VIATICAL & LIFE SETTLEMENTS CONSUMER INFO

Companies that asked Courts to Ban Wolk's Books

LIFE PARTNERS INC. (LPI or LPHI) was the first. Life Partners filed suit against Wolk and Bialkin Books in state court in Texas. Brian Pardo testified at a default hearing. He was represented by Scott Peden, LPI's attorney and executive. Pardo claimed he was defamed, asked the court to award him $5 million in damages. Pardo admitted he did not read Wolk's books but was told by others that she defamed him. He asked the court to ban the sale of these books and confiscate all that were in bookstores, libraries, or stored at her home--in California.

When the law finally caught up with LPI, it was twofold: federal regulators and civil attorneys. Today, LPI is the defendant in numerous lawsuits filed by attorneys who represent the company's alleged victims, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

ACCELERATED BENEFITS CORP. (also known as ABC Viaticals), initially based in Orlando, Florida until Florida authorities pulled their viatical license, charging the company and the LaMonda brothers with fraud. The LaMondas transferred their main office to Texas and renamed the company ABC Viaticals. Today both brothers are serving long prison terms in federal prison.

But while they were in Florida they filed suit in state court in Broward County against Wolk and Bialkin Books, and also against Kiplinger's. When those lawsuits showed signs of atrophying, they filed new lawsuits in Orlando, Florida.

The moral: Wolk's enemies are those who harm the public.