Gold company heavily promoted by Glenn Beck charged with 19 criminal counts
Gold company heavily promoted by Glenn Beck charged with 19 criminal counts
November 2, 2011
By Madison Ruppert
BLN Contributing Writer
A California-based precious metals seller Goldline International, promoted by pseudo-conservative talk radio hosts like Glenn Beck, was charged with 19 criminal counts on Tuesday by Santa Monica’s City Attorney’s Office.
Among those implicated in the formal complaint are the CEO, Mark Albarian, two other company executives and two salespeople.
Some of the charges filed against them include: conspiracy, grand theft by false pretenses, and false advertising, and all 19 counts carry a maximum of one year in prison or a $10,00 fine.
Goldline was reportedly using aggressive telemarketing tactics employing highly questionable methods to pressure customers into buying overpriced coins as early as 2010 as revealed in a Mother Jones investigative report.
The report revealed that Goldline was pressuring customers into buying marked up coins on a regular basis which were so wildly overpriced that customers would likely never make their money back.
Beck took this a step further by saying that in the event of a total economic collapse, government would confiscate citizens’ gold bullion so instead recommended that listeners invest money in the overpriced gold coins hawked by Goldline.
Beck was far from alone in his endorsement of Goldline, which gave the entire operation a false sense of legitimacy.
Indeed, other individuals who promoted the possibly criminal Goldline International operation are: Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Monica Crowley, Lars Larson, Jerry Doyle, and Alan Colmes.
Goldline features an entire page devoted to the celebrity endorsements they have paid to receive with a graphical header with “CREDIBILITY” emblazoned prominently at the top of the page.
Goldline has had many complaints filed against them by through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as revealed by Mother Jones and a PDF file of the actual complaints themselves.
Instead of simply selling gold bullion or gold coins which is far from an illegitimate or criminal practice, Goldline directed their salespeople to “’get the money in’ from customers on the promise of delivering gold bullion bars or gold bullion coins (collectively ‘Bullion’), with the intent not to deliver the Bullion but instead to later persuade the customers to buy far more overpriced, so-called semi-numismatic or numismatic coins” according to the official Santa Monica v. Goldline complaint.
This is clearly a highly deceptive and unethical practice and the charges are the product of an in depth year-long investigation.
I wonder what Glenn Beck and the other “celebrities” who endorsed Goldline will have to say now that it has come out that their favorite “trusted” gold company was actually ripping off their gullible listeners who actually thought they were operating with a conscience and not in the name of the almighty dollar?
It will be interesting to see how they react to this as this is a pretty damning indictment of a company that they put their names behind.
Will it ruin Beck’s credibility? Well, honestly, I don’t think that anyone who still gives Beck any credence cares about any semblance of credibility or else they would no longer take him seriously.
More at EndtheLie.com – http://EndtheLie.com/2011/11/02/gold-company-heavily-promoted-by-glenn-beck-charged-with-19-criminal-counts/#ixzz1cZZB7Op4
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