Jennifer McKinney Bankruptcy MckMama McMama ScamOnce upon a time, there was a popular mommy blogger named Jennifer McKinney. She called herself MckMama, and had a blog called My Charming Kids. She was not noteworthy in any way – – until her fourth pregnancy took a turn for the worse. Her unborn son Stellan was determined to have a heart condition, and with pleas for prayer, Jennifer’s popularity skyrocketed.

The My Charming Kids blog (with McKinney’s “MSC” or “Many Small Children” as the focus) became so popular that at its height, Jennifer was grossing at least $150,000 to $175,000 per year from advertising and money-making gimmicks.

Questions Raised

Not content to post pictures of her kids and stories about everyday life, Jennifer McKinney was determined to live the high life, and pimp out herself, her family, and her blog to maximize her earnings.  She appeared to have it all: great kids, a happy marriage, a beautiful house, a luxury vehicle, media opportunities, trips, and much more.

Underneath the façade – – which is covered with flowery language in grammatically challenged sentences – – Jennifer McKinney’s life was an absolute train wreck. Her marriage was falling apart and the family’s finances were in a shambles. McMama and her husband Israel McKinney were shamelessly spending their way around the world while stiffing creditors left and right.

Critical readers (sometimes referred to as naysayers) of the My Charming Kids blog started to take notice, and a tsunami of criticism began. Multiple websites were created to expose the inconsistencies in Jennifer McKinney’s supposed life.  Key to the allegations of fraud was an analysis of the medical drama of the McKinney family, who always had sicker kids and more questionable medical situations than normal families seem to encounter. The financial drama seemed incredible as well.

While Jennifer vehemently denies ever lying to her readers, mountains of evidence have been uncovered in support of the allegations of fraud. Here was a family making big money from a home-based business, yet they were losing homes to foreclosure, having vehicles repossessed, and being accused of not paying creditors. Despite repeated claims by Jennifer that the McKinneys were going to pay all their creditors and do better in the future, their spending escalated along with their outstanding debt, to the point where they filed bankruptcy in December 2011.


Bankruptcy Fraud?

Based on the evidence uncovered, it appears that a fraud indeed has occurred… in the United States Bankruptcy Court. Keep in mind the law from the U.S. Code (18 U.S.C. § 152):

A person who—
(1) knowingly and fraudulently conceals from a custodian, trustee, marshal, or other officer of the court charged with the control or custody of property, or, in connection with a case under title 11, from creditors or the United States Trustee, any property belonging to the estate of a debtor;
(2) knowingly and fraudulently makes a false oath or account in or in relation to any case under title 11;
(3) knowingly and fraudulently makes a false declaration, certificate, verification, or statement under penalty of perjury as permitted under section 1746 of title 28, in or in relation to any case under title 11;

Ultimately, fraud must be determined by a trier of fact. In this case, that would be the judge in the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing of Jennifer H. McKinney and Israel R. McKinney. However, as a trained fraud investigator, I can recognize red flags of fraud, and that’s exactly what we’re going to look at here: The red flags of fraud in the McKinney bankruptcy filing. (A MckFraud?)

This article is going to discuss the false disclosures and omissions from Jennifer McKinney’s bankruptcy filings and creditors meeting. A huge thank you goes out to the MckMama Without Pity Blog (mckmamatruths.com) which provided all of the transcripts and many of the documents linked below.

As this article is rather lengthy, you can use these links to jump to the relevant sections:

McKinney’s Financial Train Wreck

The financial backstory goes like this: Israel had an allegedly successful business in the construction industry called Kieran’s Contracting. When the economy tanked, the business failed.  While Jennifer raked in gobs of money with her blog (and had relatively minimal business expenses as a home-based blogger), Jennifer and Israel spent beyond their means and found themselves in a financial pit.

A handy-dandy timeline of the financial meltdown can be found here. In summary, the McKinneys lost three houses, had a Cadillac Escalade and a Dodge Ram repossessed, were sued by a former employee for more than $55,000 of unpaid compensation and reimbursable expenses, had an IRS tax lien of $52,207 filed for 2006 and 2007 taxes, lost a lucrative advertising contract with BlogHer that brought in the bulk of the blog money due to plagiarism, ran up substantial hospital bills with irresponsible use of emergency rooms around the country, had an IRS tax lien of $35,763 filed for 2008 and 2009 taxes, and ultimately filed bankruptcy.

The easiest lies to prove are the ones about the back taxes owed by the McKinneys. On multiple occasions, Jennifer McKinney falsely stated to the McMama readers that  there were no tax liens. As far back as two years ago, Jen McKinney was claiming their taxes were paid off:

This is despite the fact that the  2006 and 2007 tax lien for $52,207 was filed in April 2009, and the later tax lien of $35,563 for 2008 and 2009 was filed in July 2011. Surely the McKinneys knew they hadn’t paid those taxes, and that at least one lien existed when the comments were made (and they likely knew that the second lien was coming).

How do we know these were valid liens, still outstanding at the time Jennifer made her declaration that the taxes were paid off? The bankruptcy petition included tax liabilities of $28,148 for 2007-2009 federal income taxes, $4,556 for 2009 Minnesota income taxes, $82,365 for 2006 federal income taxes. This totals $115,069 in unpaid income taxes, directly contradicting Jennifer’s multiple claims that the tax debts were paid off or being paid.

Bankruptcy Filing Problems

While normal consumers might use the bankruptcy process as a chance to reexamine their lives and priorities, and have a fresh start, Israel and Jennifer McKinney appear to have decided to take a different approach. The bankruptcy filing in the District of Minnesota (Case No. 11-61215) is full of false and misleading disclosures, including failure to disclose valuable assets to the bankruptcy trustee.

The bankruptcy of Jennifer Howe Sauls McKinney and Israel McKinney was originally filed on December 12, 2011. In this filing, they disclosed assets of $491,325 and liabilities of $725,483. A summary of the assets and liabilities can be seen here.

Creditors Meeting

A creditors meeting in the bankruptcy of Israel and Jennifer McKinney was held on March 5, 2012. Complete transcripts can be found here. Certain omissions in the December 2012 bankruptcy filing were immediately pointed out by the Trustee. And Jennifer proceeded to try to wordsmith herself out of the problems, to no avail. In no particular order, we will look at relevant portions of the transcript and other documentation that tend to prove the falsity of the bankruptcy petition and oral representations of Jennifer and Israel McKinney.

Undisclosed Blog Income

TRUSTEE: So you filed bankruptcy, you’re still doing Google AdSense, right?
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: So you suddenly start doing all these other ads, too? Right after you filed bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: No I’m not doing them anymore.
TRUSTEE: Okay. Why’d you stop?
JENNIFER: Because I had got a relationship with the bigger ad networks that were more lucrative than small people’s ads, always kind of having those up. I still do them from time to time, like twice a year to promote, like, my readers’ Etsy sites, their small business, ’cause they—so I sometimes do that. But for the most part my income is from my ad network, straight up.
TRUSTEE: Let’s talk about your Google AdSense account. I’ve looked at that and there’s page views and clicks and things of that nature.
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: Why is it that for the month of December there’s less than, at the very most, 35 page clicks on any one day.
JENNIFER: Because I believe in December I had switched from Google AdSense to Burst, my fourth or so ad network, hoping they would be more lucrative for me, so I shut off my Google Ads and they only fill when Burst runs out, so maybe by the end of each day Burst has shown as much as they’re allowed to and then it will automatically go to Google.
TRUSTEE: So then why on, say, February 1st, for example, you went to 24,354 clicks on Google AdSense?
JENNIFER: Because Burst, after staying with them for about a month and a half, I only made like $700, when I had been making like $1,500 or so with Google Ads, so I decided to turn those off and go back to Google. It’s kind of a balance of finding how I can get paid the most.
TRUSTEE: So why did you switch to Burst? What did they offer you to move with them?
JENNIFER: Um, no one offers you anything in this industry, any certain promise. They can sort of say “we have a lot of good relationships, blah, blah, blah.” I had a friend in the industry who recommended them and said he thought they could be good for my page views, so I just thought I would try, and they didn’t promise me anything except to fill my blog as best they could. It just wasn’t as good as Google so I went back.
TRUSTEE: So when did you switch to Burst?
JENNIFER: I don’t remember exactly but I’m assuming if you saw that in December, maybe it was December? I can look it up.
TRUSTEE: I remember going farther back in your logs and seeing like in June or July that your Google went down to less than 30 clicks.
JENNIFER: Right. That was probably, sir, when I switched to Say. We talked a lot about Say last time. I was with them and they were quite lucrative for me until I was no longer able to be with them.
TRUSTEE: Why weren’t you able to stay with Say anymore?
JENNIFER: They were the ones that BlogFrog worked with and BlogFrog itself decided that it wasn’t lucrative enough for them to stay with, so they couldn’t serve it to me any longer.
Okay, I was with Say through November, had Google Ads up for a little bit in the interim, added Burst in the middle of December, and then took them down again relatively recently and put Google back up.
TRUSTEE: Did you switch providers in anticipation of filing your Chapter 7 bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: No, not at all. I’ve been trying to make the most money I can to not have to file, but now I’m just trying to make the most money I can to support our family.[snip] TRUSTEE: Alright. Who’s getting paid from New Media Consultants in December 2011? Is that you, ma’am?
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: What’s that for?
JENNIFER: That’s just more blog income—ads on my blog.
TRUSTEE: So you got paid $500 at that point in time. When was that money earned?
JENNIFER: When did I get that paycheck?
TRUSTEE: December 23rd.[snip] TRUSTEE: So in December of 2000 [sic] I’ve got a report here from Burst Media, December of 2011, that shows income of $824.26.
JENNIFER: Yes sir.
TRUSTEE: And just for my recollection, you started Burst again when?
JENNIFER: I started Burst mid-December.
TRUSTEE: Okay. From Google AdSense?
JENNIFER: Exactly.
TRUSTEE: Okay. So then that mid-December, half a month you made $824 from Burst, right?[snip] MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: I do have two checks deposited somewhere around December 6th.
TRUSTEE: Okay.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Added together come up to about 6387. I think that’s that number you were looking for there, and they were both from BlogFrog.
TRUSTEE: Okay, so it’s—it came up to 62, you said?
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Uh, 6387.
TRUSTEE: That sounds right.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Is what I’m looking at, and then there might be, you know, something else that adds to that, maybe there was a third check somewhere.
JENNIFER: It would have been another $500 check then, to make 68.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Right, so . . .
TRUSTEE: Okay, so BlogFrog paid you approximately $6,300 in December of 2011?
JENNIFER: Looks like they did.
TRUSTEE: And maybe we’ve covered this before, but you’ve got Say, you’ve got Burst and you’ve got BlogFrog–
JENNIFER: Say and BlogFrog
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Are the same.
JENNIFER: Were the same.
TRUSTEE: Okay. So—and you didn’t make . . . and BlogFrog discontinued doing business with you in December?
JENNIFER: With Say.
TRUSTEE: With Say. But they’re still doing business with you now?
JENNIFER: Yeah but it’s like I don’t really get anything because they’re not with Say, but technically we’re affiliated.
TRUSTEE: But you’re with Burst, aren’t you?
JENNIFER: Now I’m back with Google.
TRUSTEE: Okay. You were always with Google though, right?
JENNIFER: Nope. When I’m with someone else I’m not with Google at all, except maybe a tiny spillover. It’s . . .

So Jennifer claims she was making $1,500 per month with Google, which would appear to correlate with the monthly income she reported in the bankruptcy filing. But the trustee finds her actual income in the documents. The real income received in December 2011 was:

  • $500 from New Media Consultants
  • $824 from Burst
  • $6,387 from BlogFrog and another $500 from an unknown source
  • Undisclosed income from Amazon.com and other affiliate programs
  • Potentially other undisclosed income

This is a total of at least $7,711 in December 2011 alone, when Jennifer reported in the December 2011 bankruptcy filing that her total income (blog, photography, deals, the whole works) was going to be $1,500 per month. A simple peek at her own accounts would have clearly told her that her income was going to be more than $1,500 per month.

More Undisclosed Blog Income

TRUSTEE: So you had all this money sitting in your PayPal account then before you filed bankruptcy, right?
JENNIFER: I guess so.
TRUSTEE: Alright, here’s some bank transactions. This is the Wells Fargo account, this is the photography account. On 11/4/2011 you deposited in a branch store $3,497.23. Do you know what that’s from? That’s a little over a month before you filed bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: For 2,000?
TRUSTEE: 2011.
JENNIFER: Dollars? I can look it up.
TRUSTEE: $3,497.
JENNIFER: $3,400. Could you tell me that date one more time?
TRUSTEE: November 4th.
JENNIFER: I’m guessing it was for Say Media, but . . . $3,000?
TRUSTEE: $497.22
JENNIFER: [shuffling papers] Well it must have been a combined, a couple of checks combined because I’m not seeing one for exactly that amount, but . . .
TRUSTEE: How many deposits do you have on November 4th? It looks like two deposits, one for $365 that’s from PayPal and then this deposit made in the branch store.
JENNIFER: Here’s one on the 6th but it’s for even more . . . how many deposits on which day, sir?
TRUSTEE: November 4th, one for $365, one for $3,497
JENNIFER: Into which account did that go into?
TRUSTEE: Your photography account, #9246.
JENNIFER: It’s supposed to be every single check that I deposited.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Oh, these are 7469; these are the other account. This is the wrong account. You’re looking for 9246.
JENNIFER: Okay.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: I’m not seeing 9246.
JENNIFER: Then they didn’t print them. But I would feel certain that has to be—I just put my Say check into that but sir, I don’t know for sure.
TRUSTEE: Okay well then last time we talked there was a check deposited on December 6, 2011, $6.087.81. You told me that was the last Say check. So you made $9,000 from Say in the roughly two month period of time before you filed bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: Probably not. Could you tell me those two dates and amounts again?
TRUSTEE: December 6, 2011, $6,087.81 and on 11/4/2011, $3,497.23.
JENNIFER: I’m certain that the November one must have been Say and then the December one was probably Say, plus I probably got something else and it probably—another $3,000? It won’t be in there because that’s not it.
MCKINNEY’S ATTORNEY: Those numbers aren’t there.
TRUSTEE: What other income did you have coming in from other entities?
JENNIFER: My dad gave us a whole bunch of money but that was at Christmas.
TRUSTEE: From where?
JENNIFER: At Christmas. My dad, but that wouldn’t have been . . .
TRUSTEE: I only saw your dad putting money in your PayPal account though, right?
JENNIFER: A couple of times. When he gives me money that’s sometimes where he puts it. That’s more recently.
TRUSTEE: So he’s writing you checks in addition to PayPal?
JENNIFER: Christmas check; he gave us a Christmas check.
TRUSTEE: You filed bankruptcy on December 12th.
JENNIFER: So I had just put $6,800 a few days earlier. Okay, well I guess I just . . .
TRUSTEE: You don’t know where that money came from?
JENNIFER: Well not exactly. Probably it was a Say check and then a bunch of other.
TRUSTEE: What records would you have to have to look at?
JENNIFER: I would probably have to get, just like I did with these, get the copy of the checks that I deposited, so that I would know what it was.
TRUSTEE: Have you set up a meeting yet with your accountant yet for tax purposes?
JENNIFER: No. We don’t have anything scheduled.
TRUSTEE: Do you plan on filing your 2011 taxes in a timely fashion?
JENNIFER: Yes I do.

One bank deposit of $3,497 in November 2011 alone again shows the falsity of Jennifer’s statement that she was going to make $1,500 per month.

Undisclosed Income from Amazon.com (and Other Affiliate Programs!)

TRUSTEE: And this deals, is that where you sell things for other retailers? Through that?
JENNIFER: I share deals, right. Yep.
TRUSTEE: And then you get kickbacks from manufacturers or retailers?
JENNIFER: Yes, through Amazon.
TRUSTEE: How do you get paid by Amazon?
JENNIFER: PayPal.
TRUSTEE: You get merchant credits?
JENNIFER: I don’t know what that is.
TRUSTEE: So merchants put a credit on your account, like Amazon, for example. They give you a credit for deals that come through your site so that you have, let’s just say $100 of things you can buy at Amazon.
JENNIFER: Oh. Maybe they offer it. I just take it as a straight up payment to PayPal.
TRUSTEE: So at the time that you filed bankruptcy on December 13th you did not have any credits with any manufacturer, any retailer, anybody that you’re selling stuff for through your site or partnering with? Is that right?
JENNIFER: No. The deals is pretty new, I still haven’t even really—I don’t think I’ve even gotten paid through Amazon. It’s sort of theoretical still.
TRUSTEE: Prior to that bankruptcy did you have any—for example I’ve seen your blog and I’ve seen where you refer people to buy camera equipment and things like that.
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: Now do you get a percentage or some sort of cut on the sale of that if somebody buys something, don’t you?
JENNIFER: Not until I got the deals page affiliate. You’re not allowed to use affiliate links on a blog unless you disclose them, so on my main blog page anything that I promote I am just sharing and I am not allowed to get a cut.
TRUSTEE: So you haven’t gotten any cuts on anything that’s been sold or that referred to your website or web pages?
JENNIFER: Before I filed?
TRUSTEE: Before you filed.
JENNIFER: Not through Amazon. I mean, let’s see . . . when my deals page first started I had a relationship, and I still do, with a coffee ministry, and my deals girls helped me promote that, and I did disclose that I got a cut and I was paid. That was not before I filed however, sorry, so I don’t know why I brought that up. I got like $150.
TRUSTEE: So all these referrals, if you will, or links to camera equipment and things of that nature on your blog or website, you have never received any credits or money paid to you prior to the time that you filed bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: I do not believe so.
TRUSTEE: Well you would know if you did, wouldn’t you?
JENNIFER: I don’t remember the exact—I may have gotten a small cut back from Amazon when we first started it, but I really don’t remember.
TRUSTEE: I thought you said you didn’t start that until after you filed bankruptcy.
JENNIFER: Right. I just don’t—maybe I started it like two days before. It was around Christmastime, I remember that.

[snip]

JENNIFER: December 23rd. You know what that was? That was probably my very first payment from the Amazon affiliates that we started in the middle of December sometime. Possibly, very certainly, I probably had funds coming, I just didn’t know how much they were yet, and I should have listed those, and then when those paid out they paid me, so that should have been listed as accounts receivable, I guess that’s called.
TRUSTEE: So even though it doesn’t say Amazon it’s from Amazon?
JENNIFER: It is. Those are the deals gals that manage it for me.
TRUSTEE: What does that mean?
JENNIFER: Um, I don’t take care of putting the Amazon links on my blog and looking for deals.
TRUSTEE: Who does?
JENNIFER: A friend of mine.
TRUSTEE: Who’s that?
JENNIFER: Alli Worthington.
TRUSTEE: Is she an employee of yours?
JENNIFER: No.
TRUSTEE: She’s not the person that you claim you pay every month to—
JENNIFER: No.
TRUSTEE: And who does she work for?
JENNIFER: Herself.
TRUSTEE: And she obtains ads for your blog?
JENNIFER: No, she manages the affiliate links on the deals page.

The information provided here is incomplete and false. Jennifer began offering her “Deals” portion of the site in March 2011, as shown here. Not only does she receive income from Amazon.com, she also receives income from Groupon, Logical Media, Eversave, Commission Junction, Doubleclick, and likely other affiliate programs. And what about the possibility that Jennifer meant that only the Amazon deals started in December 2011? Below is just one deal from August 2011 that has an Amazon link and is clearly tagged as “amazon.com.”

And Jenni’s affiliate disclosure, which is dated November 29, 2011, is clearly not “two days” before the filing of the bankruptcy:

It is obvious that the deals did NOT start around Christmas 2011 as Jennifer represented to the bankruptcy. Not even close.

Further, Amazon pays its affiliates monthly, with deposits directly to a bank account, with an Amazon.com gift card, or a check. So it is clear that Jennifer’s first payment from Amazon would not have come in December 2011, around the time of the bankruptcy. It would have come several months before.

Misrepresented Blog Income and Undisclosed PayPal Account(s)

TRUSTEE: I looked at your Google AdSense account.
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: You had $2,060.16 owed at the end of November, not paid until December 23rd. So you issued a check to yourself on November 23rd? I know you don’t have that documentation with you, but you only listed, I think, $1,500 for accounts receivable in your bankruptcy schedules. Do you recall that?
JENNIFER: I do.
TRUSTEE: And yet you had over $2,000 just owed to you by Google AdSense. Do you recall that?
JENNIFER: Yes. Well I do now. I usually get about 15 whenever I have them for a full month, so I think I was assuming that’s how much I had. I should have just checked to see.
TRUSTEE: You didn’t bother checking your AdSense balance?
JENNIFER: Gosh, I guess I must not have. Or maybe that month hadn’t finished? I don’t know.
What were the dates of that again? That I had earned that?
ISRAEL: September 1st through October 18th.
JENNIFER: No, no, the one he just said, of the . . .
TRUSTEE: November. Balance at the end of November. Let me show you a printout of that amount. Do you see where it says balance at the end of November?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: $2,060 and some cents?
JENNIFER: Yep
TRUSTEE: You can cash that out any point in time after that, can’t you?
JENNIFER: Yeah. I can’t get the money instantly but I can’t have the money, start working on—
TRUSTEE: Well how long does it take, a day?
JENNIFER: No, no, it takes a month. Usually you don’t get it ’til a month after the month ends. But yes I could have looked and seen how much I would have coming the next month and I apparently didn’t and rounded to 15, instead of writing 2,000.
TRUSTEE: Where does it say that you can’t cash that _____ in? {48:59}
JENNIFER: Um, it doesn’t say anywhere, that’s just—I mean on the website, I suppose. It’s not like you can just . . .
ISRAEL: That’s their payment schedule.
JENNIFER: That’s their payment schedule, yeah. You get paid after a month after that month ends.
TRUSTEE: So in December of 2000 [sic] I’ve got a report here from Burst Media, December of 2011, that shows income of $824.26.
JENNIFER: Yes sir.
TRUSTEE: And just for my recollection, you started Burst again when?
JENNIFER: I started Burst mid-December.
TRUSTEE: Okay. From Google AdSense?
JENNIFER: Exactly.
TRUSTEE: Okay. So then that mid-December, half a month you made $824 from Burst, right?
JENNIFER: Was it just half a month? I thought that I made about 700-800 after I had been with them for a whole month.
TRUSTEE: Let me show you this chart. It looks like you also were with them November of 2011.
JENNIFER: For, I think, a day, so maybe I . . . okay, okay, you know what? This isn’t right, then. I remember this. I was at the very end of the month, maybe one day. I made $30 because once I joined them I stayed, so then all of December I made $824.26. That led me to decide it wasn’t worth staying with them.
TRUSTEE: So then you had some income that you’d earned from Burst at the time you filed bankruptcy also?
JENNIFER: I guess, yes. I would have had 13 days, so maybe $300-some.
TRUSTEE: So you have the Burst income, you’ve got the Google AdSense, you have the media consultants, you have the PayPal account. You don’t list any of those things in your bankruptcy schedules, right?
JENNIFER: I didn’t separate them out and I didn’t list as much as I had coming in, no.
TRUSTEE: Well you have a PayPal account, a bank account, with money in it, right?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: Money that you can put in and take out?
JENNIFER: Right, but everything from the PayPal goes right to my bank account, so I didn’t list it because it’s not—it’s effectively just a door into my bank account. For the money on here I listed, it would have been from my bank account.
TRUSTEE: That’s not what the question asked. The question asked you to list all bank accounts, doesn’t it?
JENNIFER: Yeah, I didn’t list my PayPal account. I didn’t think of it as a bank account. I’m sorry.

So Jen earned $2,884 of income from certain advertising alone in December 2011, yet in that same month, she put on her bankruptcy paperwork that she was going to earn $1,500 per month total from the website, photography, and deals. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

And she didn’t think that she had to list a PayPal account? Well, not account. Accounts. Because to date, it appears that at least four PayPal accounts are registered to Jennifer McKinney:

  1. One registered to [email protected]
  2. One registered to [email protected]
  3. One registered to [email protected]
  4. One registered to [email protected]

Apparently #1 is the one through which most of her income, including photography and blog revenue goes.  I wonder when Jennifer was planning on telling the bankruptcy trustee that there was more than one PayPal account?

Undisclosed Income from Online Photography Classes

TRUSTEE: Okay.
The, um, Mrs. McKinney, are you doing these photoshoots again?
JENNIFER: I have not.
TRUSTEE: I think I read on your website recently that they’re all filled up for the next—
JENNIFER: Photo classes, sorry. Photoshoots I’m not doing.
TRUSTEE: Okay.
JENNIFER: Online photo classes.
TRUSTEE: Alright. You stopped doing that prior to filing bankruptcy?
JENNIFER: I hadn’t offered those before. This is new. I had done photoshoots. That was in person, taking pictures of people’s families. Photo classes are different.[snip] TRUSTEE: Now you filed bankruptcy on December 13th. In my notes here it says that you had a number of these photography workshops in 2011, as late as December 5th. It’s your testimony that you didn’t have any of these photography workshops?
JENNIFER: If I said that I did then I _____ that I did. Workshops in person, and that was also a second thing that I did, a couple of those, in Texas.
TRUSTEE: So you did in person workshops where you drove around the country and then you had—you also had workshops online or via telephone conference?
JENNIFER: Yeah, those are new. The driving around was around this winter.
TRUSTEE: You did online photography workshops prior to your bankruptcy filing, didn’t you?
JENNIFER: I don’t think so.

Yes, MckMama did hold online photography prior to the filing of the bankruptcy. Lots of them.

She started with face-to-face workshops in September 2011, with a cost of $250 per person for a 1/2 day, or $400 for the whole day. There were 14 attendees for the morning Dallas workshop alone, which would mean income of about $3,500 for the morning, and around $5,000 or $5,500 for the whole day.

On September 30, 2011, Jennifer McKinney announced she was starting online photography classes. She advertised 6 classes for October 2011. With 10 participants per class, and a fee of $40 per person,  that’s $2,400 in revenue. She also offered hourly one-on-one help for $50 per hour.

And on October 31, 2011, MckMama repeated that she had done a bunch of online photography workshops, and was promoting four more sessions for November 2011.

Undisclosed Assets: Domain Names

TRUSTEE: I’ve had you provide me with various documentation, things of that nature. I have some questions for you regarding that. First is, is ma’am, we have a domain name contract for JenniferMcKinneyPhotography.com. Is that accurate?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: And you didn’t list that in your bankruptcy petition. Is that correct?
JENNIFER: It is no longer a current domain that I own.
TRUSTEE: Okay. Did you let it lapse or what?
JENNIFER: Yes, I just didn’t renew it the last time it expired because I don’t use it anymore.
TRUSTEE: So you don’t plan on renewing it, then?
JENNIFER: I don’t plan on it.
TRUSTEE: And was that lapsed when you filed your bankruptcy on December 13th?
JENNIFER: Um, that’s a good question. I’m quite certain it had not lapsed then.
TRUSTEE: Then why didn’t you list it on your schedules?
JENNIFER: I didn’t even think of it. List it as a?
TRUSTEE: Well is it an asset? Is it something that had value?
JENNIFER: Uh, no.
TRUSTEE: What about MyCharmingKids.net?
JENNIFER: Yes. Those are very different.
TRUSTEE: Okay, let’s talk about MyCharmingKids.net.
JENNIFER: Okay.
TRUSTEE: That’s your _____, right? {01:47}
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: That’s for a blog that you write?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: Alright. And does that have any value?
JENNIFER: The blog itself? The actual domain name?
TRUSTEE: The domain name.
JENNIFER: I don’t know. Usually domains cost $10 a year, that’s how much I paid for that one.
TRUSTEE: But your domain name, there’s a lot of people that follow your blog, correct?
JENNIFER: Yes, correct.
TRUSTEE: And they identify it with that domain name, don’t they?
JENNIFER: Right.
TRUSTEE: So it has value?
JENNIFER: I guess. I had never thought about it that way.
TRUSTEE: Okay. And did you—has that been renewed by you?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: When?
JENNIFER: Um. About three or four months ago I remember that one coming up for renewal.
TRUSTEE: What did you pay to renew it?
JENNIFER: It’s $10 a month for me—a year, I’m sorry—to host it through, um, Google.
TRUSTEE: And you have another blog by the name of MckMama.com?
JENNIFER: That is the same. It is a URL that I bought that redirects to MyCharmingKids.net.
TRUSTEE: So what did you pay for MckMama.com?
JENNIFER: Gosh; that one’s either $5 or $10 a year, also through Google.
TRUSTEE: So you pay it or you pay to use it? You said you bought it, I thought you said.
JENNIFER: Yes, you buy the domain, so I own MckMama.com. I bought it through Google and I must continue to pay $10 a year for it to continue to be mine.
TRUSTEE: Okay, so how much value does that have?
JENNIFER: Probably . . . I mean, $10.
TRUSTEE: So you don’t mind then if I try to sell those domain names and pay you $10?
JENNIFER: Well I wouldn’t sell them for $10.
TRUSTEE: What would you sell them for?
JENNIFER: Gosh, I wouldn’t . . . I would probably never sell them.
TRUSTEE: It’s not a question of what you’d sell them for, it’s what value they have. It’s part of your bankruptcy schedules.
JENNIFER: Um. I would, uh . . . that’s a great question. I would probably sell it for, like, $50 and I would just buy a different one and then, you know, I would be able to figure something else out.
TRUSTEE: Alright, so then you wouldn’t have an objection if I tried advertising this for sale, MckMama.com and MyCharmingKids.net?
JENNIFER: Well I would have a problem with it since it’s not yours to list for sale.
TRUSTEE: It is mine. It’s the bankruptcy estate’s. You didn’t list it
JENNIFER: Oh, got it. I see what you’re saying.
TRUSTEE: It’s an undisclosed asset.
JENNIFER: Okay. No, I would figure something out. I mean, I would be able to survive without it.
TRUSTEE: Okay, so I’ll put that on the list of sort of things that we plan to sell.

What’s interesting about the domain names, is that Jennifer would have us believe that they are worth $100, as shown on the amended bankruptcy schedules. She has an interest in lowballing that, and she claimed in the creditors meeting that the value was the $10 annual fee she pays for the domain name. The fact is, the actual asset is the domain name plus the blog. And as we have seen, that asset is very valuable.

Undisclosed Income In Total

TRUSTEE: Alright, total PayPal income from 2011 was $67,086. Now that would have been from the photography stuff you did, right?
JENNIFER: I’m sorry, I didn’t hear—I wasn’t listening.
TRUSTEE: PayPal income for 2011, $67,086, alright?
JENNIFER: Yep.
TRUSTEE: And that would have come from photoshoots?
JENNIFER: Yep.
TRUSTEE: What else?
JENNIFER: Online classes, in person classes.
TRUSTEE: Anything else.
JENNIFER: Weddings, um, anywhere else I would have gotten money, you mean?
TRUSTEE: Where else would that $67,000 originate?
JENNIFER: You know, my dad would give us gifts through PayPal.
TRUSTEE: I saw those; they’re fairly small, aren’t they?
JENNIFER: Exactly. And then sometimes I would sell things on eBay or people would pay me—very minimal. For the most part that’s all photography or blog income.
TRUSTEE: Alright. Google AdSense revenue 2011, $21,303—that’s self explanatory?
JENNIFER: Yep.
TRUSTEE: That was all through clicks on your website, correct?
JENNIFER: Yep. Indeed.
TRUSTEE: Deposits in branch bank, $59,736. That’s what you’ve got there?
JENNIFER: Yep.

Jennifer and Israel McKinney disclosed that 2011 income from Jennifer’s business was $55,000, in both the original filing and the amended filing. This is patently untrue. The income the trustee found included:

PayPal – $67,086
Google AdSense – $21,303
Deposits at Bank Branch – $59,736
TOTAL – $148,125

Note that this does not include income Jennifer received from Amazon.com and other affiliate programs (from which she likely has been receiving monthly payments since at least April 2011, but for which Jennifer claimed in the creditors meeting that she has received nothing).

The total of $148,125 in 2011 is obviously a far cry from the $55,000 income for 2011 that Jennifer is still claiming in the amended bankruptcy schedules:

Undisclosed Camper / RV Sale

TRUSTEE: Last time we talked about the camper and you testified, that I recall, that there was one camper that you were renting from a neighbor. Is that right?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: Did you ever own a second camper?
JENNIFER: No.
TRUSTEE: And there was a camper—did you sell a camper on Craigslist?
JENNIFER: We never had owned it.
TRUSTEE: You sold a camper on Craigslist that you didn’t own?
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE: How would you sell a camper on Craigslist you didn’t own? What authority did you have?
ISRAEL: What’s the question?
TRUSTEE: What authority did you have to sell a camper on Craigslist that you didn’t own?
ISRAEL: Um, I believe we never titled it, the camper, in our name; therefore it was never ours.
TRUSTEE: This isn’t a game of semantics. Did you own it, even though it wasn’t titled in your name? Did you pay for it?
ISRAEL: Uh, I was advised that if we did not title it in our name, we never owned it.
TRUSTEE: Who paid—who advised you of that?
ISRAEL: Um, I think that we got that advice at this meeting last time from our counsel.
TRUSTEE: Alright. Did you pay for it?
ISRAEL: Uh, I didn’t because I wasn’t working but yes, we together paid for it. My wife wrote the check.
TRUSTEE: Alright. We can be here a long time. In fact if we don’t get any straight answers we’re going to be here a long time.
Now last time I asked you about the camper you said you never owned it, ma’am, and that’s because it wasn’t titled in your name?
JENNIFER: Correct.
TRUSTEE: What kind of camper was it?
ISRAEL: Jayco Jayflight.
TRUSTEE: What year?
ISRAEL: Um, not certain. Do you remember.
JENNIFER: Mm-mm [no].
TRUSTEE: How many feet was it?
ISRAEL: 34 I believe.
TRUSTEE: Slide?
ISRAEL: One slide, yes?
TRUSTEE: Travel trailer, or uh—
ISRAEL: Travel trailer.
TRUSTEE: What’d you pay for it?
ISRAEL: Do you remember?
JENNIFER: 12?
TRUSTEE: 12,000?
JENNIFER: I think 12,000
TRUSTEE: Did you pay cash?
ISRAEL: Cash or check?
JENNIFER: No, I think I paid him through PayPal?
ISRAEL: Yeah, you did.
TRUSTEE: Who’d you buy it from?
ISRAEL: A man in Madison, Wisconsin.
TRUSTEE: Did you find it on Craigslist, or somebody you knew?
JENNIFER: We found it on some online thing, I think Craigslist.
TRUSTEE: Alright, so you bought it. What year did you buy it?
JENNIFER: We bought it on the way home from our first trip.
ISRAEL: Yeah, 2011
TRUSTEE: January?
JENNIFER: You said what year.
ISRAEL: Uh, it would have been March, I believe?
TRUSTEE: Alright, so you bought it in three of 2011, you paid $12,000 for it, you paid for it through PayPal. When did you sell it—what month?
JENNIFER: It wasn’t long after we got back.
ISRAEL: June? May?
JENNIFER: Probably May or June.
ISRAEL: May? I believe it was late May.
TRUSTEE: May of 2011?
ISRAEL: Yes.
TRUSTEE: What’d you sell it for?
ISRAEL: What did you sell it for, 85?
JENNIFER: No, I think it was like 90
ISRAEL: You listed it for 10
JENNIFER: I think I sold it for $9,000.
TRUSTEE: Alright.
JENNIFER: And I think that deposit was on my bank statement.
TRUSTEE: So you sold it for $9,000. Alright.
JENNIFER: Yep.
TRUSTEE: Okay.
ISRAEL: I think it was 85; they talked you down an extra 500.
JENNIFER: Oh yeah, I think you might be right.
TRUSTEE: Who bought it?
ISRAEL: A couple on Craigslist from South Metro.
TRUSTEE: Okay. No one any relation to you?
ISRAEL: No.
TRUSTEE: So in other words you were just holding an open title. Is that right?
ISRAEL: I’m not aware what that means, but.
TRUSTEE: You bought it, you didn’t title it in your name and you sold it, and you just transferred whatever interest you had to somebody else.
ISRAEL: That’s right.
TRUSTEE: And the $8,500? What account did that get deposited into?
JENNIFER: I’m quite certain it was our Wells Fargo.
TRUSTEE: Which one? You have several Wells Fargo accounts.
JENNIFER: The main one, the Jennifer McKinney Photography, I would think. That was really all we used at that point.

Obviously this camper was a substantial asset that was sold prior to the bankruptcy and should have been included in the bankruptcy schedules.  Jennifer tries to wordsmith and say that since the title wasn’t in their name, she didn’t think they had to disclose it. That doesn’t ring true.

And Jennifer seemed to have a hard time remembering how much the camper was sold for, or when it was sold. Maybe Facebook can refresh her memory. On August 19, 2011, she posted the following in response to a question from a reader:

Did you catch that? She said “….getting back what we had spent on it.”  You see Jennifer said in the creditors meeting that she used her PayPal account to purchase the camper in March 2011 for $12,000 from a man in Madison. If they “got back what they spent on it,” then that would mean that they sold it for $12,000, $3,500 more than Jennifer admitted to in the creditors meeting or the amended bankruptcy filing. (All of Jennifer’s August 2011 Facebook posts have been *mysteriously* deleted, but this screenshot exists thanks to the long memory of the internet.)

Garage Sale

TRUSTEE: Any other property? Cars? Campers? Anything else that you sold, whether you held title to it or not?
ISRAEL: No.
TRUSTEE: No?
ISRAEL: No.
JENNIFER: From when to when, sir? What are you asking?
TRUSTEE: Six months prior to your bankruptcy filing.
JENNIFER: No. We had the garage sale that you already asked us about, but . . .
TRUSTEE: You told me you sold little or nothing there, if I recall.
JENNIFER: Yeah, nothing of significance. A couple hundred.
TRUSTEE: A couple hundred bucks?
JENNIFER: Mm-hmm.[snip] TRUSTEE: When did they move out there?
LANDLORD: September 1st—let’s see, they showed up the first week of September; they just finished up having a big yard sale at their home in Becker.

It’s interesting that at the creditors meeting, the “little or nothing” was sold at the (1) garage sale. In reality, there were two (2) garage sales. One began on August 4, 2011, and one began on September 2, 2011, as shown by the below tweets.

So contrary to her assertion to the bankruptcy trustee that “nothing of significance” was sold, the Tweets at that time say something completely different. It exposes the two garage sales, mentions several specific items that were sold, and describes the second garage sale as “a hit.” Jennifer gave more information on Facebook about items sold at the September garage sale, as  shown here and here. And please note that the second garage sale was held after the McKinneys had hired their bankruptcy attorney, so surely they would have known (or had the ability to know) that sales of assets needed to be reported to the bankruptcy trustee.

On Cheating a Landlord

LANDLORD: Yeah, I didn’t know if I should be included in the bankruptcy because I have past bills or because we’re starting a new list of bills.
TRUSTEE: If you were owed money at the time that she filed bankruptcy you should have been included.
LANDLORD: I could be, right.
I have a separate case with them pending, to regain my rent that was owed to me for January.
TRUSTEE: Okay. Did they owe you any money before she filed bankruptcy in December 12th of 2011?
LANDLORD: At the time they filed I had, the last week of December, learned that they had not paid the gas bill out at the farm. It was four months of gas bill due so that was either going to be—that was going to be due to me if it wasn’t going to be paid so yes, they had four months of utility bills that was not paid.
TRUSTEE: When did they move out there?
LANDLORD: September 1st—let’s see, they showed up the first week of September; they just finished up having a big yard sale at their home in Becker.
TRUSTEE: So moved out there the first week of September, 2011.
LANDLORD: Right.
TRUSTEE: When did they first contact you about renting your place?
LANDLORD: Um, about the same time.
TRUSTEE: Okay. Within a couple of days?
LANDLORD: Uh, possibly maybe a week or ten days before that. They were actually maybe second or third on the list. I had an initial renter but that one didn’t work out, so I called them immediately.TRUSTEE: Okay. I remember something about rent being paid into escrow?
JENNIFER: Yes.
LANDLORD: Right. But I was getting a little bit suspicious around the Christmas holiday that this was maybe just an attempt to get out of rent, so that was—I have a lease agreement with them that they’re supposed to be paying the utilities out there. My suspicions were that they hadn’t been paying the gas bill and that they had used up nearly the majority of the $1,000 worth of propane in that tank. I called Rick Gappa Gas Service and they confirmed that they had not been out there once during that entire time period, to put in any gas. I had that sort of sinking feeling in my stomach that something was going on there.
I then learned about this bankruptcy case but only by accident. The papers that were being sent to me for this bankruptcy case were being sent to them. The postmaster recognized the mistake on it and had the papers given to my folks, and they were sent to me out in California, where they knew I was at at the time.
I, at that point in time, realized that I had—I felt like I had been lied to and taken for a scam. So around the middle of January, to make sure that I knew that I was sure about this, I called the electric company and learned that they had not paid any electrical bills out there. I checked with them again yesterday; they have not paid any electrical bills in the five months that they have lived there.
TRUSTEE: Okay.
LANDLORD: Nancy from the billing department was willing to come today and she’s willing to come to another hearing if she needs to testify to this. It’s well over $1,000 that is owed on the account out there.
I had an e-mail from Jennifer here in my file, from the first week of September, stating that she was putting the utilities and the propane in her name that day. It never happened. So altogether I did not get rent, I did not get the gas bill—or the propane bill.
I have since contacted Gary _____ who did snow plowing out there; he hadn’t been paid. And Corey’s Waste hadn’t been paid for picking up trash.
TRUSTEE: Okay. To the extent there’s any bills that were incurred after the bankruptcy was filed it doesn’t get discharged in the bankruptcy.
LANDLORD: I didn’t—
TRUSTEE: To the extent that there’s bills incurred after the bankruptcy is filed, they aren’t discharged in the bankruptcy.
LANDLORD: Yeah?
TRUSTEE: But to the extent that you think she owes you money from pre-bankruptcy debt, you have to get your own attorney to represent your interests. Alright?
LANDLORD: Right, Okay.
TRUSTEE: Anything else?
LANDLORD: Is there a time period that we’re supposed to submit the records to them, as far as the electric company now? I mean, are they out of that timeframe?
TRUSTEE: You’ll need to talk to your own attorney. I can’t give you legal advice.
LANDLORD: Okay.
TRUSTEE: Okay?
LANDLORD: I have a black refrigerator they left behind at my house. I’m not sure if it’s the one that they purchased, that they were speaking of here. I’m not sure what’s—if it belongs to the bankruptcy court at this point in time or if it belongs to me. It’s still sitting there, it’s full of garbage and it stinks.
JENNIFER: That’s the one that you agreed to buy. That’s why I left it.
LANDLORD: I agreed to buy it from them. I believe it worked at the time. I said I would give them $100 for it. They left it behind. It’s full of garbage and it stinks.
TRUSTEE: Did you give them $100 for it?
LANDLORD: I agreed that I would under the terms of the release of our bankruptcy, or, I’m sorry, the release of their escrow money. We had negotiated an agreement there and I thought that was going to be closed, and that was part of it.

Being the stand-up people that Jennifer and Israel McKinney are, they left trash and belongings behind for the landlord to clean up, failed to pay for gas or electric (more than $1,000 worth!), and then expected him to pay them $100 for a refrigerator full of rotting food. Typical McKinney scams.

Undisclosed Donations and Gifts

TRUSTEE: Let’s talk about some of your checks that you wrote. This is from _____ February 4th _____ – donation to a friend’s international adoption on February 1st, $1,000. Who’s that to? {31:24}
JENNIFER: Our friends Mark and Ann Durand. They’re from the Buffalo / Monticello area.
TRUSTEE: And you transferred to GNHI, humanitarian organization to Africa, $1,000?
JENNIFER: Yes.
TRUSTEE: You didn’t list that in your bankruptcy schedules under transfers. Why didn’t you?
JENNIFER: Under transfers?
TRUSTEE: Yes. It asks you if you did transfers of any assets.
JENNIFER: Okay. I guess I thought of it more as charitable giving and not—didn’t think of it as a transfer. Sorry I didn’t put it in the right spot.

So $2,000 given away but not reported on the bankruptcy schedules as required, with Jennifer claiming she didn’t think it was a transfer. And that she “didn’t put it in the right spot.” Not quite. Jennifer didn’t put it in any spot. It was completely undisclosed, in apparent violation of the bankruptcy laws.

Undisclosed Gift to Family

TRUSTEE: What’s this Nancy Lee Brady gift for $300 from October 3rd. Who is that? Is that your _____? {41:19}
ISRAEL: That’s my mom.
TRUSTEE: Do you see on the Statement of Affairs it asks for gifts, number 7? List all gifts to family members.
ISRAEL: Uh yes, I see that and that would have been a mistake of mine. I thought that we had gone over that in our previous meeting. We didn’t.
JENNIFER: I think we had said _________ [background noise].
ISRAEL: No we had mentioned except for my mom and I said that I had made a check for—and I thought it was like $500 but it turns out it was $300.

After all of the curious discoveries made by the bankruptcy trustee during the creditors meeting, Jennifer McKinney told the readers of the MckMama blog that it “went well”:

Really? The trustee busts Jennifer and Israel on lie after lie, and that’s considered “well”? I doubt any rational person could read that transcript and think that the hearing went well for them.

Amended Bankruptcy Schedules

Following the March creditors meeting, the McKinneys filed amended financial information in their Chapter 7 bankruptcy, case 11-61215. And lo and behold, some substantial items that were previously undisclosed are now disclosed. I think it’s clear that only the discovery of these items by the bankruptcy trustee prompted this amendment.

Here is a summary of the assets on the original and amended filings, as well as other important information:

And here’s a handy pdf of the numbers for your own use.

While the assets in the amended schedules are only slightly higher than in the original filing, this is the case only because Jennifer and Israel are failing to disclose things or making false disclosures. Highlighted in yellow are the items that were undisclosed or inaccurately disclosed in the original bankruptcy filing. Highlighted in pink are the items that still have problems, even in the amended filing.

  • PayPal Account – The first new disclosure is the “PayPal Account.” There are a couple of interesting point about this. How in the world is the balance unknown? PayPal provides complete histories, and Jennifer can look at this history and find out exactly how much money was in the account(s) on the day of the bankruptcy filing. Second, and more important, is the fact that there are at least 4 known PayPal accounts that Jennifer has used, not one.
  • Domain Names – The value is lowballed, as discussed above.
  • Jayco Travel Trailer – As discussed above, Jennifer disclosed in the creditors meeting and in this amended bankruptcy filing that the RV was sold for $8,500. According to a contemporaneous Facebook posting shown above, it is likely that it was sold for $12,000.
  • Garage Sales – Jennifer still has not disclosed in her amended bankruptcy schedules the many items that were sold at two very public garage sales.

You see also in the amended bankruptcy filing, Jennifer McKinney changes the monthly income for the means test from $5,039 to $9,750, almost twice as much as originally reported. Yet in Schedule I, Current Income of Individual Debtor(s), Jennifer’s gross income from her business (blog, photography, deals) is still listed as only $1,500 despite the bankruptcy trustee showing the falsity of that number in the creditors meeting.

Opinion

Are these non-disclosures and false disclosures in the bankruptcy filing of Jennifer McKinney and Israel McKinney important? YES!!! While the amounts may be small in some cases, the bottom line is that the  bankruptcy law REQUIRES DISCLOSURE of these things. Jennifer and Israel McKinney do not get to decide that these items don’t matter. They MUST disclose them and let the bankruptcy judge decide what to do with them.

Do I think that the McKinneys just made “mistakes” in filling out their paperwork? NO!!!!

It appears to me that the non-disclosure and the inaccurate disclosures were willful. They have engaged in a pattern and practice of deception in their bankruptcy filing (and other financial dealings).

Again, bankruptcy is a very serious process, and the McKinneys had a legal duty to be careful with their disclosures. What they did seems to go beyond mistakes. They failed to disclose things, and hoped no one would find out.  Even when confronted with the truth at the creditors meeting, Jennifer continued to lie about her income, the family’s assets, and when she received money.

I am pleased that the bankruptcy trustee, Gene Doeling, has filed an application for his law firm to assist with further action in the McKinney bankruptcy. The application states the law firm will:

Object to the debtors’ claim of exemptions, pursue turnover of property and to otherwise represent the bankruptcy.

One option for the bankruptcy court is to approve the McKinney petition for bankruptcy but seize certain assets, sell them, and give the money to the creditors.

I hope that instead, the bankruptcy court declines to discharge the debts of Jennifer and Israel McKinney, and they are saddled with these debts for the rest of their lives. According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (11 USC § 727):

(a) The court shall grant the debtor a discharge, unless—

(1) the debtor is not an individual;
(2) the debtor, with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a creditor or an officer of the estate charged with custody of property under this title, has transferred, removed, destroyed, mutilated, or concealed, or has permitted to be transferred, removed, destroyed, mutilated, or concealed

(A) property of the debtor, within one year before the date of the filing of the petition; or
(B) property of the estate, after the date of the filing of the petition;

(3) the debtor has concealed, destroyed, mutilated, falsified, or failed to keep or preserve any recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers, from which the debtor’s financial condition or business transactions might be ascertained, unless such act or failure to act was justified under all of the circumstances of the case;
(4) the debtor knowingly and fraudulently, in or in connection with the case—

(A) made a false oath or account;
(B) presented or used a false claim;
(C) gave, offered, received, or attempted to obtain money, property, or advantage, or a promise of money, property, or advantage, for acting or forbearing to act; or…..

The debts of MckMama and Israel did not come about because of some unfortunate situation. The debts were incurred by people making substantial sums of money and spending even more substantially. Even so, they could have been discharged under the bankruptcy laws if Jennifer and Israel were honest in their filing. They were not honest… repeatedly… and I hope that the result is that their debt is not discharged and they are finally held accountable for their actions.

UPDATE #1: Since Jennifer McKinney began hawking Xyngular diet pills prior to the March 5 creditors meeting, it is important to keep tabs on this income. She has been bragging about how many people signed up under her and have purchased the product. Xyngular apparently pays its reps daily, and has methods available for transferring funds that may otherwise allow someone to fly under the radar with this income. Let’s hope the bankruptcy trustee digs into this issue so that the McKinney’s true income (and their true ability to repay their debts) is exposed.

UPDATE #2: Jennifer Howe Sauls McKinney has filed for legal separation in Wisconsin.  The Affidavit for Temporary Order filed in court on April 3, 2012 states:

4. My spouse and I have not agreed on an economic arrangement during the pendency of this action, and there is a need for such orders as requested in this affidavit.

However, in the amended bankruptcy schedules filed on April 12, 2012, child support of $800 is shown as an expense on Israel’s schedule of current expenditures. Oddly enough, Jennifer’s schedule of current income doesn’t reflect $800 of child support each month. It still reflects the materially false and misleading figure of only $1,500:

Joint Debtor’s self-employment will be decreasing significantly as no online ads are being purchased. She expects her income to drop from $5000 per month to $1500.

Note that if Israel takes a deduction for child support paid, Jennifer should recognize it on Schedule I, line 10, since it is not a true “expense,” but is merely a transfer between debtors.

Update #3:  During the March 5, 2012 creditors meeting, Jennifer was asked about a payment made on the house after the bankruptcy filing:

TRUSTEE:     According to your list here on 8/26, which is four days after you hired your attorney to file bankruptcy, there’s a payment, according to your notes, to Central Bank for $6,248.52. Right?
JENNIFER:     Mm-hmm.
TRUSTEE:     So what are you paying Central Bank over $6,000 for, four days after you hired an attorney to file bankruptcy?
ISRAEL:     Two months of mortgage.
TRUSTEE:     Why are you paying the mortgage when you know you’re going to file bankruptcy?
JENNIFER:     Because we weren’t planning on leaving our house.
TRUSTEE:     How many months behind were you?
JENNIFER:     Just like half a month. _____ they had the money. I remember saying “well I’ll pay this and I’ll go ahead and pay next month so I don’t have to worry about . . . ”

But a blog post on August 27, 2011 refutes the claim that they weren’t planning on leaving their house. Just one day after the payment “…because we weren’t planning on leaving our house,” Jennifer said that “friends invite you to their church when they know you are moving.” How could friends have already known the McKinneys were moving and have invited them to their church, when just one day prior Jenni says they weren’t planning on leaving their house? (And please note the mention of friends permanently storing their furniture from Mudd Lake. The bankruptcy court might want to look into that as well.)

123 Comments

  1. Curious 04/24/2012 at 8:07 am - Reply

    So the trustee gave her a chance to amend her 2011 income, after concluding what income/assests they found during the trustee meeting, and she still got it wrong? I’m assuming her lawyer was in on that meeting too? Are there any reprocussions for ms. McKinney or her lawyer, for still incorrectly filing the amended papers? I mean besides the potential charges of intentionally hiding assets and income, etc?

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 8:09 am - Reply

      Yes, criminal charges are possible, although they are not too common. I’m not a lawyer, but I think this case is a good candidate for potential criminal charges, however, because of how egregious the violations are.

  2. Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 8:10 am - Reply

    This is a good example of a bankruptcy case in which criminal charges were brought:

    http://m.jsonline.com/more/news/watchdog/137356988.htm

    Jennifer may want to pay attention.

  3. Wendy 04/24/2012 at 9:55 am - Reply

    Very interesting read and very well written.

  4. Heather 04/24/2012 at 10:11 am - Reply

    Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking what must have been a huge amount of time to research and write this article! I have been following the MckMama blogging train wreck for years now and can’t believe she’s still around. This latest mess just boggles my mind. It’s so transparent that she hid assets and income–I really hope the trustee for the case sees through her lies and fraud. Thank you again!

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 10:26 am - Reply

      You’re welcome! You’re right.. it did take quite a bit of time but it was worth the effort. The MWOP blog was extremely helpful to my work, and I wrote this because I believe Jennifer McKinney needs to be held accountable for her actions. No longer can she claim that the “mean girls” are just picking on her. The numbers don’t lie, but Jennifer sure dues.

      • Christine 04/24/2012 at 11:09 am - Reply

        Yes. This. “No longer can she claim that the “mean girls” are just picking on her. The numbers don’t lie, but Jennifer sure does.” Thank you!

  5. Meagan 04/24/2012 at 11:55 am - Reply

    Oh my goodness! Is there any way to forward this article to the Trustee? I think the way all this info is organized so well would be helpful to him in pursuing charges against those scammers!! They truly deserve to go to jail.

  6. AD 04/24/2012 at 12:04 pm - Reply

    Another fascinating PayPal issue with this bankruptcy has been uncovered over on MWoP. Evidently MckMama and MckDaddy have several different PayPal accounts between them. Money (a penny here, a dollar there) was sent to various alternative e-mails discovered belonging to Jennifer and Israel. All of the e-mails evidently have PayPal accounts associated with them. Jennifer stated she has/had several Wells Fargo accounts, and each could have been used to fund a PayPal account. God only knows how much money Jennifer has spread out across those PayPal accounts and what banks they transfer into when she withdraws money.

    Her Xyng distributorship also permits daily payments in the form of pre-paid credit cards – another handy way for her to keep her income off the record for a while.

    She’s a piece of work. I’m glad someone other than MWoP has taken notice of her criminal activities. Because as you say in an above comment – she can dismiss so much of the scrutiny she receives as being the work of haters and mean girls. She’s operated on the wrong side of good and the back side of legal for a long time. It will be good to see the courts hold her accountable.

  7. D. 04/24/2012 at 12:24 pm - Reply

    Not illegal, but it was discovered that she created fake fb and twitter people to compliment her and go on the defensive against any negative comments. Stephanie Gerber is actually Jennifer Mckinney.

  8. Rose 04/24/2012 at 12:31 pm - Reply

    A revealing, eye-opening article about the devious, scheming entity that is Jennifer & Israel McKinney. Those 2 need to be punished for such actions. Regardless of what she thinks, they are NOT above the law, & hopefully will pay the price. Sooner or later, hopefully sooner.

  9. Jenny 04/24/2012 at 12:44 pm - Reply

    The Amazon links have been on the deals page since it started. She even made a Father’s Day post on the blog full of Amazon links. There is no disclosure, even thought she told the trustee she can’t use links without disclosing them.

    The difference between the $12,000 they paid for the RV and the $8,500 they resold it for is $3,500, not $2,500.

    The in-person photo classes started August 13th. She posted a blog saying she was teaching the first one.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 12:57 pm - Reply

      Thanks for catching the typo, Jenny!

  10. Bravo 04/24/2012 at 1:33 pm - Reply

    This is an excellent piece of work! Very precise and detailed and professional.

    One very small thing:

    You said:
    Did you catch that? She said “….getting back what we had spent on it.” You see Jennifer said in the creditors meeting that she used her PayPal account to purchase the camper in March 2011 for $12,000 from a man in Madison. If they “got back what they spent on it,” then that would mean that they sold it for $12,000, $2,500 more than Jennifer admitted to in the creditors meeting or the amended bankruptcy filing. (All of Jennifer’s August 2011 Facebook posts have been *mysteriously* deleted, but this screenshot exists thanks to the long memory of the internet.)”

    Wouldn’t that be a $3500.00, not $2500.00?

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 1:42 pm - Reply

      Yes, thank you, it’s been corrected.

  11. […] http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2012/04/mckmama-fraud-jennifer-mckinney-bankruptcy/ This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. ← MckMama Creditors Meeting Audio Recording […]

  12. Phyllis 04/24/2012 at 4:08 pm - Reply

    http://bit.ly/J7Lqu8

    This is a link to a cached version of a blog post by Jennifer on 8/27/2011 regarding more assets of value (high-end vintage furniture from a boutique called Mudd Lake) that are undisclosed in the bankruptcy paperwork – both original and amended.

  13. Phyllis 04/24/2012 at 4:14 pm - Reply

    I also failed to mention that the same blog post linked in my previous comment also talks about an in-person photography workshop from that day. So, her own words verify she was holding these as early as AUGUST, 2011.

  14. Tracy 04/24/2012 at 4:17 pm - Reply

    GREAT job. I was sucked in by Jennifer’s cute kids and YAY God non-sense…even defended her early on to the “nay-sayers”. When I started noticing her inconsistencies, and her double talk non-sense, I started looking into the “nay-sayers” claims, and have been reading the various incarnations of MWOP.

    I truly can’t believe that her followers continue to believe her bold lies. How can you continue to defend a woman who posts about bankruptcy one day – and the next posts about staying in expensive hotels and driving around the country and trips to Las Vegas?

    I’m skeptical that she’ll suffer any Federal fraud charges over this…but I REALLY hope the eyes of her followers are opened to what a despicable human being she is, and to the fact that she’s been scamming them – for YEARS.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 4:19 pm - Reply

      Thank you. I don’t know if any legal action will be taken against the McKinney’s, but we can hope. At the very least, those who WANT to know the truth can see it in black and white here.

  15. Marcy 04/24/2012 at 5:22 pm - Reply

    I hope this is being forwarded to trustees. Thanks for the excellent article.

  16. Barbara Murtha Malley 04/24/2012 at 7:12 pm - Reply

    With all due respect, only the parties directly involved in this case have all the facts. In this country we are all entitled to due process. As I’m sure you know there is a ton of stuff that goes on behind the scenes of which are not part of the public record. Correspondences, conference calls, conversations in Court, oral arguments etc. etc. The only people that are privy to all of the information in this case are the McKinneys, their attorney Patty Wisecup, Judge Dennis D. O’Brien and the trustee/Gene W. Doeling. I think it would be prudent to let the system work. However this plays out is clearly in the hands of Judge Dennis D. O’Brien. As it should be. At this juncture this is a bankruptcy case. Nothing more, nothing less. No charges to date have been brought against the McKinney’s. Innocent until proven guilty is a mainstay of our Constitution. Whatever the Court decides, it decides. I suggest we let the system work and not be participants of internet arm chair conclusions. I mean does anyone out in cyber world really think they know everything about the McKinneys? Really? It’s the internet. Enough said.

    What does cause me much concern about this presentation is that the majority of the information presented here relies almost entirely from the MWOP blog which is anything but a reputable site. In all fairness, I would appreciate it very much if you would read up on a presentation that I did that showcases the actions of MWOP, who are beyond disturbing and rabid in their treatment of Jennifer McKinney & her entire family. A hater blog that has deliberatly and purposefully done everything in their power to lower Jennifer McKinney’s income. I mean that’s fair, right?

    I felt compelled to contact the Court after realizing that members of MWOP were actively contacting the Court themselves. That being said I opened up my profile page on Facebook and published my writings to the Court as well as a few other things. It is open to the public. I do hope that other view points are accepted here and are not censored.

    Links:

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1457866640

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1457866640#!/profile.php?id=1457866640&sk=photos

    Thank you,
    Barbara Murtha Malley

    • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 7:30 pm - Reply

      Sorry Barbara, but you are mistaken in your assumptions. While MWOP did provide excellent information in the form of timelines and documents, I evaluated everything before posting it. The information here is the cold, hard evidence found in court filings and in Jennifer McKinney’s own writings on her blog and Facebook. I have heard the recording of the creditors meeting, and the transcript is accurate.

      Yes, we will have to wait for the system to work. However, there is no reason why interested taxpayers should not participate in researching the issues and assembling the evidence. You may have noticed that I work as a fraud investigator, and I am very experienced in these types of matters. I was happy to be able to use my skills in fraud examination to evaluate the numbers and the evidence. Now it is up to the trustee to take action, and I am hopeful that he will pursue these issues vigorously. Abuse of the bankruptcy courts should not be allowed.

      I have looked at your materials. They have absolutely no relevance to the bankruptcy filing or any of the evidence provided here.

      • Barbara Murtha Malley 04/25/2012 at 9:43 am - Reply

        Thanks for not censoring my comment Tracy.

        I disagree with you that MWOP’S cyber bullying/harassment/stalking of the McKinney’s have had nothing to do with the McKinney’s filing for bankruptcy. Prologned bullying can affect the victim in every aspect of their lives, on every level. That includes managing your day to day life (including finances) and family relations. On top of that it can cause stress, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, PTSD, Suicide, IBS, Psychiatric injury etc. Each and every one of these scenario’s have it’s own list of symptoms which affects a person on a day to day level.

        I have never before in my life seen the level of bullying that the McKinney’s have endured. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit that the prologned bullying that the McKinney’s have endured have had enormous ramifications for them that no one out in cyber world can even begin to imagine.

        On top of that at the same time MWOP has contacted Jennifer’s sponsors and driven away business it has affected her main source of income, which is her blog. They have also made it a campaign to target and harass anyone they deem as standing up for Jennifer on any level to the point of contacting Jennifer’s blog & Facebook readers to try and intimidate them and drive them away. Once again to lower her “numbers” which in turn affects her income.

        This is a new venue for them, contacting you.

        It just baffles me that anyone out cyber world thinks they know the whole story and have taken it upon themselves to convict the McKinney’s on the internet. I would venture to say to people to stop the mud slinging and let the system work.

        • Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 10:03 am - Reply

          Barbara – While I have allowed your comments through thus far, I will not allow you to use this article as a forum for saying untrue things about the situation.

          That being said, I don’t think anyone would claim that “bullying” (if that’s even what you can term the actions of those exposing all of Jennifer’s lies and inconsistencies) doesn’t affect people. But the bottom line is that is irrelevant to the facts in the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court only cares about the numbers, and Jennifer has lied repeatedly about them, even when being confronted by those lies in the creditors meeting. That is really all that matters for this article. I am exposing the truth about the numbers, and making no comment about whether people like Jennifer McKinney or say mean things about her.

          I would also like to point out that the financial irresponsibility of the McKinneys started long before the criticism of MckMama. The first foreclosure happened in 2008. The unpaid income taxes date all the way back to 2006. Jennifer and Israel needed no help from anyone to get themselves into those messes.

          Further, Jennifer’s income has NOT suffered for any reason other than her own actions. She lost the BlogHer contract because of her plagiarism. The naysayers didn’t make her do it. And you can see that her income has NOT been impacted by the alleged bullying. The first site about MckMama did not start until July 2009. Look at her income in 2010 and 2011 (I mean the REAL income for 2011) and you will see that she is making much more than she was in 2009.

          Finally, if the “bullying” is too much for Jennifer, she has two simple courses of action to stop it.

          1. Stop lying. This is the easiest action.
          2. Stop blogging. She has other options for employment, including her photography, teaching, or hawking dangerous diet pills.

        • Melissa 04/26/2012 at 4:32 pm - Reply

          The system can only work if it has the entire truth. How can the system work when it is basing its knowledge to form a judgement on half-truths, out right lies, omissions, or undisclosed assets?

          While there may be some aspects of the negative comments directed at Jennifer that could be defined as bullying, the majority are based on her lies, omissions, and half-truths.

          No one “did” this to Jennifer, she allowed this happen and now she is facing the ramifications of her actions!

        • Kate 09/06/2012 at 11:31 pm - Reply

          Barbara ~

          Jennifer has said many times that she doesn’t read MWOP, so how could anything said there possibly affect her health?

          If she is experiencing any sort of physical stress, I would venture to guess it is caused by the hole she has dug herself.

    • Kristin 04/24/2012 at 8:01 pm - Reply

      Oh, Barbara.

      It doesn’t matter that the MWOP people are mean. What matters is that Jennifer lied. Not once. Not twice. Not just to her fans. But under oath. I don’t think that’s what Jesus would do. Do you?

    • Jenny 04/24/2012 at 8:08 pm - Reply

      Barbara, I don’t see what innocent until proven guilty has to do with a bankruptcy case. The information on this post is based on published court documents. Your photo album is full of your own assumptions and generalizations. Please read the credentials of the owner of this site. She wrote a serious examination of a court preceding made by a qualified professional, and you’re trying to turn it into a three-ring circus.

      And nothing anyone could have done or said to or about Jennifer McKinney justifies omitting assets and income in her bankruptcy filing.

    • Trina 04/24/2012 at 8:39 pm - Reply

      Ok, but documentation shows that Ms. McKinney made over $117,000 last year (which she failed to disclose). If the supposed “hater blog” sought to significantly reduce her income, it doesn’t seem to me that they did a very good job.

      • Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 8:45 pm - Reply

        According to the testimony at the creditors meeting, the income for 2011 was $148k plus the (still undisclosed) affiliate income.

    • Kerrie 04/24/2012 at 11:14 pm - Reply

      Exactly Barb. It is a bankruptcy case. Why then did you feel that photos of the McKinney’s home, children & goats in tutus were in any way relevant to the case, not to mention what a “wonderful” parent Jennifer is or all the screen shots from her naysayers. They had no relevance nor bearing whatsoever.

      The facts are that the McKinneys spent well beyond their income, even prior to Jennifer’s (in)fame. That they continued to rack up debt when they had the means to pay & didn’t is relevant to any taxpayer as they are footing the $3/4m debt.

      Also relevant is that the McKinneys omitted vital information as well as outright lied about future income in order for the bankruptcy to be approved. This is illegal & should be dealt with accordingly.

    • Fire Wife 04/25/2012 at 1:02 pm - Reply

      You know Barb, you want us to sit back and let the court do their jobs. But you are the one who is bothering the judge with your ridiculous letters. At least all of us are just keeping to ourselves her on the internet. Why don’t you take a little taste of your own medicine and let the court do their jobs and stay out of it. Can’t you tell that everyone dislikes you just as much as we all dislike Jennifer? The things that have been submitted here and on our precious MWOP blog are only copies of public information and recordings of the court hearings. We are not making anything up. Simply bringing the truth to light.

  17. Mama Razzo 04/24/2012 at 7:20 pm - Reply

    Oh, poor, poor Jennifer. Railing against the ebil President Obama for his “socialist” ways whilst coasting on the tails of the good Americans who do pay their taxes and earn an honest living. She doesn’t know a thing about personal responsibility or hard work. She’s slamming honest taxpayers with her slimy, cheating, manipulating ways. Jennifer: PAY YOUR OWN DAMN DEBT! You sat on your ass and raked in over $140,000 last year and have the gall to sit and smugly deny and deflect? If you think for one second that Jesus would approve of your BS you are so sadly mistaken. Grow the hell up.

  18. Ames 04/24/2012 at 7:50 pm - Reply

    @ Barbara…you never give up do you? You make excuse, after excuse, after excuse for Mckmama, and her behavior, even when the truth is staring you in the face. She lied, don’t you get it? She lied in court, under oath. She could have 50 “hater” blogs about her and it doesn’t change the fact that she lied to her attorney, the trustee, the judge, and her followers while taking an oath in the name of the God she claims to love and follow so much. When is enough, enough Babs? When does she have to face the consequences for her actions like everyone else? So what if MWOP help supply information to the author here? Just looking at her credentials, and experience tells me that could have gotten this info on her own…she hasn’t posted hearsay, she has only posted what is public record, and has dissected it in a manner that really highlights the lies and discrepancies. MWOP providing help only made her job easier, but does not make her article and facts any less legitimate. I think Babs, it’s time to give up the ghost and come to terms with the fact that Mckmama has “played” you like all her other ex followers…you bought into it because she distracts people with bright pictures and cute kids…it’s happened to the best of us. Hopefully you can comes to terms with that, and give up this incessant need to make “sweet, honest, Jesus loving mom to MSC” a reality when it has been nothing a sham the entire time. You got taken Babs…welcome to the club.

  19. Mama Razzo 04/24/2012 at 8:14 pm - Reply

    Facts don’t lie, Barbara. You can disagree with how the facts were obtained, but Jennifer is a *ahem “public figure.” If she didn’t want her cheating, lying, manipulative ways unearthed, she chose the wrong “profession.”

  20. Nadya Urstosell 04/24/2012 at 8:22 pm - Reply

    Babs,

    Understandably as Jennifer’s biggest supporter this information is upsetting to you, but you cannot argue with whether or not it is valid. Jennifer has lied- in too many forms to list. It would behoove you to stop making a further fool of yourself by trying to defend her honor. She doesn’t have any left.

  21. Ryslin 04/24/2012 at 8:56 pm - Reply

    I became a reader of Jennifer’s blog back when she was pregnant with her son Stellan. I’ve since realized how deceptive she was on so many levels, and while I held out hope for a long time that she would straighten her life out, it appears she has no such intentions. Very sad. She had a great many opportunities and second chances.

  22. Carrie Coddington 04/24/2012 at 9:12 pm - Reply

    Ms. Malley,

    I was one of the individuals who contacted the Court. I am not a member of “MWOP.” I am neither a “mean girl” or a “hater.” I am someone who was surprised that Ms. McKinney filed for bankruptcy after she gave a television interview in which she says she made “a lot, a lot” of money from her blog. Based on your multiple missives to the Court, I think you’ll agree that it’s not hard to sit down with a pen and paper and take notes from MckMama’s blog and Facebook in order to match what she posted and what she listed in her bankruptcy filing. A filing that is public record.

    Ms. McKinney lost her ad revenue more than once based completely on her own personal actions. No one forced her to plagiarize camera tutorials. No one forced her to rant against homosexuality and allow hateful speech to stand in the comments on her blog. Just like no one forced her to perjure herself in her original bankruptcy filing, her amended filing, and twice while under oath in creditor’s meetings.

    You appear to be a loyal friend, Ms. Malley, however I’m not sure Jennifer McKinney is deserving of your friendship. At the very least her actions aren’t worthy of your loyalty.

    God bless,
    C. C.

  23. CJ 04/24/2012 at 9:25 pm - Reply

    Tracy,

    I enjoyed reading your article and how you accurately presented the many instances of fraud, deception, and perjury by Jennifer McKinney.

  24. Tracy Coenen 04/24/2012 at 9:27 pm - Reply

    Thank you CJ and everyone else who left nice comments!

  25. Kristin 04/24/2012 at 9:38 pm - Reply

    I am so happy that other people are seeing how deceptive Ms. McKinney is.

    Thank you for a well written article.

  26. bridget 04/24/2012 at 9:43 pm - Reply

    I applaud your well written article. Jennifer McKinney will hopefully wear her favorite color everyday, very soon!

  27. Caroline 04/24/2012 at 10:16 pm - Reply

    Wow, what a well-written, extremely thought-out post. I’m sure it took an incredible amount of time to put together after an indeterminable amount of time and research. I find it absolutely appalling that the money this family was raking in hand over fist was not enough to sustain them in a lifestyle that would suit the average American family. I shudder to think about the years earlier during the height of Stellan’s illness and her popularity when the gift cards for meals, Target and hotels were pouring in, what those amounted to in terms of $$. That this woman be allowed to continue to lie, continue to acrue debt and continue to make bad financial decisions that affect her neighbors, family and friends is sickening. That people SO blind to the truth when it is reaching out and smacking them in the nose is laughable. I too have read “Bab’s” letters to the court—-I can only imagine that Jennifer cringes when she reads them and realizes that BMM thinks she is “helping” her cause.
    It would certainly seem that the trustee is smelling the same rat that countless others have caught whiff of, and I for one do hope that their bankruptcy case is denied and she is fully prosucuted for her continue deceptions towards the court.

  28. Ames 04/24/2012 at 10:24 pm - Reply

    I too would like to thank you for your well written and well researched article. People will believe what they believe, and nothing will change their mind, even the truth. However having the facts laid out from an impartial, professional third party, will help many people see what people have found so bothersome about her all these years. The lies.

  29. Melissa 04/24/2012 at 10:26 pm - Reply

    Thank you, so very much, for your professionalism, expertise & the time you devoted in further getting the necessary word out regarding Jennifer McKinney. Behavior such as stealing from others, while laughing all the way to the bank, deserves consequences.

  30. C3 04/24/2012 at 10:29 pm - Reply

    Hey Barb…how’s that letter-writing campaign working out for ya? Gosh…THAT was so helpful…pointing the trustee right to mwop and putting the information right in his hands.

    He seemed so aghast during the 341 meeting…appalled that poor Jennifer would have a hater’s blog. Except…he didn’t even care. All he cared about were the ways in which Jennifer lied.

    Keep writing your novellas, Barb. Who needs enemies with friends like you?

  31. cf 04/24/2012 at 11:37 pm - Reply

    Tracy,

    Please include the name Jennifer Howe Sauls so when she changes her name (per the papers she filed) it will link to her name. I feel Jennifer is going back to her maiden name to try to escape Jennifer Mckinney.

  32. Lynn Moore 04/24/2012 at 11:40 pm - Reply

    Thank you for this informative article. It’s such a shame that they have gotten away with so much and hurt so many people including all the honest taxpayers that live within their means.

    One thing I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere is that in her post about selling the RV for what she paid for it, she also mentions charging rent to someone leasing her home during some period of time not disclosed. Is that not rental income and it’s taxable as ordinary income by the IRS and it appears these amounts are not disclosed anywhere.

    Thanks.

  33. Peggy 04/24/2012 at 11:45 pm - Reply

    Well, I clicked on BMM’s 2 FB links she opened for all to see….

    It says the info is not found !!!

    2 PEAS in a POD…!!!!! Jm and BMM

    • B Malley 04/25/2012 at 10:40 am - Reply

      @ Peggy open up your facebook account before you click on the links. That should get you in. If not another easy way is to go to Jennifer’s facebook page and click on my profile pics right next to one of my comments. That seems to work for everyone.

  34. Jaime C 04/24/2012 at 11:51 pm - Reply

    @ Barb,

    Just wondering – have you actually read the court transcripts of the meeting or listened to the audio? If so, I’m just wondering how you could still be such a cheerleader for Jennifer? This is a completely honest question…. I’d like to know how you can think it’s still okay after reading it/hearing it??? How can you not be even a LITTLE appalled?? Court docs don’t lie.

  35. JMitchell 04/25/2012 at 7:13 am - Reply

    Very well written article on a subject that I think needs more attention. I can think of several other “mommy-bloggers” who might be a little concerned right now. I’ve seen several of them lie about compensation; lie by omission mostly. But none compare to the antics of Jennifer McKinney. There are people who are in debt because they have very sick children who will never make it. Jennifer exploited Stellan’s illness and never ONCE (until recently) returned any prayer. I’ve long been done with believing that Jennifer McKinney cares about anyone but herself. My special needs child has had many hospital stays; and I’ve never ONCE stayed in a Marriott while he stays in the PICU. NEVER.

    And the ardent followers can’t see that the debt she incurred was ALL hers; not Stellan’s. She didn’t end up in debt because her child’s medical bills were so exorbitant. It was because she herself went on a Narcotic Crawl of 2011.

    She needs to be held accountable. Otherwise, she will continue to scam, scam, scam. I myself believe she has many more onlilne accounts and identities. She filed bankruptcy. Then, she lied under oath. NO ONE who hates her did that TO her. She did it all by herself.

    Barbara – You really do need to educate yourself. There is nothing you are saying that absolves the McKinney’s of financial obligations. In addition, the “she is a Christian mommy!” argument is old and dead. She is neither a Christian or a very good mother.

  36. Susie 04/25/2012 at 8:48 am - Reply

    Thanks for the article. I never questioned her until I saw on her comments MWOP…then I found a lot of disturbing things. If I was her I would be so embarrassed but she “seems” fine-inside she must be falling apart. I find it odd how she loves to brag every day about the money she is spending!

  37. sftk 04/25/2012 at 8:58 am - Reply

    I too thank you for your factual reporting on this couple.
    They feel entitled to cheating the system and I only hope justice is delivered to them.
    I also noted Jennifer wants her maiden name back and the unreported rental income of the Becker house while they were on the RV trip.
    Keep up the good work and good luck.

  38. Audrey at Barking Mad! 04/25/2012 at 9:16 am - Reply

    Tracy,

    I can’t even begin to thank you for going to the lengths you did to expose all of this. For some time it’s only been through other sites like MWOP that a lot of this has come to light, but now more and more people, wonderful whistle blowers like you, are calling McKinney out on her outright lies and fraud.

    I’ve been taking her down for her diet BS because that’s my focus – trying to change my own life and get my health back on track. I’m currently being featured in an upcoming HBO major mini-series documentary about the obesity epidemic in America which airs in May, and I’ve written about my struggles with obesity for Women’s Day magazine and several other publications. I’ve chronicled my battle on my own blog. It’s because of this, and because of what I owe to the people who support and encourage me every single day, that I debunk every single one of McKinney’s claims about the Xyngular products.

    While I think it’s vitally important that people like you follow up on the financial aspect of McKinney’s dealings, I think it’s important that people see her for what she’s doing…she’s latching onto the desperation of the overweight and obese readers who follow her every whim, and using those desires to get them to buy into her MLM scheme masquerading as an all natural weight loss supplement. Some of those products are outright dangerous and have been banned in Canada, and pose serious health risks. She’s telling women who are nursing or who might be pregnant, that the supplements are safe!!!! No OBGYN I’ve spoken to over the course of the last 6 weeks would advise a patient they were treating to take the supplements during gestation of subsequent lactation!

    My other huge concern, as a women who publishes a lot of her own life, online (some would even call me a mommy blogger!) is the negative light that monetizing our stories is cast upon us by the outright lies and fraud of women like Jennifer McKinney.

    Brands that may have at one time considered partnering with us, are taking closer looks at how we conduct ourselves online and our personal lives and giving heavy thought to whether or not they want to have us promote their products and brands. I can’t help but wonder how long it will take companies like those McKinney represents via her blog, to see that their partnering with a woman who is willfully hiding assets from a Federal court, and lies compulsively to not only the courts, but those who hang on every word she writes.

    I hope you’ll continue to follow up on McKinney.

    Thanks again for all of the hard work and effort!

  39. Audrey at Barking Mad! 04/25/2012 at 9:22 am - Reply

    Sorry for all of the typos. I wasn’t paying close attention!

  40. Lee 04/25/2012 at 10:01 am - Reply

    Good job putting these facts all in one place. Precisely and clear.

    Is there a way of reading all 53 comments that have been left? I’m only seeing the last two that have been posted. Thank you.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 10:07 am - Reply

      Lee – I have fixed the settings and you should be able to see all of the comments now. Let me know if you can.

  41. Lee 04/25/2012 at 10:18 am - Reply

    I can and thanks! You are amazing!

    • christi 04/25/2012 at 1:06 pm - Reply

      Barb .. you need to just stop you are making your self look really bad here. You can’t deny FACTS. YOU are the reason I unliked Jens fb, if a person liked something you didn’t think they should YOU would screen cap that persons profile page as your pic. Who DOES that?? I saw that and never returned to her page. If I were Jennifer, I’d be afraid of you. Your like a creepy stalker fan. Please get help and stop the stupid nonsense on a professional’s page. She put alot of work into this it’s all based on FACT not the fictional make believe world the the Mckinney’s live in.

  42. Curious 04/25/2012 at 10:35 am - Reply

    Barb, its your right to support who ever you want. You look like an ignorant fool dying on the sword for McKinney, but it’s still your right.

    At least be honest and support her for what she is and NOT some victim you’ve determined her to be. The only thing mckinney could possibly be a victim of is poor parenting that never instilled in her the value of right from wrong. Plain and simple. And maybe over estimating her own intelligence while under estimating that of the majority of women who found her blog, yourself excluded.

  43. C3 04/25/2012 at 11:55 am - Reply

    Barb…you are STILL making claims that are contrary to what is truth. Jennifer’s income is clear. It has not gone down, hardly at all, since mwop came into existance. Jennifer and Israel started their financial catasstrophe long before mwop came about. Open.your.eyes!

  44. C3 04/25/2012 at 12:14 pm - Reply

    Also Barb,

    I am interested in hearing your response to the facts that Jennifer and Israel are still making well over 100k a year but their bankruptcy documents show that they have not been paying anything on most of their bills, despite making so much money.

    Where did all of that money go?

    How does one make over 100k a year and have a truck repossessed at the same time? While their wife is traveling in Africa? How does that happen?

    How can you sit here and continue to claim that mwop has damaged jennifer’s income and caused her bankruptcy (or contributed to it), when the truth is that Jennifer is STILL
    making close to the same amount she made in years past?

    I hear that Bernie Madoff needs a public defender, Barb. Why don’t you go and defend him?

  45. Davida 04/25/2012 at 12:17 pm - Reply

    Barbara, I would argue that MWOP actually HELPS Mckmama with traffic. More people read her because the haters make them curious. I think she likely owes a good portion of her traffic to her “haters” and I think this is why she sometimes courts it.

    I am aware of how bullying can Be psychologically harmful but I know of no research that says it also causes people to lie under oath and hide assets, which is clearly what she’s done.

  46. shanabe 04/25/2012 at 1:05 pm - Reply

    First off Tracy thank you so much for taking the time to break everything down so that people that dont know all the ins and outs of BK can follow along and understand it.

    Secondly, Barbara? Are you serious?

    I would like you to show me an example of something that Jennifer has said or done that would make you think that she is suffering psychological distress from MWOP.

    I would like you to show me how she has suffered financially as a result from MWOP. And I am not talking about Blogher or Compassion or any of that because quite honestly she got busted from her own actions and omissions in both of those. She did not suffer any kind of financial hardship from either of those actions being brought to the attention of those organizations.

    I want you to show me how she is not guilty of fraud or perjury in her BK case.

    I want you to actually look at the documents and tell me why she cant pay rent, doesnt have insurance but stays in hospitals like they are hotels, why she cant pay utilities, why she cant pay mortgage payments, why she cant pay car payments……why cant she pay any of these bills that the rest of us are required to pay every single month and she makes more then 4 times what my husband and I make every freaking year??? Why is she exempt from paying these things???!!!!!

    Why is she exempt from paying her day to day bills but it is OK for her to go on vacation after vacation?

    Why do we have to pay for her bills? Why do we have to pay for her and her husband’s taxes for the last 6 years? Why doesnt she have to pay her taxes for making ‘a lot, a lot of money’ as a self employed woman?

    Barbara you do come off as a fool to many and I think it is because you excuse her behavior. You blame others for what she does and dont expect her to be the same as the rest of us, including yourself. Do you realize that YOU not MWOP did the most damage to her BK case? You took the trustee by the hand and lead him to every single thing she tried to hide from him?

    I guess I will lay off now but maybe you will actually put some thought behind the questions I have asked you and be able to give a well thought out response. And FTR….MWOP….is not allowed in your responses.

  47. Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 1:08 pm - Reply

    shanabe – I doubt that anything else Barbara has to say will be posted. I let her have her say, and unless she is going to deal in the facts about the numbers, I don’t think her comments will go live. 🙂

    • shanabe 04/25/2012 at 1:19 pm - Reply

      😀 Totally understandable there. I just had to get it out there really because though I know you just cant fight crazy or self imposed ignorance sometimes you just have to get it out.

      I do have to say thank you though for allowing her comments to come through and be posted and allowing all of us to respond to them. Facts are facts and she can try to pretend it is all a conspiracy they are still facts none the less.

    • musingsfromme 04/28/2012 at 5:28 pm - Reply

      Very nicely written and researched article. I have one question for you. Do we know how she is paying for 4 children to go to school? On a reduced income and child support? The two older ones are in a school requiring a uniform. Even if that school is a public school not a private school, she still has two in preschool. I’ve been mulling this question since I read that she stopped honeschoolmng.

      • Tracy Coenen 04/28/2012 at 6:09 pm - Reply

        musingsfromme – She doesn’t pay any of her bills and is raking in money from her website. It’s easy to afford tuition when you don’t pay the landlord at the farm, don’t pay your credit cards, don’t pay for any utilities at the farm, etc.

        Plus some private schools actually have free preschool and kindergarten in order to attract students whose parents will pay for later years of school.

  48. CJ 04/25/2012 at 1:46 pm - Reply

    Tracy, I realize that you are not an attorney, but I would like to ask you a question. The attorney for the McKinneys in this bankruptcy has been an attorney for just a few years and does not specialize in just bankruptcies. I realize that Jennifer and Israel dug themselves into this hole and commited perjury in addition to not disclosing assets, but is their attorney making things worse? Why would the ammended filing still list her 2011 income as $55,000? I have been through BK myself and chose an attorney who specializes in BK and has 20+ years of experience. I’m just curious as to your thoughts. Thanks!

    • Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 1:52 pm - Reply

      CJ – I suspect that inexperience could be a problem. The financial issues are not always easy to understand, and so the attorney may not realize that the $55k has been clearly refuted and ought to be changed. However, at the end of the day, the McKinneys are responsible for providing the financial information and telling the attorney what numbers to put on the forms. I think there are problems that need to be addressed in the amended filing, but I have no idea the financial sophistication of the attorney or the McKinneys’ willingness to change the numbers.

  49. JMitchell 04/25/2012 at 1:48 pm - Reply

    The Barb circus has really gone to far. She has infiltrated every website that mentions Jennifer McKinney and has posted personal information and profiles of people who simply commented on Jennifer’s website. Simply put, Barb is Jennifer’s largest liability in this whole fiasco. It was Barb who led the trustee to the multiple other accounts Jennifer had been hiding.

    I think, if I were Jennifer, I would be WAY MORE afraid of the antics of Barb; than ANY of the haters. And Barb’s continuous “martyr for Jennifer” reputation is REALLY sickening. After all, taking up for someone who lies, cheats and steals from US taxpayers is no less guilty than the thief. Birds of a feather; as they say.

  50. Concerned 04/25/2012 at 1:51 pm - Reply

    Actually Tracy, I have a few questions for Ms. Murtha Malley that she is never disclosed.

    Ms. Murtha Malley, what is your relationship with Ms. Sauls McKinney?

    Do you have any financial interest in her websites, blogs or income-generating endeavors? Have you ever made any financial contributions to Ms. Sauls McKinney, MckMama, or any of her dependents or husband? Have you ever purchased any items from any of the above, whether through PayPal, eBay or Xyngular?

    Did you have any previous communication with Ms. Sauls McKinney, including through Facebook postings or private messages or by phone or email or post, both in the 6 months prior to the bankruptcy filing and anytime after?

    Did you offer Ms. Sauls McKinney any advice on her bankruptcy or divorce/separation? I know you boast significant experience with the Appeals Court based on your own divorce – what information did you pass on to Ms. Sauls McKinney?

    Where you aware that Ms. Sauls McKinney left off all of the income producing website addresses you provided to the Bankruptcy Trustee in your proffered documents to the court?

    Ms. Murtha Malley, these are questions the Feds and the IRS are going to be interested in too, and also the Circuit Court in WIsconsin where Ms. Sauls McKinney has filed her petition. Your disclosures have and will continue to play a part in the proceedings, but not for the reasons you think. Accusations of “bullying” and making excuses for her perjury and fraudulent behavior will not play a part in what goes forward. YOUR material involvement will be investigated, reviewed and perhaps questioned. Anyone who has done business with Ms Sauls McKinney should be prepared to disclose exactly what financial transactions transpired during the questioned bankruptcy period.

    So, I ask again, Ms Murtha Malley, what is your involvement in this matter? And please do not rehash the bully statements or screenshots of other people’s profiles, we are only interested in DIRECT involvement.

  51. What a mess 04/25/2012 at 2:13 pm - Reply

    Barb- If JM is getting bullied she could stop it quickly. Stop putting herself, her parenting decisions and financial messes out there to be picked apart. She brings all of this on herself.
    I love that you think you are helping her but are just driving another nail in the coffin.

  52. Kim 04/25/2012 at 2:49 pm - Reply

    Barbara, requesting clarification and truth from someone who makes money off of her words is *not* bullying and I think you seriously undermine those who actually are being bullied when you throw that word around in regards to MckMama. You really need to think about who you are backing here.

  53. C3 04/25/2012 at 3:09 pm - Reply

    Barb…

    YOU STILL HAVEN’T ADDRESSED THE VALID CONCERNS FOLKS HAVE BROUGHT UP!

    Would you please, just answer the questions.

  54. AD 04/25/2012 at 3:15 pm - Reply

    I urge everyone here to ignore anything else from Barbara Malley, knowing that ignoring her will be an act of kindness. She has proven over and over that she cannot engage in good faith. Barbara has had sincere victimization in her life and, fully admitting I am engaging in armchair psychology, she reenacts her victimization online, by being the champion of someone she has decided was victimized and by making herself the perceived victim as people negate her premise. Even the calmest, most rational, kindest refutation to Ms Malley’s nonsense will be taken as an attack and feed her victim mentality. So please, if she is permitted to post any more comments here, let us not engage her and permit her to derail this important conversation about a very real fraud case with her claims of imaginary bullying.

    Moreover, if anyone has read her document sent to the court, she has an unsettling interest in Jennifer McKinney, to the point of obsession. We fuel that interest with every comment delivered to Ms Malley. Ignoring her really is the kindest, healthiest thing to do for everyone involved.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 4:30 pm - Reply

      AD – Agreed. Barbara will likely not answer any questions, nor address the facts of the McKinney bankruptcy. Let’s move past Barbara’s perception of this situation, and continue to focus on the numbers. The numbers do not lie.

  55. Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 4:36 pm - Reply

    And incidentally, I did not see on that “Effects of bullying” page: Lying to the bankruptcy court.

  56. LV 04/25/2012 at 5:24 pm - Reply

    Tracy, I’ve been a fan of yours ever since I found the Pink Truth 5 years ago. You saved me a lot of money then, and I cut and ran from MK very early. I know the type of work you do and the consistency in your investigation and can do nothing but applaud it !

    I’ve been following this train wreck since Jennifer’s Stellan got sick and appreciate the work you did in this expose. It’s top notch.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/25/2012 at 7:08 pm - Reply

      LV – Stories like yours make the work at Pink Truth all worthwhile. Thanks for your kind words!

  57. shanabe 04/25/2012 at 5:32 pm - Reply

    I am sorry that you misunderstood….the Trustee was bullying her into being honest on her paperwork. It wasnt her fault that she messed up because her bullies made her do it.

    I just have to say again that I really am floored in just her medical bills. I only recently got insurance. Guess how many trips to the ER or stays in the hospital I had with no insurance??? Zero. I even had a few times when I really should have gone in but I knew I couldnt afford it so I dealt with the horrible migraines and I dealt with the gash on my hand that could have used stitches.

  58. Tracy 04/25/2012 at 5:44 pm - Reply

    @Tracy Coenen that last comment ^^^ perfect. You are full of the awesome. Thank you for your level head and no nonsense attitude.

  59. Susanna 04/25/2012 at 6:07 pm - Reply

    Barbara:

    With all due respect, only the parties directly involved in this case have all the facts.

    Wrong. The documents that are listed here are from PACER. They are legal documents that are complete proof to the very facts that Jennifer and her husband have lied and stolen from others. 

    As I’m sure you know there is a ton of stuff that goes on behind the scenes of which are not part of the public record.

    Yes. But again. The “public record”, provided by the courts, proves that jennifer and her husband lied on official documents and under oath.

    What does cause me much concern about this presentation is that the majority of the information presented here relies almost entirely from the MWOP blog

    No. It does not. It relies on legal documents provided by the court and investigative research to documented comments(provided with links and screenshots)  made by jennifer.

    A hater blog that has deliberatly and purposefully done everything in their power to lower Jennifer McKinney’s income.

    Wrong again. While the individuals may be angry with the way Jennifer and her husband have lied and cheated, they are not responsible for any lowering of Jennifer and her husbands income. The lowering of income rests solely on Jennifer and her husband’s shoulders. The blog has brought attention to Jennifers plagiarism and  other issues. Blogher and several advertising companies do not cut ties, or break contracts because of “hate” they end their contracts when a client breaks them. Jennifer broke the contract with Blogher by proven plagiarism and her advertisers broke with her because she broke their rules.

    I felt compelled to contact the Court after realizing that members of MWOP were actively contacting the Court themselves.

    Members of the public contacted the courts to make them aware of the documented lies and omissions on the signed papers that Jennifer and Israel provided. 

    You stated above that:  . I think it would be prudent to let the system work. However this plays out is clearly in the hands of Judge Dennis D. O’Brien. As it should be. At this juncture this is a bankruptcy case. Nothing more, nothing less.
    If this is true, I question why you merely provided the court with what you believed to be incidents of “bullying and stalking” something that had nothing to do with the Bankruptcy case.

  60. Susanna 04/25/2012 at 6:20 pm - Reply

    Prolonged bullying can affect the victim in every aspect of their lives, on every level. That includes managing your day to day life (including finances) and family relations.

    I agree. However, bullying does not make someone lie to a court, omit information from legal documents and fail to pay a medical bill totaling less than $2.00.

    I have never before in my life seen the level of bullying that the McKinney’s have endured. That being said, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit that the prologned bullying that the McKinney’s have endured have had enormous ramifications for them that no one out in cyber world can even begin to imagine.

    Unlike children in school who cannot avoid the hate of bullies, Jennifer can. She does not have to read the site you mention, she can make her facebook  postings public but only allow friends and family to respond to and… She can stop lying to court officals

    On top of that at the same time MWOP has contacted Jennifer’s sponsors and driven away business it has affected her main source of income, which is her blog.

    Again. The sponsors were contacted when it was proven she had broken their contract. If Jennifer did not break her contract, the sponsors would not have cut ties with her. Many blogs such as pioneer woman and dooce have major “hate” blogs dedicated to them. These people have not lost their contracts, no matter how much “hate” and “bullying” they get because the blog owners (pioneer woman and dooce as example) did not break their contracts rules. Jennifer broke her contracts rules and that is why her advertisers and sponsors broke with her.

    It just baffles me that anyone out cyber world thinks they know the whole story and have taken it upon themselves to convict the McKinney’s on the internet. I would venture to say to people to stop the mud slinging and let the system work.

    No one has claimed to “know the whole story” everyone is going by court provided documents that proves Jennifer and Israel have lied to the courts and essentially stolen money from companies and individuals. 

  61. Barbara Murtha Malley 04/25/2012 at 7:36 pm - Reply

    Well I said what I have to say ladies.

    I wish you all well.

    • Anne 04/25/2012 at 8:13 pm - Reply

      Barbara,

      I understand that you have the best interest of Jennifer and her family however, your refusal to respond to clear and inoffensive questions makes me wonder if you can’t answer them because you know that what is presented here is the truth. That you know Jennifer has lied and stolen. That despite the “bullying” you too see who Jennifer really is.

      Being swindled hurts. I hope one day you can come to terms with the emotional fraud of jennifer. I wish you the best.

  62. lmenwe 04/26/2012 at 4:04 am - Reply

    Hi Ms Tracey. Would like to comment on HuaBao International. Anonymous Analytics accused that the company is merely a fraud. Their Gross Profit Margin is extremely high, R&D cost & marketing & distribution cost is extremely low compare to its peers. The financial statements are fabulous. I don’t understand how they are able to make a fabulous financial statements as the company seems like a fraud.

  63. Sus 04/26/2012 at 12:18 pm - Reply

    I don’t know much about bankruptcy proceedings. I’m wondering if all cases are investigated to make sure there aren’t undisclosed and/or hidden assets. If the trustee hadn’t received BMM’s manifesto, would the McKinney bankruptcy gone through? The manifesto pretty much pointed to lots of the undisclosed information.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/26/2012 at 12:34 pm - Reply

      Sus – Bankruptcy cases are looked at, but not necessarily closely unless there are some red flags in the filing. Barbara’s manifesto definitely did not help Jennifer. But I’m not sure that it hurt her either. I think the red flags were apparent before Barb sent it in, and so the case was already being investigated further. I have no inside information. This is just my gut feel from my involvement in the field of fraud.

  64. Sus 04/26/2012 at 1:02 pm - Reply

    Thanks Tracy, that makes sense. It’s a big MckMess. I hope the bankruptcy doesn’t go through. There aren’t enough tangible assets to sell. It wouldn’t be near enough to pay the debts.

    There would be some lean years, but they could pay everything back. I don’t understand why, but her blog is a money tree. MWOP helps drive traffic there. Everyone says MWOP would go away if JM just told the truth. I don’t believe that. Jennifer can say the sky is blue and MWOPers find a weather forecast that says it is cloudy. She’s lost all credibility. She could be hooked up to a lie detector and people would say she found a way to beat it. Regardless, her blog continues to make money even with all the scandal.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/26/2012 at 1:08 pm - Reply

      Sus – I do agree that SOME people on the “anti” side of the MckMama debate would never be happy, no matter what she did. I don’t believe that’s the case for the majority, however. If Jen stopped the lies and manipulation, I believe that most people would be willing to give her a fair shake going forward. However, she would have to give up blogging all together, or change how she does it very drastically. She will never do that.

      And every time I think I might want to feel sorry for her because some people nitpick to death, I just remember that she brought this on herself with so many lies. Nothing she says is believable anymore, and that is by her own doing.

      When it comes to stories about the children or the farm, I don’t think the lies mean much. But now that they’ve become a substantial part of the bankruptcy case – – in which she is trying to give her creditors the shaft for hundreds of thousands of dollars – – now it is important.

  65. shanabe 04/26/2012 at 1:42 pm - Reply

    Sus I do agree with you and Tracy C about how some wont be satisfied until she is just completely ruined. But like Tracy C said, the majority would just like to see her be real. She makes things up, over dramatizes or goes over board with real things, she does a lot of double talk, contradicts herself constantly, flat out lies, etc and those are the things that just get people riled up. She knows this and in my opinion does it intentionally.

    Look at where she is right now as an example…She and her husband are apart. According to her he left her and the kids yet she is the one who moved hours and hours away from him with the kids. She filed for a legal separation and basically with how that reads everything is at her terms and he is helpless in actually seeing his kids, if that is what he wants. She moved to another state, he cannot come and take them to his house for the weekend because of that. It is stated that neither party is allowed at the other’s residence unless given permission by the other….I dont see that happening right now.

    I strongly still feel that he did not know the extent of their debt or her income. I dont think he is blameless because he had to see that they were losing cars and homes left and right. I do believe that it may very well have been his idea to move out to the farm to attempt to get their financial life under control by not living outside of their means. She hated that farm from the moment they got there.

    She could be focusing on being a single mom and the challenges that are coming from where she is now with being alone with the kids but she focuses on her drug pushing and what a horrible person Izzy is. She is still contradicting herself and double talking with the best of them and still will not allow anything that isnt sunshine and rainbows.

    They are currently facing potentially serious consequences due to his ignorance and her fraud…as a married couple they are both guilty of these things. With this all happening she still refuses to acknowledge that things are not perfect in her world and her readers really arent all too stupid to know this.

  66. C3 04/26/2012 at 3:53 pm - Reply

    My personal opinion is that Iz probably did not realize how much money Jen was making. Why do I think this? Because at the beginning of 2011, his truck was repossessed…but she was still making well over 100k that year.

    If he knew how much they were making, I would imagine he would have been pretty pissed off at having HIS truck repossessed.

    I’m thinking when he saw the bankruptcy documents and found out how much she was making, it all clicked for him and that’s why he ultimately ended up leaving her.

    • Peggy 04/27/2012 at 12:34 am - Reply

      Ya know, I feel the same. Sure he enjoyed the money and things it bought, BUT, I don’t think he was fully aware of just how bad the situation was.

      He appears to me to be a laid back sorta country boy, happy to fish and take the kids, introduce them to nature, esp Cullen. He probably could literally live off the land almost and like it…JM would/did hate it. I watched videos of him and the kids when she would post one and it seemed like he was always building bonfires, roasting marshmellows and stuff they would never have been introduced to if not for him. Yeah, I do have a soft spot for him, even tho he did wrong, I’m not sure just how much he was involved or just how much he could take before he folded.

      The RV trips he was the sole driver sometimgs for many hours a day, he had to set up, he cooked everymeal on the grill, took care of the kids and entertained and taught them about nature. I would imagine he was a pretty tired dad at the end of each day.

      My husband and I owned a semi…I know just how tired you get before you get time to pull over and rest. I also had a husband very much like JM…spend, spend, spoend and I had to pay the bills. I practically had a nervous breakdown every mont and has as I tried, he didn’t want to her about bills.. I would try to talk to him about what was coming up that we didn’t pay monthly…like fuel tax, permits, down payment each year on ins, plates, and such so he would know what he needed to do…wouldn’t listedn, so I took a whole wek, wrote it all out, sent it with him on his next trip, refused to look at it….There are people in this world who bury their head in the sand and it’s not people like me and Isaiahreal…Its the people ( Like my ex and JM) who don’t worry one bit about bills except when they start piling up and we all get cornered, then they place the blame on us…He probably almost had a heart attack when he really found out how bad off they were….and there is probably so much more that he doesn’t even know….what a shock, at this point all he cand do is throw his hands in the air and try to work as hard as he can to deal with his high maintenance soon to be ex.

      • Peggy 04/27/2012 at 12:38 am - Reply

        Oh Jeez, tons of typos for you guys to overlook. I’m sorry about that and I can’t find a way to go back in a correct them…

        Forgive?????

  67. shanabe 04/27/2012 at 3:11 pm - Reply

    Tracy C I have a question for you. I know that you deal with fraud issues and such and I am wondering if through her misrepresentation of Xyngular if she is committing fraud there as well? If you dont know she has advised that Xyng can be safe for breastfeeding mothers, can help with headaches, and that the pills contain less caffeine then a can of soda. Xyng in fact states that their product is NOT for use by those pregnant or breastfeeding. The pills apparently taken correctly twice a day contain as much caffeine as a 12 pack of soda.

    • Tracy Coenen 04/28/2012 at 1:44 pm - Reply

      shanabe – Providing misinformation with regard to health issues is a serious concern. It shocks me that MckMama is giving out advice that may be contrary to the labeling of the Xyngular products…. or even giving such advice at all, especially with regard to pregnant or nursing mothers. She should be advising people to take a complete ingredients list to their doctor for real medical advice.

      That being said, I doubt Xyngular will do anything to her. Potion MLMs like Xyngualr tell their distributors that the law prohibits them from making medical claims about the products, suggesting that it treats certain illnesses. However, Xyngular will likely say they bear no responsibility for any such claims made because those claims go against their policies and are made by independent contractors. They could terminate the distributorship of anyone doing such things, but that is a rare move.

      Am I concerned? Yes. Will Jennifer suffer any consequences? Probably not.

  68. Tsu Dho Nimh 04/29/2012 at 3:59 am - Reply

    To clarify the PayPal account versus accounts: it could be one account with several different “payee” e-mail addresses feeding into it.

  69. Chris 04/29/2012 at 11:44 am - Reply

    musingsfromme, she does not have a reduced income. How hard is it to afford a preschool tuition on $150,000+ a year when one does not pay any bills, besides maybe her rent now, and it is all tax-free? What makes you think her income is reduced? My guess is Israel does not even pay child support. It is stated that he does in the bankruptcy papers but not in the legal separation papers.

  70. Kate St.Clair 04/29/2012 at 12:47 pm - Reply

    Tracy
    Thank you for publishing this. I have to say that this women is one of the reasons I stopped blogging. Our little guy has been sick for years. For a long time I blogged thru his illness. I felt like I could identify with JM, like maybe she was a positive face to the struggles of moms who right every day for their children’s lives. Then after following your for a while I realized we had nothing in common. In fact she totally ruined blogging in general for me.
    I guess I just wanted to say thank you to you…she gives us blogging moms a bad name.

    Warmly
    K

    • Jenny Arostegui 06/07/2012 at 12:20 pm - Reply

      I followed her when Stellan was sick and then things started making me say hmmm……… today I called her out on it on her facebook page but she took it off and blocked me from replying. Because she is a liar and a fraud. Disappointed!!!

  71. Fraud Files Blog 04/30/2012 at 9:33 pm - Reply

    […] reader of MckMama (or mommy blogs in general), this post has good information on bankruptcy fraud.  Last week we looked at the bankruptcy filing of Jennifer Howe Sauls McKinney and Israel McKinney, and discussed the many red flags of fraud that have been detected. Jennifer / MckMama has made a […]

  72. Fraud Files Blog 05/26/2012 at 2:01 am - Reply

    […] blogging at mycharmingkids.net) filed Case 12-06024, objecting to the discharge of the bankruptcy. Last month I published a lengthy article about the MckMama bankruptcy fraud, and today we’re going to compare what I showed you and what trustee Gene Doeling (my new […]

  73. Fraud Files Blog 05/31/2012 at 9:50 pm - Reply

    […] on May 31st, 2012 Got fraud? If you find yourself being accused of a fraud on the bankruptcy court like Jennifer MckMama […]

  74. Just Me 06/03/2012 at 10:30 pm - Reply

    This is off topic and late enough I don’t know if anyone will see it. But in case…people who are uninsured should know that hospitals and even some doctors’ offices have programs to pay for basic care. You have to apply, usually ever 3 months, and the programs vary somewhat in income allowed/whether there is a co-pay, but I have been on one of these programs since losing my income when I became disabled and now while I’m on SSDI and waiting for Medicare but unable to afford insurance. They have helped with surgery costs, doctor’s appointments, labs, etc. It’s no more fun than any other assistance program but it is good to have that option. I didn’t know this existed until I went from making payments on my bill to having no income, and they’ve made my life so much less stressful since I won’t have Medicare for almost 2 years.

  75. Fraud Files Blog 08/08/2012 at 8:17 pm - Reply

    […] the McKinneys trashed a recent rental property and screwed the landlord, and how the McKinneys have screwed many people and companies out of many hundreds of thousands of dollars they owe thanks to fa…, and then proceeded to lie to the bankruptcy court in an attempt to defraud those same creditors […]

  76. Fraud Files Blog 10/05/2012 at 8:23 pm - Reply

    […] written previously about the bankruptcy of Jennifer “MckMama” McKinney and her husband Israel McKinney of Kieran’s Contracting. Jennifer was once a popular mommy blogger at mycharmingkids.net and […]

  77. Fraud Files Blog 10/09/2012 at 11:01 am - Reply

    […] McKinney (blogger MckMama) and Israel McKinney filed for bankruptcy nearly a year ago. After trustee Gene Doeling ferreted out Jennifer’s financial shenanigans, he filed a complaint with the bankruptcy court objecting to the discharge of the debts. Mr. […]

  78. Fraud Files Blog 10/19/2012 at 6:19 am - Reply

    […] be another public airing of their dirty laundry. On the other hand, Jennifer McKinney has no shame. She repeatedly lied about paying off their debts, so it is unlikely that she would have the good sense to be embarrassed about her fraud on the […]

  79. Fraud Files Blog 11/03/2012 at 7:54 am - Reply

    […] to pay to the trustee (for the benefit of creditors) for the value of the non-exempt assets (the ones they lied about in the bankruptcy filing) in order to put this matter to […]

  80. Fraud Files Blog 11/13/2012 at 12:38 pm - Reply

    […] on November 13th, 2012 We’ve been discussing here the case of Jennifer McKinney (aka MckMama) and Israel McKinney (dba Kieran’s Contracting) and their alleged fraud perpetrated on the bankruptcy court. Questions have been raised about the […]

  81. Fraud Files Blog 12/01/2012 at 12:50 pm - Reply

    […] several months, we have been following the story of Jennifer “MckMama” McKinney and her bankruptcy filing from nearly a year ago. By spring, trustee Gene Doeling had her number, and was preparing to file a […]

  82. […] For some time now, we have been following the Jennifer McKinney bankruptcy trainwreck, in which Jennifer and her husband Israel McKinney were alleged to have falsified information and concealed assets. (In the world of forensic accounting, we call that fraud.) For those new to the site, you can read about the origins of the MckMama fraud, complete with solid proof of the lies. […]

  83. […] go throw some hundred dollar bills in a bonfire and enjoy the show. Don’t give your money to a liar who is pushing dangerous products on you (and her children, […]

  84. The Mommy Blog Addict 03/09/2013 at 11:19 pm - Reply

    […] read them for years.   I watched the rise and fall of the phenom blogger known simply as MckMama (Jennifer McKinney) and veteran mommy-blog readers probably remember the Little One April Rose scam and even worse the […]

  85. […] isn’t necessarily a crime, but stealing someone else’s work and claiming it as your own IS a crime.  High end companies quickly wanted nothing to do with her, and people made efforts to distance […]

  86. […] generated by “Team MckMama.” The best thing about this article is that it proves Jennifer and Israel McKinney can pay the creditors they tried to stiff out of hundreds of thousands of […]

  87. […] making hundreds of thousands of dollars from gullible sheeple reading a blog wasn’t enough for the McKinneys. No, they had to run up […]

  88. […] trainwreck. Jennifer and Israel McKinney filed for bankruptcy in December 2011. In short order, bankruptcy trustee Gene Doeling uncovered all sorts of misrepresentations and undisclosed assets. Like the Giudices, the McKinneys were denied a bankruptcy discharge in October […]

  89. […] McKinney, known by some as MckMama from her blogging days. Previously, we have discussed her bankruptcy fraud (debts NOT discharged and forever payable by her thanks to her dishonesty about her income and […]

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