- Mary Croft appreciation society: https://www.facebook.com/groups/87577448012/
I have had some difficulty tracking Ms. Croft’s historical activity and background. There is no evidence of which I am aware of Ms. Croft holding seminars for pay in Canada, or selling materials or advice. The only instance of a seminar of that kind which I located is this brief discussion on the Cult Education Institute web forum which reports seminars in Australia with a $50.00 entrance fee (http://forum.culteducation.com/read.php?4,17380).
Instead, her more recent contribution is three-fold.
She maintains a blog, Spiritual Economics Now (http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net) where she periodically post comments. While I read these on occasion I can’t say there’s much in the way of discrete ideas or, for example, approaches to specific issues such as debt collection. Instead, her blog commentary tends to address more general points, for example commentary on alleged conspiracies, points of what might be called OPCA theory, such as “what is law”, and occasionally references on Freeman-on-the-Land and associated groups and leaders.
For example, Croft recently wrote on the importance of “minister” Belanger of CERI’s videos (http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net/?p=409). On another occasion she sternly criticizes OPCA affiliates who horde and sell ‘secret information’, rather than sharing their knowledge and solutions (http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net/?p=401). That said, in her very first blog post she does say this:
But that simply leads to this little notice:If you are interested in a interim, non-commercial, financial remedy to the imminent economic shift, go to: http://www.spiritualeconomicsnow.net/remedy
However, in the past this link was to a telemarketing pyramid scheme of some kind (http://web.archive.org/web/200803030050 ... et/remedy/) (https://web.archive.org/web/20130820075 ... form1.html). This has set off the alarm bells of at least some of her readership (http://getoutofdebtfree.org/forum/viewt ... 10&t=25754).
Her second major contribution is an Internet “radio” interview with Red Ice Creations which dates to around August, 2008 (http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net/?p=18):
- http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net/mp3fil ... mcroft.mp3
http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net/mp3files/mcroftSUB.mp3
And of course there’s Ms. Croft’s primary claim to fame, her book “HOW I CLOBBERED EVERY BUREAUCRATIC CASH-CONFISCATORY AGENCY KNOWN TO MAN ... a Spiritual Economics Book on $$$ and Remembering Who You Are” which is available for download from her website: http://www.spiritualeconomicsnow.net/so ... w_I_08.pdf
The current version indicates it was updated in August of 2008, however Ms. Croft’s website has an earlier edition:
- Updated December 2005: http://www.spiritualeconomicsnow.net/so ... w_I_06.pdf
“How I Clobbered…" has been frequently referenced as a key authority throughout the evolution of the Freeman-on-the-Land movement, and I am not aware of any substantial criticism of its content by promoters in that general group. Put another way, this is about as close as one gets to a “Freeman Bible”. Ms. Croft has a similar high status, a 'Moses on the Mount'.
In Croft’s blog she occasionally mentions in very general ways her interaction with government, legal, police, and bank authorities. That, however, has omitted a key point – she has, in fact, while in Canada tested out her concepts to eliminate debt, and had those rejected by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.
This leads to a second tidbit; Ms. Croft operates under a second name: Mary Wyly.
I believe this is her current name and that at some point she married an individual named “Richard Wyly”, who I’ll return to at a later point since he also appears to be a potential subject of interest. "Mary Elizabeth Croft" is her maiden name.
The registration for the http://spiritualeconomicsnow.net website provides an address, 104A Boulder Crescent, Canmore, Alberta, which is a business, Rocky Mountain Auto Glass (http://www.rockymountainautoglass.ca/), owned by Richard Wyly (http://www.rockymountainautoglass.ca/pages/aboutus.html).
The 2005 obituary of Croft's father also links her to the name Mary Wyly (https://www.ogs.on.ca/ogspi/2005/05cro002.htm).
However, if there was any question of this dual identity (well, triple identity when we work in some Strawmen), that is clarified in the litigation discussed below. To the best of my knowledge Ms. Croft/Wyly has not publically acknowledged she was the subject of a legal action in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench around the time she was promoting her book:
- Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce v. Mary Wyly, also known as Mary Croft: Docket No. 0603 01720.
Nothing unusual hear, just a typical credit card debt collection lawsuit. What is interesting is what’s found in the April 6, 2007 supporting affidavit of Mary D’Alessio (http://www.mediafire.com/view/0pfipjgc0 ... idavit.pdf). I have not uploaded the entire affidavit as much of it are credit card agreement documents, credit card records, and so on. The affidavit indicates that in May 2002 a “Mary Wyly” of 7 1021 Wilson Way, Canmore, Alberta applied for and obtained a Visa credit card with at least a $4,200.00 limit. The following month a “Mary E. Croft” of the same address applied for a Visa credit card with a $4,500.00 limit.
Summarizing the Visa records, the Wyly card was used in 2002, and initially the amounts owed were all paid on time. There is nothing in these records to suggest the card owner was engaged in anything odd. However, as 2002 progresses the card balance increases, and on Nov. 3, 2002 a cheque to pay the credit card debt bounced. At that point the outstanding amount was over $3,800. No further payments were made, and on Jan. 2003 the Visa card was suspended.
The Mary E. Croft credit card was first charged in June, 2003 and it shows a more nefarious pattern of use. Each month a substantial debt was incurred, and "Croft" made only the minimum payment required:
- Aug 2003 - $10 payment – Balance at $1,301.05
Sept 2003 - $39 payment - Balance at $1,834.26
Oct 2003 - $55 payment - Balance at $2,173.40
Nov 2003 - $65 payment - Balance at $2,649.42
Dec 2003 - $79 payment - Balance at $3,167.20
Jan 2003 – no payment made - Balance at $4,564.59
Now, perhaps I’m a suspicious soul, but while I’m willing to agree the Wyly card records potentially indicate a person who is running behind on their credit but otherwise attempting to play the bank fair, the Croft credit card record is a clear record of a person who never intended to pay a cent on the amounts charged, beyond the minimum payment necessary to keep the wolves at bay.
The purchases on both cards are banal – liquor stores, restaurants, department stores, a yoga club, etc. There is no indication Croft/Wyly was facing some emergency – these were ‘lifestyle’ purchases.
If there is any question that Croft/Wyly might not be our subject then that is dispelled by documents attached to the D’Alessio affidavit sent by Croft/Wyly in response to CIBC’s attempts to collect. The first are found at Exhibit H, a set of documents mailed to CIBC in late 2003-early 2004. The document scans are a little grotty so I’ll reproduce them, but without attempting to maintain all the formatting:
[CIBC Collections Address]
Re: 0247 3960
MARY E WYLY©®TM
7-1021 Wilson Way
Canmore AB T1W 3C5
December 30, 2003
Equality is Paramount and Mandatory under the Law
Dear Mr. McDonald:
I am in receipt of your letter of December 10, 2003, in which you declare that you have “reduced the credit limit on this account to $4,200”. Please be advised that I do not give you permission to be involved in my commercial affairs. You and I both know that the credit on that account was created by Me (only my signature is on the note), it belongs to me, only I have access to it, and only I can close the account. I am competent to handle my own affairs. You have no right to make use of the card or my credit. It appears you are practicing law without a licence – I did not and do not give you permission to make a legal determination about me. Your interference constitutes a trespass and has been construed as theft. You have stolen my exemption. I direct your attention to the Criminal Code of Canada.
PART IX OFFENCES AGAINST RIGHTS OF PROPERTY – Offences Resembling Theft.
Public servant refusing to deliver property
337. Every one who, being or having been employed in the service of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province, or in the service of a municipality, and entrusted by virtue of that employment with the receipt, custody, management or control of anything, refuses or fails to deliver it to a person who is authorized to demand it and does demand it is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
39. (1) Every one who is in peaceable possession of a personal property under a claim of right, and every one acting under his authority, is protected from criminal responsibility for defending that possession, even against a person entitled by law to possession of it, if he uses no more force than is necessary.
I demand you return, to the account, the credit which, by commercial law, belongs to me – or prepare to provide, either voluntarily or via subpoena, one of the many Equity/Commercial Courts of this country, the following.
Please be advised also that the tradename MARY E WYLY©®TM is my copyrighted property and any unauthorized use, e.g., a negative remark from you to any credit reporting agency, and will result in an invoice from me in the amount of $1,000,000.00 USD per use per person.
- 1) a valid contract between MARY E WYLY and CIBC evidencing financial liability; (be advised that section 25 of the Bills of Exchange Act of Canada states that a fictitious party (CIBC) is unable to contract) – all Law is commercial and all commerce is based on contract.
2) validation (documentation of the accounting) of the debt against which you allege ‘minimum monthly payment’ is required;
3) verification (a sworn, witnessed Affidavit signed by you under full commercial liability) of your claim.
4) Precise pay-out figure stated in lawful money of account which will be accepted as full and final payment.
I expect my credit to be returned to my account immediately. Failure on your part to do so and/or to provide the above-listed documentation by January 12, 2004, to the below-listed location, will constitute a dishonor, thereby denying you legal standing, and will be your tacit agreement that the account is ‘Paid in Full’ and that my status with your institution has been restored and I shall continue to conduct my commercial affairs accordingly.
Yours truly
Mary Elizabeth: Croft, agent, Title Owner
for MARY E WYLY©®TM, GRANTOR
c/o PMB #8498
Canmore, Alberta (T1W2V2)
Notice to the Agent is Notice to the Principle; Notice to the Principle is Notice to the Agent
As this matter is in Commerce I hereby reserve all my common law rights under UCC-1-207
The next correspondence from Wyly/Croft is a letter of April 27, 2004 (exhibit J):[CIBC Collections Address]
Re: 0247 3960
MARY E WYLY©®TM
7-1021 Wilson Way
Canmore AB T1W 3C5
December 30, 2003
Equality is Paramount and Mandatory under the Law
NOTICE OF DISHONOUR
Dear Mr. Hunkin;
Thank you for your dishonor. Please find enclosed my letter of December 30, 2003, to CIBC in response to your having stolen $2,300.00 of my credit. Thirty (30) days have passed and I have not been provided any of the four (4) documents I requested. Therefore, consider this your formal Notice of Dishonour pursuant to commercial law. You can cure this dishonor by crediting to my account $2,300 which you stole.
According to commercial law your dishonor invalidates any future claim; your dishonor denies you any right or cause of action or any legal standing; your dishonour prohibits you from making any negative remarks about this account to any credit reporting agency; and if you have already done so, I demand you rescind said remarks to avoid future legal action.
Be advised, failure to credit my account $2,300 by January 30 constitutes your tacit agreement that you have fraudulently stolen my personal property. See s337, s39.1 (enclosed), and s19 (following) of the Criminal Code of Canada.
IGNORANCE OF THE LAW.
19. Ignorance of the law by a person who commits an offence is not an excuse for committing the offence (R.S., c.C-34, s. 19.)
Please be advised also that the tradename MARY E WYLY©®TM is my copyrighted property and any unauthorized use, e.g., a negative remark from you to any credit reporting agency, a will result in an invoice from me in the amount of $1,000,000.00 USD per use per person.
Additionally, any telephone calls from any CIBC representative will be construed as harassment.
Yours truly
Mary Elizabeth: Croft, agent, Title Owner
for MARY E WYLY©®TM, GRANTOR
c/o PMB #8498
Canmore, Alberta (T1W2V2)
Notice to the Agent is Notice to the Principle; Notice to the Principle is Notice to the Agent
As this matter is in Commerce I hereby reserve all my common law rights under UCC-1-207
The next relevant exhibit is an email from Ms. Croft herself (lovelaughlearn@shaw.ca) of March 12, 2005, to a Ms. Damm, who appears to be the lawyer attempting to collect on the outstanding debt:John Hunkin, CBO, President
CIBC
3rd floor, Commerce Court East
Toronto, ON M5L 1A2
April 27, 2004
Re: 0247 3960 – MARY WYLY
0253 0272 – MARY CROFT
Sir;
I am in receipt of two identical letters from KRMC both dated March 31, 2004, which I have Accepted for their Assessed Value and Returned to Barbara Damm for Settlement and Closure of the Matter.
Her letters suggest that you relinquished title to the above-listed claims by selling them to her? If so, any contract that you might have had with WYLY and/or CROFT is now null and void and since Ms. Damm is unable to verify her claim by evidencing any financial liability on the part of ‘WYLY / CROFT’, it appears the matter is indeed settled and closed.
I presume you did not ‘charge-off’ said claims as tax deductions as you no longer have title to them and if you sold them, this would constitute being paid twice for each alleged claim. Since I never received from you a validation of debt or a verification of your claim, you are in dishonour which denies you any legal standing to make any negative remarks about ‘WYLY / CROFT’ to any credit reporting agency. Your failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted denies you legal standing to state any future claim, to me or to CCRA or to any credit reporting bureau. Any negative report about ‘WYLY / CROFT’ will be construed as libel, defamation of character, and mail fraud. Fraud will result in triple damages. Please be advised that in thirty (30) days CCRA will be notified that you might have used my tax exemption for the purpose of enriching yourself at my expense and tht you are in possession of “unreported income”.
Govern yourself accordingly.
Yours Truly
[signature]
Mary Elizabeth: Croft, agent for
WARY WYLY / MARY E CROFT
c/o General Delivery
Canmore, Alberta (T1W 2V4)
This is then followed by no less than 13 enthusiastic reviews of Ms. Croft’s “Clobbering…” text – not exactly a subtle hint that Ms. Croft/Wyly might be promoting her concepts – then that "Notice by Declaration" promised in the body of the email:Ms. Damm;
Then we are in agreement that there will be no further communication between us over my property: Mary E CroftTM and/or Mary WylyTM.
I shan’t even bother to return your letter of March 8 then, providing you understand that acceptance of it is denied for cause without dishonour to you or recourse to me for your failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
As Notice to Agent is Notice to Principle is Notice to Principle is Notice to All Agents, therefore, if you or your client or any agent writes to me again, be advised that it will be construed as unauthorized use of my tradename/trademark and will result in an invoice from me in the amount of $500,000.00 per individual occurrence. See Notice by Declaration at the end of this letter.
I didn’t join Pavel’s class action lawsuit against you because I prefer to go after you myself for half a million if you send me any more laughable letters which suggest I contact ARC “to discuss payment arrangements”. I hereby declare, as you apparently did on June 15, this matter closed. Why are you writing again, nine months later?
BY: Mary Elizabeth: Croft, agent
...
Equality under law is paramount and mandatory by law
Well, that’s certainly … ironclad? Or perhaps not. There is no record of Ms. Croft/Wyly collecting on her name-based interest. Instead, on May 3, 2007, a default judgment was issued against Croft/Wyly for $14,774.92 (http://www.mediafire.com/view/49bx1cyt9 ... dgment.pdf). A writ of enforcement issued on May 18, 2007.SECURITY AGREEMENT 72137-SA
NOTICE BY DECLARATION
TO ALL IT MAY CONCERN, PLEAE TAKE NOTICE: that the trade-name/trade-mark, MARY ELIZABETH CROFTTM and MARY WYLYTM as well as any and all variations/derivatives in the spelling of said trade-name/trade-mark is hereby declared. No part of the autograph trade-name/ trade-mark, MARY ELIZABETH CROFTTM and MARY WYLYTM may be used, displayed, or reproduced in any manner without prior, express consent of Mary Elizabeth: Croft, (“Secured Party”) with her duly acknowledged and original signature.
Violation of the expressed prohibition, by any juristic person, and/or their agents and/or assigns, (“User”) whether for use in commerce or otherwise, constitutes User’s indirect confession and confession of judgement of unauthorized use of said trade-name/trade-mark, contractually binds User, and signifies that User: (1) grants Secured Party a security interest in, and a distress warrant and lien against, User’s property and interest in property in the sum certain amount of $500,00.00 per each trade-name/trade-mark used, per each occurrence of use, plus treble damages, plus costs for each such use, as well as for each and every use of any and all derivatives and variations in the spelling of MARY ELIZABETH CROFTTM and MARY WYLYTM ; (2) authenticates a Security Agreement wherein User is debtor and Mary Elizabeth: Croft is Secured Party and User pledges all of User’s property and interest in property as collateral for securing User’s contractual obligation; (3) authenticates a UCC Financing Statement wherein User is debtor and Mary Elizabeth: Croft is Secured Party; (4) consents and agrees that said Financing Statement is a continuing financing statement, authorizing Secured Party’s filing of any continuation statement necessary for maintaining Secured Party’s perfected security interest in all of User’s property and rights in property pledged as collateral in the aforementioned Security Agreement, until User’s contractual obligation to Secured Party is satisfied in full; (5) authorizes the filing of the aforementioned UCC Financing Statement and Security Agreement in the UCC filing office by Secured Party; (6) consents and agrees that any and all such filings referenced in number (5) above are not and may not be considered bogus, that User will not claim said filing to be bogus, and; (6) waives all defences. User further consents and agrees to all of the following:
Payment Terms: In accordance with fees for unauthorized use of MARY ELIZABETH CROFTTM and MARY WYLYTM as set forth above, User hereby consents and agrees to pay Secured Party all unauthorized-use fees in full within five (5) days of receipt of Secured Party’s invoice, itemizing said fees.
Default Terms: In the event of User’s non-payment in full within the time limit specified above, User shall be deemed in default and all of [missing text] collateral becomes property of Secured Party.
Terms of Curing Default: Upon default as set forth above, User may cure User’s default if payment in full is received by Secured Party within twenty (20) days of said default.
Terms of Strict Foreclosure: User’s non-payment in full within twenty (20) days (failure to cure default) authorizes Secured Party’s immediate non-judicial strict foreclosure on all of User’s former property pledged as collateral for securing User’s contractual obligation as set forth hereinabove. Ownership subject to common-law copyright and UCC Financing Statement and Security Agreement filed with the State of Washington, UCC Division and PPSA Financing Statements and Security Agreements filed with Alberta Government Services and Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. Record Owner: Mary Elizabeth: Croft.
Also interesting is that Croft/Wyly may have been attempting to dodge debt collection, because attempts to serve Croft/Wyly at a succession of addresses led to statements by the current occupants that Ms. Croft/Wyly had indeed lived there but had subsequently moved, providing no forwarding address. Further, the D'Alessio affidavit documents how the only correspondence that reached Ms. Croft/Wyly was that sent to a General Delivery post-office box, rather than a residential address.
The affidavit also suggests that the reference to “Pavel’s class action lawsuit” is to an action in British Columbia advanced by OPCA guru John Ruiz Dempsey that was struck out in Dempsey et al. v. Envision Credit Union et al., 2006 BCSC 750 (http://canlii.ca/t/1n7qf). I suspect this is correct, but it is the first indication of which I am aware that Croft was involved with Dempsey.
A general review of Dempsey’s activities is found in Meads v. Meads, 2012 ABQB 571 at para. 109-120. In brief, Dempsey was a fake lawyer who claimed to have been trained in the Philippines, and who had a relatively short-lived but highly energetic career advancing lawsuits, some was on OPCA concepts, some just badly argued. His website can be viewed here (http://lege.net/blog.lege.net/financial ... index.html).
So there we have it – Ms. Croft/Wyly did in fact attempt to practice what she preached, and, to steal language from her writing, that led to her being “Clobbered by a Bureaucratic Cash-Confiscatory Agency.”
Back to Richard Wyly. It looks like at about the same time he too ran into issues, as the Federal Courts Database records an action to collect on an outstanding tax obligation:
- ITA-5500-05 – ITA v. RICHARD WYLY (ROCKY MOUNTAIN AUTO GLASS)
Is this a Croft/Wyle attempt to eliminate the income tax debt? The next day a response was put on file:Letter from Respondent dated 15-JUN-2005 expressing concern over the Certificate filed received on 15-JUN-2005.
Richard Wyly appears to have, in one way or another, dealt with this debt, because on November 22, 2005 a Satisfaction of Certificate was placed onto the file.Letter sent by Registry on 16-JUN-005 to Respondent acknowledging receipt of letter dated 15-JUN-2005 and referring to the rules governing motions. Copy placed on file.
I think I’ll obtain this entire file at some point in the future and report on its content in more detail. Suffice to say my ‘OPCA sense’ is tingling.
I attempted to learn more about Ms. Croft/Wyly and her activities. If she has a social media presence it evaded me, though I’m pretty certain I found one of her sons, an up and coming punk rocker!
I located a couple other publications by Ms. Croft/Wyly, including a preview of part of her next book (https://mayanmajix.com/the_authority_hoax.pdf) and, most curious of all, a true-to-life gosh darnit ghost story she contributed to a book entitled “Real Monsters, Gruesome Critters, and Beasts from the Darkside”, written by Brad Steiger (Visible Ink Press, Sept. 1 2010, ISBN 1578592208) which can be viewed here (http://www.think-downloads.com/download ... rkside.pdf).
Not exactly the best reviewed text, for example Fortean Times had this to say (http://www.forteantimes.com/reviews/boo ... _side.html):
But nevertheless the text does provide a biography of Ms. Croft/Wyly!… This volume would be better entitled “My First Big Book of Monsters”. It could be a children’s survey, except that it frequently veers from introductory material to crackpot theories, all presented as “unbelievable yet true”.
Just can’t stop the self-promotion…Mary Croft
Mary grew up in Toronto, Ontario, and moved to Hermosa Beach, Califor- nia, where she ran on the beach and worked as a registered nurse. After a decade, she moved north to Petaluma, California, where her two boys, Colin and Casey, were born. Over the decades, Mary has remained fascinated by the power of the subconscious mind and all disciplines of energy and frequency healing. She then moved to Roswell, New Mexico, for the challenging experiences without which she would not have had the material to write—upon moving to Canmore, Alberta—her book: How I Clobbered Every Bureaucratic Cash-Confiscatory Agency Known to Man: A Spiritual Economics Book on $$$ and Remembering Who You Are. This book can be downloaded at www .SpiritualEconomicsNow.net/solutions/How_I_08.pdf, and her subsequent, related articles can be read on her blog: http://SpiritualEconomicsNow.net/.
As for the story … well, it’s not particularly scary. Mary may want to stick to writing pseudolegal documents. Those can be very, very scary indeed.
For example, I now shiver in the dark, awaiting my $500,000.00 invoice, with treble damages.
(How's that work anyways?)
SMS Möwe
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