Omega The News Tribune/July 19, 2004
Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:58 pm
For the record...
Excerpts from The News Tribune/July 19, 2004
By Sean Robinson
Washington was an Omega stronghold.
Only California and Texas ranked higher in the list of documented victims. Within the state, the majority of victims lived in and around Yelm.
"It proliferated throughout this entire town," said resident Emily French, whose mother gave $1,100 to Omega.
"It was just by word of mouth," said Rainier resident Frances Motyer, who lost $4,500. "Some friends of ours told us, and when we turned around to talk to other people about it, they already knew."
The victims didn't always fit the stereotype of elderly shut-ins wooed by smooth-talking grifters.
Joseph Dispenza, a chiropractor from Rainier, gave $11,700 to Omega. He thought it sounded legitimate.
"My insert"... Joe Dispenza was featured in the "What the Bleep Movie" and an RSE teacher. He has since been "excommunicated" from RSE.
A Seattle-based tax attorney with a Yelm address gave Omega $280,000, the largest documented restitution claim filed in the Omega case.
Her name is Ruth Sparrow, and she works for Garvey Schubert Barer, a Seattle law firm. Her biography on the firm's Web site states she spent 14 years in the tax department of a Philadelphia law firm and describes her as having "significant experience in federal income tax matters concerning corporations, partnerships and individuals in business and real estate transactions."
Sparrow refused to discuss Omega when reached by The News Tribune.
Ramtha'
As he gathered Omega's threads, Esteban "Steve" Sanchez, the assistant U.S. attorney in Urbana, Ill., who prosecuted the case, noticed the Yelm connection. He realized several victims were linked to JZ Knight, the ethereal New Age guru who claims to "channel" the spirit of a 40,000-year-old warrior called Ramtha.
"I cannot tell you what, if any, direct relationship there was between this person in Yelm, Washington, and Clyde Hood," Sanchez said of Knight. "We knew that there were people associated with her that apparently had invested in Omega, but that was not an angle that we wanted to pursue, because apparently it's very difficult to pursue that angle."
Omega was an open secret at Knight's Ramtha School of Enlightenment, four former students say. They asked not to be named, citing the fear of legal retaliation from Knight, who requires students to sign nondisclosure agreements.
"That's how I became involved in it, was through the school," one student said. "I was involved in it and practically everybody else I knew at the school was involved in it. There were tons of people involved in this on just a cash basis. People were sending in cash - cash with no paperwork, no receipt, no nothing. People were promised their money was going to come in before the next snowfall."
" My Insert".... This was a Ramtha RSE teaching at that time...Omega would pay out before the next snowfall. This went on for several years.
Students were instructed to give 10% of their omega windfall to their friend and the needy.
The students say Knight never endorsed or promoted Omega.
"My insert".... The question should have been ..did "Ramtha/RSE" promote Omega?
Remember... RSE Students see JZ Knight as a totally separate person from Ramtha and not responsible for what Ramtha does or teaches .
Some recall her telling students to cultivate an "abundance mentality" if the promised fortunes ever came.
Knight did not respond directly to requests for comment from The News Tribune.
Greg Simmons, a Ramtha school spokesman, acknowledged Omega was discussed informally among students at the school.
"My Insert" .... This is a Lie. Omega was FORMALLY discussed at RSE and encouraged by "Ramtha" and RSE staff members.
When asked whether Knight lost money in Omega, Simmons would not comment.
"My Insert" .... I believe JZ Knight received a kickback from Clyde Hood for promoting Omega in RSE.
In the late 1990s, as Omega reached its peak, Shaini Goodwin was living near Yelm, in a gated community called Clearwood.
She had taken classes at the Ramtha school in the late 1980s and later claimed to be a kind of channeler herself, according to those who know her. She sprinkles her daily Dove reports with frequent references to the "Ascended Masters" and "the Illuminati," common figures in New Age teachings.
Link..
http://w3.rickross.com/reference/dove/dove1.html