14 Pa.Cmwlth. 72, 321 A.2d 664
COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania,
Acting By Attorney General Israel
PACKEL,
Plaintiff,
v.
James TOLLESON and Rodney
Tolleson, Defendants.
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued March 4, 1974.
Decided June 19, 1974.
KRAMER, Judge.
This matter comes within the original
jurisdiction of this Court. It was
commenced by the filing of a complaint in
equity on February 23, 1973 by the
Commonwealth *75 of Pennsylvania
(Commonwealth) acting by its Attorney
General, seeking injunctive relief under
Section 4 of the Unfair Trade Practices
and Consumer Protection Law, Act of
December 17, 1968, P.L. 1224, 73 P.S. s
201--4 (hereinafter referred to as the Act).
The named defendants in the action were
James Tolleson and Rodney Tolleson
(hereinafter referred to collectively as
Tollesons and individually by their given
and surnames). The complaint alleged
that the Tollesons were the owners,
operators, agents, officers, or
representatives of at least ten
corporations or organizations through
which the Tollesons were allegedly
violating the Act. Arguments were held on
the Commonwealth's motion for a special
injunction of February 23, 1973, before
this writer sitting as chancellor, and the
Court on that same date issued a special
injunction prohibiting the Tollesons from
'conducting any solicitations, promotional
activites, sales of services, or any of the
activities alleged to be carried on in the
allegations of the Complaint filed herein in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.' As
stated in that order, after argument by
counsel for the Commonwealth and the
Tollesons, the special injunction was
issued on the basis that it appeared the
Tollesons 'may be attempting to
circumvent prior orders of courts through
the establishment of various corporations,
companies or organizations' and 'that
immediate and irreparable injury will be
sustained by the public before notice and
formal hearing may be held to determine
whether a Preliminary Injunction will
issue.' This special injunction was issued
under the provisions of Pa.R.C.P. No.
1531, 12 P.S. Appendix. A hearing was
set for February 26, 1973. By virtue of a
joint petition filed by the parties, the Court
continued the hearing and the efficacy of
the special injunction to March 1, 1973.
On March 1, 1973, the parties again jointly
requested a continuance for the purpose
of providing an opportunity for conference
on possible settlement, *76 and the Court,
by order of that date, granted the joint
request. On March 14, 1973, the parties
presented to the Court a stipulation
seeking this Court's approval of a
proposed order consented to by the
parties. On March 15, 1973, this Court
signed a consent order which generally
provided that the Tollesons would refrain
from certain enumerated acts in
connection with their various businesses
and would perform certain enumerated
acts in carrying out said businesses. The
effect of this consent order was to
supersede the prior special injunction.
For all practical purposes, the consent
order was a preliminary injunction order.
Hearings commenced on May 16, 1973
and after several continuances, one of
which was to permit the Tollesons to
prepare their defense at the conclusion of
the Commonwealth's case, the hearings
were concluded late in the fall of 1973.
Proposed findings of fact and conclusions
of law have been filed by both parties and
the matter is now ripe for final
determination.
As will be seen from the findings of fact,
this is a very complicated case, made
even more complicated by additional
pleadings filed by the Commonwealth via
petitions for civil penalties for alleged
violations **670 of the consent order. As
a guide to the reader, it will be helpful to
note at this point that petitions for civil
penalties were filed on March 19, 1973;
March 21, 1973; April 13, 1973; and July
19, 1973. At the request of and under
agreement of the parties, the Court
permitted testimony and evidence to be
entered during the course of these
hearings as a consolidated matter. The
petition for civil penalties dated July 19,
1973 was heard specifically at hearings
commencing on October 29, 1973; but
with that exception, all the other civil
penalties were included in the record as a
consolidated matter. As if that were not
enough, the matter was further
complicated by the filing of a petition for
civil penalties on April 6, 1973 in a
different case docketed at No. 1106 *77
Commonwealth Docket 1972, and at the
request of the parties, testimony and
evidence in that matter were received at
the hearings and are included in the
consolidated record. An attempt was
made to prepare one opinion covering all
of these matters, but that was deemed by
the writer to be confusing. Therefore, this
opinion will be restricted solely to the
injunction proceeding and separate
opinions will be filed simultaneously
herewith on the petitions for civil
penalties. It was necessary, however, to
include many findings of fact and some
discussion in this opinion which will be
referred to in the other opinions by
reference. It should be noted that there is
an additional petition for civil penalties
filed by the Commonwealth on September
7, 1973 for which no testimony or
evidence has been received and
therefore, that petition will not be
considered in any of these opinions.
INTRODUCTION
In order to help the reader understand
this opinion, this introduction will explain
who the Tollesons are and what they have
done to bring about this lawsuit. James
Tolleson is an individual in his early
thirties who was born and reared in
Alabama. James Tolleson eventually
entered into the business of buying,
reconditioning and selling used
automobiles in the State of Ohio. James
Tolleson's younger brother, Rodney,
followed James and entered the same
business. In May of 1969, James
Tolleson was invited into a business
opportunity operated by Glenn W. Turner
known as Koscot Interplanetary, Inc.
(Koscot). James Tolleson purchased a
$5,000 Koscot cosmetics distributorship.
He also became a member of Turner's
'Dare To Be Great' organization, and was
trained in Turner's sales and motivation
courses, which provided the format for the
Tollesons' future operation. After the
State of Ohio moved to enjoin the Koscot
marketing program because it was *78
alleged to be an illegal multi- level referral
sales plan, Koscot changed its marketing
system and thereafter for about one year,
James Tolleson sold Koscot
distributorships until the quota of the
distributorships for the state was filled. It
was at about this time that the Tollesons'
automobile business was sold and
Rodney Tolleson began to work with his
brother as a close confidant and as a
participant in the various Tolleson
enterprises. On July 1, 1969, while the
Tollesons were still in Ohio, Koscot had
entered into an assurance of voluntary
compliance with the Commonwealth
covering Koscot's operations in
Pennsylvania. As it developed, because
of violations of that agreement, the Court
of Common Pleas of Erie County issued a
broad injunction against Koscot and all of
its representatives and officials operating
in Pennsylvania, from which no appeal
was taken. Thereafter, in July of 1971,
James Tolleson entered the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as the
exclusive Koscot agent in Pennsylvania.
The record is clear that James Tolleson
was aware of the Erie County injunction.
The Tollesons embarked upon a scheme
to circumvent (or comply with, depending
upon your point of view) the Erie County
injunction by using salesmen to sell
distributorships instead of using the
outright referral sales program which had
been enjoined. A petition for civil
penalties was filed against the Tollesons
and an unincorporated unregistered
organization called 'American Be
Independent', **671 and the Erie County
Common Pleas Court issued and order
levying civil penalties. That order was
appealed to this Court in yet another case
at No. 189 Commonwealth Docket 1973,
321 A.2d 721, and an opinion in that case
will also be filed simultaneously herewith.
In any event, on October 6, 1972, the
Erie County Common Pleas Court ordered
Koscot and the Tollesons to 'cease and
desist from any and all activity in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with the
exception only, *79 that persons who
have purchased distributorships in Koscot
Interplanetary, Inc. may continue to sell
the Koscot product at retail and Koscot
Interplanetary, Inc. may continue to supply
such product to its distributors'.
Immediately thereafter, on approximately
November 1, 1972, the Tollesons began
marketing memberships in an organization
called 'Century 2000' which was a travle
club unconnected with Glenn Turner. As
a result of the Tollesons' activity in
Century 2000, the Commonwealth
obtained a consent order dated November
10, 1972, (at 1106 C.D. 1972) which in
effect was a permanent injunction.
Alleged violations of that order brought
about the petition for civil penalties in the
case at No. 1106 Commonwealth Docket
1972 mentioned hereinbefore which will
be covered by a separate opinion. The
details of the Century 2000 operation,
including the Tollesons' part therein, will
be described in detail in the findings of
fact. For reasons which are explained in
the findings of fact, in February 1973 the
Tollesons divorced themselves from the
Century 2000 operation and formed a new
organization called Exciting Life. The
complaint in this case was filed on
February 23, 1973, following the
Tollesons' break with Century 2000 and
the inception of their new operation.
TOLLESONS' METHOD OF
OPERATION
A careful review of all of the exhibits in
this case reveals that the methods of
operation used by the Tollesons in this
Commonwealth have been consistently
very similar to the methods of operation
established by their mentor, Glenn W.
Turner. Although some changes were
made in the product from time to time in
order to circumvent the latest in a series
of court orders, the sales format has
remained the same. Whether the purpose
was to sell cosmetics, distributorships,
franchises, travel or motivation, the
approach to the public has been about the
same. Citizens are initially contacted by
the *80 Tollesons, their companies or their
agents through a very colorful letter.
Although the letters have changed slightly
in content, the message has remained the
same. The letters are all sent by James
Tolleson and contain a picture of James
Tolleson and his family. The letters are
colorfully patriotic. They directly appeal to
the desire of the people to be financially
independent and allude to opportunities to
earn large sums of money. The letters
are intentionally vague and no details
whatsoever concerning a specific
company or a specific product are
disclosed. The letters refer to 'fantastic'
or 'unbelievable' business opportunities,
but contain no information concerning the
opportunities. The recipient is urged in
the letter to complete a reply card. Upon
receipt by the Tolleson organizations of
the card, the 'prospect' is invited to attend
a Get-Acquainted meeting. The Tollesons
also utilize a process known as 'head
hunting' whereby agents or employes
develop prospects without the use of the
letter. Between ten and sixty persons
attend the Get- Acquainted meeting,
which is sometimes referred to as a
'Golden Opportunity' meeting. Get-Acquainted meetings last about two hours
and follow a uniform format from a script
prepared by persons in the Tolleson
organizations. The Tollesons may or may
not attend such meetings, but the
audience is usually composed of about
fifty percent Tolleson personnel. The
meetings are run in a fast manner with
contrived applause, laughter, shouting
and singing, all led by the Tolleson
personnel in the audience. The prospects
are shown motivation movies. By way of
cleverly designed **672 innuendo, they
are led to believe that if they join the
organization, they can earn anywhere
from $25,000 to $50,000 per year. At this
Get-Acquainted meeting, both the name
of the organization and the business
involved remain undisclosed. Thereafter,
if the prospect is still interested, he is
invited to a weekend meeting which
normally is held in some distant *81 area,
i.e., the Bahamas or Florida. The of the
trip to these meetings is apparently low
and the prospect of an inexpensive trip or
cheap vacation is used to induce
attendance. After several meetings
during the weekend at which the
prospects are once again exposed to
contrived applause, laughter, singing and
excitement, the prospects are pressured
into signing contracts and paying money
for their memberships.
Most of the Commonwealth's witnesses
described all of these meetings as being
carnival-like or similar to revival meetings.
All of these witnesses described peer
pressure, embarrassment and great
expectations, all of which caused many
people to pay money to join something
which was never fully explained to them.
The record quite clearly indicates that
information was intentionally withheld from
the prospects. There were on many
occasions intentional denials that the
Tollesons had ever had any connection
with Glenn Turner. The evidence clearly
establishes that none of the prospects
were ever advised on where their money
went or for what it was used. As a matter
of fact, the record makes clear that only
the Tollesons were aware that the
monies, which the prospects intended to
by paid into the organization they were
joining, were in fact diverted to other
Tolleson organizations. Even the trusted
lieutenants and officers of some of the
Tolleson organizations did not know of the
existence of other corporations with the
same or similar names, or how they fit into
the Tolleson corporate structure. With the
exception of the Koscot operation, the
Tollesons were not directly connected
with Glenn W. Turner in the business
operations involved in the cases covered
by this opinion, but the flavor of a Turner
operation permeates everything the
Tollesons have done.
[1] The chancellor was provided the
opportunity at the hearings in these
matters to observe and hear the various
witnesses. At the request of counsel for
the parties, *82 all the witnesses for both
the plaintiff and the defendants were
sequestered for all the hearings before
the chancellor except for the two Tolleson
brothers who were present at all times for
all hearings. Throughout the hearings the
testimony of the sequestered
Commonwealth witnesses was generally
consistent, while the testimony of the
sequestered Tolleson witnesses was
often inconsistent. The testimony of the
Tolleson brothers was both inconsistent
and evasive. The hearings in this case
were long and complicated. They
involved not only the complex corporate
structure and businesses of the
defendants, but also the emotions and
personal interests of all persons
concerned. It is not at all surprising that
there were conflicts in the testimony. The
chancellor has utilized the entire record
together with his observations of these
witnesses ( including their demeanor and
sincerity) in order to carry out his duty of
resolving the conflicts and differences in
the testimony. Although, admittedly, it is
sometimes difficult to discern which of the
conflicting witnesses has told the truth
and which has distorted the truth, the task
of the factfinder is to use his sound and
impartial discretion to resolve the
conflicting matters. The following findings
of fact are the result of that process:
FINDINGS OF FACT
IDENTIFICATION OF PARTIES AND
ENTITIES INVOLVED
1. Plaintiff is the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania acting by its Attorney
General.
**673 2. Defendant James E. Tolleson is
an adult individual residing at Altamonte
Springs, Florida.
3. Defendant Rodney W. Tolleson is an
adult individual residing at Altamonte
Springs, Florida. At some time between
June 28, 1973 and September 18, 1973,
Rodney W. Tolleson changed his
residence from Pennsylvania to Florida.
*83 4. The Tollesons have conducted or
are conducting businesses within the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through
the following business entities, the
operations of which they control, but for
which James E. Tolleson is the owner and
chief corporate officer.[FN1]
FN1. All dates of organizations
contained in this finding were
supplied in the Tollesons' proposed
findings of fact, but were not made
part of the record.
(a) Exciting Life, Inc. is a Florida not-for-profit corporation (organized on April 13,
1973) (hereinafter referred to as 'Exciting
Life-Florida'). Exciting Life-Florida is
sometimes known as and referred to as
Exciting Life Travel and Success Club and
was not registered in Pennsylvania.
(b) Exciting Life, Inc. is a Delaware
corporation (organized on June 25, 1973)
(hereinafter referred to as 'Exciting Life-Delaware').
(c) Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation (organized on May
25, 1973). The term 'Exciting Life' was
used loosely by the Tollesons and their
agents without any explanation on the
distinction between the various
organizations bearing the name. Even
high-ranking officials in the Tolleson
organizations did not know of the
existence of different companies bearing
the same or similar name.
(d) American Opportunities Unlimited,
Inc., a Delaware corporation (organized
on November 30, 1972) was utilized from
about November 1, 1972.
(e) Empire Enterprises, Inc. is an Ohio
corporation (organized on November 9,
1970).
(f) Think and Grow Rich, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation (organized on June
11, 1973). It is also referred to in the
record as being a Florida corporation. It
was utilized prior to incorporation.
(g) Golden Opportunities Finders
Unlimited, Inc. is a Delaware corporation
(organized on November 30, 1972).
*84 (h) Adventures is Salesmanship, Inc.
is a Delaware corporation (organized on
November 30, 1972).
(i) All American Success, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation (organized on
November 15, 1972).
(j) American Be Independent, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation (organized on
November 15, 1972). American Be
Independent was also used at times as a
trade style without being registered
anywhere.
(k) Eagle Aviation, Inc. was a name used
but apparently inactive at the time of trial.
(l) JET Travel Services, Inc. is a
Delaware corporation (organized on May
3, 1973). JET Travel Services, Inc. was
also the name of Exciting Life Enterprises,
Inc. prior to June 30, 1973, when the
name was changed to Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. as a part of a
reorganization involving that corporation
and No-Glug Jug Corporation (now JET
Travel Services, Inc.).
(m) No-Glug Jug Corporation was the
name of JET Travel Services, Inc. prior to
a reorganization on June 30, 1973
involving that corporation and Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. (formerly JET Travel
Services, Inc.).
5. Each of the above-listed corporations
has failed to register with the Secretary of
State for the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania as either a foreign
corporation doing business in the
Commonwealth or as a fictitious name.
None of the above-listed corporations
have registered with the Secretary **674
in any manner whatsoever. With the
exception of Empire Enterprises, Inc., the
Tollesons used the corporate or fictitious
names before any incorporation; and as
already noted herein, the fact of
incorporation of them was not made a part
of the record, but rather was alluded to in
the Tollesons' proposed findings of fact.
6. Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. (Koscot) is
apparently a Florida corporation owned, or
controlled by Glenn W. Turner, doing
business in Pennsylvania. From July
1971 to November 1, 1972, James E.
Tolleson *85 was the exclusive and
controlling agent in Pennsylvania for
Koscot. Rodney W. Tolleson was sales
manager (in addition to other titles) for
Koscot for the same period.
7. On June 30, 1973, No-Glug Jug
Corporation (now JET Travel Services,
Inc.) acquired all of the outstanding capital
stock of JET Travel Services, Inc.) (now
Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc.) in a
transaction whereby James E. Tolleson
became the legal, beneficial, or controlling
owner of 1,600,000 shares of the capital
stock ($0.01 par value per share) of No-Glug Jug Corporation (now JET Travel
Services, Inc.) which gave him control of
that corporation. As a part of that
transaction, No-Glug Jug Corporation was
renamed JET Travel Services, Inc. and
the former JET Travel Services, Inc. was
renamed Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc. In
June of 1973, coincidental with its
acquisition by No-Glug Jug Corporation
(now JET Travel Services, Inc.), Exciting
Life Enterprises, Inc. (formerly JET Travel
Services, Inc.) acquired all of the
outstanding capital stock of Think and
Grow Rich, Inc., All American Success,
Inc. and Exciting Life-Delaware (the
record is not clear whether Delaware or
Florida) from James E. Tolleson.
8. Since June 29, 1973, JET Travel
Services, Inc. (formerly No-Glug Jug
Corporation) has been a holding company
whose shares of capital stock are
allegedly traded over-the-counter and
reported daily in the pink sheets by the
National Quotation Bureau.[FN2]
FN2. This is mentioned in the
record, but not satisfactorily
proven.
9. Since June 29, 1973, the sole asset of
JET Travel Services, Inc. (formerly No-Glug Jug Corporation) as been all of the
outstanding shares of capital stock of
Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc. (formerly
JET Travel Services, Inc.).
10. Since June 29, 1973, the assets of
Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc. (formerly
JET Travel Services, Inc.) *86 have
consisted solely of all of the outstanding
shares of capital stock of Exciting Life-Delaware, All American Success, Inc. and
Think and Grow Rich, Inc.
11. Since June 29, 1973, American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., Adventures
in Salesmanship, Inc. and Golden
Opportunities Finders Unlimited, Inc. have
been wholly-owned subsidiaries of Empire
Enterprises, Inc.
12. Prior to incorporation of American Be
Independent, Inc., the name or style
'American Be Independent' was used by
the Tolleson brothers as a tradename in
association with the Koscot sales
incentive programs.
13. The term 'Golden Eagles' has been
used as an unregistered tradename in
connection with the Tollesons' operations.
14. James E. Tolleson is the Chairman
of the Board of Directors of Exciting Life-Florida, Exciting Life-Delaware, American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., Empire
Enterprises, Inc., Think and Grow Rich,
Inc., All American Success, Inc.,
Adventures in Salesmanship, Inc.,
American Be Independent, Inc., Golden
Opportunities Finders Unlimited, Inc., JET
Travel Services, Inc. (formerly No- Glug
Jug Corporation) and Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. (formerly JET Travel
Services, Inc.). Rodney W. Tolleson is
the National Sales Director of Exciting
Life-Delaware, the President of American
Opportunities Unlimited, **675 Inc., Vice
President of American Be Independent,
Inc. and Vice President of Empire
Enterprises, Inc.
15. By virtue of his position of Chairman
of the Board of Directors, and his legal
and beneficial ownership of the majority of
the outstanding capital shares of JET
Travel Services, inc. (formerly No-Glug
Jug Corporation), James E. Tolleson
controls and directs the activities of JET
Travel Services, Inc. (formerly No-Glug
Jug Corporation), Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. (formerly JET Travel
Services, Inc.), All American *87 Success,
Inc., Think and Grow Rich, Inc. and
Exciting Life-Delaware.
16. By virtue of his position as Chairman
of the Board of Directors and his legal and
beneficial ownership of all of the
outstanding capital stock of Empire
Enterprises, Inc., James E. Tolleson
controls and directs the activities of
Empire Enterprises, Inc., American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., Golden
Opportunities Finders Unlimited, Inc.,
Adventures in Salesmanship, Inc. and
American Be Independent, Inc.
17. Since their organization, Exciting
Life-Florida, Exciting Life-Delaware,
Exciting Life Enterprises, Inc., Think and
Grow Rich, Inc., American Opportunities
Unlimited, Inc., All American Success, Inc.
and American Be Independent, Inc. have
maintained their offices and principal
places of business at 701 East Semoran
Boulevard, Altamonte Springs, Florida.
18. Since November 1, 1972, Empire
Enterprises, Inc. has maintained its office
and principal place of business at 701
East Semoran Boulevard, Altamonte
Springs, Florida. For some period of time
prior, it maintained its office and principal
place of business at 3404 Hamilton
Boulevard, Allentown, Pennsylvania, and
prior to that at some undisclosed address
in Ohio.
19. From its inception until July of 1973,
Golden Opportunities Finders Unlimited,
Inc. maintained its office and principal
place of business at REA Aviation
Building, A-B-E Airport, Airport Road,
Allentown, Pennsylvania.
20. Yet another corporation involved is
Century 2000, Inc. It is a Florida not-for-profit corporation certified by the Federal
Aviation Administration as an air travel
club. It was not controlled by either
Tolleson, as will be mentioned hereinafter.
The Tollesons and their agents, at various
and convenient times, stated that James
E. Tolleson owned 51%, or otherwise
controlled Century 2000, Inc.
*88 21. Masco Industries, Inc. is either a
Florida or Delaware corporation. It was
owned and controlled by Jack Plumly and
James Shaw. Masco Industries, Inc.
leased aircraft to Century 2000, Inc.
22. Century 2000, Inc. was controlled by
Jack Plumly, James Shaw and Stonewall
Felton. James E. Tolleson never owned
controlling interest in either Masco
Industries, Inc. or Century 2000, Inc., nor
did he control or direct their activities.
23. Century 2000, Inc. and Masco
Industries, Inc. maintained combined
offices in Miami, Florida.
24. Insofar as this record discloses, Glen
W. Turner has no connection with Exciting
Life-Florida, Exciting Life-Delaware,
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.,
Empire Enterprises, Inc., Think and Grow
Rich, Inc., All American Success, Inc.,
Adventures in Salesmanship, Inc., Golden
Opportunities Finders Unlimited, Inc., JET
Travel Services, Inc. (formerly No-Glug
Jug Corporation), Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. (formerly JET Travel
Services, Inc.) or Century 2000, Inc.
KOSCOT OPERATIONS
25. In May of 1969, James E. Tolleson
purchased a distributorship offered by
Koscot Interplanetary, Inc. in the State of
Ohio. Prior to his purchase of a Koscot
distributorship, James E. Tolleson had not
engaged in the business of offering
franchises or distributorships for sale.
**676 26. Shortly after James E.
Tolleson purchased his Koscot
distributorship, the marketing program of
that company (whereby distributors and
subdistributors earned fees or
commissions for sponsoring and selling
other distributorships and
subdistributorships) was changed and
distributorships were ostensibly offered on
a direct or single-level basis. New
distributors in the State of Ohio could no
longer earn fees or commissions *89 by
sponsoring other new Koscot distributors.
Thereafter James E. Tolleson sold Koscot
distributorships on a direct or single-level
basis in the State of Ohio until June or
July of 1970 when Koscot reached its
quota of distributors in Ohio.
27. James E. Tolleson requested that
Koscot permit him to sell 1,500 unsold
distributorships in the State of California
by establishing a sales company to direct-market such distributorships, whereupon
Koscot replied that in order to sell the
distributorships in California, James E.
Tolleson would have to prove his ability by
first selling 500 unsold distributorships in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
28. James E. Tolleson obtained from
Koscot the exclusive rights to sell the 500
unsold distributorships on a commission
basis in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, sometime in July of 1971.
29. James E. Tolleson had utilized
Empire Enterprises, Inc., which he
organized in the State of Ohio, as a
corporate device in the conduct of his
Koscot business.
30. James E. Tolleson found that most
of the existing Koscot distributorships in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had
been sold in Western Pennsylvania and
therefore he established an office in
Allentown, Pennsylvania to broker the
remaining Koscot distributorships.
31. James E. Tolleson used the
unregistered name or term 'Golden
Eagles' in reverence to his Ohio sales
organization, and carried that term into
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
32. 'Golden Eagles' was used as a trade
style or public relations gimmick intended
to appeal to one's patriotic senses. Later
a large Golden Eagle pin or clasp was
developed. It was intended and
represented by the Tollesons to be an
outward manifestation or *90 honor badge
for sales persons who earned more than
$100,000 per year in the Tolleson
organizations.
33. James E. Tolleson used the name or
style of 'American Be Independent' for his
Koscot sales organization in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
'American Be Independent' was never
registered in Pennsylvania.
34. James E. Tolleson used a direct mail
letter (in addition to other methods) to
solicit Pennsylvania residents to purchase
Koscot distributorships. The letter was
designed to encourage replies from
interested persons with certain
qualifications and to discourage replies
from uninterested and unqualified
persons.
35. The largest number of commissioned
salesmen employed by James E. Tolleson
or Empire Enterprises, Inc. in the Koscot
operation prior to the proceedings in Erie
County on November 9, 1972, was forty to
fifty, under whom 260 to 270
distributorships were sold. With minor
fluctuations, the number of salesmen
working for James E. Tolleson and/or
Empire Enterprises, Inc. increased from
six to forty or fifty.
36. A substantial number of the
commissioned salesmen employed by
James E. Tolleson and/or Empire
Enterprises, Inc. to sell Koscot
distributorships in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania were themselves Koscot
distributors, although not all were.
37. The salesmen commissioned by
James E. Tolleson and/or Empire
Enterprises, Inc. to sell Koscot
Interplanetary, Inc. distributorships were
called 'State Developers' and received
their position and title by appointment of
either James E. Tolleson or Rodney W.
Tolleson.
**677 CENTURY 2000 OPERATIONS
38. At the time Koscot was permanently
enjoined from the sale of distributorships
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
James E. Tolleson or Empire Enterprises,
*91 Inc. had an investment in Century
2000. Century 2000 had existed as an air
travel club for seven years preceding the
Koscot injunction.
39. Century 2000 was not created by
James E. Tolleson but was used by him to
avoid the imperatives of the Erie County
Court of Common Pleas with respect to
the sale of Koscot distributorships. The
Tolleson sales system remained the same
but the product was changed from
cosmetics to travel club memberships.
40. Prior to the Erie County injunction,
James E. Tolleson, individually or through
Empire Enterprises, Inc., had advanced
about $30,000 to Century 2000 and had
used Century 2000 aircraft to transport
prospective purchasers of Koscot
distributorships to Orlando, Florida.
41. At various times, James E. Tolleson
and several of his agents, servants,
employes or representatives, represented
to prospective purchasers that he owned
the controlling interest in, or otherwise
controlled, Century 2000. In fact, James
E. Tolleson did not own or control Century
2000.
42. Prior to the Erie County injunction,
the Tollesons had considered marketing
Century 2000 memberships. As early as
August of 1972, James E. Tolleson had
considered using some of his sales
representatives to sell Century 2000
memberships.
43. On or about November 1, 1972,
thirty or forty State Developers of the
Tolleson operations commenced the sale
of Executive Memberships in Century
2000; these State Developers used to sell
Executive Memberships in Century 2000
were the same State Developers who sold
Koscot distributorships in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
44. The then recent purchasers of
Koscot distributorships in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were not
offered the opportunity to transfer their
distributorships to Century 2000 Executive
Memberships.
*92 45. In the Consent Permanent
Injunction of November 10, 1972, the
Tollesons agreed to make many changes
in their Century 2000 sales program.
Many of the changes agreed to in the
Consent Injunction were not in fact made,
and approximately three months after the
Consent Injunction the Tollesons broke
with Century 2000 and formed their own
travel club (Exciting Life Travel and
Success Club). The sales program of
Exciting Life remained basically the same
as the Century 2000 sales program.
46. In the Consent Injunction of
November 10, 1972, the Tollesons agreed
to limit Century 2000 Executive
Memberships to 20 in a trading district of
500,000 population, and to allow each
Executive Member to sell a maximum of
500 Regular Memberships. Some
prospective Members were told by the
Tollesons or their agents to utilize
addresses outside the trading district (or
sales area) where the prospect resided.
47. At or about the time James E.
Tolleson commenced the sale of
Executive Memberships in Century 2000,
both American Be Independent, Inc. and
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
were incorporated, and both became
subsidiaries of Empire Enterprises, Inc.,
which became a holding company.
Thereafter, State Developers were
employed and commissioned by American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. and did not
broker Koscot distributorships.
48. In December of 1972, Empire
Enterprises, Inc. acquired the international
marketing rights to the works of Dr.
Napoleon Hill (except books) which were
assigned to Think and Grow Rich, Inc.,
which had been incorporated for the
purpose of selling self-improvement
courses and materials.
**678 49. Think and Grow Rich, Inc.
never offered business opportunities to
residents of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, but it did provide Napoleon
Hill materials for the use of Executive
Members of Century *93 2000 and State
Developers employed by American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
50. Beginning in November of 1972,
Executive Members of Century 2000, and
State Developers employed by American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc., were trained
by All American Success, Inc. which had
been incorporated for that purpose.
51. Prior to November of 1972, training
of State Developers and Koscot
distributors was performed by a division of
Empire Enterprises, Inc. That division
was later incorporated as All American
Success, Inc. As already noted, none of
these corporations were ever registered to
do business in Pennsylvania.
52. Century 2000, Inc. offered two
classes of memberships in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: (a)
Regular Memberships (sometimes called
Traveling Memberships) and (b)
Executive Memberships. Regular
Memberships were offered in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the
price of $200. Executive Memberships
were at first offered in the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania for the price of $5,000 but
the price was later raised to $5,500.
53. Executive Memberships were
referred to as the 'business' and Regular
Memberships were referred to as the
'product'.
54. The purchaser of a $200 Regular
Membership received Century 2000 trips
schedules and the opportunity to
participate in travel programs at Century
2000 club rates.
55. The purchaser of an Executive
Membership in Century 2000 received: (a)
a Regular Membership in Century 2000;
(b) the right to sell or enroll 500 Regular
Members in Century 2000 at a
commission of fifty (50%) percent; (c)
training at both a Regional and National
Training School; (d) a 'winner's Success
Kit' provided by Think and Grow Rich,
Inc.; (e) the right to receive training for
every Membership Recruiter *94 which
may be employed by the Executive
Member on a commission basis to assist
him in the sale of Regular Memberships.
56. Century 2000, Inc. apparently had an
arrangement with American Opportunities
Unlimited, Inc. whereby American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. was granted
the exclusive right to sell Century 2000
Executive Memberships in the
Commonwealth. The apparent purpose of
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
was to broker business opportunities.
Although the purchasers were joining
Century 2000 (not owned by James
Tolleson), their money was paid to
American Opportunities, which had no
agreement with Century 2000. On at
least one occasion, the money was paid
to a State Developer.
57. Solicitations to purchases Executive
Memberships in Century 2000 were made
by State Developers of the James E.
Tolleson operations who were paid a
commission for their efforts in selling such
franchises. Neither the qualifications of
nor the manner of appointment of a State
Developer was ever explained on the
record.
58. The defendants allege that Regular
Members in Century 2000 did not, directly
or indirectly, purchase any right to solicit
offers to purchase Executive or Regular
Memberships or to otherwise receive
fees, commissions or other compensation,
directly or indirectly, for soliciting such
offers. However, Regular Members were,
in fact, offered jobs as Membership
Recruiters. The commissions available to
Membership Recruiters were used to
induce prospects to buy Regular
Memberships.
59. In the belief that James E. Tolleson,
through his Century 2000 operators, was
seeking to avoid the imperatives of the
Erie County Court of Common Pleas
relating to the sale of Koscot
distributorships, **679 the then Attorney
General of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania commenced an injunction
proceeding against James *95 E. Tolleson
and Rodney W. Tolleson in
Commonwealth Court in November of
1972. This suit resulted in the Consent
Injunction of November 10, 1972, in which
the Tollesons agreed and were directed to
make certain changes in their Century
2000 sales program.
EXCITING LIFE OPERATIONS
60. Sometime between mid-January of
1973 and February 14, 1973, the
relationship between Century 2000 and
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
and/or James E. Tolleson, was dissolved.
The Tollesons allege that the relationship
was dissolved, either because it was
terminated by Century 2000, because of
James E. Tolleson's unwillingness to
continue his association with Century
2000, because of his dissatisfaction with
his business relationship with Century
2000, or because of the temporary loss of
Section 123 certification of Century 2000
as an air travel club by the Federal
Aviation Administration. Although some
or all of these factors may have affected
the decision to dissolve the relationship,
the existence of the November 10, 1972
Consent Injunction was largely
responsible for the decision to break with
Century 2000.
61. On February 14, 1973, James E.
Tolleson and Rodney W. Tolleson
advised State Developers of American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc. and
Executive Members of Century 2000 that
the relationship between Century 2000
and James E. Tolleson was dissolved
because of his inability to direct the affairs
of Century 2000, that Exciting Life Travel
and Success Club was replacing Century
2000, that Executive Members of Century
2000 could transfer their memberships to
Exciting Life Travel and Success Club,
that future Executive Memberships in
Exciting Life Travel and Success Club
would be offered for $6,500 to residents of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that
Regular Memberships would be offered
for $1,000, and that all memberships *96
would include a motivation and self-development course. There was no
meaningful disclosure on what Exciting
Life was for legal, financial or investment
purposes.
62. For sometime prior to February 14,
1973, although James E. Tolleson had
made a decision to split with Century 2000
and form a new travel club, he and his
representatives continued to sell Century
2000 memberships without disclosing that
decision to prospective purchasers.
63. On February 23, 1973, in the belief
that the Tollesons were seeking to avoid
the previous Koscot injunction and the
Century 2000 consent injunction, the
Attorney General of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania commenced an action in the
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania,
sought therein, and obtained (after
argument at which counsel for the
Tollesons was present), a special
injunction prohibiting the Tollesons from
offering to sell any product or service
whatsoever in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania. After jointly agreed-to
continuances, this Court on March 15,
1973 approved and filed a consent
preliminary injunction which permitted the
Tollesons to offer for sale in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Regular
and Family Memberships in Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club, but which
prohibited the sale of Executive
Memberships and restricted specifically
the manner in which the permissible
memberships could be sold.
64. Exciting Life was represented to be
a travel and success club which sought to
bring in association persons with a desire
to travel and to achieve financial success.
65. At no time was any disclosure made
to any prospective purchaser of the fact
that there were two or more Exciting Life
corporations, or that the Exciting Life not-for-profit Florida corporation existed, or
what the club they were joining was in
fact. The defendants *97 and their
associates deceitfully described the
corporate organizations **680 in vague,
general and misrepresentative
terms.[FN3]
FN3. The differences between the
various Exciting Life organizations
apparently were revealed for the
first time at the hearing held
hereon, for even some of the
Tollesons' trusted and high-ranking
associates did not know of the
differences on the witness stand.
All of these organizations were
referred to by defendants orally
and in writing as 'Exciting Life', and
because of this the chancellor will
use the term as related to the club,
and will note the state of
incorporation where otherwise
intended.
66. The Consent Injunction of March 15,
1973 banned the sale of Executive
Memberships in Exciting Life. Since
March of 1973, the Tollesons have
continued to solicit and receive Executive
Membership applications in Pennsylvania
to and from out-of-state prospects.
67. Exciting Life Family Memberships
were offered in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania for the price of $1,000.
Until April of 1973, Regular Memberships
were not offered; thereafter to September
10, 1973, they were offered for $250, and
after that, of $300.
68. The purchaser of a $1,000 Family
Membership in Exciting Life receives: (a)
an embossed membership card for
member and spouse which qualifies and
admits member, spouse, and children
under the age of 21 to all Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club activities and
travel at club rates; (b) notice of Exciting
Life Travel and Success Club activities
and trips sponsored by the member's local
chapter; (c) Napoleon Hill nad E. Harold
Keown's course, 'The Science of Personal
Achievement'; (d) Napoleon Hill and
Charles Cranford's course, 'The Science
of Professional Selling'; (e) attache case
with cassette recorder-player to contain
14 casette tapes and written material for
'The Science of Personal Achievement'
for 'The Science of *98 Professional
Selling' courses; (f) Ten Family Seminar
coupons; (g) subscription to the Exciting
Life Magazine.
69. The purchaser of a Regular
Membership in Exciting Life receives: (a)
an embossed membership card for
member and spouse which qualifies and
admits member, spouse, and children
under the age of 21 to all Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club activities and
travel at club rates; (b) Two Family
Seminar coupons; (c) subscription to
Exciting Life Magazine; (d) notice of
Exciting Life Travel and Success Club
activities and trips.
70. Sales of Regular and Family
Memberships in Exciting Life are offered
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
through representatives of Exciting Life
called Executive Members.
71. Executive Members of Exciting Life
ostensibly do not constitute a separate
class of membership in Exciting Life, but,
rather, are persons who purchase a
franchise from Exciting Life, Inc.
(Delaware) in order to be eligible to solicit
offers to purchase Family and Regular
Memberships in Exciting Life. The
Executive Member Franchise is referred
to as the 'business' and the Regular and
Family Memberships as the 'product'.
72. The Exciting Life Executive Member
Franchise was offered to residents of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the
price of $6,500, for which the purchaser
was to receive: (a) a Family Membership
in Exciting Life Travel and Success Club;
(b) the right to enroll 500 Family Members
in Exciting Life Travel and Success Club
and receive thereon 50% Commission; (c)
the right to enroll an unlimited number of
Regular Members in Exciting Life Travel
and Success Club and receive a 50%
Commission; (d) a license to use in
connection with the sale of Family and
Regular Memberships in Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club, all of the signs,
emblems, trademarks, service marks and
the *99 color scheme of Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club, together with its
merchandising methods and other
confidential and valuable information as
may from time to time be imparted to the
**681 Executive Member; (e) training at
the member's expense at a Regional and
National School established by All
American Success, Inc. on behalf of
Exciting Life-Delaware; and (f) training for
each Membership Recruiter which may be
employed by the Executive Member to
assist him in the sale of Regular and
Family Memberships in Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club.
73. The Tollesons and their agents
intentionally failed to disclose to
prospective members in both Century
2000 and Exciting Life that a yearly
membership fee was required in addition
to the initial purchase price or
membership fee.
74. Exciting Life Executive Members
may employ Membership Recruiters to
assist them in the sale of Regular and
Family Memberships in Exciting Life.
Membership Recruiters are paid varying
(suggested but not controlled by Exciting
Life) commissions by the Executive
Member who employs them. Exciting
Life-Delaware recommends that Executive
Members pay Membership Recruiters a
commission of 20% Of the purchase price
of each Family and Regular Membership
which they assist the Executive Member
in selling and provides a form of
agreement for use between Executive
Members and Membership Recruiters.
There is no established standard or
qualification for a Membership Recruiter.
75. It is not a condition precedent to
employment as an Exciting Life
Membership Recruiter that the
Membership Recruiter purchase or offer to
purchase a membership in Exciting Life,
but prospects are offered positions as
Membership Recruiters in order to induce
them to purchase memberships.
*100 76. The offer or promise of
commissions to the buyer for the
procurement of contracts of purchase with
others is an inherent part of the Tolleson
sales system at all levels.
77. The alleged distinction between
Executive Members and commissioned
salesmen (State Developers), and
between-Regular Members and
Membership Recruiters, is merely an
artifice used by the Tollesons in an
attempt to evade the strictures of the Act
and court orders.
78. Executive Members of Exciting Life
have very rarely employed persons as
Membership Recruiters who are not
members of Exciting Life.
79. Some Regular and Family Members
of Exciting Life are not employed by
Executive Members as Membership
Recruiters and neither sell nor solicit
offers to purchase memberships in
Exciting Life. However, many Regular
and Family Members are Membership
Recruiters and the offer of the opportunity
to be a Membership Recruiter is used to
induce the purchase of Regular and
Family Memberships.
80. Solicitations to purchase Exciting Life
Executive Member Franchises are made
by State Developers of the Tolleson
organization who are paid a commission
for their efforts in selling such franchises.
Almost all State Developers have at some
time purchased some sort of franchise or
Executive Membership from the
Tollesons.
81. State Developers are paid a
commission of $1,000 on each franchise
which they sell, followed by a $500 bonus
when each Executive Member Franchisee
completes training, plus a possible bonus
(never adequately explained in the record)
of $250 or $300 on Christmas and the
Fourth of July. State Developers are
employed by American Opportunities
Unlimited, Inc.
*101 82. Ostensibly, State Developers
tender no consideration, directly or
indirectly, in order to qualify for
employment by American Opportunities
Unlimited, Inc. as salesmen of Exciting
Life Executive Member Franchises.
However, the record indicates that they
sometimes purchased stock or interests in
other Tolleson organizations, e.g. JET
Travel Service, Inc., and that many of
them purchased either a Koscot franchise
or some sort of Executive Membership
from the Tollesons.
**682 83. Some Exciting Life Executive
Members have not been employed as
State Developers.
84. Most State Developers are also
Executive Members in Exciting Life.
85. Of those State Developers who are
also Executive Members in Exciting Life:
(a) some purchased their Executive
Member Franchises and memberships
after their employment as State
Developers and (b) some purchased their
Executive Member Franchises prior to
their employment as State Developers.
86. Exciting Life-Delaware was granted
the exclusive right to sell memberships in
Exciting Life-Florida.
87. Ostensibly, Exciting Life-Delaware
has an unwritten arrangement with
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
which gives American Opportunities
Unlimited the right to broker Executive
Member Franchises in Exciting Life.
88. Ostensibly, Exciting Life-Florida and
Exciting Life-Delaware have an unwritten
arrangement with Think and Grow Rich,
Inc. whereby Think and Grow Rich, Inc.
provides Napoleon Hill motivational and
self-development materials to Family
Members of Exciting Life.
89. Think and Grow Rich, Inc. is the
exclusive distributor of Napoleon Hill
materials (other than books) in the United
States.
90. Ostensibly, Exciting Life-Delaware
has an unwritten arrangement with All
American Success, Inc. *102 whereby All
American Success, Inc. provides training
to State Developers, to Executive Member
Franchisees and to Membership
Recruiters employed by Executive
Member Franchisees
91. The sale of Executive Member
Franchises by State Developers, the sale
of Regular and Family Memberships by
Executive Member Franchisees, and
Exciting Life club activities are supervised
and directed by a hierarchy of persons
denominated successively as Team
Leaders, Motivators, Area Coordinators,
Area Directors, District Directors,
Regional Directors and the National Sales
Manager. All such persons are appointed
to their respective positions in an
unexplained manner by the Tollesons.
92. Team Leaders are Executive
Members, Membership Recruiters or
Sales Managers who organize and head
groups of persons in coordinated sales
programs. Team Leaders are not salaried
for their activities, but may receive
compensation through commissions for
sales made by them or through others.
93. A Motivator is a person whose
responsibilities include motivating the
sales efforts of participants in the
franchise and membership sales
programs. The Motivator is not
compensated directly for his activities.
94. Area Coordinators are persons who
coordinate and arrange meetings, trips
and other activities in a small geographic
area in their sales solicitation activities.
Area Coordinators are not salaried, but
may be compensated for their activities in
the same manner as Team Leaders.
95. Area Directors are persons who
organize and supervise the sales
solicitation activities of State Developers,
Executive Members and Membership
Recruiters in a small geographic area.
Area Directors are compensated by
Exciting Life-Delaware on the basis of a
percentage of gross sales of franchises
and memberships in a small geographic
area. They organize meetings, collect
checks and speak at meetings.
*103 96. District Directors are persons
who organize and supervise the
organizational and sales solicitation
activities of Area Directors in a larger
geographic area, usually an entire state.
The District Directors are compensated by
Exciting Life-Delaware on the basis of a
percentage of gross sales of franchises
and memberships in their district.
**683 97. Regional Directors are State
Developers who organize and supervise
the organizational and sales solicitation
activities of District Directors in a
multistate region. Regional Directors are
compensated by Exciting Life-Delaware
on the basis of a percentage of gross
sales of franchises and memberships in
their region.
98. The National Sales Manager
(Rodney Tolleson) organizes and
supervises District Directors in their
organizational and sales solicitation
activities. The National Sales Manager is
compensated by Exciting Life-Delaware
on the basis of a percentage of gross
sales of franchises and memberships
nationwide.
99. The aggregate commissions paid to
Area, District and Regional Directors and
the National Sales Manager constitute
approximately 10% Of the gross sales
price of franchises and memberships.
100. At at least one meeting held in
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in July of 1973,
Pennsylvania prospects were informed by
the agents of the Tollesons that if the
prospects would purchase a $1,000
membership, thereafter they would have
the right to sell five such memberships for
a commission of $200 each and thereby
recoup their investment, and thereafter
become a Membership Recruiter.
THE SALES PROCESS
OBTAINING LEADS
101. A 'Red, White and Blue Letter' was
originally designed to obtain leads for
persons interested in *104 purchasing a
Koscot distributorship. The letter is
similar to the letter used by the Glenn W.
Turner organizations. The letter was
designed to encourage its recipients to
reply if they were interested in earning
large sums of money. It discouraged
people who were not married. It was
intended to eliminate skeptical people and
to locate people who were open-mined,
ambitious, aggressive and in a particular
age bracket. No pertinent disclosures
were ever made in these letters
concerning the name of any company, or
even the nature of the business. In their
various ventures, the Tollesons mailed
hundreds of thousands of such letters.
102. Persons (prospects) who replied to
the aforementioned letter were then
contacted by representatives of the
Tollesons and invited to attend meetings
denominated 'Get Acquained' or 'Golden
Opportunity' (sometimes just 'GO')
meetings. Approximately 10 days usually
elapsed between the time prospects
replied to a 'Red, White and Blue Letter'
and the time they were contacted.
103. State Developers were instructed to
pick up prospects at their homes in
expensive automobiles and take them to
the Get-Acquainted Meetings because the
ride would give the prospects an
opportunity to know the State Developer,
impress the prospects with the wealth of
same, and would insure the attendance of
the prospects at the Get-Acquainted
Meeting.
THE GET-ACQUAINTED MEETING
104. The Get-Acquainted Meeting is
considered a qualifying step in the sales
process and is intended to acquaint
prospects with the State Developers and
their way of thinking. Normally, no selling
occurs at the Get-Acquainted Meeting
because it is designed to be devoted to
the concept of going into an independent
business. The Get-Acquainted Meeting
eliminates many undesirable prospects.
*105 105. Prospects are not told, either
before they attend the Get- Acquainted
Meeting or during the meeting, the name
of the sponsoring organization or the
nature of the business opportunity offered.
106. There are as many as three Get-Acquainted Meetings held during each
week. There are normally about 30
persons present at the Get-Acquainted
Meetings, and the largest Get-Acquainted
Meeting had an attendance of 50--60
persons. Approximately 50% Of the
people present at these meetings are
Tolleson personnel.
**684 107. Get-Acquainted Meetings
span 2--2 1/2 hours and are of a uniform
nature in that they strictly follow a
Tolleson organization prepared script.
108. Persons in attendance at the Get-Acquainted Meetings are alerted to the
beginning of the meeting by applause,
which is followed by the pledge of
allegiance to the flag.
109. After the pledge of allegiance, the
first speaker hurries to the front of the
meeting room and is applauded, in
accordance with the script.
110. The first speaker at the Get-Acquainted Meeting is usually an
Executive Member or Membership
Recruiter. He speaks for about five
minutes. The first speaker talks about
statistics obtained from an insurance
company which show that 95% Of all
persons have not attained financial
security by age 65.
111. The same or very similar insurance
company statistics were used in Get-
Acquainted Meetings for Koscot, Century
2000 and Exciting Life. The statistics
were used to imply that a prospect could
attain financial security through an
investment with the yet unnamed
company in an undisclosed business.
The insurance company statistics are tied
to the success concept central to Exciting
Life.
112. The first speaker introduces a
motion picture produced by Earl
Nightengale entitled 'The Strangest *106
Secret'. The first speaker's introduction of
the film is applauded.
113. The Earl Nightengale film runs
approximately 23 minutes. It is intended
to 'wake-up' the prospect to the alleged
fact that the average man is in a rut and
does not realize it.
114. When the film ends, the first
speaker hurriedly returns to the front of
the meeting room and is applauded. After
talking about the film for approximately
five minutes, the first speaker introduces
the second speaker.
115. Each speaker is directed to be
applauded as he approaches the front of
the meeting room when he departs, in
accordance with the script.
116. The second speaker is usually an
Executive Member, Membership Recruiter
or Area Director. He talks about success
and tells prospects that the largest sum of
money which they can invest is $5,000 or
whatever figure happens to be the then
going price for that particular business
scheme. The second speaker tells
prospects that they can earn $50,000 (or
some other large figure) per year or more.
$50,000 seems to have been the standard
figure used.
117. The second speaker addresses the
meeting for about ten minutes, but does
not explain anything about the
membership program.
118. The second speaker introduces the
third speaker who similarly hurries to the
front of the meeting room while the
second speaker departs. Both are
likewise directed to be applauded.
119. The third speaker is usually an Area
Director or Executive Member. He
addresses the meeting for about 10--15
minutes. He tells the prospects that the
purpose of the meeting was just to help
them get acquainted with representatives
of the unnamed sponsoring organization.
He also tells prospects that if they are
interested in obtaining the described
financial success, *107 they must spend
two days with representatives of the
sponoring organization at a Weekend
Meeting.
120. The third speaker tells prospects
about Napoleon Hill's book, 'Think and
Grow Rich' and informs them that it is
available for a small fee (usually one
dollar) at the back of the meeting room as
they leave.
121. The Get-Acquainted Meeting ends
with applause. There are seven points in
the standardized two hour meeting where
the format of the meeting requires
applause.
**685 122. All of the meetings held by
any of the Tolleson organizations,
including those types which are described
below, are filled from beginning to end
with contrived excitement initiated and
developed by Tolleson organization
personnal, who operate much like a
gambler's shill. There are loud shouts
and chants related to money and success.
The atmosphere created was described
by many of the witnesses as akin to
revival meetings or carnivals. The
atmosphere was intended by the
defendants, their agents and associates
to break down sales resistance through
mesmerization and peer group pressure.
123. After the Get-Acquainted Meeting,
reservations are taken from prospects to
attend a Weekend Meeting.
124. Originally, prospects attended
Weekend Meetings at the expense of the
sponsoring organization, but too many
prospects attended just for the ride. In
order to eliminate those not truly
interested, the prospect was required to
pay for the trip to and from, and the
accommodations at, the weekend
meetings.
125. These weekend trips were to
Washington, D.C. and Orlando, Florida,
for Koscot; to Florida and the Bahamas
with Century 2000; and recently to
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for Exciting
Life.
126. The prospects are contacted by
State Developers during the period
between the Get-Acquainted and
Weekend Meetings.
*108 127. The Get-Acquainted Meeting
format does not vary unless a guest
speaker, sometimes Rodney W. Tolleson,
sometimes James E. Tolleson, and at
other times someone from the home
office, attends the meeting, in which case
he is added to the program and the
meeting is expanded.
128. The meeting room for the Get-Acquainted Meeting is paid for by State
Developers and Executive Members who
bring guests, the cost of which is shared
pro rata among them. Sometimes a
basket or hat was passed around for
contributions from those in attendance.
129. On one occasion, Rodney W.
Tolleson ordered a collection to be taken
at the end of which he laughingly told the
audience that their experience should
teach them a lesson on the principle of
how easy it is to obtain money.
THE WEEKEND MEETING
130. The Weekend Meeting is usually
held at a motel or a place of public
accommodation.
131. When James E. Tolleson began
Weekend Meetings to sell Koscot
distributorships to residents of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the first
several such meetings were held in
Washington, D.C. in conjunction with
other groups.
132. After several Weekend Meetings,
James E. Tolleson began conducting
Weekend Meetings in Orlando, Florida so
that prospective purchasers could see the
'International Headquarters'.
133. Prospective purchasers of Koscot
distributorships were transported to
Orlando, Florida where they were
accommodated in a motel. There were
other such trips to such places as the
Bahamas.
134. When Koscot prospects arrived in
Orlando, Florida, they were told for the
first time the sponsoring organization was
Koscot Interplanetary, Inc.
*109 135. On Saturday after their arrival,
Koscot prospects were first shown a film
showing the early Koscot office. After the
film, they would eat and then they would
tour the new Koscot facilities.
136. On Saturday night, Koscot
prospects would attend a meeting at their
motel where the business opportunity was
explained. At that time they were also
told the price of a distributorship.
137. Koscot prospects were not solicited
to purchase a distributorship until Sunday
afternoon, at which time some agreed to
**686 buy and signed an application form.
Those prospects who did not have a
checkbook either made a down payment
or utilized a counter check.
138. Exciting Life Weekend Meetings
have nost recently been held in
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and they follow
a similar format. However, as time
passed, the format became more polished
and sophisticated. Of course, at Exciting
Life Weekend meetings there was more
talk of travel and self- motivation in
keeping with the announced purposes of
Exciting Life.
139. During the Get-Acquainted
Meetings and the weekend trips, the
Tollesons and their representatives
displayed large sums of money, usually in
thick wads, to prospective investors. One
thousand dollar bills were often
prominently displayed. This conduct was
a planned part of the sales presentation.
140. During the Get-Acquainted Meeting
and the meetings during the weekend trip,
the Tollesons' representatives advised
prospective purchasers of the various
speakers' fantastic financial success in
the organization.
141. The Tollesons and their agents,
during meetings and during discussions
with prospective purchasers, constantly
made reference to expensive property
which they allegedly had recently
purchased through *110 their association
with the Tollesons and their various
organizations.
142. During these meetings and during
discussions with prospective customers,
James E. Tolleson often made reference
to alleged plans to purchase airplanes, a
stadium and the like in order to create the
impression in the prospect's mind that
James E. Tolleson is an extremely
wealthy and successful businessman.
Statements were made that James E.
Tolleson was a millionaire, whereas in fact
he was not.
143. Prospects to whom the Tollesons
and their agents attempted to sell Century
2000 Executive Memberships were told
that they could earn $50,000 per year by
selling 500 Regular Memberships in
Century 5000 for $200 each, for which
they would receive a commission of $100
each.
144. Said prospects were advised by the
Tollesons and their agents that it would be
very easy to sell Century 2000 Regular
Memberships in a short period of time,
either several months or a year.
145. Prospects were told that individuals
who had already purchased Executive
Memberships in Century 2000 were
having no difficulty selling Regular,
Memberships and that one of the
Tollesons' agents had sold 9
memberships in one day while posing as
a deaf mute and 90 memberships in three
months, whereas, in fact, no single
individual sold more than 20 Regular
Memberships in Century 2000 from its
inception in November 1972 until the
Tollesons formed Exciting Life and
terminated their relationship with Century
2000 in mid-February, 1973.
146. The Tollesons and their agents
encouraged prospective purchasers to
believe, and said purchasers did believe,
that the individuals who conducted the
meetings were Executive Members of
Century 2000 and were obtaining the
monetary gains said speakers constantly
alluded to by selling Regular Memberships
in *111 Century 2000. In fact, these
agents who spoke about their personal
success and earnings were engaged in
selling Executive Memberships in Century
2000 for a commission of $1,800 per
Executive Membership and were not
selling Regular Memberships. In addition,
these agents were not earning the
amounts which they claimed to have
earned, and had not purchased, but rather
had leased the expensive possessions
they referred to. Where the one thousand
dollar bills came from was never
explained.
147. Prospects who agreed to purchase
Executive Memberships in Century 2000
or in Exciting Life were encouraged to
sever all ties with their friends who would
not join the program.
148. Prospective purchasers were
instructed and encouraged not to inquire
**687 about the Tollesons and their
organization prior to purchasing.
149. When borrowing money to pay the
purchase price for distributorships or
memberships, prospective purchasers
were told by the Tollesons or their agents
not to divulge the purpose of said loan.
150. Prospects were instructed to lie to
lending institutions in order to obtain the
purchase price. It was suggested that
they tell said institutions that the money
was for home improvement or dental bills
or that they go to several institutions on
the same day and borrow a portion of the
money needed from each.
151. Prospects who asked questions
concerning the details of the business
involved were told that information would
be supplied when they needed it, or as
soon as the defendants' representatives
could obtain it. They were also told that
the defendants required that the money
be paid within seven days and that they
should invest immediately. However,
Defendants did not supply the requested
information concerning the business
involved, even after a prospect paid the
purchase price.
*112 152. The Tollesons did not disclose
to prospective purchasers their previous
connection with Glenn Turner and Koscot.
When questioned, the Tollesons and their
agents maintained that their operations
bore no relation to Koscot or Glenn
Turner. At the time of the hearings
herein, James Tolleson still owned a
Koscot distributorship (although inactive)
and he admitted to still being a member of
Turner's 'Dare To Be Great' organization.
153. The Tollesons and their agents
informed prospective purchasers that the
Tolleson operation was using airplanes
other than the Century 2000 plane
because the Century 2000 plane was
being used for pleasure trips by club
members when, in fact, the Century 2000
plane either had been grounded by the
Federal Government for purported
violations of Federal regulations, or was
otherwise unavailable to the members of
Tollesons' organizations.
154. At a meeting in mid-February, 1973
to announce the change from Century
2000 to Exciting Life, it was announced
that James E. Tolleson had purchased an
airplane, which he had not.
155. The Tollesons knew that their
relationship with Century 2000 would be
terminated many weeks before it was
announced, but they continued to solicit
individuals to purchase Executive
Memberships in Century 2000.
156. The Tollesons have not provided
the support and assistance which they
promised to prospects in order to induce
them to invest money and they have
made misrepresentations to prospective
purchasers.
157. Individuals who purchased
Executive Memberships in Century 2000
or Exciting Life have stopped attempting
to sell Regular or Family Memberships
because they have come to believe from
their experiences that the Tollesons'
organizations are fraudulent.
*113 158. All of the forms, brochures,
scripts, applications, books, letters tapes
and other paraphernalia used in the
Tolleson operations are produced or
supplied by one of the Tolleson
organizations or by James E. Tolleson.
159. Many prospective purchasers of
Executive and Regular Memberships in
Century 2000, and Executive Member
Franchises and Family and Regular
Memberships in Exciting Life, were told,
both at Get-Acquainted and Weekend
Meetings and on an individual basis, that
James E. Tolleson was a millionaire.
Based upon This record, it is specifically
found to be a fact that he is not a
millionaire and further that such
statements were intentional
misrepresentations intended to unfairly
induce prospects to purchase.
160. James E. Tolleson's adjusted gross
income for the year 1970, for Federal
income tax purposes on a joint return
basis, was $25,459, which included $550
interest on bank deposits and no stock
dividends. **688 In 1971, his gross
adjusted income, on the same basis, was
$9,356, which included $637 interest and
again no stock dividends. His total
income from Koscot in 1971 was $3,263.
161. Prospective purchasers of Century
2000 Executive Memberships, and
Executive Member Franchises and Family
and Regular Memberships in Exciting Life,
have been told at Get-Acquainted and
Weekend Meetings that they could earn
up to $50,000 per year or $50,000 in total
selling Regular Memberships in Century
2000 and Family and Regular
Memberships in Exciting Life. Not one
person has ever earned this amount in
one year or in total. There is no evidence
that anyone even came close to that
figure.
162. James E. Tolleson, Rodney W.
Tolleson, State Developers employed by
American Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
and others associated with the Tolleson
operations encouraged prospective
purchasers of Executive *114
Memberships in Century 2000 and in
Exciting Life to quit their jobs to work full
time selling memberships and to buy new
clothes and an expensive automobile.
163. Some prospective purchasers of
Century 2000 and Exciting Life Executive
Memberships were not told that they
would incur additional expenses. All of
the expense for all training at the national
school in Florida was at the member's
expense; and members paid for almost
every form, document, meeting and lead
after signing a contract with a Tolleson
organization.
164. Prospective purchasers of Century
2000 and Exciting Life Executive
Memberships were not told that State
Developers earned their incomes from the
sale of Executive Member Franchises.
165. The exciting Life program used in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to
attract Family Members is as follows:
(a) an individual may join the organization
as a Family Member by investing $1,000.
(b) this individual may then bring in five
new Family Members for each of which he
receives a $200 commission and
therefore recoups his initial investment.
(c) after obtaining these five new
members, the individual becomes a
Membership Recruiter and receives a
20% Commission for any additional
Family Members he recruits.
(d) said individual also receives a 10%
Override commission for any Family
Member recruited by an individual whom
he has recruited.
(e) no limitation is placed on the number
of persons a Membership Recruiter may
recruit or upon the number of persons
those working for a Membership Recruiter
may, in turn, recruit.
166. The Tollesons have failed to
register any of the foreign corporations,
mentioned herein, through *115 which
they are conducting business in
Pennsylvania, with the Commonwealth as
required by the Act of May 5, 1933, P.L.
364, s 1001, as amended, 15 P.S. s 2001,
and by the Act of July 11, 1957, P.L. 783,
s 5, 54 P.S. s 85. They were advised of
this requirement, and their failure to meet
it, in open court, in June of 1973 and have
failed to take any action thereon.
167. James E. Tolleson and Rodney W.
Tolleson, as his assistant and agent,
absolutely control all of the operations of
the many organizations mentioned in
Finding #4 hereof. They are found to be
the principals who are in complete control
and charge of all of their representatives
and associates. These representatives
and associates acted as and held
themselves out to be the Tollesons'
agents in all of the meetings, conferences,
trips, courses and presentations
described in the record.
168. It is specifically found that James E.
Tolleson has changed his many
organizations and operations in
Pennsylvania to avoid court orders and
evade the law.
**689 169. The money representing the
purchase price of a distributorship or
subdistributorship in Koscot, paid by a
prospect, was initially received by James
E. Tolleson or Americans Be
Independent.
170. All or part of the maney
representing the purchase price for an
Executive Membership in Century 2000
was initially received by American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
171. The money paid by a prospect for
an Executive Membership in Exciting Life
was not received by the Exciting Life club
he was joining, but rather by American
Opportunities Unlimited, Inc.
172. The money paid by a prospect for a
Family or Membership in Exciting Life is
not received by the club which the
prospect is told he is joining, but *116
rather by some other undisclosed Exciting
Life organization not registered to do
business in Pennsylvania.
173. In all of the various ventures
mentioned in these findings, the money
paid or invested by the prospect is not
received by the club or organization the
prospect is told he is joining.
174. All of the monies received in
payment for these various ventures,
distributorships, businesses, or
Memberships are received by
unregistered corporations or organizations
owned and solely controlled by James E.
Tolleson; and none of these receiving
companies have any binding written
agreements with the club or organization
which the prospect joins, whereby the
interests of the prospect or member would
be protected.
175. Under any and all of these Tolleson
ventures, the purchase price or
Membership monies are paid directly to a
Tolleson organization, and James E.
Tolleson has absolute control over how
the money is used, distributed, invested or
spent. The prospect or Member has no
control whatsoever over the finances of
the receiving Tolleson organization, and
no assurance or protection that the
inducement promises will ever be
performed.
176. Under the scheme of financing of
the various Tolleson organizations, the
prospect or member has no protection
whatsoever, except for the word of the
Tollesons or their agents.
177. The prospect or member has no
privity of contract with any of the Tolleson
organizations which receive the member's
money.
178. If James E. Tolleson would dissolve
all of his organizations, save only that
which the member joins, then the member
would have no protection or assurance
that the promises made in consideration
of the purchase price paid would be
fulfilled because the member's club has
little or no assets.
*117 179. All of the assets represented
by the payments of purchase prices for
memberships are to be found in other
organizations or corporations wholly-
owned or controlled by James E.
Tolleson, which are not the organizations
joined.
180. The representations by James E.
Tolleson, Rodney W. Tolleson and their
agents and associates concerning (a) the
income and wealth of James E. Tolleson,
(b) the income a prospect would or could
receive for his investment, (c) the
corporate structure of the club or
company the prospect was being asked to
join, (d) the assets of James E. Tolleson
and his various organizations, (e) the
ownership of airplanes by James E.
Tolleson and (f) the income of the various
agents and associates of James E.
Tolleson, were all false.
181. The failure of James E. Tolleson,
Rodney W. Tolleson and their agents and
associates (a) to disclose their actual
wealth and income, (b) to disclose the
true nature of their various corporate
structures and organizations, (c) to
disclose where their members' monies
were paid, and (d) to disclose at times
their prior association with Glenn W.
Turner **690 and Koscot, was intentional
and was designed to deceive prospects
and members.
182. The emotional atmosphere
contrived at meetings by James E.
Tolleson, Rodney W. Tolleson, and their
agents and associates, was intentionally
designed to mislead and beguile
prospects into signing agreements for
James E. Tolleson's benefit.
183. After listening to all of the Napoleon
Hill tapes and reading his book and other
material made a part of the record, it is
specifically found that none of this
material is in any way misleading but to
the contrary, would be of great help to
anyone who carefully read and followed
the advice of same. This finding,
however, should not be used as the basis
for any justification of the actions of the
Tollesons or their agents, *118 for as will
be pointed out in the discussion, they did
not follow all of the recommendations of
their own guru or teacher, Mr. Hill.
184. All of the State Developers,
Executive Members, Team Leaders,
Motivators, Area Coordinators, Area
Directors, District Directors, Regional
Directors, Membership Recruiters,
Officers and Officials of all the various
corporations, organizations or fictitious
names, owned or controlled by James E.
Tolleson or Rodney W. Tolleson were the
agents of James E. Tolleson and Rodney
W. Tolleson, and James E. Tolleson and
Rodney W. Tolleson were their principals
in all the meetings, conferences, trips,
arrangements, agreements, promises,
circumstances and other incidents
disclosed in the record of this case.
DISCUSSION
After hearing all of the testimony and
again reviewing same in preparation for
this writing, the chancellor is convinced of
the truthfulness of P. T. Barnum's
statement that 'there's a sucker born
every minute'. See Bartlett's Familiar
Quotations, 14th Edition 1968, page 655.
In trying to understand the actions of the
prospects who became eventually
members of one or more of the Tolleson
organizations, one wonders how it is that
the law, or a court interpreting and
enforcing such law, can protect a citizen
from his own greed or gullibility. The
United States Supreme Court has given
us some guidance in this regard in
Federal Trade Commission v. Standard
Education Society, 302 U.S. 112, 116, 58
S.Ct. 113, 115, 82 L.Ed. 441 (1937),
where it said:
'The fact that a false statement may be
obviously false to those who are trained
and experienced does not change its
character, nor take away its power to
deceive others less experienced. There
is no duty resting upon a citizen to
suspect the honesty of those with whom
he transacts business. Laws are made
to protect the trusting *119 as well as
the suspicious. The best element of
business has long since decided that
honesty should govern competitive
enterprises, and that the rule of caveat
emptor should not be relied upon to
reward fraud and deception.'
[2] In 1968 our General Assembly passed
the Act here in question. Section 3 of the
Act, 73 P.S. s 201--3 states in pertinent
part that:
'Unfair methods of competition and
unfair or deceptive acts or practices in
the conduct of any trade or commerce
are hereby declared unlawful.'
The terms 'unfair methods of competition'
and 'unfair or deceptive acts or practices'
are given the following definitions, among
others, in Section 2(4), 73 P.S. s 201--2(4):
'(ii) Causing likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding as to the source,
sponsorship, approval or certification of
goods or services;
(iii) Causing likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding as to affiliation,
connection or association with, or
certification by, another;
**691 (v) Representing that goods or
services have sponsorship, approval,
characteristics, ingredients, uses,
benefits or quantities that they do not
have or that a person has a
sponsorship, approval, status, affiliation
or connection that he does not have;
(vii) Representing that goods or services
are of a particular standard, quality or
grade, or that goods are of a particular
style or model, if they are of another;
(xii) Promising or offering to pay, credit
or allow to any buyer, any compensation
or reward for the procurement of a
contract of purchase with others;
(xiii) Engaging in any other fraudulent
conduct which creates a likelihood of
confusion or of misunderstanding.'
*120 Section 4 of the Act, 73 P.S. s 201--4, authorizes the Attorney General to
bring action in the name of the
Commonwealth against any person
violating the Act 'to restrain by temporary
or permanent injunction use of such
method, act or practice.' The last
sentence of Section 4 specifically states
are jurisdiction of this Court;
'The said courts are authorized to issue
temporary or permanent injunctions to
restrain and prevent violations of this
act, and such injunctions shall be issued
without bond.'
The burden of proving its allegations of
violations of the Act is, of course, on the
Commonwealth. Our review of the record
in this case permits us to conclude that
the Commonwealth has met its burden.
[3][4] The Commonwealth has alleged
that the Tolleson sales system is a referral
sales system and thus inherently
fraudulent. The forerunner of referral
sales was the chain letter which was
fraudulent because the geometric
progression of participants in the chain
makes necessary an infinite or endless
supply of participants. In utilizing just five
names in a chain letter, the simple
mathematical calculation demonstrates
that at the twelfth progression the entire
population of the United States would be
needed to participate in the scheme.
Chain letters have been declared to be
illegal lotteries in at least six states.'[FN4]
Referral selling was the next development
in the endless chain concept. In a referral
sale scheme, the price of a product is
inflated beyond its competitive market
price so as to make room for another item
of cost, mainly the referral fee of the
seller. The prospective purchaser is
induced to purchase by a promise that for
every additional sale which he procures,
he receives a commission. A prospect in
a referral sales scheme is told that he can
quickly recoup *121 his investment and
then easily make additional money.
Referral sales schemes were carried out
in the sales of encyclopedia, remodeling,
aluminum siding, storm windows,
carpeting, etc. A referral sales scheme
relies upon the well-known fact that
almost everyone wants to get something
for nothing. Referral sales are inherently
fraudulent because there is no infinite
number of purchasers for any particular
product or service. Referral sales
schemes have been declared to be illegal
in at least thirteen states.[FN5]
FN4. See Fla.Stat.Ann. s 849.091,
F.S.A.; La.Rev.Stat. s 51:361; 271
Mass.Ann.Laws, s 6A;
Nev.Rev.Stat. s 598.100 et seq.;
N.C.Gen.Stat. s 14-- 291.2;
Tenn.Code Ann. s 39--2017.
FN5. Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. s 44--5003; Cal. Civil Code Ann. s 1770;
Conn.Stat.Rev. s 42--140;
Fla.Stat.Ann. s 849.0915;
Ind.Stat.Ann. s 19-- 15--103; Iowa
Code Ann. s 713.24(2)(b);
Kan.Stat.Ann. s 50--603;
Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann. s 436.360;
La.Rev.Stat. s 9:3536; 83
Md.Anno.Code s 21 C; Ohio
Rev.Code Ann. s 1345.02(C); 21
Okl.Stat.Ann. s 1066;
Oreg.Rev.Stat. s 646.608(o).
[5] Because obtaining a product to sell is
the most difficult and expensive task in a
referral sales scheme, the next
development **692 involved pyramiding,
which is a scheme whereby what is sold is
really the right to sell (another like
franchise to sell) and the product is de-emphasized. Under this scheme, a visible
'product' (such as cosmetics, cleaning
fluids, vacuum systems, etc.) serves as
the vehicle upon which the sale to the
public of distributorships or franchises is
based. Here the customer purchases a
right, not only to receive the ostensible
product for a price less than he receives
from the next person in the distribution
chain, but also the right to receive a
remuneration for the recruitment of
additional investor-distributors or
franchisers. It is interesting at this point to
note that in the Tolleson brief there is an
admission that Koscot's pyramid sales
scheme was fraudulent. Pyramid sales
have been declared illegal by statute in at
least ten states. [FN6] In some *122
other states, regulatory laws addressed to
multi-level sales companies have been
enacted.[FN7] Pennsylvania regulates
pyramid sales by making referral sales
illegal See Section 2(4)(xii) of the Act, 73
P.S. s 201--2(4)(xii).
FN6. Ark.Stat.Ann. s 70--905;
Fla.Stat.Ann. s 849.091;
Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann. s 436.360; 17
Me.Rev.Stat.Ann. s 2305;
Nev.Rev.Stat. s 598.100 et seq.;
N.C.Gen.Stat. s 14--291.2; 21
Okl.Stat.Ann. s 1066; Tenn.Code
Ann. s 39--2017; Va.Code Ann. s
59.1--67.1 et seq.; W.Va.Code
Ann. s 47--15--1 et seq.
FN7. 83 Md.Ann.Code s 166; 93
Mass.Ann.Laws s 69; S.D.Code ss
37-- 25--1 to 37--25--28.
[6][7] The Tollesons contend that they
have not violated any provisions of the
Act because under their reasoning they
are not involved in 'pyramiding sales' or
true 'referral sales'. Rather they proffer
that by comparison with others cases
condemning and enjoining such sales,
they have found a way to circumvent the
law and thereby become legitimate. The
Tollesons would have us determine that
their operations are akin to the modern
franchise and distributorship businesses
which have recently developed in this
country.
The Tollesons were aware of the legal
questions surrounding Glenn W. Turner's
Koscot operation. Therefore, the
Tollesons attempted to design a new
approach whereby they would accomplish
the same results through a different
business structure. Whether it was
Century 2000 or Exciting Life, the
Tollesons contend that their structure
involved (1) the 'business' and (2)
'product'. The 'business' was the
Executive Membership which included the
rights to sell the 'product'. The 'product'
was the intangible membership in a club,
which could be solely a travel club
(Century 2000) or a travel and motivation
club (Exciting Life). In the Tolleson
system, the Executive Member is given
the right to sell memberships, i.e. the
'product'; but ostensibly he is not given
the right to sell another Executive
Membership, i.e. the 'business'. The
Executive Memberships were sold by
commissioned sales representatives. The
Tollesons contend that because not all
*123 Executive Members were sales
representatives, their system was not a
pyramid sales sytem and not illegal under
the Pennsylvania Act. However, this
record permits us to conclude that that
tantalizing possibility of participation in the
sale of the 'business' was dangled before
the prospect through innuendo and
inference in an attempt to intentionally
evade the law. The prospective
Executive Member was never told that he
could not become a sales representative;
rather the prospect was given the
impression that through the largess of
James Tolleson he could become
involved in the 'business' aspects of the
organization.
The main thrust of the Tollesons' defense
in this case is their contention that there is
insufficient evidence to substantiate a
finding of fact that any purchaser of a
Tolleson 'business' (Executive
Membership) was ever induced to buy on
the representation that the purchase
would qualify him to sell the 'business' and
thereby recoup his purchase price. The
problem with that contention is, as the
findings of fact disclose, that there is
evidence, believed by the chancellor, that
such representations were made by
Tolleson agents in **693 order to induce
purchases. Tolleson agents represented
that, either upon the purchase of the
Executive Membership or upon the
purchase of the Executive Membership
plus the sale of a number of Regular
Memberships, the purchaser could
become a seller of Executive
Memberships. It may be true that not all
commissioned Tolleson salesmen are
Executive Members but the record
supports the conclusion that the salesmen
are comprised almost entirely of
individuals who have purchased either a
Koscot franchise or an Executive
Membership (Century 2000 or Exciting
Life) from the Tollesons. Despite the
alleged differences, it is clear that the
present Tolleson sales system, like its
Koscot predecessor, is an illegal referral
sales system. See Section 2(4) (xii) of the
Act, 73 P.S. s 201--2(4)(xii). In Kugler v.
Koscot Interplanetary, Inc., 120
N.J.Super. 216, 232, 293 A.2d 682, 690
(Ch.Div.1972), the court defined a referral
sales program as follows:
'It is an arrangement whereby one is
induced to buy upon the representation
that he can not only regain his purchase
price, but also earn profits by selling the
same program to the public.'
The Tolleson sales system fits neatly
within this definition. The law was
violated because the inducement to buy
was the offer of the opportunity to sell the
same program to the public.
[8][9] The Tolleson sales system not only
involved referral selling in violation of
Section 2(4)(xii) of the Act, 73 P.S. s 201--2(4)(xii), it also involved many other
actions which are defined in the Act as
'unfair methods of competition' or 'unfair
or deceptive acts of practices.' See
Section 2(4) of the Act, 73 P.S. s 201--4(4). For example, the Tollesons and
their agents consistenlty failed to disclose
information concerning their business
structure. Even in court, the Tollesons
failed to disclose the worth of their various
corporations. The Tollesons and their
agents refused to answer questions
pertaining to their business structure or
else gave evasive answer to such
questions. The record even shows that
the Tollesons failed to disclose
information concerning their complicated
corporate structure to their own highlevel
agents. All of these actions caused a
'likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding' as to the source of the
services offered by the Tollesons. See
Section 2(4)(ii) of the Act, 73 P.S. s 201--2(4)(ii). The consistent untruthful
references to ownership of 51% Of the
corporation (Century 2000) which they did
not in fact control certainly come within
the provisions of Section 2(4)(iii) and
Section 2(4)(v) of the Act. Even as late
as the hearings before the chancellor,
James Tolleson stated for the record that
he owned 51% Of Century 2000 and later,
when it developed in the record that this
was not true, there was an attempt to
explain *125 it away as a
misunderstanding on James Tolleson's
part. The fact that such a reckless
representation was made in court and
under oath serves to strengthen the
evidence in the record that many such
reckless assertions were made to
prospects by the Tollesons and their
agents. Those reckless assertions
caused a likelihood of confusion or
misunderstanding in violation of Section
2(4)(ii) and Section 2(4)(iii) of the act.
The continued sale of Century 2000
memberships after the decision to break
with Century 2000 also caused a
likelihood of confusion or
misunderstanding in violation of the same
sections of the Act.
The obvious lack of concern for the
accuracy of the representations made by
the Tollesons and their agents is the type
of deceptive practice prohibited by the
Act. Some examples of the distortions of
the truth or complete untruths made by
the Tollesons were:
(1) That James Tolleson owned 51% Of
Century 2000.
(2) That James Tolleson owned or held
the controlling stock in Century 2000.
(3) That James Tolleson is a millionaire.
**694 (4) That James Tolleson owns
yachts or airplanes.
(5) That James Tolleson had no
connection with Glenn W. Turner. (James
Tolleson admitted in his testimony that he
is still a member of 'Dare To Be Great'.)
(6) That an Executive Member could
easily earn large amounts of money.
(7) That the golden eagle lapel button
was worn only by people who earned
more than $100,000 with the Tollesons.
[10] Many elements of the Tolleson sales
system are not in and of themselves
illegal. Merely sending out a letter of
enticement is not a violation of the Act.
The holding of a contrived meeting with
manufactured excitement developed by
shills may not be necessarily a *126
violation of the Act. Certainly the display
of large sums of money, the singing of
songs and the saluting of the flag cannot
be deemed illegal in and of themselves.
High-pressure salesmanship, in and of
itself, is not prohibited by the Act. The
Tollesons' problem, however, is that
putting all of these, what might be other
wise legitimate operations, together as
part of an overall scheme to obtain a
citizen's money for the ostensible purpose
of joining a club, when the club is not
registered in the Commonwealth and
when the club is not in fact the
organization to which the prospect or
member's money eventually is deposited,
smacks of fraud.
RESTITUTION
[11][12] One of the prayers of the
complaint of the Commonwealth seeks an
order of restitution to all Pennsylvania
residents who have purchased
memberships in Century 2000 or Exciting
Life through the Tollesons. We have held
that this Court does not have jurisdiction
to order restitution in this type of case.
See Commonwealth v. APSCO, 10
Pa.Cmwlth. 138, 309 A.2d 184 (1973);
Commonwealth v. Monumental
Properties, Inc., 10 Pa.Cmwlth. 596, 314
A.2d 333 (1973). As we view our
jurisdiction in these cases, we are
restricted by the constitutional provision
which states that the Commonwealth
Court has such jurisdiction as is provided
by law. See Pa.Const. art. V, s 4.
[13] Although we believe it would be
entirely appropriate and helpful for the
Legislature to give this Court broad equity
powers in this type of case, the
Legislature has not done so. The present
language in the Act merely states that we
are authorized to issue temporary or
permanent injunctions to restrain and
prevent violations of the Act. This is a
statutory remedy and we are limited to the
powers given to us by the General
Assembly. We believe however that we
may declare contracts, *127 entered into
subsequent to and in violation of an
injunction of this Court, to be illegal and
voidable.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. The Attorney General of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania properly
brought suit in this Court seeking
temporary and permanent injunctions
against James E. Tolleson and Rodney
W. Tolleson to restrain them and prevent
them from violating the provisions of the
Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer
Protection Law, Act of December 17,
1968, P.L. 1224, 73 P.S. s 201--1 et seq.
[14] 2. Although the Tollesons are
citizens of a foreign state, namely Florida,
they are subject to the Act because they
operated and did business in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during
the times complained of, and did so
through unregistered corporations and
fictitious names
[15] 3. The utilization by the Tollesons of
their many and diversified corporations,
organizations and fictitious names without
full disclosure to their prospective
customers or even to their own agents
and representatives was a violation of
Section 2(4)(ii) of the Act.
4. The utilization of the names Exciting
Life, Exciting Life Travel and Success
**695 Club, Exciting Life, Inc. (Florida not-for-profit corporation), Exciting Life, Inc.
(Delafare corporation) and Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc. (Delaware corporation)
by the Tollesons without full disclosure to
their prospective customers or even to
some of their agents and representatives
was in violation of Section 2(4)(ii) of the
Act.
[16] 5. The utilization of American
Opportunities, Inc. and Exciting Life, Inc.
(Delaware profit corporation) as the
recipients of the monies paid by
applicants for membership in Century
2000 or Exciting Life whereby none of the
monies paid by such applicants were
accounted for or paid to the organization
which the members *128 ostensibly joined
was a violation of Section 2(4)(ii) of the
Act.
[17] 6. The misleading and false
statements of the Tollesons concerning
the ownership of stock in Century 2000
were a violation of Section 2(4)(iii) of the
Act.
[18] 7. Statements made to prospective
members by the Tollesons and their
agents concerning the ownership of
airplanes were a violation of Section
2(4)(iii) of the Act.
[19] 8. After the Tollesons had made a
decision to split with Century 2000 and
organize Exciting Life, the continuation of
Century 2000 sales without full disclosure
to prospective members was a violation of
Section 2(4)(iii) of the Act.
9. Statements made by agents and
representatives of the Tollesons
concerning stock in JET Travel Service,
Inc., the value of such stock, and the
availability of same, were a violation of
Section 2(4)(iii) of the Act.
[20] 10. In the marketing structure
employed by the Tollesons in the
promotion and sale of all types of
memberships in both Exciting Life and
Century 2000, promises or offers were
made to purchasers of all types of
memberships concerning payments,
credits or allowances for the procurement
of contracts of purchase with others, and
statements were made concerning the
availability of positions as salesmen in
order to induce prospects to purchase
memberships. Therefore, the entire
Tolleson sales system, at all levels of
sale, was an illegal referral sales system
under Section 2(4)(xii) of the Act.
[21] 11. The use of the multiple
corporations by the Tollesons to promote,
sell and service Executive and Regular
Memberships in Century 2000 and
Executive, Family and Regular
Memberships in Exciting Life, together
with the absence of any disclosure
concerning the corporations involved,
caused a likelihood of confusion *129 and
misunderstanding and amounted to
fraudulent conduct in violation of Section
2(4)(xiii) of the Act.
[22] 12. The Tollesons' complicated
corporate structure, together with the
absence of any disclosure concerning that
structure, made it certain that purchasers
of any type of membership in either
Century 2000 of Exciting Life would be
confused concerning the roles of, the
status of, the relationship among and the
affiliation of persons with the various
corporations owned or controlled by the
Tollesons. Therefore the Tollesons' use
of said corporate structure without full
disclosure constituted a violation of
Section 2(4)(ii) and Section 2(4) (iii) of the
Act.
[23] 13. There is evidence in the record
to support the finding of the Court that,
when dealing with prospective purchasers
of all types of memberships in both
Century 2000 and Exciting Life, the
Tollesons or their agents intentionally
misrepresented, or without regard for the
truthfulness of their statements
unintentionally misrepresented, pertinent
and necessary facts, including facts
concerning the roles of, the status of, the
relationship among and the affiliation of
persons with the various corporations
owned or controlled by James E.
Tolleson. These intentional or **696
reckless misrepresentations were unlawful
under Section 2(4)(v) of the Act.
[24] 14. The failure to register foreign
corporations, and the failure to register
other unincorporated organizations and
trade names as provided by the laws of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was
a pertinent misrepresentation which
caused a likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding in violation of Section
2(4)(ii), Section 2(4)(iii) and Section
2(4)(xiii) of the Act.
[25] 15. The following enumerated acts
by the Tollesons and their agents, taken
together as a whole constituted fraudulent
conduct which created a likelihood of
confusion or of misunderstanding in
violation of Section 2(4)(xiii) of the Act:
*130 (a) The mailing of an enticement
letter without disclosure of the name of
the company involved or the business
being promoted.
(b) The staging of Get-Acquainted
Meetings with a carnival-like exciting
atmosphere contrived through shills, with
displays to prospects of large
denomination bills, and with unsupported
and false promises concerning annual or
total incomes.
(c) Weekend trips to out-of-state cities
during which prospective members were
again exposed to carnival-like meetings,
at which peer pressure was applied, false
statements were made, and evasive
answers were given, in order to break
down the sales resistance of prospective
members.
(d) Throughout all these contacts, the
false representations made by the
Tollesons and their agents concerning the
wealth and financial success of the
Tollesons and their agents and the
representations that the alleged wealth
had been acquired through membership in
one of the Tolleson organizations,
together with the intentional exposure of
prospects to a facade of expensive
automobiles, clothes, jewelry and other
indicia of great wealth.
(e) The failure to disclose the corporate
structure, the finances, the distribution of
the members' money, and the lack of
agreements written or otherwise between
the various corporations and individuals
operating under the Tollesons.
(f) The failure of the Tollesons and their
agents to honestly answer the inquiries
made by prospective members and
members.
[26] 16. The various Corporate Officers,
Officials, Directors, Sales
Representatives, State Developers,
Executive Members, Team Leaders,
Motivators, Area Coordinators, Area
Directors, District, Directors, Regional
Directors and others (as may be disclosed
in the record) of the applicable and
respective corporations and organizations
*131 of James E. Tolleson or Rodney W.
Tolleson were all agents of James E.
Tolleson or Rodney W. Tolleson. All of
these agents derived their power,
authority, direction and instruction from
the Tollesons and the Tollesons were
responsible for the actions of these
agents.
[27] 17. A representation in a business
transaction which the maker knows to be
capable to two interpretations, the one
false and the other true, if made with the
intention that it be understood in the
sense in which it is false, is a fraudulent
misrepresentation. The Tollesons and
their agents made such fraudulent
misrepresentations.
[28] 18. A statement in a business
transaction which states the truth so far
as it goes, but which the maker of the
statement knows or believes to be
materially misleading because of the
failure of the maker to state qualifying
matter, is a fraudulent misrepresentation.
The Tollesons and their agents made
such fraudulent misrepresentations.
[29] 19. A misrepresentation is
fraudulent if it is made with the intent to
cause the person to whom it is made to
act in reliance upon it in the transaction or
type of transaction in which the maker
intended to **697 influence their conduct.
The Tollesons and their agents made
such fraudulent misrepresentations.
[30] 20. The reliance by the recipient of
a fraudulent misrepresentation in a
business transaction must be justifiable;
and in this case most of the recipients'
reliance was justifiable.
[31] 21. Reliance upon a fraudulent
misrepresentation of fact in a business
transaction is justifiable if the fact
misrepresented is material; and some of
the facts relied upon by the prospects of
the Tollesons or their agents were
material.
[32] 22. The recipient in a business
transaction of a fraudulent
misrepresentation is not justified in relying
*132 upon its truth if its falsity is obvious;
but in this case, the recipients were
justified because the falsity was not
obvious.
[33] 23. The recipient in a business
transaction of a fraudulent
misrepresentation of intention is justified
in relying thereon if the existence of the
intention is material and the recipient has
reason to believe it will be carried out; and
in this case the intention was material and
the recipient had reason to believe that it
would be carried out.
[34] 24. One who fails to disclose to
another a thing which he knows may
justifiably induce the other to act or refrain
from acting in a business transaction has
engaged in a fraudulent conduct to the
same extent as if he had represented the
nonexistence of the matter which he has
failed to disclose, if, but only if, he is
under a duty to the other to exercise
reasonable due care to disclose the
matter in question; and under the facts of
this case, the Tollesons had a duty to
disclose the matters in question.
25. There is sufficient evidence in the
record to support a finding that
representations that James E. Tolleson
was a millionaire were false at the time of
their utterance. The Commonwealth met
its burden of proving the falsity of these
representations.
[35] 26. Representations made by the
Tollesons and their agents that
prospective purchasers of Executive
Memberships in Century 2000 or
Executive Member Franchises in Exciting
Life could earn up to $50,000 in any
specific period of time were
representations not only as to events
which might occur in the future, but also
were representations of present salaries
which existing members had attained, and
therefore constituted fraudulent
misrepresentations.
27. Under the conditions completely
fabricated and contrived by the Tollesons
and their agents, a reasonable man would
rely upon the representations made to
*133 the prospective members of either
Century 2000 or Exciting Life that they
could earn $50,000 per year or in total.
[36] 28. There is evidence to support a
finding that persons wore a gold eagle on
their lapels who did not earn over
$100,000 per year and therefore the
representations made concerning golden
eagles and their symbolism were
fraudulent misrepresentations.
[37] 29. The Tollesons and their agents
owed a duty to all prospective purchasers
of Century 2000 and Exciting Life
memberships to disclose to them that they
would incur additional expenses for
training and materials which duty was not
performed, and thereby created a
likelihood of confusion or
misunderstanding.
[38] 30. The failure of the Tollesons and
their agents to fully and adequately
distinguish to prospective purchasers of
Century 2000 and Exciting Life Executive
Memberships, the earnings of State
Developers through the sale of Executive
Memberships, from the earnings of
Executive Members through the sale of
Regular and Family Memberships,
constituted fraudulent conduct.
**698 [39] 31. The statements by the
Tollesons and their agents advising
prospects to lie to banks in order to get
loans were fraudulent conduct in violation
of Section 2(4)(xiii) of the Act.
[40] 32. The intentional failure of the
Tollesons and their agents to disclose to
prospective members in both Century
2000 and Exciting Life that a yearly
membership fee was required in addition
to the initial purchase price was fraudulent
conduct in violation of Section 2(4)(xiii) of
the Act.
SUMMARY
[41] Because this is a case of first
impression[FN8] in the appellate courts of
this Commonwealth, we have attempted
*134 to exhaustively review this extensive
record to obtain a full understanding of
what it was the Tollesons were all about.
That review justifies our observation that
the Tollesons have cleverly attempted to
circumvent the law by the constant
maneuvering from the sale of cosmetics,
to air travel, to motivation, from franchises
to distributorships, to memberships of
many classes through a complex maze of
corporate structures and fictitious names.
Although their attempt was to operate so
as not to offend a court order or statutory
provision, it seems clear that each of
these schemes like all get rich quick
schemes was defective. The Tollesons
showed a complete disregard for even the
most obvious legal requirement of
registering corporate or fictitious names,
even after attention was called to that fact
many months ago in open court. The
constant making of statements with
complete abandon as to the reliability or
factual substantiation was the very kind of
thing against which the Unfair Trade
Practices and Consumer Protection Law
was directed by the Legislature.
Throughout this record the Tollesons
made constant reference to the writings
and tape recordings of Napoleon Hill, a
man whose reputation is widespread in
the field of motivation and positive
thinking. Napoleon Hill's most successful
book, Think and Grow Rich, published in
1960, is an excellent treatise on the power
of positive thinking and self-discipline.
The chancellor read all of these
documents and listened to all of the tape
recordings submitted into evidence; and
without reservation the chancellor
concludes that there is absolutely nothing
wrong or illegal with any of these
presentations of Napoleon Hill. Although
the Tollesons *135 rely heavily upon the
writings of Napoleon Hill as the basis for
their motivation courses, it is interesting
indeed that the Tollesons have not
accepted everything which Napoleon Hill
has written. For instance, he states in his
took, 'Without a sense of fairness and
justice, no leader can command and
retain the respect of his followers.'[FN9]
The many bitter statements of the
Commonwealth's witnesses, who at one
time were followers of the Tollesons,
indicate the truth of Hill's statement. Hill
also says, 'The leader who is not loyal to
his trust, and to his associates, those
above him, and those below him, cannot
long maintain his leadership.' [FN10]
Another quote, 'There is no substitute for
honesty. One may be temporarily
dishonest by force of circumstances over
which one has no control, without
permanent damage. But, there is no hope
for the person who is dishonest by choice.
Sooner or later, his deeds will catch up
with him, and he will pay by loss of
reputation, and perhaps even loss of
liberty.'[FN11] And, 'Searching for all
**699 the short-cuts to riches, trying to get
rich without giving a fair equivalent,
usually reflected in the habit of gambling,
endeavoring to drive sharp bargains' are
weaknesses which Napoleon Hill
deplores.[FN12] Throughout all of these
writings of Napoleon Hill one finds a
thread of honorable intentions.
Somewhere in the development of the
Tolleson organization that thread slipped
from the needle and left a flaw in the
whole Tolleson cloth. To be sure, there is
nothing improper with selling cosmetics,
organizing a licensed travel club or even
selling motivation courses. As this record
mentions, Dale Carnegie became famous
and wealthy with such courses. This
record would indicate *136 that the thread
of honesty was lost early in the game
when James Tolleson commenced to
utilize fictitious names and nonexistent
corporations as the depositories for the
funds he received from the members who
joined his various organizations.
Members joined Century 2000, but their
money went to a company called
American Opportunities. Later, members
joined Exciting Life, but no one told them
that there were three, or perhaps even
four, different organizations called Exciting
Life by the Tollesons and their agents.
What connection the Exciting Life the
members joined had with the Exciting Life
which was the depository of the funds was
never disclosed. This record discloses
that it was only through the prodding of
the chancellor, and with the assistance of
counsel for the Tollesons, that the
existence of the various Exciting Life
corporations was finally disclosed long
after the Tollesons had been given the
opportunity to fully explain on the witness
stand. Although the question was asked
several times on the record, the Tollesons
never answered how any member in any
of these organizations was protected once
his money was received by some Tolleson
corporation or organization not privy to the
contract. Every opportunity was afforded
the Tollesons to prove the legitimacy of
their corporate structure and operations.
Instead of clarity, they presented
confusion and evasion. Perhaps the most
telling bit of evidence in the record as to
the Tollesons' dishonorable intentions
came when two of the Tollesons' trusted
lieutenants disclosed that they did not
know of the existence of the various
Exciting Life corporations, or how they
were related to each other and to the
Tollesons. In summary, this record sets
forth that kind of business operation
against which the Act was directed.
FN8. We have rendered opinions
in other cases involving the Unfair
Trade Practices and Consumer
Protection Law, Supra, but none of
these dealt with referral sales, e.g.,
See Commonwealth v. Lewis
Rozman, 10 Pa.Cmwlth. 133, 309
A.2d 197 (1973); Commonwealth
v. Emdeko Int. Inc., 5 Pa.Cmwlth.
479 (1972); and Commonwealth v.
Hush-Tone Industries, Inc., 4
Pa.Cmwlth. 1 (1971).
FN9. Napoleon Hill, Think And
Grow Rich, p. 105, Fawcett
Publications, Inc. (1960).
FN10. Id. at 109.
FN11. Id. at 125.
FN12. Id. at 159.
The record discloses that at the hearing
we withheld ruling on the Tollesons'
motion for a compulsory nonsuit. We will
deny that motion in our order. As *137
our findings of fact and conclusions of law
dictate, we must enter a permanent
injunction enjoining the Tollesons from
any such operation within the confines of
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[42] After having found, concluded, held
and said all of the above, this Court now
faces the perplexing task of designing an
appropriate permanent injunction order. It
is perplexing because this record exposes
the fact that the Tollesons and their
enterprises tend to change with the wind.
If we merely enjoin their many existing
companies and organizations, and they
follow their prior pattern, then they will
form new organizations on the very next
day, with new schemes and new products.
The task is also perplexing because we
know of no way a court effectively can
protect citizens, or the buying public, from
their own gullibility and greed. We also
recognize that however we design the
order, we cannot enjoin the Tollesons
from legitimate endeavors. In any event,
we must make it clear that the business
structures and sales methods which the
Tollesons have used in this
Commonwealth from July of 1971 to date,
as set forth in this record, violate the laws
of this Commonwealth and must cease
immediately.
We therefore,
**700 ORDER
And now, this 19th day of JUNE, 1974,
after hearing, submission of briefs, and
oral argument, based upon the record
made and the above opinion, the
defendants' motion for a compulsory
nonsuit is hereby denied, and it is ordered
that James Tolleson and Rodney Tolleson
(also known as James E. Tolleson and
Rodney W. Tolleson), all of their
corporations, organizations, clubs and
other entities, and their agents,
representatives, servants and employes
be and they hereby are permanently
enjoined from:
*138 1. Conducting any business in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through
any corporations, organizations, fictitious
names or clubs not registered to do
business in the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania as provided by law.
2. Offering for sale any memberships,
including Executive Memberships,
Regular Memberships or Family
Memberships, in any corporation,
organization, or fictitious name or club
under which any member receives a
commission or fee for the selling or
procuring of any other membership of any
class.
3. Offering any product or service to
anyone without such full disclosure as is
required by law.
4. Accepting monies, dues, fees or
commissions from anyone without full
disclosure of where and to whom the
monies will be paid in those situations
where the organization or personnel of
James Tolleson or Rodney Tolleson
receiving such money is other than that
organization or person to which or to
whom the payor intends such money to be
received.
5. Failing to fully disclose all of the
finances, balance sheets and income
statements of themselves and any
corporation, organization, fictitious name
or club they control to authorized
representatives of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, or to anyone entitled
thereto, as may be required by law.
6. Operating any pyramid or referral
sales business in violation of the law.
7. Operating any travel club without the
required licensing, registration or other
filing that may be required by law.
8. Operating any business in the manner
of their operation of Century 2000, Inc.
and Exciting Life, Exciting Life
Enterprises, Inc., Exciting Life, Inc.
(Florida not-for-profit), Exciting Life, Inc.
(Delaware profit corporation), Exciting Life
Travel and Success Club as disclosed by
the record in this case.
*139 9. Utilizing any of the application
forms or agreements used to this date in
the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the
operation of any of the Exciting Life
organizations named above.
10. Misrepresenting the facts of any
matter to any purchaser of any product or
service to anyone within the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including
out-of- state persons.
11. Causing likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding as to the source,
sponsorship, approval or certification of
goods or services.
12. Causing likelihood of confusion or of
misunderstanding as to affiliation,
connection or association with, or
certification by, another.
13. Representing that goods or services
have sponsorship, approval,
characteristics, ingredients, uses, benefits
or quantities that they do not have or that
a person has a sponsorship, approval,
status, affiliation or connection that he
does not have.
14. Representing that goods or services
are of a particular standard, quality or
grade, or that goods are of a particular
style or model, if they are of another.
15. Promising or offering to pay, credit or
allow to any buyer, any compensation or
**701 reward for the procurement of a
contract of purchase with others.
16. Engaging in any other fraudulent
conduct which creates a likelihood of
confusion or of misunderstanding.
17. Operating any corporation,
organization, fictitious name or club in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania without
annually giving every person who joins or
invests in same a complete annual
balance sheet and income statement
prepared or certified by a Certified Public
Accountant licensed to do business in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
18. Selling any stock or membership in
any registered or unregistered corporation
or organization in violation of the law.
*140 19. Permitting any agent,
representative or employe to make any
fraudulent or intentionally misleading
statement to any prospective purchaser of
any product or service offered by them or
any of their organizations.
It is also ordered that James Tolleson
and Rodney Tolleson shall mail, by
registered return receipt mail service, a
true and correct copy of this order to all
persons who signed agreements with, and
paid money into, any of the Exciting Life
organizations mentioned above and to all
persons who purchased any membership
in Century 2000, Inc. through James
Tolleson or Rodney Tolleson or any of
their agents or organizations, within 60
days from the date hereof and shall within
30 days thereafter file with the
Prothonotary of the Commonwealth Court
of Pennsylvania a proof of service noting
the names and addresses of all such
persons to whom a copy of this order has
been sent. All costs to be paid by James
Tolleson and Rodney Tolleson, jointly and
severally. This order shall become final if
exceptions are not filed within 20 days
from the date hereof.
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