Thursday, February 4, 2016

Sean and Melissa Morton arrested

        Passing on gossip is not the most noble of this blog's raisons d'ĂȘtre to be sure, but this is too good to pass up. Yesterday, an anonymous Wikipedia editor using the name "Nofway" added the following content to Sean David Morton's article. The text was sourced as copied from http://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/hermosa-beach-couple-arrested-federal-charges-related-tax-scam-and-passing-false-checks, which looks authentic but it is just possible that it's spoofed.

        So I make no claim to the authenticity of this information, but enjoy it anyway. It's plausible because the Mortons are known to be in deep shit with both IRS and SECnote 1 (read the the article if you need to know why.) Bear in mind that the Mortons are very good pals of both Mike Bara and Kerry Cassidy. Remember this pic from the Summer of 2012? Sean and Kerry swanning around Europe, leaving Melissa to interview Mike on the Internet radio.

photo credit: Project Camelot

        Strange synchronicity -- that four year old interview also covered Ken Johnston's accusation of Apollo negative tampering, that I wrote about again yesterday. But I digress — here's the dirt.

Two Hermosa Beach residents were taken into custody yesterday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on a host of charges related to a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service, which included passing bogus checks and bonds as a way to pay off debt for themselves and others.

On February 1, 2016 Sean David Morton, 58, and his wife, Melissa Ann Morton, 50, were expected to be arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles on a 56-count superseding indictment that was returned by a grand jury on January 27. The couple was arrested by special agents with IRS - Criminal Investigation in San Pedro Sunday morning after disembarking from a “Conspira-Sea Cruise.” According to the superseding indictment, Sean David Morton filed a series of false income tax returns for the years 2005 and 2010 that sought millions of dollars in refunds. Melissa Morton allegedly filed several false tax returns for the year 2007. The couple “caused multiple copies and multiple versions of their income tax returns to be submitted to various IRS service centers throughout the United States in 2009 and 2010,” according to the indictment, which alleges they attached false Forms 1099-OID to support their claims for refunds. The indictment specifically alleges that Sean David Morton filed a false 2006 income tax return 2010 that requested a refund of $2,809,921, and that in 2012 he filed a document that sought a tax refund of $1,560,634 for 2006.

In relation to the scheme, the indictment alleges that Sean David Morton on multiple occasions submitted to the IRS documents he called “Coupon for Setoff, Settlement, and Closure” in the amounts of $5,286,867 and $8,429,763. “These fictitious financial instruments were a purported bond in exchange for the refunds they sought from the IRS,” according to the indictment.

Melissa Morton allegedly presented to the IRS in 2010 a “Coupon for Setoff, Settlement, and Closure” in the amount of $44,450 as a purported bond in exchange for a $14,450 refund that she sought. And, in 2013, both defendants allegedly presented to the IRS two “Non-Negotiable Discharging Bond and Indemnity” in the amounts of $10 million for Sean David Morton and $600,000 for Melissa Morton.

If they are convicted of the charges in the superseding indictment, Sean David Morton would face a statutory maximum sentence of 650 years in federal prison, and Melissa Morton would face a statutory maximum sentence of 625 years.

Update 1:
The story is now confirmed.


Here's the full 56-count indictment.

Update 2:
        A reporter who is legally trained has now reported from the ConspiraSea cruise, and it's well worth reading. An excerpt:
"Winston Shrout and Sean David Morton were the subjects of my Day 2 post. That post was much more critical and aggressive than I expected any of my writing to be. To the extent that it earned me a little browbeating from a Shrout fan who was upset that I criticized him....I couldn’t hold back. As I’ve said I’m a lawyer, and I know that what Shrout and Morton were teaching was absolute crap. It wasn’t arguably right. It wasn’t thinking outside the box. It wasn’t creative reinterpretation of the law. It was complete nonsense, in that it literally did not make any sense."
============================
[1] See the SEC's 4 March 2010 complaint filed in US District Court, and the judgement issued on 15 February 2013.

12 comments:

Erickson said...

The link is from the Department of Justice so I see no reason to doubt it. It was also reported in a local paper:

http://tbrnews.com/news/hermosa-beach-couple-charged-with-trying-to-defraud-u-s/article_2003e458-c94e-11e5-9bbc-5ff6958ae3fd.html

The Conspira-Sea Cruise that had Morton as a featured speaker also included Kerry Casdidy and a host of other illuminaries. Participants were invited to "Sail the Magnificent Mexican Riviera and Awaken to the Truth that Sets Us Free." Perhaps Morton should have heeded the Truth and he might have remained free.

Erickson said...

Out of curiousity, I ran a PACER docket search (the court's online case information). Sean was arraigned on 7 counts on February 1, having to do with conspiracy to defraud, false claims, and fictitious obligations. Bail was set at $10,000 although he had to give up his passport, which may limit his trips with Kerry for the foreseeable future. Trial is set for March 29, but it is certain to be delayed significantly beyond that time. (Case #: 2:15-cr-00611-SVW-1.)

Bill said...

Hi Expat,

I found this , http://ufowatchdog.blogspot.co.uk/, has a lot of info on many of Sean David Morton's fiddles from the last 10 years.

I was looking at his FB page and he has a Bfa degree in astronomy and organic chemistry, what. Is a Bfa degree?

I wonder how long it will be before K C sais its all a conspiracy.

Bill

Dee said...

Bill Belcher wrote: "what. Is a Bfa degree?"

In this case a Liberal Arts (undergraduate) minor in astronomy.

Dee

Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost said...

"The Conspira-Sea Cruise that had Morton as a featured speaker also included Kerry Casdidy and a host of other illuminaries. Participants were invited to 'Sail the Magnificent Mexican Riviera and Awaken to the Truth that Sets Us Free. Perhaps Morton should have heeded the Truth and he might have remained free."

That was advertised heavily on Midnight in the Desert a couple of months ago. I was hoping the ship would vanish without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle.

Erickson said...

Sean and Kerry managed to avoid sinking during a similar cruise last year in Alaska - and some others that I seem to recall. But here is some more information on it, including Morton arrest. Apparently the legal tricks he talked about while on board did not work quite as well as expected. I would not want to be his attorney now, for any number of reasons be.

http://www.wired.com/2016/02/conspira-sea-cruise-know-truth/

Erickson said...

And for even more details

http://violentmetaphors.com/2016/02/09/conspirasea-day-7-i-failed/

Bill said...

Looks like his radio website is down now, may be this time he won't be coming back!

expat said...

I still see it but the Host page is blanked.

Bill said...

I'm staggered at how much money those two have raked in from what they were trying to reclaim. It makes my blood boil that these BS artists have made so much money through total BS.

Bill said...

http://www.aliensonearth.com/area51/desert_rat/1994/rat_15.html#talkshow

Interesting read about Sean David Morton at it back in the early90's ,

https://web.archive.org/web/20000125101546/http://www.delphiassociates.org/sean/sean.html
Way back machine archive of his dodgy dealings with some huge claims in his resume.

Anonymous said...

Please delete my previous post on March 27, 2016 at 4:39 AM and replace with the following corrected version - thanks!

>>>>


Anonymous said...

Unfortunately Sean and Melissa will most likely never see the beach again, share a Starbucks together, enjoy the scent of the ocean air, or travel to some far off land. I believe the IRS will win their case against the dynamic duo and lock them up for life. Since the IRS likes to target public celebrities Sean is up for the greatest challenge of his life, especially considering he wants to represent himself in court. Unfortunately Sean did not exhaust the administrative process prior to going to court nor did he perfect his claim.

In as much as Sean truly believed that what he filed with the IRS was correct, it doesn't mean that it was an effective process. You can have all the belief you want but if you don't apply proper procedure through a proven process all your efforts are for not and you buy yourself a one-way ticket to prison.

Please Note:
I am not a bar certified attorney. I am not an foreign agent for the Crown. This is not meant to be legal advice. This is being presented for entertainment purposes only. Nor is it all inclusive but simply a brief expression that is meant to stimulate your imagination and common sense.

When it comes to the IRS you better make sure that you exhaust the administrative process first and in the process you must absolutely without a doubt perfect your claim and always stay in honor. Never move your claim into controversy. Again, always stay in honor and demand that your opponent stay in honor.

You present your causes, i.e., reasons for refusal without dishonor under registered affidavit and notarial seal and give notice to the IRS that they have 10 days to refute your claim in like form (under affidavit). If after 10-days, they have not replied accordingly you send a registered notarized 'Notice of Default' giving them a second chance to stay in honor. If after 10-days they still have not refuted your claim in like form, you send another registered notarized 'Second Notice of Default'. If they still do not refuted your claim in like form, you have now perfected your claim. Their silence has perfected your claim.

Make sure to keep copies of all your registered communications in historical order, including copies of all registered return receipts, and any IRS reply letters pertaining to each individual mailing. At the time that you write your original letter, make a copy and have both notarized at the same time. This way your copies will have a true notarial seal and notarial autograph.

Remember this... these documents become your evidential proof for your perfected claim. Then, if and when you go to court, you must submit copies of these documents together as a whole unit under notarized affidavit as evidence into the court record.

As I mentioned above, this is just a brief, there are numerous details that have not been included.

Knowing Sean as I do, he tends to jump before performing his due diligence. Please don't make the same mistake otherwise you could end up where he is now.

There are a lot of people out there promoting schemes they believe to be accurate or they are con-men selling a con. Regardless, you must always perform your due diligence to make absolutely sure that whatever you decide to do is sound and accurate based on a proven system of operation. If you want remedy then seek the the truth until you find it and never settle for less that the truth.

As I mentioned above, truth dispels the darkness, i.e., eliminates all forms of assumption and presumption. Seek the truth and the truth shall set you free.

If anything, be a warrior of truth in everything you do!