On Wed, 15 May 2013 05:08:20 -0700, Klaus Schadenfreude
Actually you were.
One prevalent sovereign-citizen theory is the Redemption Theory, which
claims the U.S. government went bankrupt when it abandoned the gold
standard basis for currency in 1933 and began using citizens as
collateral in trade agreements with foreign governments.2 These
beliefs can provide a gateway to illegal activity because such
individuals believe the U.S. government does not act in the best
interests of the American people. By announcing themselves as
sovereign citizens, they are emancipated from the responsibilities of
being a U.S. citizen, including paying taxes, possessing a state
driver�s license, or obeying the law.
>
>They can't be right wing AND anti-government.
>
>Want to try again?
Meanwhile. back in the real world, the Law Enforcement Officers
murdered by them remain dead and the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
rermains bombed.
Illegal Activity
The Redemption Theory belief leads to their most prevalent method to
defraud banks, credit institutions, and the U.S. government: the
Redemption Scheme. Sovereign citizens believe that when the U.S.
government removed itself from the gold standard, it rendered U.S.
currency as a valueless credit note, exchanging one credit document
(such as a dollar bill) for another.
They assert that the U.S. government now uses citizens as collateral,
issuing social security numbers and birth certificates to register
people in trade agreements with other countries. Each citizen has a
monetary net worth, which they believe is kept in a U.S. Treasury
Direct account, valued from $630,000 to more than $3 million. These
accounts, they claim, are in a third-party�s name, a �strawman,� that
they can access, which they commonly refer to as �freeing money from
the strawman.� In essence, it is extorting money from the U.S.
Treasury Department. Sovereign citizens file legitimate IRS and
Uniform Commercial Code forms for illegitimate purposes, believing
that doing so correctly will compel the U.S. Treasury to fulfill its
debts, such as credit card debts, taxes, and mortgages.3
At a minimum, these activities create a voluminous influx of documents
that clog the courts and other government agencies. But, the idea
behind the Redemption Theory also leads sovereign citizens to find
criminal sources of income as they travel the country, teach
fraudulent tactics to others for a fee, and participate in white
collar crimes. The latter offenses include mail, bank, mortgage, and
wire fraud; money laundering; tax violations; and illegal firearms
sales and purchases.
At seminars, sovereign citizens charge participants a fee in exchange
for information on Redemption Theory schemes and other methods to
avoid paying taxes, sometimes even selling materials, such as CDs or
DVDs. They also sell fraudulent documents�including drivers� licenses,
passports, diplomat identification, vehicle registrations, concealed
firearms permits, law enforcement credentials, and insurance forms�to
other sovereign citizens and illegal immigrants and charge fees for
�consultant services� to prepare sovereign-citizen paperwork. Several
recent incidents highlight their activities.
In Sacramento, California, two sovereign-citizen extremists were
convicted of running a fraudulent insurance scheme, operating a
company completely outside of state insurance regulatory authorities.
The men sold �lifetime memberships� to customers and promised to pay
any accident claims against members. The company collected millions of
dollars, but paid only small auto insurance claims and ignored large
ones.4
In Kansas City, Missouri, three sovereign-citizen extremists were
convicted in a phony diplomatic credential scandal. They charged
customers between $450 and $2,000 for a diplomatic identification card
that bestowed �sovereign status,� supposedly to enjoy diplomatic
immunity from paying taxes and from stops and arrests by law
enforcement.5
In Las Vegas, Nevada, four men affiliated with the
sovereign-citizen-extremist movement were arrested by the Nevada Joint
Terrorism Task Force on federal money laundering, tax evasion, and
weapons charges. The undercover investigation revealed that two of the
suspects allegedly laundered more than a million dollars and collected
fees for their services.6
One example of a white collar crime that escalated into a standoff
includes a New Hampshire husband and wife convicted of federal income
tax evasion, failure to honor federal payroll taxes, and other
conspiracy fraud charges. Elaine A. and Edward L. Brown, both
sovereign-citizen extremists in their 60s, never appeared at their
2007 trial or at sentencing. In protest, the Browns barricaded
themselves in their home during the summer and fall of 2007, receiving
supporters, issuing militant and threatening statements, and
stockpiling weapons and explosives. They were charged with weapons
offenses after their arrest in October 2007 when law enforcement
discovered pipe bombs, improvised explosive devices made of gun powder
cans with nails and screws taped to the outside, and a large cache of
handguns and rifles that included .50-caliber rifles.7
However, even when sovereign citizens go to prison for crimes, they
continue criminal activity behind bars. Inmates provide a new
population for them to sway to adopt the sovereign-citizen ideology;
they then can train these inmates to help them defraud banks, credit
institutions, and the U.S. government. They can create fraudulent
businesses from inside prison walls and complete fraudulent financial
documents to receive lines of credit from legitimate banks. The
learning system goes both ways�inmates can teach sovereign citizens
new criminal methods that they can use either from inside the prison
or when they are released.
Indicators
It is important
to realize sovereign
citizens� tactics to
harass and intimidate
law enforcement,
court, and government
officials, as well as
financial institution
employees.
Sovereign citizens often produce documents that contain peculiar or
out-of-place language. In some cases, they speak their own language or
will write only in certain colors, such as in red crayon. Several
indicators can help identify
these individuals.
References to the Bible, The Constitution of the United States, U.S.
Supreme Court decisions, or treaties with foreign governments8
Personal names spelled in all capital letters or interspersed with
colons (e.g., JOHN SMITH or Smith: John)
Signatures followed by the words �under duress,� �Sovereign Living
Soul� (SLS), or a copyright symbol (�)
Personal seals, stamps, or thumb prints in red ink
The words �accepted for value�9
They also carry fraudulent drivers� licenses to indicate their view
that law enforcement does not have the authority to stop their vehicle
or may write �No Liability Accepted� above their signature on a
driver�s license to signify that they do not accept it as a legitimate
identification document.
Intimidation, Obstruction, and Protection
It is important to realize sovereign citizens� tactics to harass and
intimidate law enforcement, court, and government officials, as well
as financial institution employees. Methods can range from refusing to
cooperate with requests, demanding an oath of office or proof of
jurisdiction, filming interactions with law enforcement that they
later post on the Internet, and filing frivolous lawsuits or liens
against real property. They convene their own special courts that
issue fake but realistic-looking indictments, warrants, and other
documents. They also can use real government documents, including
suspicious activity reports, in an attempt to damage the credit or
financial history of specific individuals.
While these efforts may seem obviously fraudulent, it is important to
address these actions, which can have devastating outcomes for the
individuals they target. The sovereign citizens� efforts also can be a
gateway for them to harass, terrorize, and target others in hopes of
changing behaviors that they perceive as threatening.
The Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 is one protection for
officials who the sovereign citizens could target. The provisions
under Title 18 created a new criminal offense for false liens against
the real or personal property of officers or federal government
employees, including judges and prosecutors. It also created as a new
crime the disclosure of personal, identifying information to
intimidate or incite violence against these individuals.1