychology professor Lyn [sic] Gow tells how McDonald
destabilized her, made her dependent, and then got $47,000 in course fees in less than a
year from her family. She became disillusioned after mortgaging her home, losing her stock
shares, and experiencing the deterioration of her family‘s health and relationships.
Paul (who would not give his last name) says that the Born Rich course made him and his
wife a half-million dollars in property trading profits and ―changed our lives.‖ Many
graduates pay $400 to join McDonald‘s ―SSS‖ and receive commissions for recruiting new
members. (John Garnaut, Sidney Morning Herald, Internet, 9/13/03)
Superior Universal Alignment
Leader Acquitted of Ritual Murder
Valentini Adrade, the 72-year-old leader of a satanic cult in Belém, northern Brazil, has
been acquitted in connection with the ritual murder and sexual mutilation of several young
boys. Four of her followers were earlier convicted of the crimes, committed in the western
Amazon region of Altamira. She was accused of ordering the murders in connection with a
―black-magic‖ ritual. (AP in Canoe, Internet, 12/5/03)
Tekely (Alan Tekely)
Breathing Without the Stomach
Four members of a religious group, including reported leader Alan Tekely, have been
charged in the death of Antoni Rolfi. They allegedly handcuffed him and beat him to death
after Rolfi returned home the night before naked and incoherent and threatened the other
―family‖ members with a spear gun.
