Divine Province - Sovrun Scam

[notorial dissent]

We have a new candidate for Sovrun of the Moment. James T. McBride of Ohio, who claims he is the keeper of the seal of St Peter, and so on and so forth, and you can guess the rest, has his own sovrun, tax exempt spiel, was busted for issuing fraudulent diplomatic credential for the "Divine Province", and was charged in Federal court in Alexandria on Wed. Sounds like a real fun guy, and about as original as you would expect.
Divine Province scam

[Famspear]

....who claims he is the keeper of the seal of St Peter, and so on and so forth......

I'm a keeper of the porpoise of St. Paul, but I never claimed to be a sovereign......

[LPC]

McBride seems to be the owner of the divineprovince.org website, where his name is spelled "Jaemes" for some reason.

The newest thing on the website seems to be about a year old.

And there's something about the phrase "divine province" that doesn't seem right, like he meant "divine providence" and screwed up the spelling.

[Famspear]

See also:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=9300

and:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6753&p=111005

As Dan pointed out in a prior thread, if this is the same James McBride, he appears to be an ex-con: former inmate # 63027-061.

See also United States v. James Thomas McBride, No. 2:02-cr-00060-GCS -EPD-1 (U.S.D.C. S.D. Ohio).

He was convicted of obstruction of justice and bankruptcy fraud. A conviction for filing a false claim with the IRS was thrown out (essentially, he wrote a hot check to the IRS to "cover" his girl friend's tax liability, knowing the check to be bad, but the Court of Appeals concluded that writing a hot check did not constitute filing a false claim). See, generally:

United States v. McBride, 362 F.3d 360 (6th Cir. 2004), at

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 10&scilh=0

and:

United States v. McBride, 434 F.3d 470 (6th Cir. 2005), at:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 94&scilh=0

[Famspear]

McBride is also mentioned in this bankruptcy case:

Bange v. Klaassen (In re Bange), adversary # 11-7050 in case no. 08-40156, U.S. Bankr. Court for the District of Kansas (July 16, 2012), at:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 78&scilh=0

[notorial dissent]

Somehow, all of the above not terribly surprising, may have taken a year for the Feds to finally catch up to him. Doesn't sound particularly competent at any of it either. I don't suspect he'll come out of this too well either.

[Famspear]

This gives us an idea of how bright this guy is:

A. Factual background

Katina Kefalos was convicted by a jury, in proceedings before District Judge Algenon L. Marbley, of evading $12,990.67 in federal income taxes. Kefalos was [James] McBride's girlfriend. During the course of her trial, Kefalos fired the two attorneys — David Axelrod and Terry Sherman — who were appointed to represent her. Prior to Kefalos's sentencing, McBride sent a check for the $12,990.67 to IRS revenue agent Margaret Nypaver, who had unsuccessfully attempted to collect this sum from Kefalos and who testified against her at trial. McBride knew that his check would "bounce" because it was drawn on an account that he had closed one year earlier. He then submitted bad checks from the same account to the Franklin County Treasurer's Office to purportedly pay the real estate taxes for the first half of 2001 on the residences of Judge Marbley, attorneys Axelrod and Sherman, and agent Nypaver.

The [Franklin County] Treasurer's Office, without waiting to see if the checks would clear, issued statements to McBride acknowledging that he had paid these real estate taxes. McBride then used the statements as evidence of his creditor status when he subsequently filed four involuntary bankruptcy petitions in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio against Judge Marbley, attorneys Axelrod and Sherman, and agent Nypaver. He also paid the $200 filing fee for each of the bankruptcy petitions with more bad checks that were drawn on his closed account.....

--from United States v. McBride, 362 F.3d 360 (6th Cir. 2004) (emphasis added).

[Famspear]

The Huffington Post has a report from August 12, 2010 that indicates that McBride served time in prison for cocaine importation:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/1 ... 79627.html

If this is the same guy, I do see a 1994 decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirming certain convictions for conspiring to import cocaine under 21 USC 963, importing cocaine under 21 USC 952(a) and 960(a), and possessing cocaine with intent to distribute under 21 USC 841(a)(1). See United States v. McBride, No. 93-3218, docket entry 51, per curiam decision on March 1, 1994 (affirming the convictions). In this case, McBride was unsuccessful in an attempt to get these cocaine convictions overturned on the basis that the government had been unfairly allowed to impeach his testimony with evidence of yet more convictions -- a year 1977 conviction for possession of cocaine and a 1986 conviction for possessing a gun "under a disability" (I assume that means being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm).

EDIT: corrected date on Huffington Post article.

[notorial dissent]

Sounds like an all around utility player and prince of a guy!!!! [insert hairball]

[JamesVincent]

.....essentially, he wrote a hot check to the IRS to "cover" his girl friend's tax liability, knowing the check to be bad, but the Court of Appeals concluded that writing a hot check did not constitute filing a false claim......

Good thing he wasn't down in Mississippi.

[wvfoos]

For just five ounces of silver (worth 168 bucks at the time), and he even allowed those without the silver to graciously pay with US currency, you too can be a keeper of the seal of St. Peter!

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/articl ... 528886.php

[Jeffrey]

According to the indictment, McBride issued nearly 900 fraudulent diplomatic credentials he sold to people at hotel seminars and through his website.

The fact that he found 900 people to buy his crap is distressing.

[notorial dissent]

Greed is always an easy approach, and I would suspect he was selling to like minded idiots. This hasn't yet really turned in to a tax fraud scheme but that is where it was heading as the next step if you look at the way it was presented.

The funny thin, if you can call it that, is that he is probably in more trouble for selling the fake credentials than he would have been for tax scamming, the Feds take that sort of thing VERY seriously these days. You'd better not claim to be an ambassador unless you are one.

At any rate, at his age, I would suspect that just about any sentence is going to be a life sentence now.

[LightinDarkness]

Oh I love it when these guys go down like this. The Divine Province stuff is ***VERY*** popular in the crazy sphere. There should be some law about how the greater a sov'run theory merges new age/conspiracy/sov'run beliefs, the more popular it is amongst the crazies. This guy had it all in one, a true testament to insanity - Vatican based conspiracies wrapped in sov'run terminology and trimmed with a new age bow.

[Burnaby49]

See also:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=9300

and:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6753&p=111005

As Dan pointed out in a prior thread, if this is the same James McBride, he appears to be an ex-con: former inmate # 63027-061.

See also United States v. James Thomas McBride, No. 2:02-cr-00060-GCS -EPD-1 (U.S.D.C. S.D. Ohio).

He was convicted of obstruction of justice and bankruptcy fraud. A conviction for filing a false claim with the IRS was thrown out (essentially, he wrote a hot check to the IRS to "cover" his girl friend's tax liability, knowing the check to be bad, but the Court of Appeals concluded that writing a hot check did not constitute filing a false claim). See, generally:

United States v. McBride, 362 F.3d 360 (6th Cir. 2004), at

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 10&scilh=0

and:

United States v. McBride, 434 F.3d 470 (6th Cir. 2005), at:

http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case? ... 94&scilh=0

McBride has involuntarily changed his legal status from ex-con to current con;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/ ... W720140814

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/08/14/s ... y-vatican/

Tragic, he was just trying to help people.

[Burnaby49]

My last posting about McBride was that he was in the slammer. Time to update with the news that he's out and has fired up his website again;

http://divineprovince.org/

The graphics and sophistication take me right back to about 1990. He says;

This site will only be posted until September 31, 2017 when I will take it down.

But it still works. This link;

http://divineprovince.org/the-past-42-months/

Tells us how he meditated for the 42 months that we thought he was in jail;

Greetings. It has been 42 months since we last talked. If you remember back, the Divine Province got involved in the bankruptcy of the City of Detroit. We challenged the Federal Reserve Banks and the stranglehold they have on the America people. We offered a bold plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Under the plan the creditors would have received 100% of that due them. The plan would have salvaged 100% of the pension funds, the city’s art collection and would have provided millions of dollars for city re-development.

I was immediately arrested, labelled a Domestic Terrorist. The misdemeanor charges were magically converted to felony “Conspiracy” charges and I was extradited to South Carolina. At the bond hearing I was charged with CONTEMPT and sentenced to 30 days for having the audacity to speak on my own behalf.

. . . . .

I had three (3) federal courts who agreed that I had the authority to issue the Ids and one judge that stated that the driver permits were absolutely valid, but, the court refused to allow me to enter any evidence that might even suggest that I had the authority to issue them or that they were valid. We offered three pages of case law that states that no driver permit is required at all but the judge instructed the jury to disregard the case law.

So, ultimately, I was found ‘guilty’ on all charges, sentenced to 42 months in prison and labelled a ‘Domestic Terrorist.’

I spent the next 42 months in meditation and research. I went within to find answers. For decades we have pointed our fingers and stated if they would just do this, or that, we would be fine! We had forgotten that ‘they’ are no more than our reflection! To bring about real change we must go within and seek out that which is out of balance. As we sweep away the dust and dirt within we begin to reflect a whole new reality for ourselves.

And this one;

http://divineprovince.org/home/into-the-now/

Tells you about all of the great public awareness schemes he's going to dedicate himself to. At least until his parole terms allow him to leave DC.

I Googled “Hope Village” and found anything but HOPE! First hand reports were even more unsettling, but I had no choice in the matter. I knew the Universe did not bring me this far only to allow me to die in the streets of Southeast DC! There was something here for me. I came to find out that Washington, DC has a truly visionary Mayor and Council who eagerly state, “We are your public servants. How can we best serve you?” Seriously! I heard it myself and about fell out of my chair! In the past 6 months they have proven themselves to be committed to that statement and the people. The Mayor’ s Office for Returning Citizens Affairs (MORCA) operates to assist those people newly released from prison, thus Returning Citizens rather than convicts. the label itself serves to re-humanize you. They have a computer lab and a ton of programs to train and educate the returning citizen to assist in thetransition back into the community in a way that dramatically increases the odds of success. I found myself involved in one such program called Aspire to Entrepreneurship that assists you to launch your own business. The program consists of 40 hours per week of class which includes technical information and training on how to start and successfully operate a business as well as a great deal of networking with local businesses, banks, lending institutions and government agencies. They truly want to help!

The Universe has placed me in the heart of it all; In the heart of the Beast, if you will, and has been telling me for some time now that there are things that I must do here. The courts have determined that I must stay here for the next 12 months. The Universe has surrounded me with a team of experts that are committed to assisting me to make this shift and provide me with the proper connections. Many of these people have been in my shoes before and know what is necessary to make this work. I have followed the trail of bread crumbs the Universe has laid before me into the belly of the beast and have created the tools necessary to build a community of people focused on co-creating a new reality for all Americans.

Today I find myself surrounded by experts from business and government alike who are teaching me how to successfully change the system from within the system. (What a novel concept!) I am not only learning how to better communicate with our government but that they are willing to listen when properly presented. I have a team of experts who put me in front of the Mayor’s council, the Office of the Attorney General, SBA as well as other government agencies and businesses to speak. I am rapidly gaining a reputation for offering truth where others stick to the party line! And, I am being heard!

Good for him! And what is it he's doing?

Focused on the Solution

I have built The-National-Voice.org, a political activism and advocacy platform unlike any other advocasy and activism site available today. At The-National-Voice.org we place our focus on the solution rather than the problem!

We can change the system from within! It is our reflection, is it not? I believe that we have started down a path to the return of the 10th Amendment with increased state’s rights and that we can make considerable change on a local level. And in that we shall create a better reflection on a national level as well.
As an American National we have that right!

We have been bound by codes and statutes that were written by others! Have you ever asked yourself “Who writes these things?” “Just let me write a few and we will see some real change around here!” Not a bad idea! I am glad that you thought of that! As an American National we have that right!

NOW is the time for us to begin to really co-create a new reality for ourselves. The system allows for the people to write and promote their own initiatives. To raise awareness and support to get them placed on the ballet and voted into law! We don’t have to change the system to do this. It already exists!

And it's all free to use!

And all of that absolutely free!

You may be wondering how I am support myself and the site(s) if everything is free. There will be advertising on the site offering products we all use every day as well as products and services that I cannot offer yet are necessary for promoting our causes. The advertising revenue will support the site. I will be developing additional products and services, possibly some eBooks that will be made available. I am also on a fast track to paid public speaking studying under the great Bill Walsh where I will be able to promote the causes we are developing together while getting paid.

[HardyW]

http://divineprovince.org/

The graphics and sophistication take me right back to about 1990. He says;

This site will only be posted until September 31, 2017 when I will take it down.

But it still works.

Of course it still works. September 31 hasn't yet occurred in 2017.

Nor has the 12th of never.

[Judge Roy Bean]

... placed on the ballet ...

Ah, the real secret is to use the ballet instead of the ballot.

[Burnaby49]

... placed on the ballet ...

Ah, the real secret is to use the ballet instead of the ballot.

He seems to have an issue with spelling. I assume that he meant "Divine Providence" as his website title and just hasn't noticed that it's actually 'Province'.

[Gregg]

Either that or he thinks its the Province between Quebec and Ontario.