40 ICSA TODAY 38
Jehovah’s Witness elders fined for failure to report child
abuse: Watchtower settles with Delaware
“Jehovah’s Witnesses in Delaware paid $19,500 in fines for
failure to report child abuse. On January 18th, 2018, attorneys
representing Jehovah’s Witnesses signed a formal settlement
agreement with the State of Delaware, concluding a historic
case in which two elders and one congregation were held
responsible for withholding detailed knowledge of a sexual
relationship between an adult and a 14-year-old minor.” (JW
Survey, 07/17/18)
Jehovah’s Witnesses found guilty of malice and
negligence victim awarded $35 million in Montana
lawsuit
“On September 26th, 2018, a Montana jury of seven men
and two women handed down the largest-ever punitive
damages award for a single abuse victim. The Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society of New York, together with the
Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses were found
guilty of both negligence and malice in connection with
the intentional failure to file police reports on behalf of
plaintiff Alexis Nunez and two additional victims. A combined
total of 35 million dollars was assessed following detailed
instructions given to the jury by Judge James A. Manley.
Four million dollars was awarded to plaintiff Nunez on the
count of negligence, followed by a 31-million-dollar punitive
verdict, the result of the jury’s decision that Watchtower and
its affiliates acted out of malice.” According to a September
27 Washington Times report, the penalty will be reviewed
by a judge, and Watchtower plans to appeal the verdict.
(Washington Times, 9/27/28 JW Survey, 10/22/18)
Bad vibrations: The implosion of a New Age cult
“Followers of a woman [Kaveeta Bhavsaar] living in suburban
Auckland [New Zealand] believe she is the reincarnation of an
Indian deity, who can tune into people’s souls through special
frequencies she calls the Quantum Vortex Scalar Wave Proton
Pulse (QVSWPP), the ‘mother of all frequencies, energies,
and vibrations.’ But two former volunteers for her group,
Kosmic Fusion, have described a frightening experience
where they were subjected to gruelling ‘confession’ sessions.
...Bhavsaar has, says her adoring husband [Porumamilla],
‘more knowledge than 1,000 people put together. That’s her
gift.’ The couple have adopted the holy names Sree Maa
and Shri Ji. Devotees are asked to refer to them as a single
entity—Sree Maa Shri Ji—and believe they are the male and
female reincarnations of Swaminarayan. Bhavsaar rejects
any suggestion she and Porumamilla are holding themselves
up as Gods. ‘I’m a non-doer, I’m the guardian,’ she explains.
‘Guardian doesn’t mean I own it, it means I’m safekeeping it.’
In 2011, Bhavsaar started Kosmic Fusion, which at its peak had
some 400 followers worldwide, and later attracted a core of
mostly female devotees to live in an ashram at a luxury home
in St John’s, east Auckland. That was, until it all crumbled last
year with the exile of two key lieutenants.” (Stuff, 07/18)
Multilevel marketing companies say they can make you
rich
“...Most MLM [multilevel marketing] salespeople don’t make
a ton of money—a 2017 report by the Consumer Awareness
Institute found that 99 percent of MLM sellers actually lose
money. The website MagnifyMoney recently polled 1,049
MLM sellers across various companies and found that most
sellers make less than the equivalent of 70 cents an hour.
Nearly 20 percent of those polled never made a sale, and
nearly 60 percent earned less than $500 in sales over the past
five years. This is a far cry from the success stories promoted
by most multilevel marketing companies. To see how
accurate the survey was, [the reporter] talked to seven current
and former MLM sellers about their experiences. They worked
for 10 companies in total, including LuLaRoe, Amway, and
Mary Kay. Some made thousands of dollars a month, a few
managed to break even, and some ended up losing money.
Some gave up on MLMs entirely after one experience others
hopped from one company to the next.” (Vox, 10/22/18)
Top members charged with federal crimes in NXIVM probe
“A superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday charged several
top members of the secretive NXIVM organization with
running a criminal enterprise that engaged in crimes
including money laundering, extortion and obstruction of
justice. The criminal case against NXIVM co-founder Keith
Raniere and television actress Allison Mack now includes
NXIVM’s president, Nancy Salzman, and her daughter
Lauren, along with Clare Bronfman, the organization’s
operations director and an heiress of the Seagram’s liquor
empire. Kathy Russell, a longtime bookkeeper for NXIVM,
also was indicted. Federal agents in Albany on Tuesday
morning arrested Salzman and her daughter along with
Russell. Bronfman was taken into custody by federal agents in
New York City. The arrests were first reported by the Times
Union. The seven-count superseding indictment charges
the six defendants with identity theft, harboring of aliens for
financial gain, extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, money
laundering, and wire fraud. The charges allege the defendants
took part in recruiting and grooming sexual partners for
Raniere and of using ‘harassment, coercion and abusive
litigation to intimidate and attack perceived enemies and
critics of Raniere.’”
Jehovah’s Witness elders fined for failure to report child
abuse: Watchtower settles with Delaware
“Jehovah’s Witnesses in Delaware paid $19,500 in fines for
failure to report child abuse. On January 18th, 2018, attorneys
representing Jehovah’s Witnesses signed a formal settlement
agreement with the State of Delaware, concluding a historic
case in which two elders and one congregation were held
responsible for withholding detailed knowledge of a sexual
relationship between an adult and a 14-year-old minor.” (JW
Survey, 07/17/18)
Jehovah’s Witnesses found guilty of malice and
negligence victim awarded $35 million in Montana
lawsuit
“On September 26th, 2018, a Montana jury of seven men
and two women handed down the largest-ever punitive
damages award for a single abuse victim. The Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society of New York, together with the
Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses were found
guilty of both negligence and malice in connection with
the intentional failure to file police reports on behalf of
plaintiff Alexis Nunez and two additional victims. A combined
total of 35 million dollars was assessed following detailed
instructions given to the jury by Judge James A. Manley.
Four million dollars was awarded to plaintiff Nunez on the
count of negligence, followed by a 31-million-dollar punitive
verdict, the result of the jury’s decision that Watchtower and
its affiliates acted out of malice.” According to a September
27 Washington Times report, the penalty will be reviewed
by a judge, and Watchtower plans to appeal the verdict.
(Washington Times, 9/27/28 JW Survey, 10/22/18)
Bad vibrations: The implosion of a New Age cult
“Followers of a woman [Kaveeta Bhavsaar] living in suburban
Auckland [New Zealand] believe she is the reincarnation of an
Indian deity, who can tune into people’s souls through special
frequencies she calls the Quantum Vortex Scalar Wave Proton
Pulse (QVSWPP), the ‘mother of all frequencies, energies,
and vibrations.’ But two former volunteers for her group,
Kosmic Fusion, have described a frightening experience
where they were subjected to gruelling ‘confession’ sessions.
...Bhavsaar has, says her adoring husband [Porumamilla],
‘more knowledge than 1,000 people put together. That’s her
gift.’ The couple have adopted the holy names Sree Maa
and Shri Ji. Devotees are asked to refer to them as a single
entity—Sree Maa Shri Ji—and believe they are the male and
female reincarnations of Swaminarayan. Bhavsaar rejects
any suggestion she and Porumamilla are holding themselves
up as Gods. ‘I’m a non-doer, I’m the guardian,’ she explains.
‘Guardian doesn’t mean I own it, it means I’m safekeeping it.’
In 2011, Bhavsaar started Kosmic Fusion, which at its peak had
some 400 followers worldwide, and later attracted a core of
mostly female devotees to live in an ashram at a luxury home
in St John’s, east Auckland. That was, until it all crumbled last
year with the exile of two key lieutenants.” (Stuff, 07/18)
Multilevel marketing companies say they can make you
rich
“...Most MLM [multilevel marketing] salespeople don’t make
a ton of money—a 2017 report by the Consumer Awareness
Institute found that 99 percent of MLM sellers actually lose
money. The website MagnifyMoney recently polled 1,049
MLM sellers across various companies and found that most
sellers make less than the equivalent of 70 cents an hour.
Nearly 20 percent of those polled never made a sale, and
nearly 60 percent earned less than $500 in sales over the past
five years. This is a far cry from the success stories promoted
by most multilevel marketing companies. To see how
accurate the survey was, [the reporter] talked to seven current
and former MLM sellers about their experiences. They worked
for 10 companies in total, including LuLaRoe, Amway, and
Mary Kay. Some made thousands of dollars a month, a few
managed to break even, and some ended up losing money.
Some gave up on MLMs entirely after one experience others
hopped from one company to the next.” (Vox, 10/22/18)
Top members charged with federal crimes in NXIVM probe
“A superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday charged several
top members of the secretive NXIVM organization with
running a criminal enterprise that engaged in crimes
including money laundering, extortion and obstruction of
justice. The criminal case against NXIVM co-founder Keith
Raniere and television actress Allison Mack now includes
NXIVM’s president, Nancy Salzman, and her daughter
Lauren, along with Clare Bronfman, the organization’s
operations director and an heiress of the Seagram’s liquor
empire. Kathy Russell, a longtime bookkeeper for NXIVM,
also was indicted. Federal agents in Albany on Tuesday
morning arrested Salzman and her daughter along with
Russell. Bronfman was taken into custody by federal agents in
New York City. The arrests were first reported by the Times
Union. The seven-count superseding indictment charges
the six defendants with identity theft, harboring of aliens for
financial gain, extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, money
laundering, and wire fraud. The charges allege the defendants
took part in recruiting and grooming sexual partners for
Raniere and of using ‘harassment, coercion and abusive
litigation to intimidate and attack perceived enemies and
critics of Raniere.’”
