Proposed Notice of Pendency of Class Action

This is NOT an official notice. This notice is proposed to the court by plaintiffs’ counsel June 26, 2009. If you choose to duplicate this notice on any blog or website, this notice MUST be included.   (click on the page you wish to read to enlarge it)

Breaking News:

This just in from John Tiedt -

The US Bankruptcy Court has dismissed the Diaz Case! 

 

 

 

 

Thanks John and Scott!

Now we can get back to work on the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit!

The wheels of justice just keep on turning!

 

 

Clarkson Joins Kimkins “Dream Team”

We have all been anxiously awaiting to hear who the newest team member on the Kimkins “Dream Team” will be, ever since the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit Attorney, John Tiedt, announced that they would be adding a bankruptcy litigator to the line up.

From John Tiedt today:

I am proud to announce that I have retained Scott Clarkson of Clarkson, Gore & Marsella.

Scott C. Clarkson – Attorney at Law

Primary Area of Law Practice is Corporate Insolvency and Reorganization, Federal and State Commercial Litigation, and General Business Law

Born in Houston, Texas; admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 1982, the District of Columbia Bar in 1987, and the California State Bar in 1989. Admitted to the United States Supreme Court, all State and Federal Courts in California, Virginia and the District of Columbia; Martindale-Hubbell AV Rated.

Education: Indiana University (B.A. 1979); George Mason University School of Law (J.D., 1982); Articles Editor, George Mason Law Review. Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge William L. Hungate, Eastern Division of Missouri, 1982.

Professional Affiliations:

• Immediate past chair (2005-2007), Los Angeles County Bar Association Bankruptcy Law Committee
• Current vice chair, Executive Committee of Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Former Local Bankruptcy Rules Committee Chair Los Angeles County Bar Association Bankruptcy Law Committee
• Guest Lecturer, UCLA School of Law, Seminar in Corporation Reorganization
• LACBA Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Executive Section Legislative Chair
• Former Director of Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum
• Member, South Bay Bar Association
• Member, Financial Lawyers Conference
• Member, American Bar Association
• Former Member of Advisory Board to Norton’s Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law
• Former Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Harold L. Volkmer, United States House of Representatives, assigned to House Judiciary Committee’s redrafting of the Federal Bankruptcy Code, 1977-79
• Bankruptcy Trustee, the District of Columbia and Eastern Virginia, 1979-82

Writings:

• Author: “Representing Creditors in Individual and Small Business Chapter 11 Cases”, Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California, California Continuing Education of the Bar, 2003-2007.
• Author: “More About the Bankruptcy Act of 1978”, American Bar Association Journal, May 1979
• Author: “A Legislative History of the Bankruptcy Court System”, Annual Survey of Bankruptcy Law, Emory University, 1979.
• Coauthor: “Private Relief Legislation in the United States Congress”, West Federal Practice Manual, 1980; “The New RCRA: Legislative Mandates, Regulatory Resources”, Vol.1, No. 6, Hazardous Substances Journal, April 1986.
• Editor: “The Legislative History of Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984”, Institute for Law and Public Health Protection, November, 1985; “The Legislative History of the Superfund Amendments of 1986”, Institute of Law and Public Health Protection, April 1987.

 

With those impressive credentials, it looks like Kimmer’s Divorce Attorney, Mr. Peabody, has his work cut out for him.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Kimkins Bankrupt?

We’ve all known for a while now that the Kimkins Diet was nutritionally bankrupt. 

Now, in an obvious attempt to throw a wrench in the works of the pending litigation and slow the wheels of justice, Ms. Diaz has filed today for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection.  Ironically, the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit had a class certification hearing scheduled for Wednesday, January 14.  Now all that is on hold, as the Bankruptcy Court now has jurisdiction.

Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit attorney, John Tiedt says,

“We will not be deterred.  We will not stop until we have justice.  We anticipated the possiblity of bankruptcy.  This is Ms. Diaz’s third bankruptcy.  We are now obtaining a bankruptcy litigator to join our team.  Our attack on the bankruptcy will start immediately.   I will never stop.”

Ms. Diaz’ bankruptcy application was filed by her latest attorney, Timothy Peabody, Esq.  She must feel that three times is a charm, as this is her third time filing for bankruptcy.

Ms. Diaz recently dismissed the attorney who represented her for the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit, Bert Cottle.  Perhaps Mr. Cottle was not well versed in bankruptcy law?

Stay tuned for more of Kimmer’s shenangins as they are revealed.

 

Related Posts:

 

Kimkins.com goes to court to declare bankruptcy

Magicsmom’s Musings: Heidi Diaz files bankruptcy!

What a tangled web! « Kimkins Sucks

S.O.S. « HMS Kimtanic

What Makes A Credit Criminal? « AmyB: Food For Thought

A Merry Kimkins Christmas Present!

Checking in with Riverside Court Website tonight revealed a very interesting development:

It appears that instead of Christmas Shopping, Ms. Diaz may be shopping for a new attorney. 

What an interesting Christmas Present!

Riverside County Diet Guru Wins Dubius Honor

 

Riverside County Diet Guru Wins Dubius Honor

 

Heidi Diaz, (aka Kimmer, Kimberly Drake and many other aliases), the creator of the fraud fraught Kimkins Diet, is not only currently embroiled in the Kimkins Class Action Lawsuit, she has also just won another award:  The 2008 Slim Chance Award for Worst Diet Product.

WORST PRODUCT: Kimkins diet. It must have seemed an easy way to get rich quick. Founder Heidi “Kimmer” Diaz set up a website and charged members a fee to access the Kimkins diet, boasting they could lose up to 5 percent of their body weight in 10 days. “Better than gastric bypass,” there was “no faster diet,” and in fact she herself had lost 198# in 11 months. Stunning “after” photos were displayed. In June 2007 Women’s World ran it as a cover story, and that month alone PayPal records show the Kimkins site took in over $1.2 million. Then users began complaining of chest pains, hair loss, heart palpitations, irritability and menstrual irregularities. This was not surprising since Kimkins is essentially a starvation diet, down to 500 calories per day and deficient in many nutrients (shockingly, laxatives are advised to replace the missing fiber). In a lawsuit, 11 former members are uncovering a vast record of Diez’s alleged fraud. They found that the stunning “after” photos, including one of Kimmer herself, had been lifted from a Russian mail order bride site. According to a deposition reported by Los Angeles TV station KTLA, Diaz admitted using fake pictures, fake stories and fake IDs, and a judge has allowed the litigants to freeze some of her assets.

To see the complete list of 2008 winners go to  Fraud and Quackery

Ms. Diaz is famous for her use of pictures “borrowed” from Russian Bride web sites for her own “after” pictures and for those of the numerous fabricated “success stories” posted on her website.

 

For $79.95 one can join her website and receive a “lifetime” membership, which is apparently subject to whims of Ms. Diaz.  Those who have questioned the legitimacy of the pictures of the success stories, and/or have questioned the safety of the diet quickly find themselves banned from the website; their lifetime membership terminated.

 

One can also purchase a book version of Kimkins, with no access to the website, but it has been alleged that no such book even exists, and is just another way that Ms. Diaz is out to scam those who simply just want to lose weight.

 

It is sadly ironic that the obese Ms. Diaz has chosen to target other obese people with her diet scam.  Ms. Diaz “claimed” to have lost 198 lbs. in 11 months on her Kimkins Diet and kept the weight off for over 5 years, but photographs by a private investigator revealed that Ms. Diaz was not the svelte 118 lbs. beauty she claimed to be, but in fact was a morbidly obese 300+ lb. woman.

 

Woman’s World Magazine featured the Kimkins Diet in June of 2007 and helped Ms. Diaz scam the nation to the tune of approximately $2 million per month.  Woman’s World Magazine did publish a brief retraction, both in their magazine and on the web, but they have since removed the web page.  Woman’s World is not entirely blameless for their part in all this, as they too published a “Russian Bride” picture instead of one of the diet creator, who claimed her name was Kimberly Drake for the Woman’s World article.  Also, it is alleged that Woman’s World used a very LARGE pair of men’s jeans for the photo shoot involving Christin Sherburne, the Kimkins Cover Girl, for their cover, instead of an actual pair of her own pants the Ms. Sherburne brought with her.

 

Many of the members who have been locked out of Kimkins have banded together and are pursuing a class action lawsuit against Ms. Diaz and Kimkins.

 

Ms. Diaz has, however, turned the table on these class members, and is also counter suing them in return.

 

There are numerous appearances calendared for January 2009 for this case in the Riverside County Court.

 

It should be interesting to see how this all unravels for Ms. Diaz and her multi million dollar diet scam.

~~~

Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award « Kimkins Scam

Kimkins Dangers: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

Kimorexia: Congratulations Kevin Trudeau! And Kimkins!

KIMKINS NIGHTMARES: Congratulations Heidi Diaz AKA Kimmer on Winning the 20th Annual Slim Chance Awards!!

mariasol: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

Kimkins Review: Kimkins Wins the Slim Chance Award

MCN703, I bet your name isn’t even really Derek, is it?

Thanks to Amykf, we now know where Kimmer (aka Heidi Diaz) ”borrowed” the pictures for “Derek“, her latest Kimkins Success Story featured in the Kimkins November Newsletter .   Match.com, my goodness!  Not even a Russian Groom site?

I wonder how MCN703 will feel when he finds out that Kimkins.con has been using his likeness to promote a diet scam?  How will he feel about the fact that Ms. Diaz possibly used his pictures posted on Match.com to fabricate a much heavier ‘before’ picture for her “Derek”?

I bet the folks at Match.com won’t be very happy with Ms. Diaz either, when they find out. 

MCN703 (maybe Michael or Mark or Matthew or Miles, even) or Derek, if one of you would kindly get in touch with me, I would love to find out how much you really know about Kimkins, if anything at all. 

It is interesting that Ms. Diaz didn’t quite get all the facts copied exactly, since Derek is 6′2″ tall and MCN703 is only 6′1″ tall.

I wonder how his preference for meat and potatoes fits into the Kimkins Diet though?  Has there been a recent modification posted on the website to include potatoes? 

Kimkins Misleading Ads Still Playing

Thank you, AveGirl, for this YouTube Video explaining the Kimkins Affiliate Ads that are still being used and housed on Kimkins.con.

I know that both Christin and Deni have asked Ms. Diaz repeatedly to refrain from using their pictures to promote the dangerous Kimkins Diet Scam, so it’s astonishing that she is still using them. 

 

Also, Ms. Diaz has admitted that the Russian Bride picture is NOT her actual after picture, so one would think she would take that picture down, as well.  And yet she continues to use the pictures? 

 

 

YouTube – Kimkins Misleading Ads Still Playing

Honesty is the best policy!

Honesty 

Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented. ~ George Braque

The truth is more important than the facts. ~ Frank L. Wright

In the mountains of truth, you never climb in vain. ~ Nietzsche

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. ~ Jefferson

One falsehood spoils a thousand truths. ~ Ashanti proverb

 

If you tell the truth, you have infinite power supporting you.

8 great reasons to tell the truth

1. Telling the truth lets everyone know what really happened. There’s less chances of misunderstandings, confusion, or conflict.

2. Telling the truth protects innocent people from being blamed or punished.

3. Telling the truth allows everyone to learn from what happened.

4. You usually get into less trouble for telling the truth than for lying (and getting caught).

5. Other people trust you more when you tell the truth.

6. You don’t have to tell more lies to keep your story straight.

7. You gain a reputation for being truthful – a trait that most people value.

8. Telling the truth helps you feel secure and peaceful inside.

honesty

I hope someone takes this message to heart today.

Words of Encouragement from John Tiedt

On Friday, one very tired anti-kk blogger expressed their opinion that it was time for all of us to move on from the Kimkins cause; time to move on to other similar causes. 

However, the Kimkins saga is far from over.  As long as the Kimkins.con site remains up and active, as long as Heidi can charge people to join her site, and can continue to dispense her questionable medical and diet advice; and lie about her weight loss, or lack there of; there is still a need for us to continue our efforts.

The wheels of justice do seem to be moving slowly, and it would be nice to see results happening more quickly.  But since things are not moving so quickly at this point in time, we can take comfort in knowing the wheels of justice ARE moving and moving in the right direction.  Once the momentum gets going, it can only be a matter of time.  This has only been the preliminary phase, setting the stage for the final drama to unfold.  We have all done a lot of work to prepare for this and we should be proud of all we have done.

Once Kimkins.con is no more, and we don’t have to worry about any of the “weeds” luring people into her tangled web; once Kimkins.com displays the 404 error message and we don’t have to worry about the spamming of yahooanswers and craigslist and freecycle and other diet and non-diet message boards to entice people to ante up the $79.95 with her “too good to be true” claims, then maybe we can stop.  But even then, we must watch diligently and be alert to see that Ms. Diaz doesn’t start up another scam, similar to Kimkins or something altogether different.

If you are tired of Kimkins, then by all means, take a break.  We’ve been at this for quite a while now, so a break is certainly well deserved.  But please don’t expect all of us to give up the fight, and please don’t discourage those who are still willing to keep fighting.

Thank you, Mariasol, for you excellent blog post:  mariasol: Tired of Kimkins?

As long as Heidi is out there scamming innocent people whose only mistake was to want to believe in something that truly is too good to be true, then I’ll be here:  Searching for whatever it is that John Tiedt needs for us to find.  Exposing those weeds that need to be pulled.  Sharing the information that needs to be shared.  Ensuring that there is enough truthful infomation available so that others don’t make the mistake of falling for Heidi’s deceptive advertising.  Reminding folks to Say NO to Kimkins.  Encouraging the victims of the Kimkins Scam to join the lawsuit and to share their stories on the Kimkins Survivors blog.

Perhaps it is safe to presume that the lawsuit is paving the way for further litigation with regards to the dangerous Kimkins Diet Scam.  It’s not too far fetched to imagine that other entities are waiting for this to play out before they too move in similar directions.  So, even if there aren’t new developments on a daily basis, things are still moving forward. 

Even the attorney for the Class Action Lawsuit, John Tiedt popped into YustYucky’s blog last night to share these words of encouragement with all of us:

 THERE IS A GREAT DEAL TO BE REVEALED. THE FIGHT HAS JUST COMMENCED. WE NEED EVERYONE’S SUPPORT. I AM TAKING THE THIRD SESSION OF THE DEPOSITION OF HEIDI DIAZ ON THURSDAY. I JUST FINISHED THE DEPOSITION OF DENNIS SHARP. AFTER THIS WEEK, THERE WILL BE NEW DEVELOPMENTS TO REPORT. WE NEED EVERY ONE TO KEEP THE FAITH.

JOHN TIEDT

 

Thank you, John!

Count me in.  I’m here for the duration.

I’m looking forward to hearing how that deposition goes on Thursday, and anxiously awaiting your further reports.