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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.

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Gunter Horvatch, one of the accused, said Tekely twisted the skin on Rolfi‘s stomach — he
died of abdominal injuries — in order to teach members how to breathe through their lungs
without using their stomachs. ―Being in that family, you had to give 100 percent of
yourself,‖ said Horvatch. ―You didn‘t go against the group.‖ He reported that members were
rarely allowed to watch TV or visit family and friends. They pooled their money, finances
were tightly controlled, and they smoked cannabis together. (Lisa Miller, Daily Telegraph,
Australia, Internet, 10/23/03)
Theophostic Ministries
Accused of Creating False Memories
Critics claim that therapy employed by Theophostic Ministries, of Campbellsville, KY, can
lead to the creation of false memories, which sometimes lead to false allegations of abuse.
Ed Smith, head of the $2 million ―business‖ that sells books and videos on his ideas and
methods worldwide, teaches that within memories of past traumatic events are lies
embedded by Satan that cause emotional stress. Theophostic facilitators, who train in
Kentucky, help subjects recall the memory and allow God to reveal the lie. The result
reduces stress.
Dr. Paul Simpson, of Tucson, AZ, an accredited Christian family counselor and author of
―Second Thoughts: Understanding the False Memory Crisis and How It Could Affect You‖
calls the Theophostic approach ―pretty dangerous stuff.‖ He says that it is a ―dressed up
version of recovered memory therapy,‖ which has been ―completely debunked.‖ [False
memory accusations have led to many court cases and family schisms in the past two
decades.] (Jan Fletcher, Central Kentucky News Journal, Internet, 7/02/03)
Tvind
“Sinister Cult” Recruiting in England
The Danish-based Tvind organization, which sends volunteers to do charity work in
developing countries, is recruiting in England. Many former volunteers, usually young people
often taking a year off between secondary school and college, say that Tvind tries to
―brainwash‖ recruits into working for nothing.
A former volunteer, recruited through a newspaper ad, reports that training at a special
Tvind facility allowed him no free time in the outside world and involved daily fundraising
and lectures from tutors. His humanitarian work in Malawi consisted of packing [used]
clothing [collected by Tvind in Europe] for sale to market traders.
Tvind is currently being investigated in Denmark, and leader Amdi Peterson, extradited from
the US, where he had fled, is now on trial for tax evasion.
A Tvind spokesman said that she understood parents‘ concern about their children: ―I went
as a volunteer to Mozambique myself when I was 21 years old and I can assure you my
parents were not too thrilled.‖ (Evening News 24, Internet, 5/15/03)
United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors
Real Estate Scheme Alleged
Two members of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors have been accused of creating
a phony certified check to purchase two homes in a community north of Stone Mountain,
GA. They reportedly want to reestablish a base for the group in middle Georgia. The
Nuwaubians until recently lived on a 476-acre compound in rural Putnam County before
leader Dwight Malachi York pleaded guilty to 74 counts of child molestation, and other
crimes. He now awaits trial because a judge refused to accept, as too lenient, a plea bargain
in which York agreed to a 15-year prison term. (AP, Internet, 10/3/03)