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Fugitive scam artist, erstwhile notable in US far right sets up group in which Jews won’t be welcome

New organization for bigoted gringo expats

by Eric Jackson

Adolf Hitler and some of the folks at the Union Club would be so proud. A far-right political activist from wanted on civil contempt and tax fraud charges in the United States, having offended people at the Panama City Expat Socials that he and his wife had been running, has left to create a new organization in which Jews will not be welcome. “God and His son are a part of my family's daily life, including the days the parties will be held. If the mention of thanks to God or Jesus offends you, these are parties you will not want to attend,” Eddie Ray Kahn announced in an email to the members of the organization that he left.

At a Panama City Expat Social Christmas party held at the Majestic Casino in December, Kahn turned the event into a prayer session and was criticized by some of the members. In an email sent to the expat socials list, Kahn wrote:

I must say this to the people who were offended by my prayer to my heavenly Father, simply because it is not my desire to offend anyone in the future. I would suggest you send me an email asking me to remove you from the invitation list, because there is no guarantee that you won't hear another prayer, if I feel it is appropriate. Jesus said in Luke 12:8-9 ‘Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God. But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.’ Although the socials will never be confused with a prayer meeting, I can assure you Jesus will never be denying me before the angels of God because I will never be bashful in talking about my heavenly Father and His son.

But then Okke Ornstein wrote a series of stories on his Noriegaville website, pointing out some of Kahn’s criminal past and his kickback arrangements at the venues where the expat socials were held. Under pressure from those foreigners who came to the expat socials just to meet with people like themselves and resented Kahn’s religious fanaticism, dictatorial ways and criminal background, Kahn left to start a rival organization, the Expat Parties.

Federal District Attorney Paul I. Perez takes a different view of Eddie Ray Kahn. In a brief supporting a successful motion to have him cited for contempt of court, he wrote:

With the assistance of Milton Hargraves Baxley, II; Bryan Malatesta; Kathleen “Kookie” Kahn; and David Stephen Lokietz; Eddie Ray Kahn sells fraudulent tax schemes through his businesses American Rights Litigators (ARL), Guiding Light of God Ministries (GLGM), and Eddie Kahn and Associates. Kahn describes ARL/GLGM as “a professional organization that utilizes aggressive CPAs [certified public accountants] and attorneys dedicated to legally representing and protecting the rights of American citizens”—the “aggressive” CPA being Malatesta, and the “aggressive” attorney Baxley. In reality, ARL/GLGM is the vehicle by which Kahn peddles a plethora of schemes designed to help customers evade federal taxes and obstruct IRS examinations and collections. He sells counterfeit checks to pay taxes, “corporations sole” in which to hide assets, harassing letters to the IRS, and other scams. Luring customers with Baxley and Malatesta’s supposed expertise, defendants are bilking customers of millions of dollars….

The Kahns and their accomplices were held in contempt, Mr. Lokietz made a deal with the feds to get out of his predicament by becoming a prosecution witness.

But meanwhile, the Kahns skipped the country and ended up in Panama, which in turn prompted the issuance of an arrest warrant. Civil contempt warrants have led Panama to expel American hustlers before. This country won’t extradite or expel a foreigner for tax matters but sometimes will do so for fraud.

And what did the Kahns’ friends back in the right-wing US tax resistance movement have to say about it? On the website “Who’s Who in the Tax Honest Movement” (sic) Eddie Ray Kahn is described as “a Christian and a friend” who “runs a Christian detaxing mission.” Noting his emigration from the United States in mid-2004, the tax resistance website goes on to state that “When he departed the US, he left all his clients hanging with no help or place to turn… it appears that he was more worried about the money than doing right by his clients.”

According to Noriegaville, the Kahns obtained pensionado visas in Panama by claiming pensions payable by their own Guiding Light of God Ministries, with a US address listed. But to the extent that such an organization still exists and maintains assets from which to pay pensions in the United States, federal authorities have the power and intention to seize its assets. To the extent that the “ministry” was imported to Panama it would first have no legal status if any of its directors are not Panamanian citizens and second be a novel scam to circumvent the pensionado provisions of this country’s immigration laws.

When the Kahns were running the Panama City Expat Socials, the group’s website highlighted Don Winner’s website as their preferred source of English-language information about Panama. Winner has used his email groups and website to plug a number of fraudulent schemes and businesses involving notorious criminals, but so far it’s unclear whether his online operations will have a relationship with Kahn’s new organization.

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