Les Henderson is a Canadian consumer fraud author and webmaster of Crimes of Persuasion, a consumer-fraud awareness site.
Henderson published two books, "Crimes Of Persuasion" and "Under Investigation". His first book "Crimes Of Persuasion" describes a large variety of 'schemes, scams and frauds'. Henderson's second book "Under Investigation" scrutinizes Florida Attorney General (now Governor) Charlie Crist's investigation into the Lou Pearlman owned Wilhelmina Scouting Network.
Legal issues and critics' actions In 2002 a Forex operation sued Henderson, forcing a temporary closure of his site pending a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against him for defamation.UnjustIS (copy) 14 December 2002, Paul Bantock: Abuse of Power.Frauds and Scams - Bill E. Branscum.
June 2004 Henderson and others were served with a lawsuit by Fashion Rock, LLC (aka Talent Rock), a Florida company then owned by Lou Pearlman, accusing them of "violation of the federal and Florida versions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, tortious interference with business relationships, defamation, false light invasion of privacy, misappropriation of trade secrets and civil conspiracy".Fashion Rock, LLC vs Frank Torelli et al., 48-2004-CA-004844-O (C.C. Flo. 2004), a case in the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County, Florida.
Also in June 2004 about a dozen identical sites were erected by Fashion Rock CEO Mark Tolner "to attack critics" (a.o. Les Henderson and Ripoff Report),Waybackmachine internethatesites.com Shortly thereafter the "Bureau of Ethical Internet Commerce" was put up by Ayman Ahmed El-Difrawi (an ex-con for fraud and Pearlman's leading consultant in his talent scouting businesses) for apparently the same reason.Washington Post Man Gets Four Years in Fraud CaseWaybackmachine beiconline.com Several anonymous writings, containing unsourced offensive allegations about Henderson, have appeared on message boards, blogs, press releases and mock sites that can easily be found on the Internet. Henderson in return successfully filed a libel suit against Pearlman, Mark Tolner, Ayman El-Difrawi, and several other corporations and individuals. Difrawi and three other defendants were ordered to pay Henderson $10.000 each "for their part in the creation, publication or republication of the libellous statements",CanLII - 2006/08/29 Court File No. C-8937-05 - Henderson v. Pearlman a.o., a case in the Ontario Superior Court of JusticeCanLII - 2009/08/18 Court File No. C-8937-05 - Henderson v. Pearlman a.o., a case in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
In November 2007, St. Petersburg Times personal finance editor Helen Huntly reported that El-Difrawi had founded a business and web site also called Crimes of Persuasion imitating Henderson's, using his real name.Huntley, H (September 6, 2007). Doing a double take when it comes to crimes of persuasion, Money Talk.
On November 21, 2007, Ayman A. Difrawi and Internet Solutions Corporation filed a lawsuit against Henderson and others, accusing them of defamation, trade libel, injurious falsehood, false light invasion of privacy, civil conspiracy, and RICO violations.Ayman A. Difrawi (a.k.a. Alec Difrawi) and Internet Solutions Corporation vs. Les Henderson a.o., 6:07-CV-1854-ORL-22-KRS (M.D. Flo. 2007) - a case in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
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