Dominion of Melchizedek

The Dominion of Melchizedek was unilaterally declared in 1990 by U.S. citizen Mark Pedley, possibly with his father, David Pedley.[1] Mark Pedley also uses a number of pseudonyms, including "Tzemach Ben David Netzer Korem" and "Branch Vinedresser". It borrows its name from the biblical king and priest Melchizedek.[2]

When created, the DoM first laid claim to the Colombian island of Malpelo, a small island 300 miles off the Pacific coast of Colombia.[3] Later, it invented the Karitane Shoal in the South Pacific,[4][5] which is supposedly completely submerged for part of the day;[6]^: 105[7] Clipperton Island, an overseas possession of France which lies 1,500 miles west of Nicaragua; and Taongi, otherwise known as Bokak Atoll, an uninhabited Micronesian atoll falling under the administration of the Government of the Marshall Islands.[6]^: 105 Representatives of the DoM were banned from entering the island of Rotuma after their involvement with dissident groups seeking to secede from Fiji,[8][6]^: 113 with whom they had signed agreements to lease land on the islands of Rotuma and its neighbour Solkope.[9] It also claims the portion of Antarctica unclaimed by sovereign states, from 90 degrees to 150 degrees west,[10] known as Marie Byrd Land.

It has been described as "non-existent" by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,[11] and as a "non-recognised sovereignty" by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.[2][12] It appears on an EU list of fantasy passports issued by private individuals or organisations.[13] Media reports have described it as a "virtual country",[2] as a "ruse",[3] and as a "phony country".[14]

Soon after its inception, the DoM started selling documents purporting to charter or licence companies.[21] By the end of the 1990s, the DoM claimed that some 300 banking licenses had been sold.[6]^: 113[22] DoM apologists have suggested that there is no link between Melchizedek and the illegal activities conducted by "banks" it has "licensed";[2] however, John Shockey, a former special assistant in the office of the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, has stated:

Melchizedek first came to my attention in June 1990, a few months after Mark Pedley was paroled from a 1986 conviction. Inquiries were received concerning bank names: Banco de Asia, Guardian Savings & Guaranty and Express Bank among others. Investigations that these entities had bank charters from the DOM and obtained through an entity named Consortium Finance Corporation headquartered in Lake Tahoe, California. Further investigation disclosed a principal alternately named John Hayden and Branch Vinedresser. Shortly thereafter the FBI took Branch Vinedresser into custody and revealed that he was Mark Pedley, who then was charged with violations of his parole.[1]

In the same address Stockey also stated that: "The Dominion of Melchizedek is a fraud, a major fraud, and not a legitimate sovereign entity. Persons associated with the Dominion of Melchizedek have been indicted and convicted of a variety of crimes."[1]

In 1991, in Washington, D.C, shell banks that were subsidiaries of a Melchizedekian company tried to secure loans from real banks based on fake DoM securities, but were closed down before they succeeded. One of the men involved, Steve Peterson, later pleaded guilty to fraud and theft charges in another case in Arizona after using a company chartered in DoM.[21]

In Hong Kong, Gerhard Bacher used cheques issued by phoney Melchizedek banks to open accounts in legitimate Hong Kong banks;[2][21] he was sentenced to 6 months in prison.[21] In 1995, in the UK, an organisation that was making use of a DoM licensed bank was barred from doing business.[21]

A so-called "60/40 Investment Programme" offered by Credit Bank International, run by Roger Rosemont and registered in the DoM, was a Ponzi scheme that convinced at least 1,400 people to invest over $4,000,000.[2][6]^: 114

Companies with links to the DoM have been used in insurance fraud schemes. In Texas in 1996, after pleading guilty to insurance fraud, Jeffrey Reynolds was sentenced to 52 months in prison and ordered to repay $475,802 in premiums he had collected for bogus insurance policies.[23] The companies he was using had been licensed in the DoM.[23][6]^: 106 Later in the same year, and also in Texas, Leon Hooten's New Zealand-registered companies were prevented from selling insurance when they were found to be capitalised with worthless assets issued by the DoM.[24][25]

One of the most notorious victims of the scam was businessman Rogério Cavaco Silva, brother of former President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who in 1996 was conned out of US$35,000 which were supposed to guarantee a loan to complete a hotel in the Algarve.[26][27][28][29] Six Portuguese perpetrators, who conned a total of 39 businesspeople (including Cavaco Silva) between 1996 and 1999, were sentenced in 2007 to several periods in prison, the longest of which was six years.[30]

The DoM has also been involved in selling passports widely regarded as fraudulent, misrepresenting them as internationally recognised. In 1998, three individuals purporting to be officials of the DoM were arrested in the Philippines. The ringleader, John Gillespie, an Australian felon who was involved in the Fine Cotton horse substitution scam, eluded capture. The passport scam grossed an estimated US$1,000,000 from hundreds of individuals, with some paying up to $3,500 for these documents.[2]

Across all the purported schemes DoM has been accused of involvement in, one source estimates that the total value of funds raised may exceed US$500 million.[31]

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