The
distinction between sovereign citizen activists and common crooks and
frauds is a fuzzy one. Jacob-Franz Dyck – insofar as he is still around (we’re
not sure) – is a case in point. Dyck, who (ostensibly) believes that U.S. laws
don’t apply to him, is a serial harasser and felon who has been defrauding
his way across Florida for a while with flamboyant and complicated schemes; in
particular, Dyck has been filing sovereign deeds on houses he does not own and allegedly setting up trusts
that would ostensibly protect other people’s property from foreclosure or
seizure, as well as simulating legal processes by setting up various grand
juries and sending lengthy pretend legal letters around – Dyck’s letters are
template-constructed stuff that open with invoking the Messiah and a slew of
Bible quotes before launching into an incoherent mess of arcane laws and
imaginative nonsense, e.g. that banks cannot bring foreclosure actions in state
courts that fly an American flag with yellow and gold fringes or that
properties are protected from foreclosure by “pure trusts” and “land
patents” that can never be broken: “With pure trusts you don’t have to
pay taxes and the government can’t tell you what to do with your property”,
Dyck tells his clients, who often go on to discover the
hard way that such claims are based exclusively on Dyck’s imagination. Dyck is
also a former dentist who was stripped of his dental license in 1988 and later
spent some years as a self-professed “holistic healer” – as well as some years in prison around the
turn of the century for grand theft.
Several of
his accomplices, such as Gary Chenot and Khamma Inthavong (unlawful use
of notary commission and a “simulated legal process” charge), have landed
themselves in real and serious legal trouble as a result of buying into Dyck’s
incoherent nonsense.
Diagnosis:
Dingbat insanity, of course, but like those marketing alternative cancer cures,
Dyck tends to target people who have landed themselves in real, difficult
situations, and desperation is a powerful motivator. Dyck is ruining people’s
lives, and insofar as he’s still around, he’s unlikely to have gotten any
better. Take note of the name if you live in the relevant areas.
