ABC v. Gloria Wolk
and Bialkin Books
Accelerated Benefits
Corp. of Winter Park, Fl, claims that Gloria Wolk defamed them in her book, Cash for the Final Days. As evidence they
offer one single paragraph out of 224 pages in which they are mentioned. That paragraph
states that ABC solicited business without a license and also gave seminars in a number of
other states.
At the time the book
went to press, ABC was not licensed in Florida or California. At this writing, it is
not licensed in California, and its Florida license is in jeopardy.
Let's assume ABC is
right, that Wolk told a fib. In what way were they damaged?
They began business in
1995. Wolk's book was in print as of Sept. 1996 and released to bookstores in February 1997,
when the first of many laudatory reviews appeared in
Library Journal.
In the following years
ABC was so greatly damaged by Wolk's paragraph that they boasted of being the largest
viatical company in the world. And recently they moved into an entire office building that
they bought for their growing business (purchased in the name of the LaMonda Family
Foundation). Then they opened a second office in Houston, Texas.
Apparently, ABC also
intended to launch their business on Mars, but the Martians read Cash for the Final Days
and banned them from the planet. Now ABC can't claim to be the largest viatical company in
the universe.
Meanwhile, back on
earth, Wolk and Bialkin Books won Round One in the courthouse at Broward County, Florida.
On June 18, 1999 Wolk's attorney, Eric Stettin, obtained a dismissal of the complaint
based on improper service. Accelerated Benefits Corp. had 120 days in which to serve it
properly. Due to various postponements, the dismissal was re-scheduled for July 18, 2000.
Other events:
