Web operators deny pyramid scheme
 
The Associated Press
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
Carter

Carter

DANVILLE – Operators of an online club disputed in court the state attorney general’s contention that their Web site is a scam.

Attorney General Steve Carter says Elite Activity is an illegal pyramid scheme that requires participants to give a $100 gift, pay a $16 Web fee and recruit members.

The group’s operators contend it is a charitable club whose members give money to each other to share their blessings.

"What is the difference between giving money freely and getting blessed?" Delmar Neely of Mooresville asked Friday during a hearing in Hendricks Superior Court.

Judge Robert W. Freese previously had ordered Neely and the other organizers – Michael Roller, Plainfield; Harvey Dockstader Jr., Colorado City, Ariz.; and Dataport, a software company that hosts the site – to stop promoting Elite Activity.

Carter on Friday said the group was violating the order by continuing to run the Web site, www.eliteactivity.tv, and asked Freese to find the group in contempt of court.

Freese said he would rule this week.

Dockstader, Neely and Roller represented themselves in court Friday. They said they did not know how many people have joined the club or how much money it has collected.

Roller said he has received more than $10,000 through the club.
 
FortWayne.com
Originally published July 17, 2005
 
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