Sean David Morton

Sean David Morton
Born Sean David Morton
Nationality American
Education University of Southern California
(B.A.) in Political Science
(B.F.A.) in Performing Arts
Occupation Psychic, Author, Filmmaker, Investor, confidence trickster
Known for Securities and tax fraud

Sean David Morton is a self-described psychic and alleged remote viewer who has referred to himself as "America's Prophet." Until legal troubles led to his current status as an inmate of a federal jail, he also hosted radio shows, authored books, and made documentary films.[1] In 2010, Morton and his wife were charged with civil securities fraud. The director of the New York regional office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that "Morton's self-proclaimed psychic powers were nothing more than a scam to attract investors and steal their money."[2] In 2016, Morton and his wife were indicted on Federal tax-related charges, and were found guilty in April 2017. Both are now serving Federal prison sentences.[3]

Early life

Morton spent his early years in Texas and high school years in Atherton, California where he attended Woodside High School, graduating in the class of 1976. He alleges he was sent to a military school as well. He attended University of Southern California, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performing Arts. His father was a public relations official for TRW,[4] and his mother was radio/TV personality and health author Maureen Kennedy Salaman. Both parents were fundamentalist Christians but Morton became a self-described "New Age thinker".[5] He has said that as a child he often heard astronauts describe their experiences with extraterrestrials. Although he claims to have had extensive contact with astronauts in his childhood, in later life Morton alleged that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was "fake."

Morton became interested in the paranormal after a 1985 trip to England and Ireland where he became involved in what he calls either the Green Stone saga or the Meonia Stone saga. He later went to India where he met with the Dalai Lama. Morton claims that while in India, he was taught the secrets of time travel by Nepalese monks and that they also helped him to develop a system of remote viewing.[2][5][6]

Doctorate

Morton used the title "Doctor" in formal situations such as conference presentations.[7] The Aquarian Radio website[8] says that he received his Ph.D. in therapeutic psychology from the International Institute of Health and Spiritual Sciences in Montreal, Canada, in 2005.

Also known as the International College of Spiritual & Psychic Sciences,[9] this institution offers a four-part curriculum. The "Level V program", claimed to be the equivalent of a doctorate, requires 120 graduate credits for a fee of $40 CAN per credit.

Work

Between 1985 and 1996, Morton worked in visual media, releasing documentaries on subjects including the Chupacabra and Bigfoot. He also led tours around Area 51. Morton told them that aliens from Area 51 were possibly from "Krondac," a planet which is 800 light-years away.[5]

Morton was the subject of an investigation by the website UFO Watchdog, specifically the website published The Shameless Psychic and His Prophecy of Lies and called into question many of Morton's claims. Morton filed a $1,000,000.00 lawsuit against the site claiming he had been the subject of libel. A court found in favor of UFO Watchdog, and Morton was ordered to pay the website $16,000.00 in legal fees.

Securities fraud charges

From 1996 to 2010, Morton ran Delphi Associates Newsletter (DAN), a print and online publication in which he made economic, financial and political predictions. In 2001, Morton predicted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average would rise to somewhere around 12,000 in December. The index actually ended at 8,341.[2] In 2007, he founded The Delphi Investment Group to allow investors to profit from trading in world currencies based on his predictions.

On March 7, 2010, Morton and his wife Melissa were charged with civil securities fraud.[6][10] He is alleged to have defrauded around 100 customers of $6 million between 2006 and 2007.[1] According to the SEC, only a fraction of the money received by Morton went into foreign exchange trading accounts and the rest was placed in shell companies run by Morton and his wife.[11]

In 2009, Morton attempted to file suit against the SEC, claiming that he was being unfairly harassed by employees. The suit was dismissed.[10]

In February 2013, Morton was ordered by a judge to pay $11.5 million to the SEC within 14 days.[12][13]

U.S. Federal criminal tax convictions

Morton and his wife Melissa were arrested on January 31, 2016 after having been charged with 51 counts of uttering false instruments, 4 counts of filing false federal income tax returns or other federal tax documents, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).[14][15] The latter charge originated because the Mortons filed several tax returns claiming refunds due on non-existent overpayments. In one such case the IRS failed to cross-check sufficiently and actually issued a check for $480,323, which the Mortons immediately transferred into other accounts. They faced up to 650 and 625 years in federal prison, respectively.[16] On April 7, 2017, Sean and Melissa Morton were found guilty of 51 charges by a Federal court jury.[17] The jury gave its verdict after only two hours. Sentencing was set for June 19, 2017.[18]

The sentencing for Melissa Morton had been re-set for August 21, 2017.[19] Sean David Morton failed to appear for his June 19 sentencing hearing. A federal arrest warrant was issued immediately[20] On August 21, 2017, Morton and his wife were arrested and taken into custody.[21]

On September 18, 2017, Sean David Morton was sentenced to six years in prison, and was ordered to pay $480,322.55 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service. The Court also ordered that Morton be placed on supervised release for five years after prison release, and that among the terms of the supervision is the requirement that Morton "shall not engage, as whole or partial owner, employee or otherwise, in any business involving the sale of financial instruments or providing debt relief services without the express approval of the Probation Officer prior to engaging in such employment."[22] On the same day, Melissa Morton was sentenced to two years in prison. She is subject to a similar restriction regarding post-release supervision, and she was ordered to pay the same restitution amount to the Internal Revenue Service.[23]

Sean David Morton is incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary at Tucson, Arizona. His projected release date is November 8, 2022.[24] Melissa Morton is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Victorville, California, and her projected release date is May 16, 2019.[25]

Media appearances

  • 1992 UFOs and the Alien Presence
  • 1997 Area 51: The Alien Interview
  • 2006 Fastwalkers
  • 2010 Metaphysia 2012
  • 2011 Apocalypse According to Doris
  • 2012 New Humanity
  • 2012 Beyond the Edge
  • 2012 Ancient Aliens
  • 2013 UFO Chronicles[26]

Publications

  • Morton, Sean; Haley, Wayne (2006). Black Seraph: A Novel of Espionage and Intrigue. BookSurge. p. 188. ISBN 9781419638602. OCLC 159993340.
  • Morton, Sean (2011). Sands of Time. Starlocke Publishing. ASIN B00CPT04OG.

References

  1. 1 2 Ed Pilkington (March 5, 2010). "Fraud charges for 'America's prophet' who claimed to predict stockmarket". The Guardian. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Michael J. de la Merced (March 4, 2010). "For Psychic, Suit Came as Surprise". New York Times. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  3. ↑ https://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2:15-cr-00611-SVW&s=CA&d=106488
  4. ↑ ""The Shameless Psychic and his Prophecy of Lies"". Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  5. 1 2 3 Carol Masciola (May 2, 1993). "Mysterious Earthlings Scour The Desert For Space Alien Tourists". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  6. 1 2 Bruce Golding (March 5, 2010). "Seer $ucker Suit-Prophet & Loss in $6M Trading Scam: Feds". The New York Post. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  7. ↑ See, for example, the program of the Conscious Life Expo, February 2015 Archived 2015-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.. He was also captioned as "Doctor" when he appeared on the Cable TV series Ancient Aliens.
  8. ↑ Morton bio at Aquarian Radio
  9. ↑ ICSPS web site
  10. 1 2 Dominic Rushe (March 7, 2010). "US authorities chase psychic in $6m 'scam'". The Sunday Times.
  11. ↑ Alison Gendar (March 4, 2010). "Psychic Sean David Morton scammed $6M convincing people he could predict stocks' fortune, SEC claims". New York: Daily News (New York). Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  12. ↑ "Securities and Exchange Commission v. Sean David Morton, Vajra Productions, LLC, 27 Investments, LLC, and Magic Eight Ball Distributing, Inc., defendants, and Melissa Morton and Prophecy Research Institute, relief defendants, Civil Action No. 10-CV-1720 (SDNY) (KBF)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ Helen Christophi. "Psychic Must Pay SEC $11.5M For Bogus Market Predictions". Law360.
  14. ↑ News Release, Feb. 1, 2016, "Hermosa Beach Couple Arrested on Federal Charges Related to Tax Scam and Passing False ‘Checks’ and ‘Bonds’ to Pay Off Debts," Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, U.S. Dep't of Justice, at .
  15. ↑ First Superseding Indictment, Jan. 27, 2016, docket entry 17, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
  16. ↑ Altman, Larry (February 1, 2016). "Hermosa Beach couple charged with trying to defraud U.S. government". Daily Breeze. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Hermosa Beach couple convicted in federal tax fraud case," April 7, 2017, Daily Breeze (Torrance, Calif.), at .
  18. ↑ "Bogus Psychic Guilty in Fraud Scheme" --ufowatchdog, 7 April 2017
  19. ↑ Docket entry 243, July 3, 2017, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
  20. ↑ Docket entry 237, June 19, 2017, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
  21. ↑ Report Commencing Criminal Action, Aug. 22, 2017, docket entry 255, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ("date of arrest: 8/21/2017").
  22. ↑ Judgment as to Sean David Morton, Sept. 18, 2017 (entered on Sept. 20, 2017), entry 278, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
  23. ↑ Judgment as to Melissa Morton, aka Melissa Ann Thomson, Sept. 18, 2017 (entered on Sept. 20, 2017), entry 280, United States v. Sean David Morton and Melissa Morton, case no. 15-cr-00611-SVW, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
  24. ↑ Sean David Morton, inmate # 73055-112, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Dep't of Justice, at .
  25. ↑ Melissa Morton, inmate # 73056-112, Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Dep't of Justice, at .
  26. ↑ "Sean David Morton". Internet Movie Database.
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