The great American mail-fraud trial: United States of America vs Glenn W. Turner, F. Lee Bailey, Dare To Be Great, Koscot Interplanetary Incorporated, et al [Unbound]

Kenneth Michael Robinson (Author)

Product Details

• Unbound: 228 pages
• Publisher: Nash Pub (1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0840213670
• ISBN-13: 978-0840213679
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,099,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beware of being rich and of being right!, June 24, 2003

By 

Lenny Evans (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The great American mail-fraud trial: United States of America vs Glenn W. Turner, F. Lee Bailey, Dare To Be Great, Koscot Interplanetary Incorporated, et al (Unbound)

The great American mail fraud trial is a graphic example of why being rich and being right can be harmful to your wallet, particularly if you are a proponent of Multi-Level Marketing and Personal Development Systems and in the 1970's.

Multi-Level Marketing (today known as network marketing) was euphamistically referred to as pyramiding. Personal development systems were and in some cases still referred to as "feel good" hokey pokey programs designed for the gullible.

Imagine a 8th grade drop out with a severe speech impediment due to a harelip challenging people to "Dare to Be Great" and having the audicity to presume that he could lead people to financial independence and freedom!

The fact is that Glenn W. Turner did in fact turn five thousand dollars into over a quarter of a billion in under three years and through his company, Turner Enterprises, paved the way for 800 people to achieve a 7 figure income in the 1970's and in record breaking time.

He showed people how to "better their best" and taught success and leadership principles used through the centuries.

Turner amassed a net worth reportedly in excess of $350 million, owned a lear jet, a castle in Oveido, Fl, was one of the largest employers in Orlando and became "American of the Year" in 1972 beating out people like Art Linkletter.

Turner had 700 lawsuits filed against him ostensibly by over eager lawyers and spurred on by politicians looking for votes.
Glenn W. Turner was a rich, easy target. Multi-Level Marketing was an easy industry to attack and Turner was the King of MLM in 1970's USA.

Turner successfully defended 699 lawsuits, but the suits and negative media publicity achieved it's intended purpose bleeding Turner of his cash flow and his lawyer. Turner lost one lawsuit and spent some time in prison as a result. But the real question still remains, "Did Glenn W. Turner really do anything wrong?"

To the people who worked with and knew Turner personally, GWT exuded charisma and integrity. He was a real life hero, bigger than life who challenged them to "Dare to Be Great" and then showed them how they could indeed become great.

Koscot cosmetic products were state of the art. Dare to Be Great success program delivered on it's promises.

Unfortunately, to the American media, Turner was a hero that they despised and they revised his image even though it had nothing to do with fact or reality.

To the American courts, MLM was an "illegal pyramid scheme" and needed to be taken down. Be aware that these were the same courts that attempted to stop franchising a decade earlier on the basis that franchising was "an illegal pyrimid scheme" and "was robbing people of their life savings."

Today network marketing also known as muti-level marketing or MLM has attained respectability and is a huge industry. But Glenn W. Turner paid a heavy price as a pioneer and as the King of Network Marketing.

There are books such as "Con Man or Saint" and "The unstoppable American" and "Turner, Turner, Turner: The King of Network Marketing" which go into greater detail about KOSCOT Interplanetary, Dare to Be Great and The Great American Mail Fraud Trial.

Did Glenn W. Turner really do anything wrong? Did he bother people that much only because he was worth millions while they were worth thousands?

I submit that Glenn W. Turner didn't do anything wrong. And what he did do was to develop people and show them that they could have anything they wanted in life if only they were willing to step up on their toes and go for it!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do courts enforce the law or create new laws??, August 9, 2003

By 

Barry Gage (Atlanta, Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The great American mail-fraud trial: United States of America vs Glenn W. Turner, F. Lee Bailey, Dare To Be Great, Koscot Interplanetary Incorporated, et al (Unbound)

Although the Koscot case seems to be one of the most visible court cases in MLM or Netowrk Marketing, it is not the only one.

In the early 1960's, the late William P. Patrick and his company Holiday Magic came under attack by courts ostensibly due to running a pyramid scheme and his company was shut down.

In the 1990's, the State of Utah charged Nu Skin as breaking security laws with their form of distributorship. The court went on to state, that the "promise of lucrative rewards for recruiting others tends to induce tha participants to focus on the recruitment side of the business at the expense of their retail marketing efforts, making it unlikely that meaningful retail opportunities for retail sales will occur."

The charges were later dropped, obviously.

Interesting is that in the Nu Skin and Koscot cases, no mention was ever made by the courts of the entry fee ... for Koscot and ... for Nu Skin. Only large investments came out in the court rooms

The question is are courts supposed to enforce the laws or create new ones?

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Great American Government Set Up.., May 25, 2002

By 

[e-mail] (Winter Park, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The great American mail-fraud trial: United States of America vs Glenn W. Turner, F. Lee Bailey, Dare To Be Great, Koscot Interplanetary Incorporated, et al (Unbound)

That is what the title of this book should have been called.America is the greatest country in the world and I am a proud American. However, I am not too proud of the government that orchestrated this fiasco.What a waste of American Tax payers dollars! I highly recommend that you read "Con Man or Saint?", "Turner, Turner, Turner: The King of Network Marketing" and especially "The Unstoppable American", if you can still get a copy.