Arthur Ferdig (HWA Assistant) and His Angel Metatron Rip Off Investors

Armstrongism has always been rife with people who were out to make a quick buck off of members and others.  Numerous Pasadena employees and members were involved in every imaginable get rich scheme possible.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost by members over the years to these liars and crooks. Many of the people who did this are now are part of LCG, UCG and PCG.

One woman in Pasadena years ago conned widows and other others out of hundreds of thousands of dollars with her lies.  Doris W. bankrupted numerous people with her lies. People complained to the ministry about her and they did nothing. She was using the money to help her son instead.  He always thought he was God's greatest gift to the church and now regularly preaches in a couple Church of God's.

Pyramid schemes involving Amway, Shaklee, knives, pots and pans, gold bullion and silver investing were the favorite modes of taking members money.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost by members with the gold and silver investing promoted by kitchen, maintenance and accounting employees.

Most of these crooks got away with it because members were brainwashed to never prosecute or sue another member.  Most were afraid to ever report these people to the authorities for fear of being disfellowshipped.

Because of that way of thinking, several men and women got bolder and bolder in their schemes.

One former Church of  God member that did not get away with it though is Arthur Ferdig. Ferdig was a personal assistant to Herbert Armstrong and an editor for the church magazine,  The Plain Truth.

Ferdig was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the  failed Tradex ponzi scheme that ripped off over 100 million dollars from investors.

A tax-evasion charge may not be glamorous, but it's how they caught Al Capone. Ferdig's defence - that this money was a salary - would be blown apart by Kenney, who could clearly show Tradex had been a Ponzi.

To date, Martin Kenney & Co has frozen or liquidated nine Ferdig gang-controlled assets and seized accounts worth over $10 million. A $35 million default judgment has been awarded against Rachel Riotte and Jeff and Alisa Lockhart. A $500,000 judgment was obtained against Elaine Ferdig and her son-in-law David Riotte. And the con man himself is facing a $20 million judgment.

Members of the Ferdig gang are attempting to cut deals, but much of the money is gone, and some had never been there at all. The liquidator has found that 45 per cent of the $80 million (by Kenney's estimate) taken in by Ferdig was paid out in "scam interest". A third went to the Ferdig gang and "to parties of questionable relation to the stated business activities of Tradex". Only 1.5 per cent went on Susan Lok's (loss-making) currency trades. The rest funded operating expenses or was paid to various "bird dogs". Follow the Money

Like Ron Weinland, another Church of God minister recently convicted of tax evasion, Fredig was nailed for the same thing.

The Enterprise Report has learned that Arthur A. Ferdig, a self proclaimed religious leader and financial head of a now defunct offshore wordwide currency trading operation known as 'Tradex' that failed over three years ago, leaving hundreds of investors and over a 100-million dollars in investor funds missing, has been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Los Angeles.  He was arrested by federal agents last month.

The charges are detailed in a recently unsealed Federal grand jury indictment obtained by TER.  Ferdig is charged with allegedly failing to pay millions of dollars in U.S. taxes on income obtained via 'Tradex'. He also did not file a tax return for 15 years the government claims. Ferdig was arrested last month and remains in federal custody.  Ferdig and others involved with 'Tradex' have been under investigation since at least 2006 by the FBI and other federal and state agencies.   EXCLUSIVE: THE GURU OF PONZI: INDICTED AND ARRESTED BY THE FEDS: HE TALKED TO GOD AND ANGELS, BUT NOT THE I.R.S.

Ferdig was also known for talking to "angels".  One angel in particular spoke to him regularly, "Angel Metatron."  Fredig even wrote books about this angel:

Ferdig fancied himself “The Bridge” between angels and earthlings. His non-Forex product lineup included “Angel Tears,” defined on his website as “an all-natural, bio-trace  mineral tincture developed to enhance  human health and vitality.”

Ferdig claimed to have met his first angel, Metatron, on Sept. 22, 2002, while Ferdig was peering over rocky sea cliffs in Negril, Jamaica. He later met Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, Ezrael, Ariel, Raphael, Muriel, Bethany “and other wonderful and loving angels and spirits of light,” according to his website. Feds Make Major Arrest In Tax Case Linked To Offshore Forex Fraud Scheme Known As Tradex; Arthur A. Ferdig, Who Claimed To Be ‘Taught By Angels,’ Detained On Felony Warrant

Ferdig's criminal activity also led to drug overdoses and the suicide of a woman who was distraught over losing money and for encouraging others to join the scheme:

The first sign of trouble was the 911 call from Susan Lok's Glendora home. It was March 2003, and the currency trader had just taken an overdose. The ambulance crew was greeted by a suburban Los Angeles house where Lok had been living with her Cambodian father - and secretly passing millions of dollars from a sophisticated Ponzi fraud through the family bank account. Follow the Money

Most Tradex investors had met Ferdig, a self-proclaimed "man of God", through his extensive Christian networks - just as Jewish investors would meet Bernie Madoff. What most of his flock would not have known was that Ferdig had been involved for many years with a controversy-dogged Californian evangelical group, the Worldwide Church of God. Ferdig had worked as "personal assistant" to its founder during the 70s, a period when the church had been rocked by numerous sexual and financial scandals.

McGunn also tracked down a West Indian woman in Santa Domingo in the Dominican Republic, whom Ferdig had married in late 2001 when she was 18 and he was 61. She was living in a condo that Ferdig held under a corporate name and had purchased with money stolen from Tradex. "God told me to sire a son, so I needed a young woman," Ferdig claimed after obtaining a Dominican divorce from Elaine Ferdig, his wife of 36 years.

In between, Ferdig arranged to "marry" a middle-aged Texan woman, who discovered after a year with him that their union was a sham - their Las Vegas wedding had been performed by a fake religious minister (and one of Ferdig's long-time associates). She later went on to train as a private detective and sent her own investigators to shadow the fraudster.

The Kenney investigation also learned that an investor in Bath, Maine, had taken her own life after losing everything to the fraud. She had been one of the earliest followers of Ferdig and subsequently brought others into the programme. After her suicide, her friends said she was not only "wiped out" financially, but also burdened with guilt after watching so many others lose their savings.

Beware of COG Ministers Who Donate To Charitable Institutions!

Apostle Malm is not too happy with Church of God ministers/elders who donate or work for charitable organizations.  According to the apostle these guys are all secret Masons and are out to destroy the faith of real Christians.  Apostle Malm is apparently kicking sand in Vic Kubik's face!

One of apostle Malm's acolytes asked if he knew how many Masons were in COG leadership positions.

I am not ready to deal with this until after the Feast. Just look for people who make a big deal out of their cheritable activities, don’t do what they say, have a double standard about what they do and what they expect from others and who split hairs and twist the truth to deceive. Those are classic indications outside of actual physical documents. Although not everyone who does these things is a mason, they are of the same spirit as their father who is NOT God. Also consider that there are masonic run organizations outside of the lodge itself; for example the Rotary Club. James

A Vigorous Daily Rubdown Will Cure Health Issues In The Churches of God

Prophet Thiel has a post up today quoting HWA's writings on radiant health.  Thiel did not give a reason for his post today but given the rampant health issues in the Living Church of God it might by a cry for members to wake up.

Quoting Herbert Armstrong as a pillar of radiant health is pretty hypocritical consider the enormous amount of medicine he was on in his latter years.  The day HWA died an entire suitcase of medicine was taken to the amphitheater on campus to be burned so that people would not see what he was taking.

Cancer is rampant in the LCG and in Armstrongism, especially in the people associated with the leadership positions.

But never fear!  HWA has the answer to a radiant healthy life!  Rub yourself down with a towel!

Circulation can be induced without over-exertion or danger. I have never forgotten a lecture I heard as a young man in the days of the Chautauqua. The lecturer had been physical trainer to President Howard Taft. Immediately following the close of the Taft administration, this physical trainer managed to secure a list of all—or nearly all—of the centenarians in the United States. He personally visited every one. He asked to what they attributed their long life. One never used tobacco, and gave that as the reason. But another used tobacco all his life and still lived past a hundred years. One “tee-totaled”—but another drank beer and brandy all his life. And so it went. When he had interviewed them all, he analyzed his notes and was surprised to learn that ONLY ONE THING was common to them all. Yet not one gave it credit for his long life. Every one had taken a vigorous daily rub-down. Some with a bath towel, following a daily bath. Some with a brush But in one way or another, each had stimulated blood circulation even to the extremities of toes and fingers by daily rubbing or massaging.

Many ask how I (now in my nineties) keep up the energy, vigor and drive. I’m sure there is more than one reason—but I do not “jog” or go in for fads. I WALK—the best exercise for one of my age. But ever since I heard that lecture, perhaps 60 or more years ago, I have taken a daily RUB-DOWN. Method? A generous-size bath towel, following a daily shower. I try to get enough sleep. I watch elimination (very important). I try to be careful about my diet. And I have a tremendous INCENTIVE—a driving PURPOSE in life, because I have learned what is life’s PURPOSE. That spurs to action! I have a mission to accomplish that is more important than my life. There’s not much time left—and it MUST and WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED! Besides all this I draw on a greater and higher Power. I think that gives the answer.

The Legacy of Prediction Addiction

nakedpastor.com

This is an excellent description of the long lasting legacy of Armstrongism 

and its end times prediction addiction. 

Van Robison: "No Church and No Pastor Has Authority"

Church goers by the millions live in fear all their lives.  They think that they must "obey" those who pretend that they have authority over their lives.  Preachers who stand in pulpits and who speak with a sense of authority or with a bombastic personality tend to intimidate church goers.  In reality this is nothing short of spiritual or religious abuse.  Why people subject themselves to these religious control-mongers is quite amazing.  I can guarantee that anyone who exits a church and stops attending, will not be given a ticket and have to pay a fine.  Nor will their eternal life and salvation have so much as any bearing upon not attending.

Virtually every preacher who stands in a pulpit thinks his or her authority is founded and based upon certain verses in the Bible.  Many women think Joyce Meyers who preachers on television is a voice that speaks for God. Folks, Joyce Meyers is a multi-millionaire and lives a life of splendor and luxury that millions would envy, and all she does is in the name of "Jesus Christ."  Yeah sure!  There are many television preachers who live a life of absolute luxury and all because gullible and naive human beings send them $money.

Television is overflowing with frauds who use the name of "Jesus Christ" and it includes such "ministries" as "It's Supernatural" to "Manna-Fest" to "World Harvest" to virtually every preacher on television.  The pure motive of all television preachers is self-vanity, self-importance and your $money  (yeah sure, become a partner and laugh while your bank account goes broke).  One old man on television plays a guitar and seems to have a grocery store shelf of canned goods in the back ground, while he sings songs.  What part does music play on human emotions and whip people into a hypnotic trance to send $money to these clowns?

Of course all Saturday Sabbath groups think they are privileged and that they have an "insight" about "God truth" that all others do not have.  The Mormons and the Jehovah Witnesses think the same thing, as do the Roman Catholics, the Baptists, the Pentecostals, the Charismatics and all other groups on planet earth.    Perhaps each group should take a challenge and the Roman Catholics should go to a dozen different other types of churches for a few years, and perhaps the Saturday Sabbath folks should attend a few Sunday going groups for a couple of years and expand their horizon and learn something that they never knew or understood before.

So shallow and narrow-minded are church goers that they have no clue of just how big and overwhelming life is.  So you attend the church of Rod Meredith?  Why not exit his highly controlled group and go elsewhere, and even become so radical that you attend a charismatic church group, or perhaps a Baptist church or a Methodist church or a Roman Catholic Church or a private house church group???  Afraid?  Fearful?  Why?


Van Robison

God's Chosen White Race: "Mixing the breed alters the characteristics."

You can tell this guy is from Armstrongite stock by the way he talks about whites being the chosen race.  That is the main premise of British Israelism that HWA and the Church of God latched on to early in it's formation.  God's chosen were whites.  God's lesser creations were black, Asian or Indian.

E.W.King, God's latest gift to the Churches of God has this to say:

It is amply evident that by the time of Noah there were at least the three primary or major racial strains on earth, the white, yellow and black, although interracial marriage produced many racial mixtures. 

God does not reveal in the Bible the precise origin of the different races. It is evident that Adam and Eve were created white. God's chosen nation Israel was white. Jesus was white. But it is a fair conjecture that in mother Eve were created ovaries containing the yellow and black genes, as well as white, so that some of the children of Adam and Eve gave rise to black, yellow, as well as white. 

The one man God chose to PRESERVE the human race alive after the Flood was perfect in his generations--all his ancestry back to Adam was of the one strain, and undoubtedly that happened to be white--not that white is in any sense superior. 

If you are a livestock breeder, planning to enter your prize animals in a livestock show--perhaps at a state or county fair--you will be sure to enter only thoroughbred or pedigreed stock! Mixing the breed alters the characteristics. 

God originally set the bounds of national borders, intending nations to be SEPARATED to prevent interracial marriage. Notice, "When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance [speaking of land or geographical boundaries], when he separated, [notice--he separated] the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people..." (Deut. 32:8). But people wanted to intermarry--until there would be only ONE RACE!  That desire seems still inherent in human nature today! 

Noah was of perfect lineage in his generations. His wife and three sons were of that same white strain. But Japheth evidently had married an Oriental woman, and Ham a black.

Idiots In The Pulpit: Non Christian Aurora Killings Victims Damned to Hell

It is amazing to see and hear the stuff that comes out of Christan leaders mouths and pens anytime there is a huge tragedy.  Liberals, gays, feminists, etc get blamed for any tragedy.  Of course this should not come as too much of a shock to anyone connected with Armstrong, because our leaders spouted the same bullshit and still do to this day.

It's all a huge blame game.  It is always someone else's fault, particularly if they do not measure up to your own standards.  According to Armstrongism, 99.99% of the world is in anathema against God and therefore deserves to be punished.

Rod Meredith, Gerald Flurry, Dave Pack and many other Armstrongist's get off on the fire and destruction that they want to see poured out on the world.  They want billions of people to die from famine, disease, and war.  To see all that happen legitimizes their beliefs.  Flurry, Meredith and others are already screeching about the Aurora killings.  God is punishing the country and nonbelievers.  "It's all their fault.  Kill the sinners God!  Let those of us who are soooooooooooo righteous live so we can spank the world for you."

This is the same mentality exhibited today by a top Evangelical leader who proclaimed that anyone killed in Aurora will be sent to hell if they are not Christian.

Jerry Newcombe, Evangelical Leader, Says Only Christian Victims Of Colorado Shooting Going To Heaven 

If a Christian dies early, if a Christian dies young, it seems tragic, but really it is not tragic because they are going to a wonderful place.. on the other hand, if a person doesn’t know Jesus Christ.. if they knowingly rejected Jesus Christ, then, basically, they are going to a terrible place. 

So sure is Newcombe of his vengeful god that he declares that future killers should stop and take into consideration the unbelief of their victims.  Could they be damning them to hell?

I know in my natural state I am worthy of Hell before a holy God, who doesn't grade on the curve. I am eternally grateful that on the cross Jesus went to Hell for me, so I don't have to. The next time someone wants to take out their frustrations on others by killing innocent victims, they ought to consider the eternal consequences of their evil actions.

Newcombe's article is here:  A Dark Night Indeed