Trial Begins For "Sovereign Citizen" Accused In F'closure Rescue, Loan Reduction Scam; Judge Rejects "Diplomatic Immunity/Moor Defense" As "Gibberish"

In Memphis, Tennessee, WMC-TV Channel 5 reports:

• "Heartache, pain & trouble" -- one pastor's description of what's floating in the wake of Charles McKuhn. Testimony in the Bartlett man's federal fraud trial began in earnest Tuesday as he faced charges of running a debt-reduction/foreclosure rescue scheme that spanned nine states.

• Last March, a federal grand jury indictment charged McKuhn and his company, Taurian Worldwide, Inc. (TWI) with bilking more than $500,000 from churches and individuals in the wire-transfer lending scheme. The indictment said between June 2007 and June 2009, McKuhn schemed to defraud "...various individuals and institutions, by representing himself as a legitimate debt reduction service, and international private banker, able for a front-end fee to reduce the debt owed by individuals and institutions and establish lines of credit and secured loans for building projects."

• In testimony Tuesday, pastors from churches in Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia said McKuhn, who holds no credentials in banking or finance, claimed TWI held a federal bond that could be used to underwrite pay-offs of their churches' delinquent mortgages. "He said he had a 'blanket bond' through the Federal Reserve that could be used to pay down the debt," said Bishop James W. Johnson of Birmingham, AL. Johnson testified his home church is Christ Temple Holiness Church of the Apostolic Faith in Opelika, AL.

• Johnson and two other pastors testified they paid McKuhn and TWI cash installments -- one as much as $85,000 -- to either secure a line of credit to pay off their mortgages or to have TWI assume the loans and "discharge" the debt. Johnson testified he even signed on to be a representative of TWI and recruit other pastors. Each testified McKuhn took their money, did nothing -- and the banks foreclosed on their properties.

• McKuhn is representing himself, often asking witnesses meandering and confusing questions on cross-examination. U.S. District Court Judge Jon P. McCalla appointed Memphis attorney Sam Perkins to be McKuhn's "elbow" counsel, but McKuhn has ignored Perkins throughout testimony. "He wouldn't talk to me," said Perkins. "I have no indication at all on where he's going or how I can assist him."

• In previous court appearances, McKuhn argued the federal courts can't prosecute him because he's a sovereign American Moor whose allegiance is to his Moroccan-African heritage, not to the United States. "I'm demanding common law jurisdiction as a Native American Moor," McKuhn said in court last summer. "I do not consent to this proceeding. I'm not a 14th Amendment citizen. This court does not have jurisdiction in this case."

• The U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment provides that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." According to investigators' case records, McKuhn is a naturalized American citizen. A certificate of birth abroad indicated he was born in 1977 to his American parents at a U.S. Army hospital in Germany. A 2007 state department document confirmed McKuhn is a U.S. citizen.

• McCalla told McKuhn his "Moor defense" is a tired, misguided strategy tried by countless defendants in district courts nationwide. "What (McKuhn's) talking about is gibberish," said McCalla from the bench in the July proceeding. "I don't think I have any choice but to take him into custody. Since he has no respect for the law of this country, I can't be certain that he won't (flee the country)." McKuhn has been in the custody of U.S. marshals ever since.

• Blake Ballin, McKuhn's former attorney, said the diplomatic immunity/Moor defense is a sign McKuhn is under tremendous pressure.

For more, see Pastors testify at debt/foreclosure fraud trial.

For a story update, see Debt/foreclosure scam artist found guilty:

• [A] federal jury found Charles McKuhn guilty on seven counts: two counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and one count of money-laundering.

Go here for other posts on rackets involving so-called sovereign claims.

For the details of the criminal charges, see U.S. v. McKuhn.