Some lucrative 'New Age hooey'

The News Tribune, Tacoma/June 19, 2006

By Sean Robinson

Peddling conspiracy theory pays off for Shaini Goodwin, aka “Dove of Oneness” – but the Dark Agenda hounds her steps.

A complaint lodged with the state attorney general’s consumer protection division accuses Goodwin, a Shelton resident who leads a worldwide Internet conspiracy cult, of scamming at least $10,000 from a 64-year-old woman in San Francisco.

“I think she is running a huge scam based on some New Age hooey that convinces gullible people to give money to bring about some financial world peace fantasy,” the woman’s daughter wrote about Goodwin in the April 11 complaint.

Family members of the woman spoke to The News Tribune about the complaint, asking that their names not be used. They said the $10,000 reflects a fraction of the amount their mother has given to Goodwin over the past several years.

“It’s in the hundreds of thousands,” the woman’s daughter said.

The daughter provided a copy of the complaint, and said she has also spoken to the FBI about Goodwin’s activities. Records show the complaint was registered with the attorney general’s office in Vancouver, Wash.

Another family member has called the state Department of Revenue, questioning whether Goodwin has paid her state business taxes. A spokesman for the agency confirmed the account, but said he did not know whether the agency is pursuing the complaint.

Goodwin did not respond to requests for comment this week. She lives in a double-wide mobile home, and posts weekly “Dove reports” on her Web site, www.nesara.us.

The reports detail her efforts to hasten the announcement of a supposed secret law passed by Congress, but never revealed to the public.

She asks readers for donations to support her activities, listing as her address a mail drop in Lacey. She has registered her business with the state, creating the obligation to pay business taxes on the income it generates.

According to Goodwin, the Bush administration and agents of “the Dark Agenda” plotted the Sept. 11 terror attacks to prevent the secret law’s announcement. The law supposedly declares peace and releases vast sums of wealth to people who have invested their money in proven financial cons.

Goodwin’s readers span the globe. Her followers have papered the U.S. Supreme Court with postcards, harangued the Pentagon and other federal agencies with e-mails and carried protest signs outside the World Court in the Netherlands.

In early 2004, a group of billboard trucks advertising the secret law circled Washington, D.C., for a few weeks.

The money for the truck campaign – about $40,000 – came from the San Francisco resident, according to her relatives.

The News Tribune profiled Goodwin in 2004. The series (www.thenewstribune.com/news/projects/dove) detailed the history of her rise to prominence on the Internet, and exposed her ties to a financial fraud called Omega that bilked at least $20 million from unwitting investors throughout the United States.

Federal prosecutors in Illinois charged and convicted architects of the Omega scheme. Goodwin has denied active participation in the Omega fraud. She said she invested money like many others, but did not sell shares in the investment scam. Authorities never charged her with a crime.

After The News Tribune series appeared, Goodwin threatened to sue the newspaper. To date, no suit has been filed. She posted a lengthy rebuttal of the articles, claiming the newspaper was affiliated with the CIA. It isn’t. In the last year, she has re-stitched the details of her conspiracy theory, claiming she has traveled throughout the nation and abroad, meeting with high-level sources who know about the secret law.

She claims she has tried to recruit singers Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen to her cause.

“I thought surely Bruce Springsteen – composer and singer of ‘Born in the USA’ – would be willing to help if he knew the truth,” she wrote in a report posted Feb. 11, 2006. “A few months later, I learned that Bruce was being ‘briefed’ by certain high-ranking Pentagon officers who were feeding Bruce lies.”

In May, Goodwin posted a report claiming the U.S. Treasury was selling high-level Treasury bills to investors with more than $100 million tied to Asian currency.

Goodwin urged her readers to buy in, saying it would hasten the secret law’s announcement.

“It’s not true – this is something that does not exist,” said Jennifer Zuccarelli, spokeswoman for the agency. “That is absolutely false.”

Family members of the San Francisco woman say they have tried to convince her Goodwin’s reports are fiction – to no avail.

The woman’s daughter said filing the complaint was a last resort to stop her mother from giving Goodwin any more money.

“Dove recently called and asked her for quite a big chunk of cash and was able to talk her into it,” the daughter said. “She’s found a gravy train, and she’s not going to go away easily.”

The state Department of Revenue investigates businesses that haven’t paid their taxes.

Mike Gowrylow, spokesman for the agency, said he could not confirm whether an investigation of Goodwin is taking place.

He added that claims of financial fraud might require intervention from other agencies.

“If somebody’s getting ripped off, that’s something that somebody ought to look into,” he said. “It’s kind of beyond our mandate to investigate whether somebody’s cheating somebody. Our job is to make sure whether the business is paying their taxes.”

The News Tribune has learned that Goodwin recently approached a financial expert in Olympia, seeking investment advice. She also made a tentative offer to buy real estate in the area, according to three sources familiar with the transaction. The property owner, suspicious, declined to do business with Goodwin.

The News Tribune tried to reach Goodwin via e-mail, and left a message at her home in Shelton. She was not home Thursday, but she left a note on her door addressed to FedEx.

“Dear Fed Ex,” the note said. “Please leave delivery on table under canopy and place rock on top of envelope. Thank you, Shaini Goodwin.”