False Prophet Ronald Weinland

A sermon file of interest came to my attention recently. In particular, an excerpt of it which I’ve transcribed below. You can also click on the player to listen while you read and double check the accuracy of my transcription.(Hyperlink for iPod and iPad users who can’t access Flash).

False Prophet Ronald Weinland speaking in his sermon titled “Planning Ahead” on Dec 28, 2002:

Also as a matter of keeping the church informed, I wanted to share something else with you.  Some of you I just mentioned beforehand here about Jeremy having an opportunity of going over to Austria this year. He’s going to meet up with some who came over from the feast from Holland and Belgium. And they had invited him to come over. Well, we just happened to take a look at some of the flights over and got a real good deal for him to fly over there. And so he’s going to go skiing.

The reason I’m mentioning that is because — backing up here, about a year ago when Laura and I went over to Belgium and to England, we also took a side trip which I haven’t mentioned to the church, I don’t believe I’ve mentioned to the church anyway, but we took a side trip to Switzerland. And one of the things, primary things motivating some of that was the opportunity to go to a bank there and talk to a banker for some time. We picked out a particular bank. Talked to them about the possibility of transferring funds over to Switzerland.

Because of considering some of the things that are going to come to pass and knowing what’s going to happen to the United States, and being convicted of those things, I started looking at some of that. It’s not just as simple as opening up a bank account like you live here in the United States. It’s much more complicated.  They gave me a book to read, basically. And I’ve gone through a few things there, discussed it with the elders. And they gave some different suggestions which I was very thankful for.  And that’s why we come together like that because as a council of elders for the purpose of counseling and listening to what they have to say and considering those different things, and looking to God’s spirit to lead, guide and direct us.

But anyway, Laura and I were going back again this year.  We’ve already scheduled to go back for Pentecost again this year to the same places. And we were going to go on down there to probably open up an account. But since Jeremy was going over in January, it became a little more urgent in my mind that we need to get this done quickly.  So we’re going to go on over there — I’m going to go over there. Laura’s not coming, but I’m going to fly over there to Zurich, straight to Zurich, and talk with a bank there. Possibly the same one that was in Geneva that I talked to, but it will be different people obviously but may be the same banking system. But talked with some in Geneva about opening up an account there in Zurich, and then flying back over and meeting up with Jeremy and flying back with him.

But I wanted to share that with the church, asking you to be praying about it.  Because we’re talking about maybe putting quite a bit of funds over there. We have quite a bit to work with, and haven’t known what to do with it. But it may be for a purpose of what’s coming.  We don’t know what’s coming, and in may be for a purpose of helping to sustain some things in the church. And it may be for a purpose of continuing doing some of the things we’re doing, being able to travel. An so we’re even going to try to get a credit card out of that, that allows us to go anywhere in the world and use those funds. Terry Wrozek had mentioned the possibility of something like that. So we’re going to check into that to be able to use those funds.

I wanted to share with you something else, because I don’t want to hold anything back. It’s going to be in my name, as well. It’s not going to be in the church’s name. So if someone hears about something like that, I didn’t want someone think “What are you going to do, take off to Europe? Whatever, these 200,000 or whatever over there?” No. We don’t want the church’s name involved. It’s going to be a personal account because Europe when it comes to religious groups and so forth, they’re not real keen on some of those things. So when we do transfer the monies we’re trying to think of different ways to put it in there.

We’ll probably put a lot of it into euros, some in Swiss francs. Nothing in US dollars. And that’s not to scare the church that people ought to be doing the same thing. Because it’s going to come down to this is just strictly, I believe deeply whether it would be for us or someone else that’s going to be able to use that money later on. And we have to plan ahead and think accordingly and I believe that’s what God is leading us and guiding us and helping us to think about and consider.

But this doesn’t mean it’s panic time for people in the church to wonder what to do with funds and so forth. The reality is that when things happen you’re going to have to rely on God, period, first and foremost in your lives, in your families, in your homes, and where ever you are. Because it’s not going to be a pretty picture on this earth. And it will be a total reliance , as we heard last sabbath, on God to bring us through these things. And that is a reality, it’s just a reality of life.

Of particular interest is that cassette tapes of this sermon were not sent out, as was Ron’s practice back in that time frame. The sermon tape of the prior week delivered by Paul Worth was sent out, and so was the tape of the following week’s sermon. The audio quality of this recording is consistent with one made at the other end of the teleconferencing hookup that Ron used.

As a reminder, it’s not illegal to have a Swiss bank account.  It is legal to have foreign bank accounts, but if the sum of your balance exceeds $10,000 (as did Ron’s accounts), you are required to file an annual FBAR report.  What are the odds that Ron did that?  The penalties for failing to file the FBAR can be quite severe. The penalties possible include:

• a civil penalty of 50% of the account balance, or $100,000 (whichever is greater)
• a fine of $250,000 and a 5-year prison sentence

Did I get this recording from a disgruntled ex-PKG member? No, not at all. Actually, I downloaded it myself directly from the PKG website. This recording was put up on the website in the last few months.

I’m wondering why Ron had Jeremy put this recording up. My speculation is that IRS Criminal Investigation is getting closer to a prosecution recommendation (or maybe it’s already happened), and that Ron is throwing himself under the bus to protect Laura. The important part is his statement that Laura did not go with him to open his Swiss bank accounts. I’m skeptical that such a legal strategy would work. Obviously Laura knew that Ron was doing this from this statement that was public within the environs of PKG back then. And I expect that Laura signed the annual 1040 tax returns since then, Schedule B of which requires one to list foreign interest sources.  We also have Ron’s statement that Team Member Laura handled their finances.  So much for the “innocent spouse”, so I doubt that releasing this recording would protect Laura legally.

I’m interested in your reactions, and your ideas as why Ron had this previously undistributed sermon posted now for the entire world and IRS Criminal Investigation to download.

False Prophet Ronald Weinland has updated his published itinerary to include a trip March 27 through April 6 to New Zealand and Australia for Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Given his usual pattern, we could expect a trip to Europe for Pentecost, another trip “down under” for the Feast of Tabernacles, and one or two more European trips late in the year.  I wonder if the tithes and offerings of the overseas members pay for the travel expenses for the Two Witnesses and whomever else they decide to bring along with them.

I also wonder if the Son of Perdition realizes that the statute of limitations clock stops ticking whenever he’s out of the country, giving IRS Criminal Investigation that much more time to build a case against him.

Being the beginning of a new year, it’s time to look back at the past year and also look forward.

A year ago, I made a few predictions such as that the inauguration of Barack Obama would come off despite Weinland’s prophecy that it wouldn’t happen. As I predicted, the pope still hasn’t done anything beast-like and has given no indication that he’s even heard of our Spokesman Witness, much less that he’s irritated by him.

The end of January saw the unprecedented 2-day fast in which members were to pray for death to humble people from an increase in the thunders.  Since this didn’t happen, Weinland twisted their prayers as justification for the Tribulation not being great (or even minor for that matter).  As I expected, Weinland has hammered on the 4th Thunder, the economy, even turning it into the 1st Trumpet with green currency being grass.  I guess countries with different colored currency will skip the 1st Trumpet.

February gave the opportunity to show Weinland’s member control tactics in an email exchange with an exiting member.  It seems that any problems you have with Ron and his false prophecies are due to some sin in your life.

In March, after the second trumpet did not strike within the first 90 days of the 2nd Great Tribulation, “Citizen X”, who was the only pro-Weinland blogger (albeit claiming neutrality), declared Weinland to be a false prophet. Weinland also made another radio interview with Cincinnati radio station WLW, his first in about 10 months, and stated that “nukular” explosions would occur within a year.

In June, Ron gave a presentation at ideaCity and fled after being exposed to Rick Miller’s comedy routine.  The formidable prophet was still so rattled 3 days later that he got the day for the event mixed up in his sermon.  But never fear, Jeremy knows how to edit sermons and does.  And on the 21st of June yet another prophecy in “2008 – God’s Final Witness” failed as the US is still an independent nation.

In July, Kirrily worked through some of her anger at being exploited by Weinland.  Also in July, recordings surfaced revealing Weinland’s tactics as he seized control of The Church of God, Inc. from its lay board as I transitioned from Blogspot to this WordPress blog.

In August, Weinland came out against Facebook and stated he was not an apostle.

In September, he missed his live appearance for the Feast of Trumpets, which was also the 40th sabbath of judgment of the Great Tribulation.

In October, Weinland redefined Time in his Last Great Day sermon with the help of alternate definitions in Strong’s Concordance, selecting the one that suited him.

November was an eventful month, as he declared himself to be an apostle despite his denial of such less than 3 months earlier.  Audra was ordered in federal court to give testimony to the IRS to support their criminal investigation of Ronald Weinland.  He also defrocked one of his elders for being on Facebook.

This past month has also been eventful, as Weinland demoted his spiritual idol Herbert Armstrong to only a “type” of an Elijah, claiming himself to be the final Elijah-to-come to restore all things.  And also announcing the ordination of women within PKG besides Laura.

We can put paid to yet another failed prophecy, as put out during his Google Adwords campaign earlier last year.  America is still an independent nation despite Ron’s extension of our economic woes.

Now for the predictions.  I predict that Weinland will keep most of his members as he marches them in close-order drill to the right and to the left.  I don’t think that there will be a strong reaction to his ordination of women since that was practiced in WCG, although only to the rank of deaconess which did not include the right to perform baptisms.  A lot will depend on whether Ann, Myrtle, or Chris throw their senior elder weight around too much.  I wonder if Wayne’s tendency to sheriff will rub off on Chris.

His future waves of ordination will take in most of the sealed, particularly those healthy and employed who generate more income.  He will then move to the younger unsealed members who have been with him for awhile and attended the 2006 Feast of Tabernacles.  There will be few if any ordained among the members who joined as a result of the Google Ad campaign which began in earnest in late 2007.   Ron promises to dangle yet more carrots in front of his members.  Probably will include the assumption of yet more titles with the proof based solely on his declaration.  Any new changes in doctrine will be designed to intensify his hold on his followers.

I predict that over the coming year there will be bad weather events, earthquakes, an armed skirmish here and there, and a few ups and downs of the economy.  One of the Fated Five of the Fifth Thunder may die (after all they’re in their 60s and 70s and 3 of the 5 have buried their first wives), and if it happens that will be shown as evidence of Weinland’s prophethood even if Meredith and Ames are not the first to die.  The 6th thunder will die off since the movie 2012 has been released for awhile now and when we get into the new year there will be less inclination for “end of the world” predictions.  Ron may get a radio interview or two in some local market but his ideaCity audience will not be repeated.

I also predict that IRS Criminal Investigation will refer the case against Ronald Weinland to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution later in the year.  They’ve been on the case for 18 months now, which is longer than the average of 14 months for an investigation, so it would seem they still feel that they have a good chance of making a case in court.   There is also a statute of limitations deadline for the first tax year for which they’re investigating him, and time has to be allowed for the review process and obtaining an indictment.  The statute of limitations is 6 years from the required filing date of April 15, 2005 for tax year 2004, or April 15, 2011.  However, the statute of limitations starts at a later date if he filed later, and is extended whenever he is out of the country.  As a reminder, a DoJ referral would not mean that Ronald Weinland is guilty of criminal tax evasion as that can only be determined in a court of law.

I hope that neither the IRS or the DOJ gives Weinland a taxpayer conference before deciding to proceed toward prosecution.  I think it likely that if Weinland feels the law closing in on him, he will make another overseas trip, one much, much longer than usual.  Or use his many members to hide him away from the beast power now recognized to be manifested in the criminal justice system.

I further predict that Weinland’s curse that I die speedily from the inside will be delayed long enough to see if my predictions come true or not.

To “Weinland Observer”, I hope that my reading of your absence from my blog is correct, that your parents have engaged with you and shown to you that this prophet is false, and that you’re back to doing the normal teen things.  Life, particularly at your age, is hard enough without a religious exploiter involved screwing things up even more.

To Kirrily, I know this last year has been a crazy one for you.  I hope that this coming year will settle out and be your best ever.

To all of my readers, thank you for following my blog.  And to those of my readers who are elders, and to “Observer” and other lay members of The Church of God – PKG, I hope you will have eyes to see and ears to hear and will stop drinking the Flavor Aid stirred up from Ron’s delusions.

US Federal Magistrate Judge Wehrman ruled today on the government’s motion as described in my last post to compel Audra Little to provide testimony to the IRS.  Prior to the court hearing, Audra filed an affidavit stating:

1. My name is Audra L. Little;

2. My father, Ronald E. Weinland, is the subject of a criminal investigation by [the IRS];

3. I am aware that [the IRS special agent] has contacted me, as well as other friends and family members, employees and/or acquaintances of my father.  Moreover, several of these individuals have advised me that [the IRS special agent] has referred to me as a “potential target” in her investigation.

Audra’s lawyer filed a response to the government’s motion stating that due to Fifth Amendment considerations:

Without a grant of immunity the Respondent (Audra) should not be compelled to testify herein.

In the opinion issued by the court, Audra does not have the right under the Fifth Amendment to refuse to to appear and testify before the IRS.  However, she is still able to assert her Fifth Amendment rights by refusing to answer specific questions that may incriminate her.  But questions that incriminate only Daddy must be answered.  The court issued an order compelling Audra to appear before the IRS special agent to testify in response to the IRS administrative summons.

Audra, Audra, Audra.  What’s the problem?  Your daddy teaches that one should pay their taxes to civil government.  And being a Christian, he wouldn’t have broken the ninth commandment when he filed his 1040, would he?  On second thought, filing a fraudulent tax return is not bearing false witness against one’s neighbor.  So lying is not sinning then, is it?  But how about the seventh commandment?  Or is that which is Caesar’s not really Caesar’s, but Daddy’s.  Because after all whatever he has is God’s.

My expectation is that today’s court ruling is not the end of the case.  Audra will probably appear before the IRS special agent in response to the summons as ordered by the court.   And then she’ll assert Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to answer each and every question asked of her, requiring further litigation.

As Daddy Ron would put it: “Delay, Delay, Delay.”  Delays and Audra’s daddy go hand-in-hand.  Delay of the Great Tribulation.  Delay of the fulfillment of the first phase of the Fifth Thunder that was to prove that Audra’s daddy is a true prophet of God (the deaths of 5 specific ministers).  And delay of my promised speedy death from the inside from the curse the Spokesman Witness issued against me nearly 48 weeks ago.

On August 10, 2009, an IRS Criminal Investigation special agent served COG-PKG’s bookkeeper with an administrative summons requiring her appearance before the IRS in Florence, KY on August 21, 2009 to give testimony to support the criminal investigation of False Prophet Ronald Weinland.  According to court filings associated with the summons, with direct quotes from the filings:

• The IRS is “conducting a criminal investigation as to whether Ronald E. Weinland (“Weinland”) committed any offense under the Internal Revenue Code by willfully failing to report income earned during tax years 2004 through 2008.”
• “Little is employed by the Church of God performing bookkeeping services and as a personal assistant to Weinland.”
• “The information sought from Little by the summons is necessary to properly investigate whether Weinland committed an offense under the Internal Revenue Code for tax years 2004 through 2008.”
• Restated: “The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether Weinland committed an offense under the Internal Revenue Code by willfully failing to report all of the income that he earned from the Church of God. [The IRS] is attempting to determine the amount of income Weinland earned from the records prepared by Little, who performs bookkeeping services for the Church of God.”

Before her September, 2008 marriage to Christopher Little, Audra Little was known as Audra Weinland since she is the daughter of the Two Witnesses.  Apparently she inherited her mother’s financial management abilities and is also a member of Team Weinland as the church bookkeeper.  The summons was served on Audra at 11:05 AM on a Monday morning while she was at daddy’s house, suggesting that she is not otherwise employed apart from as bookkeeper and personal assistant to the Spokesman Witness.  Yet she is able to afford to buy a nice home in a nice neighborhood several miles away from daddy’s house.

On August 20, an attorney informed the IRS that he represented Audra Little, who would not be appearing the following day to testify, asserting unspecified constitutional rights/protections.  In response, the Tax Division of the US Department of Justice filed a motion on October 14 in federal court seeking to enforce the summons issued to Audra Little.  Administrative summonses are not self-enforcing as are subpoenas. Audra has been ordered to appear in federal court in Covington, KY before Judge Wehrman at 9:30 on November 19 for a hearing to determine whether she should be compelled to comply with the summons.

From the court calendar (Audra, tomorrow you should bring a book to read or some knitting since there are 5 other cases scheduled for the same time in the same courtroom):

What constitutional right could Audra’s lawyer be talking about?  The only one I can think of is the fifth amendment right under the US Constitution against being compelled to be a witness against herself.  Which makes one wonder what criminal acts she could have committed. I believe that a fifth-amendment objection could be overcome if the DoJ decides to grant her immunity from prosecution. And a bit of Internet legal research suggests that assertion of fifth amendment rights may not apply under these circumstances anyway. But these legal theories or any other discussion on my blog should not be considered as legal advice since I am not a lawyer.  So maybe there’s another legal basis on which she could refuse to testify — anyone have any idea what that could be? But then again, maybe she’s just stalling the process to give the Great Tribulation time to materialize and shut down the IRS before it can finish its investigation.  Update: As described in my next post, my legal musings were pretty close.

The court filings from Weinland’s 2008 lawsuit against the government only revealed that Weinland was under criminal investigation for unspecified violations of the tax code. The latest court filings are more informative, confirming what I expected — that False Prophet Ronald Weinland is suspected of a legal-source tax crime, that of failing to report income legally earned (since being a false prophet and asking people to send you their life savings is unfortunately NOT illegal).  The court filings also show that the criminal investigation is continuing, and that the IRS has not dropped the investigation for lack of prosecution potential.  What really puzzles me is why tax year 2008 was added to the investigation.  Didn’t Ron realize that he could have gotten an extension for filing his 2008 taxes at least until October?  And that he couldn’t be investigated for tax year 2008 before he filed? Yet he must have filed his 2008 taxes by April 15 for tax year 2008 to appear on the summons issued in August.  Guess I shouldn’t expect too much logical thinking from Ron, given that he claims that he and his wife are the Two Witnesses and now also claims that he is an apostle.

Audra, since your daddy teaches that one should comply with the laws of civil government and render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s, then you’ve complied with the law and properly reported the income that the Church of God paid your daddy — right?  So why not just yield to the process like your daddy says, and get it over with?  Or is Daddy’s admonition to pay your taxes in the same category with his death curse issued 47 weeks ago for me to quickly die from the inside?

Awhile back, False Prophet Ronald Weinland promoted senior elder Terry Wrozek to evangelist, and at the same time promoted Johnny Harrell to senior evangelist over the other evangelists Terry and Wayne and all the elders.  At the time, the promotion of Harrell seemed to me to be counter-productive — should Ronnie end up taking an extended vacation as a guest of Club Fed, Laura could maintain control by dividing up the equally ranked evangelists and playing them off against one another, having them take turns delivering the sermons.

Since then, I’ve heard a sermon that gave me a new perspective on the issue.  In the sermon, Ronnie is discussing how some husbands are overly controlling and their wives don’t even know what’s in their bank account, because they’re not a team.  Then as an aside, Ron states: “she does my finances, thank God.  I learned very early on, I don’t want that job.  I’m very glad she has it.  She has talent in that area, I don’t.  I mess things up — I just want an overview.  That’s all I want to know — I’m happy”. Audio Clip

The following is somewhat speculative and we may never know, since the IRS does not release the results of their investigations except as disclosed during a court trial or in court filings.  The IRS began its criminal investigation of Ronald Weinland last year, issuing administrative summonses during July of 2008 for financial records for Ron, Laura, and the Church of God.  According to court filings, at that time only Ron was a target of the investigation, so Laura would have been considered an “innocent spouse” who didn’t really know what was going on.  But who knows what the investigation has turned up?  Given that Laura handles Ron’s finances and is fully on his team, it may be that the target list of the investigation has expanded.

Maybe Laura wasn’t an investigation target then, or not understood by Weinland to be a target back in December when he ordained her as prophetess and placed just below him in authority over the rest of the Church of God – PKG.  And perhaps since then it has been recognized that she is a target, leading them to cook up Plan C which leaves Johnny in charge to keep things going and manage the millions of people who join PKG as the Great Tribulation develops while the Two Witnesses turn water into blood and call down plagues from their cells.   According to Ron, the decision to promote Johnny was agreed to by his other team member, prophetess and silent end-time witness Laura.

It’s now 16 months since the IRS issued administrative summonses for Weinland’s financial records.  With an average length for an IRS criminal investigation of 14 months, an end either way is likely in sight.  The Two Witnesses are planning to travel to Europe next week.  Likely they’ll be coming back to the US this time, but I’m beginning to wonder.  Lately, Ron has again mentioned plans to live in Germany.  Jeremy, how comfortable is your couch to sleep on?  You may be finding out soon.

On the second day of the Feast of Tabernacles in rainy Rotorua, False Prophet Ronald Weinland continued with the second part of his “Family” series.  Mostly boring and a repeat of part 1, but a few interesting tidbits were dropped.

It seems that back in the WCG heyday, Ron encountered strife between the Canadian and the US ministurds.  Brothers Ephraim Vs. Manasseh, continuing the battles of 1812 even in God’s church.

Ron took some time discussing the situation in Afghanistan and how opium production has increased since 2001.  Talked about the warlords:  “Just destroy it.  We wouldn’t dream of going in there and destroying their cash crops.  And that’s the first thing we should do.  Just go in there with the planes, with the bombs.  We have the bombs, just incinerate their poppies, ya know. Hypocrisy of people, hypocrisy of government.”  If Ron were president, our B-52 fleet would be working overtime carpet bombing the world.

He meandered to the story of the crucifixion of Christ.  Pilate didn’t want to kill Jesus, but his hand was forced by the Jews, who framed an innocent man.

“Here’s someone who’s innocent …. and they look for false witnesses.  They try to find people who would bear and give false witness.  We have that taking place today in the church.  Some who would like to find some to bear false witness against the church.  Because if they can find them they think they have a case, they can do something against the church, against me.  What a sick world we live in.  Mr. Armstrong had to put up with those things for a long time.  They don’t know who they’re messing around with.  They’re messing around with God.  But human beings don’t understand that.  And there are certain things that God allows in his plan.  That’s why I know full well exactly how it’s going to come down. And the only one that’s going to be given any power isn’t until the very end.  Ya know.  So God’s made it very clear — you’ve got a full open field, to say whatever you want to say, how strong you want to say it.  And you’re going to have some teeth to put into it.”

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with how close the IRS criminal investigation is getting, Ron?  Wrap yourself up with Jesus and Herbie to prepare the membership to rally behind you against the instrument of Satan. Get ready to spin like it’s 1979. Ron, if you know how it’s going to turn out, please share in detail so I can update my speculated timeline for the IRS criminal investigation of you.  And exactly when is God going to give your 41-week-old death curse against me some teeth? Oh, I see. It “isn’t until the very end.”

This post is part of a series discussing IRS criminal investigations in general and possible outcomes. It must be emphasized that particulars to Ronald Weinland’s case are speculative. The existence of the IRS criminal investigation does not mean that Weinland is guilty of any crime — that can only be determined in a court of law.  However, it must be recognized that Weinland exists within a unique group.  According to this excerpt from some training material:

The Government does not detect most tax crimes; perhaps more counter-intuitive, the Government does not prosecute most tax crimes it detects. The Government has a limited budget for investigating and prosecuting tax crimes. Throughout the United States, in any given year, on average less than 4,000 tax crimes will be prosecuted. Many of these tax crimes are prosecuted as adjuncts to prosecutions for other offenses (such as drug offenses or money laundering). So, there will be less (significantly less) than 2,000 pure tax prosecutions a year.

Once IRS Criminal Investigation accept a case for someone suspected of tax evasion, the investigation will be focused to prove the three elements necessary for a criminal conviction (IRM 9.1.3.3.2.2):

1. tax deficiency (has to owe taxes),
2. affirmative actions of evasion (did something to evade paying taxes), and
3. willfulness (knew what was being done was illegal).

Weinland's Motion to Quash

Some investigations are conducted using grand juries which can issue subpoenas. The alternative is an administrative investigation which is conducted by an IRS special agent. This appears to be the case here as evidenced by the administrative summonses issued for Weinland’s financial records which Weinland moved to quash (PDF files). The advantage of an administrative investigation for the IRS is that the evidence produced can be used in assessing civil penalties while evidence produced by a grand jury cannot be used for that purpose.  The disadvantage is that administrative summonses are not automatically enforced as are subpoenas.

There are various methods of proof including looking at the investigation target’s assets and expenditures as compared to reported income. In addition to administrative summonses to obtain financial records, IRS CI can use other standard investigative techniques such as surveillance and interviewing witnesses. According to an IRS Special Agent: “This pursuit has involved questioning witnesses at all levels of society, examining offshore records, conducting search warrants, performing surveillances, analyzing tax returns and bank records, traveling to foreign countries, reconstructing shredded documents, and conducting trash runs.”

IRS criminal investigations are typically quite lengthy. The average is 412 days or about 14 months. But this average length would include the easy cases where the target folds or makes damning admissions when confronted by the IRS. Since Weinland has lawyered up, I suspect the investigation will take longer, perhaps two years. Someone convicted of a criminal tax violation wrote: “It was 3 ½ years from my first meeting with CID to the day I was sentenced.”  (Hmm, a 3 ½ year period — sounds familiar.)

There are statutes of limitations for various tax code violations which set a time limit after which legal proceedings in court can no longer be initiated.  A three-year limitation applies for some offenses and for others six years, which is the case for tax evasion. The statute of limitations clock begins on the latter of the required filing date (typically April 15) or the actual filing date if later than that.  The clock restarts if an amended return is filed later. A 3-year statute of limitations for tax year 2004 had already expired before the investigation started, so it must be for a crime with a 6-year statute of limitations such as tax evasion.

The statute of limitations tor tax evasion for the tax  year 2004 expires no sooner than 6 years after the April 15, 2005 filing date or in April of 2011. However, the statute of limitations clock stops ticking for Ron whenever he is out of the country. As much as Ron travels overseas it could be late in 2011 before an indictment would be needed to beat the statute of limitation. And should Weinland flee prosecution, the clock stops ticking until he is captured. Once a complaint is filed with the court, the statute of limitations is extended at least 9 months past the date of filing. Conceivably, the trial might not start before Weinland is not killed in the streets of Jerusalem and not resurrected at Christ’s return on Pentecost of 2012.

Based on Weinland’s statements in his sermon of July 5, 2008 about spiritual battles and Satan lashing back along with the issue dates marked on the summonses beginning the following week, I suspect that the investigation began in May or June of last year and that the IRS confronted him during the week following his “50th Truth” sermon of June 28, 2008. With a two-year estimate for the investigation, the IRS Special Agent would write up a report about a year from now. Several months would be spent reviewing the case within the IRS including reviews by the Special Agent’s supervisor and IRS Tax Counsel. An additional review will take place because Weinland is a member of the clergy. During the IRS internal review, the taxpayer may be offered a conference to indicate why he should not be prosecuted. I hope this would not happen, as I personally view Weinland as a flight risk. He could flee to Germany or another foreign country as he’s suggested. Or he could have one of his deluded followers in North America hide him out.

After the IRS review, the case is referred to the Department of Justice’s Criminal Tax division for review. After DoJ Criminal Tax reviews the case and accepts it, it is referred to the US Attorney in the federal court district where the prosecution would take place (probably the Eastern District of Kentucky). Should the US Attorney decide to prosecute, then a grand jury must return an indictment for a felony charge before a trial can proceed.

Typically a trial is conducted with a jury as a trier of fact which must return a unanimous decision for a conviction.

Should a conviction be obtained, then a sentence must be determined. The penalty for each violation can be as high as 5 years plus a fine of $100,000. Since each tax year is considered a separate violation, Weinland’s sentence if convicted could be as high as 20 years plus a fine of $400,000, and he also would be expected to pay the costs of prosecution. Since Weinland has no prior felony conviction as far as I know, his sentence could be a fraction of that depending on how much tax was actually evaded.  Under the sentencing guidelines, he could be sentenced to between 21 and 27 months if the amount of tax evaded is $80,000.

Here’s a possible speculated timeline (but not a prophetic one) for the investigation of Ronald Weinland:

• January, 2008: A civil tax audit of Weinland’s 2006 taxes begins. This audit finds irregularities and is expanded to include tax years beginning with 2004 and eventually a referral to IRS CI is made.
• May, 2008: IRS Criminal Investigation accepts the case for investigation.
• June 30, 2008: IRS CI confronts Weinland, enjoining the spiritual battle.
• July 5, 2008: Weinland speaks of Satan lashing out, and great spiritual battles.
• July 8-21, 2008: Twelve administrative summonses are issued to third parties for Ron’s, Laura’s,  and The Church of God Inc’s financial records.
• July 29, 2008: Weinland files a motion to quash the administrative summonses.
• September 2008: The motion to quash is settled. The IRS agrees to drop their request for financial records for transactions after 2007, and Weinland agrees to withdraw his motion to quash the summonses.
• Summer, 2010: The investigation is concluded and IRS CI generates a case report.  This report undergoes a review within the IRS.
• Fall, 2010: After  the IRS’s internal review, Weinland’s case is referred for prosecution to the DoJ Criminal Tax division.
• Winter, 2010-11: Criminal Tax refers the case to James Zerhusen, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
• Spring, 2011: An indictment is obtained. Weinland is arrested and arraigned. The prosecutor persuades the judge that Weinland is a flight risk and he is required to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet as a condition of granting bail.
• Fall, 2011: Weinland goes on trial. COG-PKG members pack the courtroom.  Weinland’s attempt to delay the procedings by taking a page from HWA’s 1979 playbook and holding religious services in the courtroom are not tolerated by the judge.  Weinland’s Witness Powers are ineffective against the prosecution witnesses who leave the courtroom un-singed and with their insides intact. Weinland is convicted and sentenced.
• Winter, 2011: Weinland delivers his last sermon before reporting to prison. He comes up with a new prophetic scenario to allow him to resume operations after his sentence is over. While Ron is in prison, Laura Weinland exercises her office as Prophetess over the church. Ron gives her instructions during prison visits to be relayed to Johnny Harrell, Wayne Matthews, and Terry Wrozek who are to deliver the sermons in rotation so that no one person can take over the church.
• May 23, 2012: Weinland is not killed in the streets of Jerusalem
• May 27, 2012: Christ does not return.
• Winter,2013: Weinland completes serving his sentence, and comes up with the next prophetic timeline featuring himself and the Mrs. prominently as the Two Witnesses.

Again, it should be emphasized that this discussion is speculative. (The only dates for events and non-events mentioned of which I am certain are July through September 2008 and May 2012) The case could be dropped at numerous stages along the way: internally by the IRS or within the DoJ including by the US attorney. Should the US Attorney decide to prosecute, an indictment must be issued by a grand jury. All this before even going to trial, at which a jury must unanimously determine his guilt.

At a criminal trial Weinland enjoys a presumption of innocence when it comes to being found legally guilty. A jury must be unanimously convinced of his guilt. With the evidence I’ve seen (actually none) I would have to find Ron legally “not guilty” were I a juror on his case. (But I would prefer the terminology “not proven guilty”.) Then again, there would be quite a bit of evidence I’ve not seen were the case to actually be brought to trial.

Since I’m an interested observer rather than a juror, I can say that I see it as entirely plausible that he is guilty. I base this on various statements by Weinland himself including the admitted existence of a Swiss bank account (even though that in itself is not illegal) and his co-mingling of personal and church expenses on his credit card.  I also consider it plausible based on his arrogance when confronted with the $381,000 cost of his mansion — “I could have spent more”.

I just hope for the benefit of potential followers that if Weinland is guilty he will be convicted and receive a lengthy sentence. As far as his current followers, they will rally around him as Armstrong’s followers did during the 1979 receivership crisis with WCG. I imagine they would pack the courtroom and glare at any witness the government puts up to testify against him. At one time, I hoped the court would not impose a fine on Weinland, as it would ultimately be paid by his followers.  But in reconsidering, I think that would be a better place for their money than to finance the next version of his prophetic delusions and suck in yet more followers.

Ron wouldn’t be breathing any fire on the prosecutors or their witnesses despite their efforts to injure the end-time Witness of Revelation 11. Just as I still have not yet died speedily from the inside to fulfill the curse he placed on me back in December.