EGYPT REVEALED, ET AL - INFORMATIONAL REPORT #3 DATED 04/11/02 REGARDING: Discovering Archaeology, Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed, The Glory of Ancient Egypt (ordered through Circa Media) and Dinosaur Magazines. ALSO REGARDING: Egypt Revealed Expedition Tour of Egypt that was canceled in August of 2001 and no refunds yet given. ALSO REGARDING: Seven Wonders Travel Dear Fellow Subscriber or Interested Party: You should by now have already received my E-Mail request to file your complaint(s) against the magazine businesses shown above and/or Jeff Leach by which you have been damaged (either financially or otherwise). I do sincerely hope that each and every one of you will make the time to do this. This is our greatest opportunity thus far to get the Federal Government to pay enough attention to this situation that they actually do something about it, charge Jeff Leach and bring him to trial. Having said all that, this is an update of what I have learned since the last Informational Report of April 7, 2002. I have heard from a former employee of Egypt Revealed/Circa Media, Michael Stowe, who emphasizes that he, like so many of us, are owed money by Jeff Leach and had no idea as to what was going on at the magazine. He states, "I would just like to say that myself, Bob Locke, along with all other editors of the magazines had no idea what was going on with the monies gathered from the magazines or the travel expeditions ... we were always told that the 'magazine would be printed and distributed shortly', we were also told that 'Disney was coming in to invest and bail us out' both of which never happened. It was not until the accountant quit that I put it together ... but by that time he (Jeff Leach) was immersed in the Amelia Earhart deal ... and I was days away from quitting." (Along those lines of financial difficulties for Egypt Revealed Magazine, one subscriber reports that at one time when he was successful in contacting the Egypt Revealed Magazine, they did not seem to know the length of his subscription - as if they had no formal records of monies received.) In a later E-Mail from Michael Stowe he shares with us that "I will help in any way I can to make sure that all those people get their money refunded (here he was referring to the canceled Egypt Revealed Expedition tour of Egypt) ... but I think that it is going to be a tough pursuit." Along the lines of this story that Jeff Leach was telling his employees about Disney coming in to bail them out, the domain name of www.dinosaur.com is registered to Disney and has been since at lease June 14, 2000. The name Jeff Leach was using for the magazine was www.dinosaurmag.com. One of the "Interested Parties" out there shared these comments about Jeff Leach: "A friend of mine emailed me one of your informational bulletins on your travails with Jeff Leach. I am writing to ask if you would be so kind as to include me in your email when you do updates on this situation? As you well know, Jeff Leach is one of the most brazen con-artists to come along in years and it has been the discipline of archaeology's misfortune to have been picked as a fertile field for his schemes. I won't go into to details, but I am more than familiar with Jeff Leach and under other circumstances could spend hours and days telling you about the unethical and immoral behavior of this criminal. Unfortunately, I don't know anything or have any evidence on him that would directly impact your situation, or be of much help to you. I managed to get him fired off an archaeology project in Texas after several years of his malfeasance, but that was well before he moved on to the frauds he perpetrated on you. The only thing that I have that may help you keep the trail hot is that Jeff Leach (and he had the audacity to tell me this) claims that he was convicted of felony check forgery and/or felony bad check writing somewhere in Texas in the late 1980s. So, I believe he has a police/prison record that your attorney acquaintance may be able to get access to, if that would be of any help. In any case, I would definitely appreciate updates on your endeavors. Thank You for what you've managed to do already." I contacted Susan, the attorney, in New York about this possible forgery charge and she confirmed that she did have information on it and had forwarded the same to the detective she is working with. It happened in Austin, Texas when Jeff Leach was 18 or 19 years old. Sounds like he started down the wrong path at a rather early age. One of the issues that keeps popping up among some of you is just what, if any, relationship was there between Seven Wonders Travel/Egypt Revealed Tours/Janice Brannon and Egypt Revealed Magazine/Egypt Revealed Expeditions/Jeff Leach. Well, it appears that initially they did have some sort of a working relationship insofar as the initial Symposiums and one of the trips was concerned. The first Egypt Revealed Symposium was in Chicago in October of 1999. The event was advertised in the October, 1999 edition of Discovering Archaeology Magazine as being sponsored by The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and Seven Wonders Travel. The tour in conjunction with the symposium was scheduled to take place in February of 2000. This event was also advertised in the Summer, 1999 and Fall 1999 issues of KMT. The February and April, 2000 issues of Discovering Archaeology magazine advertised the "2nd Annual Egypt Revealed *** Symposium" as being sponsored by Seven Wonders Travel and Scientific American Discovering Archaeology to be held in Austin, Texas in the Fall of 2000. The Summer, 2000 issue of KMT also advertised this event however, a new sponsor's name had been added: Egypt Revealed Magazine. The phone number contact for a brochure was the El Paso, Texas phone number for Egypt Revealed while the phone number for details was the Chicago phone number of Seven Wonders Travel. Seven Wonders Travel mailing address and E-mail are given; the web site for Egypt Revealed is given. At this point in time, it certainly appears to be that these three entities were working together in the sponsorship of this "2nd Annual Egypt Revealed Symposium". It is also a bit misleading that Seven Wonders Travel has titled its tour "Egypt Revealed" and there is an "Egypt Revealed" magazine involved. It has been reported to me (but not personally confirmed to me by Janice Brannon) that Janice states that Jeff Leach "stole" the name Egypt Revealed. Yet . . . . they were obviously working together on this symposium. The August, 2000 issue of Discovering Archaeology shows the event has now been re-located from Austin, Texas to Dallas, Texas. Same sponsors and contact information. They have now added that a tour is to take place in February, 2001. The Fall, 2000 issue of KMT shows the event in Dallas and advertises the tour for February, 2001, but it appears that Seven Wonders Travel now has a new mailing address in Chicago but the same phone number as before. Also, the Egypt Revealed web site is not used but rather the Seven Wonders Travel web site. In the premier issue of Egypt Revealed (Fall, 2000) which was finally mailed out in late October of 2000, there is an advertisement for "3 Unprecedented Tours of Egypt: Images of the Sun - January 4-18, 2001; Egypt Revealed - February 2-20, 2001; and Pharaoh's People - March 3-20, 2001". The same "big name" Egyptologists are advertised as being involved in the tour as in the previous Egypt Revealed Tours by Seven Wonders Travel. The advertisement also reads, "Offered Exclusively by Seven Wonders Travel" and gives a new phone number in Chicago with the Seven Wonders E-Mail address. There was also an article in that issue of Egypt Revealed by Janice Brannon, "founder and owner of Seven Wonders Travel, a Chicago-based Destination Management Company". The February, 2001 edition of Discovering Archaeology contains two full pages advertising "Egypt Revealed Magazine is proud to present Egypt Revealed Expeditions" and state they are using Quest Travel. And, oh yes, those same "big-name" Egyptologists are once again part of the tour. This is the tour that was to have taken place October 28 - November 9, 2001 with Omar Sharif. Many of you signed up and paid for this tour. It was canceled/postponed on approximately August 27, 2001 and you are still awaiting refunds of your money. The Summer, 2001 issue of KMT advertises the "3rd Annual" Recent Excavations, New Discoveries and Ancient Egyptian Beliefs - Part I - Egypt Revealed. The "3rd Annual" symposiums are all set in October of 2001 and are held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and London, England. At this point the only sponsor for these events appears to be Seven Wonders Travel. Also advertised is a tour of Egypt on February 1 - 19, 2002 entitled "Walk With The Egyptologists" and is likewise in cooperation with Quest Travel. The address for Seven Wonders is the same as in the advertisement in the August, 2000 issue of Discovering Archaeology but there is now a new phone number. It appears that perhaps sometime in late 2000 or early 2001, Seven Wonders travel seems to no longer be working with Egypt Revealed Magazine on these symposiums and/or tours and vice versa.. I mentioned before that I had not been able to confirm statements made by Janice Brannon to some of the tour participants on the February, 2002 trip involving Jeff Leach and/or Egypt Revealed Magazine. On March 26, 2002 I wrote to Janice Brannon of Seven Wonders Travel. I sent my letter to her via her latest FAX number (which transmitted) and via E-Mail at her advertised E-Mail address. It appeared to go through; at least it didn't bounce back. I was not just trying to confirm some information with Janice about the Egypt Revealed Magazine "problems". The other reason I wrote to her was because two of the members in the Ancient Egypt Studies Association of which I am also a member had paid deposits for the "3rd Annual" Symposium to be held in Seattle in October, 2001. They reported to me some time ago that they had, well before the cancellation deadline date, contacted Janice Brannon and advised her they would not be able to attend and to please refund their deposit money ($200.00 total). She replied that she would. They waited, and they waited, and they waited. They called and E-Mailed her numerous times and the message was nearly always something similar to "it's sitting right here on my desk", "the check's in the mail", etc. The reason for my concern and involvement in this particular matter was that we (the AESA) had helped Janice advertise her Egypt Revealed Symposium in Seattle by mailing out brochures which she provided to us to our members and general database (approximately 300 individuals). In effect, this was like our putting our "stamp of approval" on the event and her business. I advised Janice in my letter to her that I really hope she gets in touch with me because at this juncture we cannot recommend either her symposiums nor her tours to our members or mailing list participants. Perhaps she is away on business . . . . I have yet to hear from her. A really positive message that I received regarding the February, 2002 Seven Wonders Travel "Walk With The Egyptologists" came from one of our members who was fortunate enough to attend that tour. She called me right after she returned from Egypt and she couldn't say enough great things about how smoothly the tour was run, all the "special" things they got to do, how professional it was and all the wonderful experiences she and the other trip participants had had with the Egyptologists. It is gratifying to hear that the tour apparently went so well for the participants. Another positive item is that as of today, April 11, 2002, the web sites for Archaeology Today, Egypt Revealed and Circa Media, Inc. are now totally down. Dinosaur Magazine is still up as is the subscription page however, it is my understanding that someone is working on getting that site down also. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavor. That's it for now. If you haven't already filed your Complaint at www.ifccfbi.gov, please, Please, PLEASE do so. Thank you VERY much !!! Best wishes, Lynne Cole Ancient Egypt Studies Association Portland, Oregon/Seattle, Washington www.aesa-nw.org