Showing posts with label Carl Lau. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carl Lau. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
BUYING BACK YOUR BOOKS
Dear Victims of Brien Jones/Jones Harvest Publishing/My Perfect Heart/My Cheating Heart, etc.,
I had six authors contact me in the past few weeks about sending Brien Jones money (made out to Brien Jones--not to his bankrupt company) to have their left over books sent to them for just the cost of shipping. I guess when authors got tired of listening to his offers to buy back their books at a discount--books they had already paid for--he took the next step of having them send just the postage.
Funny thing--weeks went by and no one received their books which is why they wrote to me--until yesterday. I gave these authors the name and phone number of the Detective at the Bloomington Police Force that I made a complaint to several months ago on behalf of defrauded authors after Jones Harvest went out of business with a...well...never mind.
So here's some good news. One author notified me that she received her books yesterday on June 30 after paying on April 24. So it looks as though there is a 7 - 10 week wait for books to be returned to you. So if you have sent Brien money--be patient, be hopeful, and maybe they will come your way.
By the way, have any of you had contact with linda Ockels recently?
With love,
Bonnie Kaye
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Indiana U.S. Attorney Timothy Morrison's Refusal to Bring Criminal Charges Against Airleaf Publishing
Dear Airleaf Victims,
I am writing this letter to you in great sadness, disgust, and anger. On Friday afternoon, I received a phone call from our FBI agent who was investigating our case. He felt obligated to call me personally since we have worked so much together over the past year and a half to compile a criminal case against Airleaf Publishing and Carl Lau, the owner. He told me that the U.S. Attorney’s office, headed by Timothy Morrison, has decided not to proceed with our case to bring criminal charges against Airleaf and its owner, Carl Lau. Naturally, I was in shock.
He explained that according to the criminal law statutes in Indiana, the U.S. Attorney’s office did not feel that our case constituted criminal acts. I’m glad I was sitting down when that call came in or else I may have fallen directly to the floor. I told him that this is UNACCEPTABLE. We can account for over 2 million dollars that has been stolen from us—and plenty more from other victims that never found their way to our group. I went over all the fraudulent acts—the never booked cruise that people paid for, the book reviews paid for while the books sat under Carl Lau’s desk, the authors’ royalties that were collected long during and long after Airleaf closed that went into Carl Lau’s private account, the trip to Germany that people paid for while Carl Lau sat in his office playing computer games and telling the staff to tell authors what a successful time he was having, the Lite Stone pretend movie site where authors were told their books were in production or pre-production as movies, and the list went on and on. The FBI agent was on our side. He investigated the case, has piles of files, interviews, computer records, and actual testimony from former employees attesting to the fraudulence. He and the Postal Inspector know we are right, but somehow, Timothy Morrison, the U.S. Attorney can’t equate these actions as criminal.
I told the FBI agent that I am in the process of collecting petitions so I can deliver them myself to Mr. Morrison in Indiana in June. Now, more than ever, we need to speak out and demand justice so we don’t have to remain victims anymore. I want to be able to change our name to the Airleaf Victors rather than the Airleaf Victims.
If you haven’t responded to my request to sign the petition yet, please email me and let me know that you are willing to do this. If you live in or around Indiana and you can go with me, please let me know. I intend to make this a media event to embarrass the government of Indiana into action.
My site www.IndianaWelcomesCrooks.com will be up by next week. I will make sure to send that to the media as well. I will notify you next week when it is up so you can view it.
This is a slap in the face to all hard-working authors who invested hard earned money in a dream that was nothing more than a money-making scheme and con game. It sends a message to the other predatory publishers like Jones Harvest that nothing will happen if they keep stealing money from people. For those of you who live outside the United States in countries including Canada, the UK, Australia, and Scotland, I send a big apology on behalf of our government that allows this fraudulence to go unpunished.
Here is a copy of the email I sent to Mr. Morrison yesterday:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I was informed by the Indiana FBI today that you will not be following through with our case of fraud against Airleaf Publishing. I want you to know that I and the members of group find this totally unacceptable. I have provided the federal authorities with more than enough evidence proving criminal fraud. We have nearly 600 members who are part of our group from the United States and other parts of the world who have been robbed of our money, hopes, dreams, materials, and dignity. There are hundreds of more victims of this company that haven't found their way to us yet. Just within our group, the money stolen is in excess of TWO MILLION DOLLARS.
We want justice against Airleaf Publishing and Carl Lau, the owner who not only took our money while he was in business, but continued to steal our royalties after he closed his company for many months to come.
By allowing this crime to go unpunished, you are sending out a message to the other predatory publishers that continue stealing money from unsuspecting authors that it is okay to perpetrate fraud in Indiana without getting punished.
We are committed to finding justice against this fraudulence. I will be coming to visit you in Indiana in June to present you with petitions from our victims with their stories. We will contact every government agency in your state asking them to intercede on our behalf. We will also contact your local media and the national media to bring attention to this injustice. We have been patiently waiting for a year and a half for justice, but now you have decided not to help us find it.
This is a true disgrace, Mr. Morrison.
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
I would appreciate it if you could send an email to Mr. Morrison this week letting him know about your disgust in his refusal to help us. His email address is:
USAINS.Webmaster@usdoj.gov
Tell Mr. Morrison that you are a victim of criminal fraud. I have provided the Indiana government with a ton of information that proves our case. If what happens to us doesn’t constitute fraud in Indiana, then Indiana needs to change its laws. Please take a moment to send Mr. Morrison an email telling him that you do not agree with his decision and request a reversal of his decision. Let him know how violated you feel after being robbed by a company in his state and then feeling doubly victimized by his decision that it is not a crime.
Please send me a note if you do this so I can track how many people have sent a message. It can be a short note just expressing your outrage, or a note stating your story. The important thing is to let him know we want action, not dismissal in this case.
The government of Indiana is counting on our discouragement to make us feel defeated, hoping we will throw up our hands in surrender. They want us to walk away from this issue as some as you have told me to do. A handful of our authors told me to give up—“we can’t win. It’s not worth the fight.” But I don’t agree. I think about the hours, days, months, and years of anguish so many authors went through, and how their lives were forever changed by losing their hard earned savings to a greed and fraudulence. I think of the whole new group of over 70 victims of Brien Jones at Jones Harvest who is now laughing and telling people the government of Indiana doesn’t do anything while he continues to re-victimize many of our original Airleaf victims and a whole new group of unsuspecting authors who fell for his bait. This decision will give him the green light to keep hurting authors.
We need to stand up for ourselves and our dignity. If you have not sent back your response to being part of our petition campaign, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. To date, I have 72 responses. We need a lot more to make this a cause that won’t be forgotten. Please write to me at Bonkaye@aol.com to let me know you are willing to join our team of Airleaf Victims No More, so we can become Airleaf Victors.
I will have the petition ready by the end of the week and send it out to all of you who are on my list. You will be able to either email it back to me or send it back to me by mail.
Let’s not give up. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement.
With love and hope,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer
www.AirleafVictims.com
www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com
I am writing this letter to you in great sadness, disgust, and anger. On Friday afternoon, I received a phone call from our FBI agent who was investigating our case. He felt obligated to call me personally since we have worked so much together over the past year and a half to compile a criminal case against Airleaf Publishing and Carl Lau, the owner. He told me that the U.S. Attorney’s office, headed by Timothy Morrison, has decided not to proceed with our case to bring criminal charges against Airleaf and its owner, Carl Lau. Naturally, I was in shock.
He explained that according to the criminal law statutes in Indiana, the U.S. Attorney’s office did not feel that our case constituted criminal acts. I’m glad I was sitting down when that call came in or else I may have fallen directly to the floor. I told him that this is UNACCEPTABLE. We can account for over 2 million dollars that has been stolen from us—and plenty more from other victims that never found their way to our group. I went over all the fraudulent acts—the never booked cruise that people paid for, the book reviews paid for while the books sat under Carl Lau’s desk, the authors’ royalties that were collected long during and long after Airleaf closed that went into Carl Lau’s private account, the trip to Germany that people paid for while Carl Lau sat in his office playing computer games and telling the staff to tell authors what a successful time he was having, the Lite Stone pretend movie site where authors were told their books were in production or pre-production as movies, and the list went on and on. The FBI agent was on our side. He investigated the case, has piles of files, interviews, computer records, and actual testimony from former employees attesting to the fraudulence. He and the Postal Inspector know we are right, but somehow, Timothy Morrison, the U.S. Attorney can’t equate these actions as criminal.
I told the FBI agent that I am in the process of collecting petitions so I can deliver them myself to Mr. Morrison in Indiana in June. Now, more than ever, we need to speak out and demand justice so we don’t have to remain victims anymore. I want to be able to change our name to the Airleaf Victors rather than the Airleaf Victims.
If you haven’t responded to my request to sign the petition yet, please email me and let me know that you are willing to do this. If you live in or around Indiana and you can go with me, please let me know. I intend to make this a media event to embarrass the government of Indiana into action.
My site www.IndianaWelcomesCrooks.com will be up by next week. I will make sure to send that to the media as well. I will notify you next week when it is up so you can view it.
This is a slap in the face to all hard-working authors who invested hard earned money in a dream that was nothing more than a money-making scheme and con game. It sends a message to the other predatory publishers like Jones Harvest that nothing will happen if they keep stealing money from people. For those of you who live outside the United States in countries including Canada, the UK, Australia, and Scotland, I send a big apology on behalf of our government that allows this fraudulence to go unpunished.
Here is a copy of the email I sent to Mr. Morrison yesterday:
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I was informed by the Indiana FBI today that you will not be following through with our case of fraud against Airleaf Publishing. I want you to know that I and the members of group find this totally unacceptable. I have provided the federal authorities with more than enough evidence proving criminal fraud. We have nearly 600 members who are part of our group from the United States and other parts of the world who have been robbed of our money, hopes, dreams, materials, and dignity. There are hundreds of more victims of this company that haven't found their way to us yet. Just within our group, the money stolen is in excess of TWO MILLION DOLLARS.
We want justice against Airleaf Publishing and Carl Lau, the owner who not only took our money while he was in business, but continued to steal our royalties after he closed his company for many months to come.
By allowing this crime to go unpunished, you are sending out a message to the other predatory publishers that continue stealing money from unsuspecting authors that it is okay to perpetrate fraud in Indiana without getting punished.
We are committed to finding justice against this fraudulence. I will be coming to visit you in Indiana in June to present you with petitions from our victims with their stories. We will contact every government agency in your state asking them to intercede on our behalf. We will also contact your local media and the national media to bring attention to this injustice. We have been patiently waiting for a year and a half for justice, but now you have decided not to help us find it.
This is a true disgrace, Mr. Morrison.
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
Organizer, Airleaf Victims
I would appreciate it if you could send an email to Mr. Morrison this week letting him know about your disgust in his refusal to help us. His email address is:
USAINS.Webmaster@usdoj.gov
Tell Mr. Morrison that you are a victim of criminal fraud. I have provided the Indiana government with a ton of information that proves our case. If what happens to us doesn’t constitute fraud in Indiana, then Indiana needs to change its laws. Please take a moment to send Mr. Morrison an email telling him that you do not agree with his decision and request a reversal of his decision. Let him know how violated you feel after being robbed by a company in his state and then feeling doubly victimized by his decision that it is not a crime.
Please send me a note if you do this so I can track how many people have sent a message. It can be a short note just expressing your outrage, or a note stating your story. The important thing is to let him know we want action, not dismissal in this case.
The government of Indiana is counting on our discouragement to make us feel defeated, hoping we will throw up our hands in surrender. They want us to walk away from this issue as some as you have told me to do. A handful of our authors told me to give up—“we can’t win. It’s not worth the fight.” But I don’t agree. I think about the hours, days, months, and years of anguish so many authors went through, and how their lives were forever changed by losing their hard earned savings to a greed and fraudulence. I think of the whole new group of over 70 victims of Brien Jones at Jones Harvest who is now laughing and telling people the government of Indiana doesn’t do anything while he continues to re-victimize many of our original Airleaf victims and a whole new group of unsuspecting authors who fell for his bait. This decision will give him the green light to keep hurting authors.
We need to stand up for ourselves and our dignity. If you have not sent back your response to being part of our petition campaign, please do so AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. To date, I have 72 responses. We need a lot more to make this a cause that won’t be forgotten. Please write to me at Bonkaye@aol.com to let me know you are willing to join our team of Airleaf Victims No More, so we can become Airleaf Victors.
I will have the petition ready by the end of the week and send it out to all of you who are on my list. You will be able to either email it back to me or send it back to me by mail.
Let’s not give up. Thank you for your support and words of encouragement.
With love and hope,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed., Organizer
www.AirleafVictims.com
www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com
Saturday, March 28, 2009
AIRLEAF/JONES HARVEST VICTIMS UPDATE
Dear Airleaf Victims,
It has been a while since you’ve heard from me. That’s because I had nothing to tell you. Allow me to explain two issues.
When we began our campaign against Airleaf, we took action on two levels. We applied for civil charges with the Attorney General’s office for restitution of our money. We also filed complaints for criminal charges with the U.S. Attorney’s office for prosecution of criminal actions. In Indiana, those are the two government agencies responsible for each of the actions.
My requests to the U.S. Attorney in Indiana regarding the criminal charges against Carl Lau and Airleaf et. al., have not resulted in any determination as of yet whether they will press charges because the case is under “investigation” by the FBI and Postal authorities as it has been for a year-and-a-half. Quite frankly, I’m stumped. I provided these agencies with all the documentation to make the case, but it’s still being investigated. I am tired of waiting for a response with no communication from Timothy Morrison as of late, the Indiana U.S. Attorney, in spite of asking twice for a decision.
In my frustration, I sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney two weeks ago. This is what it stated:
March 11, 2009
Mr. Kenneth E. Melson, Director
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2242
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Melson:
My name is Bonnie Kaye. I am the organizer of a group of over 600 people who are victims of a predatory publishing and publicity scam by a now out-of-business company, Airleaf Publishing, in Martinsville, Indiana owned by Carl Lau.
As a victim, in addition to being the organizer of the group, I have spent the past year and a half seeking justice for our very upset members by the Indiana U.S. Attorney’s office. The FBI and the US Postal Authorities have investigated this case for well over a year and a half. I have provided extensive documentation to prove that our case is one of fraudulence as opposed to “poor business practice.”
I was successful in getting this company closed by starting an intensive Internet campaign that shut off the cash flow of the company. At that time, I took two routes—civil charges and criminal charges. I had our authors send out complaint forms to the FBI and Postal Authorities of Indiana for criminal action, as well as the Attorney General of Indiana for civil charges. The Attorney General’s office handed down a judgment against the owner, Carl Lau, last spring, months after the company closed. Unfortunately, since he has no money left, we will not see any kind of restitution. However, we are still seeking retribution in the form of criminal charges so that con men don’t feel entitled to rob authors of thousands of dollars with false promises that will never come true.
From the information that I have been able to gather, Carl Lau stole in excess of two million dollars from unsuspecting authors who have now had their hopes, dreams, and money stolen away from them. How is it that one petty thief can go to jail, but a con man of this magnitude can go free? This makes no sense to any of us.
I have spent hundreds of hours compiling files for the FBI to make our case so that the U.S. Attorney of Indiana, Timothy Morrison, can file criminal charges against the criminal. I have had very little by way of communication in a positive way from Mr. Morrison who seems to just “blow us off.” I am writing to you as a last resort in trying to get us the help and justice we are seeking.
You can read our website at www.AirleafVictims.com. As a result of the inaction of the Indiana government, a second company, Jones Harvest Publishing, owned and operated by the former Executive Vice President of Airleaf, Brien Jones, started operating this scam all over again robbing people of thousands of dollars for fake publicity and publishing campaigns. You can see my site at www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com.
Mr. Melson, I know you are very busy, and I am only writing to you in desperation. We don’t know where to turn. Many of our victims are elderly people and disabled people who invested their life savings into this dream that became their nightmare. If action isn’t taken to punish people who do this, it sends up a red flag to other people with no conscience that this kind of fraudulence is not a punishable crime.
Please help us by asking Mr. Morrison to take action against the thieves of Indiana who are robbing people not only in this country, but in internationally as well. It certainly doesn’t make America look good when we allow this type of fraudulence to flourish. If you would like me to send you copies of my correspondence with Mr. Morrison, please let me know.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
I am still waiting for a response from his office. I understand he is busy with AIG, but we have our own personal money woes to contend with due to this fraudulence.
The next step I would like to take is this: I would like to know if you will help me by signing a petition that I will personally deliver in Indiana to the U.S. Attorney’s office with our stories. I will go with Sgt. Don Meyers, Indiana’s most decorated Vietnam War Veteran, as well as an Airleaf Victim, and any other author in the area who is willing to join me. I will call the press ahead of time to announce when I am going, and I will launch my new campaign and website “Indiana Welcomes Crooks” which I am in the process of designing. I’ll send you the link in the next few weeks so you can check it out. I am hoping by taking these measures, I will drum up media interest in our case.
Regardless of the fact that we were able to get the Attorney General’s office to bring a judgment against Carl Lau, we will see nothing. Carl Lau sold his house last year, and the money from Lau’s house went to the IRS for back taxes. He is in debt up the kazoo and supposedly claiming bankruptcy. But don’t feel sorry for him—he’s been collecting unemployment insurance this year. And he and his wife have moved in with his wife’s family. His wife has an excellent job, so they are not suffering, but a lot of us sure are.
If you are willing to help me with this petition campaign, please send me an email at Bonkaye@aol.com and let me know I can count on you. I’m willing to donate my time and money to go to Indiana on your behalf. All I’m asking you for is sign a statement that I will send to you requesting that the U.S. Attorney bring charges against Airleaf for crimes against our authors.
In the meantime, I am working with nearly 70 victims of Jones Harvest Publishing owned by Brien Jones. I have them filing reports to the Attorney General’s office in Indiana. When so many of you told me initially that Brien Jones was the real criminal at Airleaf, I couldn’t understand why. After all, he didn’t own the company. But of course I’ve learned the hard way that he was the one who came up with most of the fraudulent schemes and talked you out of your money as you kept telling me. He’s done this all over again on his own. Many of our victims have been re-victimized, and I will keep fighting on their behalf as well as his new victims who have found me due to my Google Advertising on the Jones Harvest page of Google. Feel free to check it out. We have to let the government of Indiana know that we will not tolerate their lack of action against predatory publishing fraud.
Three other items before I end.
1.Airleaf Victim Tom Barnes called me the other day and told me that if you have lost money with Airleaf, you can file it as a fraudulence loss on your income tax this year. Even if it happened two or three years ago, we didn’t know about the fraudulence until 2008. I took mine off my taxes last year. If you haven’t done that yet, please think about adding it to your return.
2.Keep in mind our Books of Excellence author’s co-op. Please check it out if you haven’t seen it lately at www.BooksOfExcellence.com. We have some wonderful authors, and books are selling and being promoted. We would be happy to have you join our group. Please email me if you would like further information.
3.I’ll be in Connecticut in May at the CAPA conference (Connecticut Authors and Publishing Association) as a guest speaker on Predatory Publishing discussing how we as victims stood up to fight and stop Airleaf. If any of you live in the area, I’d love to meet you. Please let me know if you’d like more information.
Thank you for your patience, support, and hopefully, willingness to keep our battle alive until we see justice. What happened to us is criminal—and criminals need to be punished.
Love,
Bonnie Kaye, M. Ed.
It has been a while since you’ve heard from me. That’s because I had nothing to tell you. Allow me to explain two issues.
When we began our campaign against Airleaf, we took action on two levels. We applied for civil charges with the Attorney General’s office for restitution of our money. We also filed complaints for criminal charges with the U.S. Attorney’s office for prosecution of criminal actions. In Indiana, those are the two government agencies responsible for each of the actions.
My requests to the U.S. Attorney in Indiana regarding the criminal charges against Carl Lau and Airleaf et. al., have not resulted in any determination as of yet whether they will press charges because the case is under “investigation” by the FBI and Postal authorities as it has been for a year-and-a-half. Quite frankly, I’m stumped. I provided these agencies with all the documentation to make the case, but it’s still being investigated. I am tired of waiting for a response with no communication from Timothy Morrison as of late, the Indiana U.S. Attorney, in spite of asking twice for a decision.
In my frustration, I sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney two weeks ago. This is what it stated:
March 11, 2009
Mr. Kenneth E. Melson, Director
United States Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 2242
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Mr. Melson:
My name is Bonnie Kaye. I am the organizer of a group of over 600 people who are victims of a predatory publishing and publicity scam by a now out-of-business company, Airleaf Publishing, in Martinsville, Indiana owned by Carl Lau.
As a victim, in addition to being the organizer of the group, I have spent the past year and a half seeking justice for our very upset members by the Indiana U.S. Attorney’s office. The FBI and the US Postal Authorities have investigated this case for well over a year and a half. I have provided extensive documentation to prove that our case is one of fraudulence as opposed to “poor business practice.”
I was successful in getting this company closed by starting an intensive Internet campaign that shut off the cash flow of the company. At that time, I took two routes—civil charges and criminal charges. I had our authors send out complaint forms to the FBI and Postal Authorities of Indiana for criminal action, as well as the Attorney General of Indiana for civil charges. The Attorney General’s office handed down a judgment against the owner, Carl Lau, last spring, months after the company closed. Unfortunately, since he has no money left, we will not see any kind of restitution. However, we are still seeking retribution in the form of criminal charges so that con men don’t feel entitled to rob authors of thousands of dollars with false promises that will never come true.
From the information that I have been able to gather, Carl Lau stole in excess of two million dollars from unsuspecting authors who have now had their hopes, dreams, and money stolen away from them. How is it that one petty thief can go to jail, but a con man of this magnitude can go free? This makes no sense to any of us.
I have spent hundreds of hours compiling files for the FBI to make our case so that the U.S. Attorney of Indiana, Timothy Morrison, can file criminal charges against the criminal. I have had very little by way of communication in a positive way from Mr. Morrison who seems to just “blow us off.” I am writing to you as a last resort in trying to get us the help and justice we are seeking.
You can read our website at www.AirleafVictims.com. As a result of the inaction of the Indiana government, a second company, Jones Harvest Publishing, owned and operated by the former Executive Vice President of Airleaf, Brien Jones, started operating this scam all over again robbing people of thousands of dollars for fake publicity and publishing campaigns. You can see my site at www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com.
Mr. Melson, I know you are very busy, and I am only writing to you in desperation. We don’t know where to turn. Many of our victims are elderly people and disabled people who invested their life savings into this dream that became their nightmare. If action isn’t taken to punish people who do this, it sends up a red flag to other people with no conscience that this kind of fraudulence is not a punishable crime.
Please help us by asking Mr. Morrison to take action against the thieves of Indiana who are robbing people not only in this country, but in internationally as well. It certainly doesn’t make America look good when we allow this type of fraudulence to flourish. If you would like me to send you copies of my correspondence with Mr. Morrison, please let me know.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
I am still waiting for a response from his office. I understand he is busy with AIG, but we have our own personal money woes to contend with due to this fraudulence.
The next step I would like to take is this: I would like to know if you will help me by signing a petition that I will personally deliver in Indiana to the U.S. Attorney’s office with our stories. I will go with Sgt. Don Meyers, Indiana’s most decorated Vietnam War Veteran, as well as an Airleaf Victim, and any other author in the area who is willing to join me. I will call the press ahead of time to announce when I am going, and I will launch my new campaign and website “Indiana Welcomes Crooks” which I am in the process of designing. I’ll send you the link in the next few weeks so you can check it out. I am hoping by taking these measures, I will drum up media interest in our case.
Regardless of the fact that we were able to get the Attorney General’s office to bring a judgment against Carl Lau, we will see nothing. Carl Lau sold his house last year, and the money from Lau’s house went to the IRS for back taxes. He is in debt up the kazoo and supposedly claiming bankruptcy. But don’t feel sorry for him—he’s been collecting unemployment insurance this year. And he and his wife have moved in with his wife’s family. His wife has an excellent job, so they are not suffering, but a lot of us sure are.
If you are willing to help me with this petition campaign, please send me an email at Bonkaye@aol.com and let me know I can count on you. I’m willing to donate my time and money to go to Indiana on your behalf. All I’m asking you for is sign a statement that I will send to you requesting that the U.S. Attorney bring charges against Airleaf for crimes against our authors.
In the meantime, I am working with nearly 70 victims of Jones Harvest Publishing owned by Brien Jones. I have them filing reports to the Attorney General’s office in Indiana. When so many of you told me initially that Brien Jones was the real criminal at Airleaf, I couldn’t understand why. After all, he didn’t own the company. But of course I’ve learned the hard way that he was the one who came up with most of the fraudulent schemes and talked you out of your money as you kept telling me. He’s done this all over again on his own. Many of our victims have been re-victimized, and I will keep fighting on their behalf as well as his new victims who have found me due to my Google Advertising on the Jones Harvest page of Google. Feel free to check it out. We have to let the government of Indiana know that we will not tolerate their lack of action against predatory publishing fraud.
Three other items before I end.
1.Airleaf Victim Tom Barnes called me the other day and told me that if you have lost money with Airleaf, you can file it as a fraudulence loss on your income tax this year. Even if it happened two or three years ago, we didn’t know about the fraudulence until 2008. I took mine off my taxes last year. If you haven’t done that yet, please think about adding it to your return.
2.Keep in mind our Books of Excellence author’s co-op. Please check it out if you haven’t seen it lately at www.BooksOfExcellence.com. We have some wonderful authors, and books are selling and being promoted. We would be happy to have you join our group. Please email me if you would like further information.
3.I’ll be in Connecticut in May at the CAPA conference (Connecticut Authors and Publishing Association) as a guest speaker on Predatory Publishing discussing how we as victims stood up to fight and stop Airleaf. If any of you live in the area, I’d love to meet you. Please let me know if you’d like more information.
Thank you for your patience, support, and hopefully, willingness to keep our battle alive until we see justice. What happened to us is criminal—and criminals need to be punished.
Love,
Bonnie Kaye, M. Ed.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
AUTHORS BEWARE OF PUBLISHING FRAUDS!
My name is Bonnie Kaye. I am the organizer of the Airleaf Victims group and the Jones Harvest Publishing Group.Please read my websites at www.AirleafVictims.com and www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com.
I have started this blog as an additional way to warn people about the fraudulence of Jones Harvest Publishing as well as a way to respond daily to the vicious attacks on my integrity. As of late, there are some horrible stories going around the Internet about me from the Jones Harvest staff--or shall I say family--Brien, his wife Brandy, their mothers, sisters, cousins, best buds, and other relatives who run the business out of their exclusive basement office in the Jones's home in Bloomington, Indiana.
Authors who have published with Jones Harvest have been told by the staff that I am trying to "destroy" the business because of numerous reasons including starting my own publishing company.
So, to set the record straight, let me say that this is not the case at all. I started this group due to the increasing number of Jones Harvest author victims (now at 48 who have contacted me) most of whom originally were members of my Airleaf Victims group, one of the most horrific predatory publishing scandals ever in this country. Together, we successfully forced Airleaf Publishing to close down in December 2007 after the company robbed us of over two million dollars. A judgment was handed down by the Attorney General in May, and criminal charges are now being investigated against the owner Carl Lau.
These authors are now being victimized a second time by the former Executive Vice President of Airleaf, Brien Jones, in his new company Jones Harvest Publishing, who promised "he would be different than Airleaf." He claimed that he, too, was a victim and never received the monies due to him. All he wanted to do was run an honest business and sell books in bookstores for authors. He had no interest in publicity schemes that didn't sell books. He laughed at the Airleaf trips to Hollywood claiming they were worthless--at least until he started doing the same thing at Jones Harvest. And as a top king of con, he was able to convince many of us that he left Airleaf because he was disgusted with the fraudulence there.
When he sent me a letter in February of 2007 asking me to republish my book "Straight Wives Shattered Lives" which was Airleaf property, he said he'd be happy to do it for free if I would allow myself to appear on his many numerous websites such as Author Celebrities. I agreed to allow him to do this because of my anger with Airleaf which refused to pay me my royalties even after my attorney threatened legal action. In return, I helped him with marketing and editing because I believed in him. When I started my Airleaf Victims group on the Internet, Brien Jones was most helpful to me in my campaign to bring down Airleaf, making me believed that this man would be the publisher he promised to be. I never knew him at Airleaf, so I had no reason to doubt him.
When I first started my Airleaf Victims group, dozens of letters came to me weekly wanting to join my battle against the company. Almost all of them were blaming Brien Jones. Quite frankly, I didn't understand why. Whenever I told Brien about the accusations, he convinced me that he was the fall guy. He only made the sales--it wasn't his job to see they were done. That was the owner's job, Carl Lau. And I believed him because I wanted to believe him. I couldn't believe that I would be conned twice. I defended him to authors explaining his plight. I edited their stories on the Airleaf Victims website removing his name and just said "employees."
Authors told me I was naive. They warned me that one day I would learn the truth about Brien Jones. Sadly, I did.
When the first victims came to me claiming that they paid $4,000 for two books to be published in April and it was now November and there was no galley to be seen, I was quite shocked. They had it in writing that their books would be published within 90 days. These were senior citizens in the ministry who didn't have money to lose. I told them to write and get their money back. Most of it was returned. And so it went for the next six people who sent me complaints. I told them to ask for their money back, and it was returned. But then the money stopped being returned after another senior citizen asked for her $5,000.00 back after being promised a television interview, weekly follow up with the news media, and all other kinds of bogus publicity promises. That's when I started my Jones Harvest Fraud Victims campaign.
You see, it would be very uncaring of me to represent over 500 victims from Airleaf and then ignore the fact that many of them are being re-victimized again by Jones Harvest. I felt compelled to do something when the authors no longer received their money back for failed services, even though Jones Harvest "guarantees" this on their website. Well, actually they used to guarantee it. Interestingly enough, the so called “guarantee” has been erased from the front of the website since I’ve encouraged so many people to call Jones Harvest on that guarantee—one they refuse to honor. In fact, they have now started threatening to “take legal action” against authors who want their money back. However, if you look quickly, you’ll still see that guarantee in the Jones Harvest blog. In case Jones removes it after I let people know where it is hidden, this is what the guarantee states:
Money-back Guarantee
July 22nd, 2008
We now offer all new clients a money-back guarantee on our publishing, promotional and bookselling services. We were already unique, but that guarantee puts us in a class by ourselves.
If you have had a pleasant experience with Jones Harvest, as a few authors have, I am very happy for you. Every author should have that experience. There were also authors at Airleaf Publishing who had "pleasant experiences"; however, that didn't stop hundreds of others from getting screwed out of their money. And now, once again, this is happening to many of the Jones Harvest authors who were promised and "guaranteed" services that are fraudulent. And yes, I have verified this through reliable sources at Jones Harvest who came forth in disgust at what was going on there. And is it any coincidence that 80% of the victims are senior citizens, authors with disabilities, or people with limited English ability? I think not. Why not go after the most vulnerable of all people when you're a con man.
Please take a moment to read my website by clicking into this link: www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com This way, you can get the whole truth in an accurate manner. Maybe after you learn the truth, you'll realize that you, too, are a victim. Please feel free to contact me if that is the case so I can help you get your money back through the appropriate government channels who are now investigating the company.
On the Jones Harvest blog site, I have been accused of owning a publishing company which is why I'm trying to take away their business. Nothing is farther from the truth. By profession, I am a counselor and educator. I have no interest in the publishing business other than helping fellow authors whose hopes, dreams, and money has been lost to crooks who treat them with contempt.
In the days ahead, I will start discussing some of these cases with you so you can make up your own mind. I will be happy to address his few fans who are attacking me on his blog site and respond to their attacks here since I am not able to post on the Jones blog site.
Please feel free to contact me at Bonkaye@aol.com if you have any questions or feel that you are a victim. While Jones Harvest still is in business, I can help you contact the government officials who will fight on your behalf.
Don't allow yourself to be a victim. Stand up like dozens of others and fight back.
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
I have started this blog as an additional way to warn people about the fraudulence of Jones Harvest Publishing as well as a way to respond daily to the vicious attacks on my integrity. As of late, there are some horrible stories going around the Internet about me from the Jones Harvest staff--or shall I say family--Brien, his wife Brandy, their mothers, sisters, cousins, best buds, and other relatives who run the business out of their exclusive basement office in the Jones's home in Bloomington, Indiana.
Authors who have published with Jones Harvest have been told by the staff that I am trying to "destroy" the business because of numerous reasons including starting my own publishing company.
So, to set the record straight, let me say that this is not the case at all. I started this group due to the increasing number of Jones Harvest author victims (now at 48 who have contacted me) most of whom originally were members of my Airleaf Victims group, one of the most horrific predatory publishing scandals ever in this country. Together, we successfully forced Airleaf Publishing to close down in December 2007 after the company robbed us of over two million dollars. A judgment was handed down by the Attorney General in May, and criminal charges are now being investigated against the owner Carl Lau.
These authors are now being victimized a second time by the former Executive Vice President of Airleaf, Brien Jones, in his new company Jones Harvest Publishing, who promised "he would be different than Airleaf." He claimed that he, too, was a victim and never received the monies due to him. All he wanted to do was run an honest business and sell books in bookstores for authors. He had no interest in publicity schemes that didn't sell books. He laughed at the Airleaf trips to Hollywood claiming they were worthless--at least until he started doing the same thing at Jones Harvest. And as a top king of con, he was able to convince many of us that he left Airleaf because he was disgusted with the fraudulence there.
When he sent me a letter in February of 2007 asking me to republish my book "Straight Wives Shattered Lives" which was Airleaf property, he said he'd be happy to do it for free if I would allow myself to appear on his many numerous websites such as Author Celebrities. I agreed to allow him to do this because of my anger with Airleaf which refused to pay me my royalties even after my attorney threatened legal action. In return, I helped him with marketing and editing because I believed in him. When I started my Airleaf Victims group on the Internet, Brien Jones was most helpful to me in my campaign to bring down Airleaf, making me believed that this man would be the publisher he promised to be. I never knew him at Airleaf, so I had no reason to doubt him.
When I first started my Airleaf Victims group, dozens of letters came to me weekly wanting to join my battle against the company. Almost all of them were blaming Brien Jones. Quite frankly, I didn't understand why. Whenever I told Brien about the accusations, he convinced me that he was the fall guy. He only made the sales--it wasn't his job to see they were done. That was the owner's job, Carl Lau. And I believed him because I wanted to believe him. I couldn't believe that I would be conned twice. I defended him to authors explaining his plight. I edited their stories on the Airleaf Victims website removing his name and just said "employees."
Authors told me I was naive. They warned me that one day I would learn the truth about Brien Jones. Sadly, I did.
When the first victims came to me claiming that they paid $4,000 for two books to be published in April and it was now November and there was no galley to be seen, I was quite shocked. They had it in writing that their books would be published within 90 days. These were senior citizens in the ministry who didn't have money to lose. I told them to write and get their money back. Most of it was returned. And so it went for the next six people who sent me complaints. I told them to ask for their money back, and it was returned. But then the money stopped being returned after another senior citizen asked for her $5,000.00 back after being promised a television interview, weekly follow up with the news media, and all other kinds of bogus publicity promises. That's when I started my Jones Harvest Fraud Victims campaign.
You see, it would be very uncaring of me to represent over 500 victims from Airleaf and then ignore the fact that many of them are being re-victimized again by Jones Harvest. I felt compelled to do something when the authors no longer received their money back for failed services, even though Jones Harvest "guarantees" this on their website. Well, actually they used to guarantee it. Interestingly enough, the so called “guarantee” has been erased from the front of the website since I’ve encouraged so many people to call Jones Harvest on that guarantee—one they refuse to honor. In fact, they have now started threatening to “take legal action” against authors who want their money back. However, if you look quickly, you’ll still see that guarantee in the Jones Harvest blog. In case Jones removes it after I let people know where it is hidden, this is what the guarantee states:
Money-back Guarantee
July 22nd, 2008
We now offer all new clients a money-back guarantee on our publishing, promotional and bookselling services. We were already unique, but that guarantee puts us in a class by ourselves.
If you have had a pleasant experience with Jones Harvest, as a few authors have, I am very happy for you. Every author should have that experience. There were also authors at Airleaf Publishing who had "pleasant experiences"; however, that didn't stop hundreds of others from getting screwed out of their money. And now, once again, this is happening to many of the Jones Harvest authors who were promised and "guaranteed" services that are fraudulent. And yes, I have verified this through reliable sources at Jones Harvest who came forth in disgust at what was going on there. And is it any coincidence that 80% of the victims are senior citizens, authors with disabilities, or people with limited English ability? I think not. Why not go after the most vulnerable of all people when you're a con man.
Please take a moment to read my website by clicking into this link: www.JonesHarvestFraudVictims.com This way, you can get the whole truth in an accurate manner. Maybe after you learn the truth, you'll realize that you, too, are a victim. Please feel free to contact me if that is the case so I can help you get your money back through the appropriate government channels who are now investigating the company.
On the Jones Harvest blog site, I have been accused of owning a publishing company which is why I'm trying to take away their business. Nothing is farther from the truth. By profession, I am a counselor and educator. I have no interest in the publishing business other than helping fellow authors whose hopes, dreams, and money has been lost to crooks who treat them with contempt.
In the days ahead, I will start discussing some of these cases with you so you can make up your own mind. I will be happy to address his few fans who are attacking me on his blog site and respond to their attacks here since I am not able to post on the Jones blog site.
Please feel free to contact me at Bonkaye@aol.com if you have any questions or feel that you are a victim. While Jones Harvest still is in business, I can help you contact the government officials who will fight on your behalf.
Don't allow yourself to be a victim. Stand up like dozens of others and fight back.
Bonnie Kaye, M.Ed.
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