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ROBERT ALMBLADaka ROBERT AUGUST*

Financier of Hate Crimes

*Robert August is an alias that Robert Almblad uses.

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Introduction

This is a story right out of a movie. Only it is a story that is all too real. It is the story of a serial conman. The man in focus, through a compilation of recorded interviews and documented paper trails,

is a grifter, a fraud, an abscess on any civilized society. His name is Robert Almblad and he inflicts financial wounds —sometimes mortal—on anyone he touches.

He—Robert Almblad—is why this booklet has been published.

And, for the purposes of this booklet, the name Robert Almblad will be used and not his alias, Robert August. Also, regarding Almblad’s paramour, Susan Clickner, her real name will be used, not her alias, Susan August.

First: To warn anyone who may come in contact with Almblad to stay far afield of him. If they do not, they will follow the unfortunate path trod by so many others who have been un-warily ensnared by his machinations and who have lost $5,000...$50,000...$200,000, $1million and more.

Second: To expose Robert Almbad’s criminal past. That past includes drug running on well-traveled narcotics routes from the Mideast to the United States; that past includes being enmeshed in countless civil lawsuits; that past includes being accused of securities fraud; that past includes being the sole focus of an entire web site entitled almbladscam.com. And

that past includes financing an anti-religion smear campaign.

Can Robert Almblad do this alone? Not always.

His partner in crime is his “public relations” executive. His name is Mike Rinder. He has much to gain from his employment and association with Almblad.

First: Having no visible means of support or viable prospect for honest employment,

Rinder lives on Almblad’s largesse. Rinder puts food on his table by

sharing in his boss’ ill-gotten gains. For this Rinder will, ro-botically, follow any orders that are given to him.

Second: Having long held a festering resentment, Rinder

feeds on—and fuels—Almblad’s anti-religion hate campaign. Rinder

does this to strike back at a religion he has long ago abandoned.

But, at the beginning, and the end, for Robert Almblad, Mike Rinder and any of Almblad’s associates, there is one word that trumps all.

That word is money.To be precise, other people’s money.That’s where you will find Robert Almblad and

company—trying to get their hands on that money.Any way they can.

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Long before there was a “safe ice machine,” Robert Almblad got his start in the business world by peddling drugs.

This information comes courtesy of a former friend and business associate of Almblad.

In 1968, according to his former friend, Almblad was a hashish smuggler who traveled to Morocco and the Mideast to secure the drug cheaply and import it to the U.S. to be sold for a huge profit.

Almblad told the friend that in the course of his drug-trafficking business, he was arrested in Chicago, and he needed cash to pay off the police officer and judge on his case. Almblad borrowed money from the friend with the explanation that he needed it to fly to the Mideast to score a drug buy which he would then use for this payoff.

This was the beginning of a long pattern in Almblad’s business practices.

Years later, Almblad admitted to dealing in drugs, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, more than 90 pounds of marijuana and hashish, and including trips to Turkey, Amsterdam and Morocco.

In 1979, according to a statement by another former associate, Mike Rubin, Almblad was running an auto salvage business in Miami, Florida.

One partner in the business was a wealthy Colombian businessman.

On one occasion, Rubin went with Almblad to the Colombian partner’s home to pick up $75,000 that was slated for a cash infusion into the salvage business.

Rubin said the money came from shopping bags stuffed with small bills, $20 bills and many, many bundles of $100 bills, and that the Colombian’s home

was full of shopping bags of cash.Almblad’s Colombian partner

soon became the target of a federal grand jury. The grand jury was part of “Operation Greenback,” a joint task force composed of the DEA, the IRS and the FBI.

This task force—launched in the early 1980s—marked the first time federal authorities combated illegal drugs by actively pursuing money launderers.

Almblad became extremely dis-traught when he learned of the fed-eral investigation, and when the task force requested all of the salvage

company’s phone records.

Although he escaped prosecution and his Colombian partner fled the U.S., there was a tragic postscript attached to Almblad’s business activities. As reported in the Miami Herald, one of the investors in Almblad’s salvage business was machine gunned to death outside his South Florida home.

Robert Almblad’s Criminal Past

“In July [1981] Robert received a call from [his Colombian

business partner] saying he was under grand jury investigation

for Operation Greenback (a DEA, IRS, FBI drug investigation)...[Later] the man that had loaned Robert and myself $210,000

for the video business had been found machine gunned down in

front of his home.”—Mike Rubin, February 5, 1982

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Almblad: The Scammer Surfaces

F resh off the episode with his Colombian business partner, Robert Almblad’s next business ventures began to unravel him as a scammer—a shady businessman who uses his wiles to extract other

companies’ and individuals’ money.In turn, these companies and

individuals are forced into filing lawsuits against Almblad to claw back the funds he has extracted.

The time frame for Almblad, now, was 1982-1986.

It was in 1982 that Almblad was raising money for the Brewer Alcohol Company.

An examination of documents reveals that Almblad was not raising money for Brewer Alcohol, but was using that company to raise money for himself.

Brewer Alcohol sued Almblad to recover shares in the company that Almblad had secured.

In 1982, Almblad became enmeshed in another business dispute.

This time Almblad offered his assistance to a woman

who had workman’s compensation claim after the death of her husband in a plane crash.

His advice included investing in his new company—this one he called “High-Technology Industries, Inc.”

According to the lawsuit which was later filed, Almblad falsely claimed his company had $10 million in assets and convinced the woman to invest in it.

Almblad even filed the insurance claim on her behalf, taking $150,000 from the proceeds as an “investment” in his company.

This maneuver by Almblad attracted the attention of the trustee overseeing the woman’s monetary award, who filed suit to recover the funds which were intended for the welfare and support of the woman and her minor children.

Almblad was forced into a settlement with the woman. He

eventually returned most—but not all—of the money he had fleeced from her insurance award, after he had use of it for five years.

According to the lawsuit, Almblad falsely claimed his company had

$10 million in assets and convinced the woman to invest in it. He even

filed the insurance claim on her behalf, taking $150,000 from the

proceeds as an “investment” in his company.

This maneuver by Almblad attracted the attention of the trustee overseeing the woman’s monetary award, who filed suit to recover

the funds which were intended for the welfare and support of the woman and her minor children.

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The ‘Key’ Element to Almblad’s Path to Self-Destruction

Robert Almblad calls himself an inventor, though his only really successful idea came from his stepfather. He uses these inventions and other investment schemes to finance himself, his

associates, and his anti-religious smear campaign. The invention which made money is a key-cutting

machine.One investor in the machine who has been betrayed

by Almblad put his modus operandi this way: “Almblad can invent a machine, but once money

starts coming in, he can’t help himself. He just takes all the money for himself and any investor be damned.

“It’s the classic bait and switch.”And such was the case with the semi-automatic

key cutting machine which he developed in the late 1980s-early 1990s while president and “principal founder” of Axxess Technologies, headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.

As usual with Almblad, despite any hints of commercial success, he is prone to stumble—and stumble badly.

Take Axxess Technologies.The company did not really take off until Almblad

sold his interest in the company in 1990-91.Almblad sold his interest, according to sources,

because his partners were successful in forcing him out of the company.

Axxess, under new management, continued to manufacture and place Almblad’s semi-automatic key-cutting machine into outlets nationwide.

By 1996, sales for Axxess were projected at $30 million and the company had 200 employees and 9,000 key-duplicating systems in supermarkets, drug stores, discount department stores and home centers across the country.

The retail outlets were big-box chains such as Kmart, Walmart, Target and Home Depot.

As of 2002, there were reportedly 15,000 of the machines in use.

Meanwhile, Almblad had a royalty agreement with Axxess which continued to supply him with money.

That money is his primary source of income—other than a scattering of funds he has accrued from loans and investors.

In March 1991, soon after selling his interest in Axxess, Almblad started a new company called Laser Key II LP,

“On or about December 16, 1999, defendants issued a press release...in which defendants published a series of false and misleading statements about Axxess and its product line... Most significantly, the Press Release deceptively appeared to be a joint press release issued together by defendant and plaintiff...which greatly multiplied the damaging effect of the statements.”

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a limited partnership. Almblad took the technology he had sold to Axxess, repackaged it, and planned to sell it under another name.

The initial funding for Laser Key II LP came from Robert Almblad and one Simon Bonnier who, by February 2002, invested and loaned to the new company a total of $3.5 million.

An additional $3.5 million had been raised from private investors. Those investors would never see any return from Almblad.

On February 7, 1997, Almblad’s former company, Axxess Technologies Inc., sued Robert and wife Yvonne Almblad and his father and mother, Donald and Evangeline Almblad, and Robert’s 347 Company.

At issue was the disputed settlement agreement in the malpractice suit against Axxess patent attorneys (Hill, Van Stanten, Stead-man & Simpson) brought by Donald Almblad and Robert Almblad.

Axxess said that it had paid all sums due. Robert Almblad, on his own behalf and on behalf of Donald Almblad, claimed that instead of the agreed upon 10 percent of the proposed award, he should receive one third of the award, a difference of approximately $900,000.

The case was eventually settled but terms were not disclosed.

In 1999, the multinational Hillman Group acquired Axxess Technologies—the company founded by Almblad and the one he sold his interest in nine years prior.

Almblad, according to sources, saw this as another

“Questions all the [Laser Key] members should be asking Robert about this are:

...“Where did the $750K yearly payments

[from Axxess to the Laser Key partners] go and to who?“Robert received $600K recently in Sept of

2010 and tried to purchase a home in Florida for $475K cash using his girlfriend Susan Clickner so the house would not be in his name, stating the money came from a yearly payout. Was this money from Axxess for the yearly licensing agreement that should have gone to Laser Key II LP?“Why would Robert give his girlfriend Susan

Clickner the money, and if it did come from Axxess, is Robert trying to hide the payments from us investors that he is receiving from Axxess?”—Email from Laser Key partner to Laser Key

LLC members/investors, April 18, 2011

opportunity to cash in and issued a false press release on December 16, 1999, stating that the Laser Key duplication system required a skilled operator and that the error rate was 30 to 50 percent. Seven days later, Almblad and Laser Key II LP were sued in U.S. District Court by Axxess Technologies for trademark and patent infringement based on the information contained in Almblad’s false press release.

The case was settled out of court.In June 2000, Robert and wife Yvonne took out a

$50,000 loan from a Robert Metzler, promising to repay it when Almblad got any appreciable amount of money from Laser Key II.

Almblad has never repaid this loan.

In March 2001, the Alm-blads borrowed from Mi-chael R. Graham, presumably to finance one of his key op-erations, which was also not repaid.

Graham sued Almblad and got a default judgment for $107,218 against him.

And what happened to the Laser Key II LP investors who ponied up a total of $3.5 million right into the hands of Robert Almblad?

These investors were is-sued a letter dated December 3, 2010, in which Almblad told his investors that he had “made the painful decision to

terminate and shut down Laser Key.” In the letter he blamed the demise of Laser Key on a Swedish-based conglomerate he had partnered with.

The name of the multinational company is Assa Abloy. In his termination letter to his investors, Amblad said of Assa Abloy: “Over the years we spent significant sums on legal fees trying to extract ourselves from our contract with Assa, to no avail.”

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Laser Key Investors on Robert Almblad

• James Dimatteo, Lincolnshire, Illinois, invested $200,000 with Almblad. “I was an investor who was strung along and then he closed the company. I’d love to see Almblad’s ass in jail.”

• Roger Peterson, Geneva, Illinois, invested $50,000 with Almblad. “A lot of people were fooled and Almblad has never been held accountable. I’d love to see the son of a bitch in prison.”

• James Stephen, Arlington Heights, Illinois, invested a “not insignificant sum” with Almblad. “I tried calling Almblad after I got the termination letter. None of the phone numbers were working.”

None of the investors heard from Almblad again.

Almblad’s address on that letter is where the still-married inventor lives with his paramour and business associate Susan Clickner.

The address is: 1137 Marina Drive, Tarpon Springs, Florida. The home—in foreclosure with no mortgage payments having been made for three years—is a $1 million waterfront mansion.

Here is how some of the Laser Key investors view Almblad:

James Dimatteo, Lincolnshire, Illinois: He invested $200,000 with Almblad. He says: “I was an investor who was strung along and then he closed the company. I’d love to see Almblad’s ass in jail.”

Roger Peterson, Geneva, Illinois: He invested $50,000 with Almblad. He says: “A lot of people were fooled and

Almblad has never been held accountable. I’d love to see the son of a bitch in prison.”

James Stephen, Arlington Heights, Illinois: He invested a “not insignificant sum” with Almblad. He says: “I tried calling Almblad after I got the termination letter. None of the phone numbers were working.”

Brian Gonick, Chappaqua, New York: He invested an undisclosed sum with Almblad. He says: “Any two minutes I spend talking about Almblad is two minutes that I’ve wasted.”

With the Laser Key debacle, Almblad’s pattern is complete: A “businessman” who is the subject of lawsuits, settlements, judgements and a litany of fleeced investors.

Simply put: Robert Almblad is a man who lives amidst his own financial chaos and leaves a trail of destitution and financial ruin of innocent investors in his wake.

Robert Almblad is a man who cannot keep his hands off other people’s money.

That is Robert Almblad.

Almblad to investors: “I have made the painful decision to terminate and shut down

Laser Key LLC.”

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When an individual mixes his religion of choice with his business dealings, eye-brows are raised.

In Robert Almblad’s case—it is more than eyebrows.

The years in question span 1970-2010.During this time, Almblad was expelled from the reli-

gion he attached himself to, the Church of Scientology, on three separate occasions.

The first time was 1980, when Alm-blad was discovered to have been hiring Church staff for a personal business, thus distracting them from their religious du-ties. Almblad claimed that he had taken responsibility for the actions resulting in his expulsion and it was lifted in 1981.

In 1982 Almblad was expelled from the Church again, this time for more serious charges that he was intending to bug offices of senior Church members as part of a scheme to try and take control of the Church. His hair-brained plan was discovered (he later admitted to it) and he was expelled.

Again in 1998 he asserted to have taken responsibility for his prior unethical activities and was allowed back into Church membership.

After having been given repeated opportunities to redeem himself and to forsake his pattern of unethi-cal conduct, he was again expelled in 2010. This third expulsion was final.

Almblad not only could not restrain his compulsive

rip-off business practices, but used the associations he garnered through his religion to fraudulently add to his material wealth.

Almblad did this by luring church parishioners into his business schemes, some of which used copyrighted Church material, and some of which included actions intended to thwart the Church’s humanitarian purpos-es and goals.

One internal investigation, according to documents, reportedly found evidence that Almblad committed

civil crimes, and federal crimes of sub-orning a witness, obstruction of justice and securities violations.

Almblad also had committed tax fraud, according to other sources.

In mixing his so-called business pur-suits with his religious aspirations, a pat-tern emerged.

Unlike parishioners of any religion, Almblad did not contribute his time and effort to his religion. Instead, Almblad took from his religion and its parishioners.

Again and again Almblad preyed on innocent Church members in order to take their money from them. When he was discovered, he repented and said he would never engage in that kind of activity again. But he did. Finally, he was expelled for the last time from his religion.

But even that final expulsion did not deter Almblad.He has still posed as a member of his former religion

to work his financial schemes on unsuspecting persons.

Almblad’$ Religion is Money

Again and again Almblad

preyed on innocent Church members in order to take their money from them.

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Robert Almblad’s Strange and Even Stranger World

The old adage “you can tell a carpenter by his tools” pales when examining the personal and business relationships of Robert Almblad.

Item #1: The married Almblad’s paramour, Susan Clickner.

In the autumn of 2006, Almblad walked out of his home in Chicago and told his wife Yvonne that he wanted a divorce. On his way out he told her that if she needed to talk to someone she should call Dave Richards, a longtime business partner of Almblad.

The next day Yvonne contacted Richards and discovered that Robert had flown off on a three-and-a-half week vacation in Europe with Susan Clickner. It was then she discovered her husband had been having an affair with Clickner for the prior six months while appearing to have normal relations with her. The vacation in Europe was accomplished with family money. Yvonne also discovered that he had transferred money belonging to her to another joint account he had with Clickner.

Later, on November 8, Almblad attempted to serve Yvonne with a divorce. He subsequently withdrew it after considering the potential exposure of financial information a divorce case presents (something Almblad could not afford) and, through his friend Richards, he convinced Yvonne that she would be better off remaining married, thus allowing Almblad to buy her off—while he continued his live-in-lover relationship with Clickner.

That’s not all. Almblad’s adulterous relationship originally came in

a threesome—Susan Clickner and a friend of Susan’s. The friend and Susan were, according to sources, an item before Robert met them. But when they first met,

Almblad wanted it all. In one email Almblad sent to Clickner in mid 2006

he said, “In my view, I would love to take care of both you and [the friend] [sic] … And remember I met [the friend] before you … It’s not easy to extinguish those thoughts and those feelings about her…”

And later, “Anyway, let’s work on a way to materially share stuff. Maybe we could share this house together?”

Almblad’s gracious offer to share a family home owned by him and Yvonne was ultimately accepted by Clickner, but not until after she succeeded in getting cited by the City of Tarpon Springs for commencing renovations without a proper construction permit.

Contacted at her home in Texas about her relationship with Clickner and Almblad, the friend responded, “I have no comment—ever.”

It is thought that they, possibly, had a falling out.

Susan Clickner, Almblad’s paramour and business partner

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Item #2: The married Almblad’s business partner, Susan Clickner.

Besides being a willing bedmate, Susan Clickner is made of the same business cloth as her lover.

To wit:In July and August of 2010, Robert Almblad and Susan

Clickner attempted to purchase a house on Druid Street in Clearwater, Florida. The house was being purchased in Clickner’s name for $450,000 in cash. It went into escrow but, by the closing date, Almblad and Clickner did not have the cash in hand and the deal became null and void.

Neither Almblad nor Clickner would likely qualify for a loan:

Clickner went through a Chapter 7 in 2003 and a Chapter 13 in 2004 and Almblad has a first and second mortgage on his Tarpon Springs home and no equity in the house, which is in foreclosure. The foreclosure litigation has been going on for more than three years and Almblad has not made any payments on the mortgage for at least that long.

The $450,000 in cash that originally was slated to pay for the property, came, according to sources, from one of Almblad’s business schemes and probably belonged to others anyway.

But the following provides insight into Almblad’s personal —and penurious—state.

Robert and Yvonne Almblad purchased their property in Tarpon Springs in February 2006. At the time of the purchase Robert was the only qualifying party for both mortgage notes. Yvonne Almblad’s financial affidavit filed in 2009 showed

that Almblad’s income for 2006 was $28,846, yet he managed to get mortgages totaling more than $1million.

Item #3: Robert Almblad’s business associates.The lawyer:During the course of a fact-finding investigation into

Robert Almblad’s business affairs, this writer visited the St. Petersburg, Florida offices of Almblad attorney Anthony J. Camparetto. He represented Almblad and Susan Clickner on the Clearwater property Almblad attempted to buy for $450,000 and reneged on, and probably other matters.

Camparetto’s website describes his specialties as adult entertainment and asset protection, the latter being something Almblad clearly is in need of. Camparetto explains that he got into this line of work not “from the streets” but “from the gutter.”

He explains that he helps clients “build a wall to … protect them from creditors,” and tells them how to “survive someone trying to attack you and take all your money away.” He further explains how “… asset protection strategies can keep your assets away from unscrupulous and frivolous lawsuits and claims.” He uses Florida’s “liberal asset protection laws designed to keep people out of the poor house.” 

Standing inside his squat one-story offices, Camparetto was cordial and engaged while talking and posing for this writer’s videographer. When asked about Almblad and Clickner’s irregular financial dealings, he said: “Of course, as an attorney I represent anybody and everybody” and “can’t comment without talking to my client.”

As this writer exited the strip-mall-like office, Camparetto added:

“As an attorney I just represent people. I don’t worry about it, I just represent everybody under the sun.”

The Almblad employee:In gathering information about Almblad’s business

practices, this writer visited the Palm Harbor, Florida home of Steven Reynolds who works for Almblad on his safe ice machine.

At the time, Reynolds was in the open garage of the house. When this writer walked up the driveway and asked two questions, Reynolds said to leave.

[Almblad’s attorney] Anthony Camparetto

(left) explains that he got into this line of work not “from the streets” but

“from the gutter.”

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This writer promptly complied. When back on a public street, this writer was alerted by his videographer that Reynolds—who had gone through the garage and into the house—had reemerged and was pointing a .45 caliber handgun at this writer’s back.

Reynolds was charged with improper exhibition of a firearm or dangerous weapon for this incident.

The business associates:Though this writer discovered many of their ilk, two

merit a mention.The first: This writer visited an Almblad business

associate named Patrick Cullen at his company in Holiday, Florida. The company is named “World Engineering Corp.” It was odd, this writer thought, that the business is located at what seems a residence, one that has a front door festooned with a sign that read “OUT BACK!”

Following the sign’s direction, this writer walked up a steep, gravel driveway to what resembled an outhouse OUT BACK! as well as a garage. At the top of the driveway sat the hulk of a used car. The movie “Deliverance” came to mind.

Cullen had nothing of any substance to say concerning Almblad, and in minutes popped back into the garage from which he came.

However, this writer thought it wise to walk back down the driveway backwards.

Cullen, in his tank top and shorts, did appear once again and popped back into the garage, again.

The second: Glenn Erickson is the name of another

Almblad business associate. He is owner of Expert Automation Design, headquartered in Seminole, Florida.

He has spent time at the warehouse in Tarpon Springs, Florida which serves as Almblad’s business address.

Erickson’s web site advertises that he does business with government defense contractor Lockheed Martin and other corporations.

This writer found that Erickson’s business headquarters was a residence that resembled something belonging in a trailer park.

After knocking at the door, a woman, presumably Erickson’s wife, approached the mail slot in the door. While listening to the woman say through the mail slot that she had no idea when Erickson would be back, this writer noticed that the interior of the small residence was packed with aging computer equipment and furniture.

There is, currently, no information on when Lockheed Martin representatives are scheduled to next visit Erickson.

The victim:Although they number many, Dan Swanson is

emblematic of the financial wounds inflicted by Robert Almblad on investors, and, former employees.

In this case, Swanson is a former employee.He is owed $160,000 for work on three of Almblad’s

inventions, including the safe ice machine. Swanson provided graphics showing how the inventions would work.

In a videotaped interview with this writer, Swanson offered insight into the workings of Almblad as well

In gathering information about Almblad’s business practices, this writer visited the Palm Harbor, Fl. home of Steven Reynolds who works for Almblad

on his safe ice machine.. . .

When back on a public street, this writer was alerted by his videographer that Reynolds—who

had gone through the garage and into the house—had reemerged and was pointing a .45 caliber

handgun at this writer’s back.

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ROBERT ALMBLAD IN HIS OWN WORDS

“Between you and I [sic] …. my house is in foreclosure and because of creditor judgments against me I no longer have a checking or savings account. The power lift is turned off to prevent the boat from being repossessed. I am promoting like hell and holding the creditors off to the last minute and beyond.”

“None of the people I am selling technology to know my financial situation. I need to keep it that way. I can’t ask for a little bit of money or they will know how weak I am.” —Robert Almblad

as documented evidence of the financial pain that his former employer had caused him.

During the years he has been associated with the man, Swanson has seen deterioration in Almblad’s physical appearance. At one time he was a trim 5 ft-9 in and had the air of a “dynamic eccentric genius.” Now he’s overweight, face bloated, his eyes are ‘’pickled’’ and he looks like a drinker.

When Swanson tried to get his promised salary after three years of delays, Almblad tried to fend him off with complaints that directors of companies were holding up payments to him.

An examination of a series of emails between Swanson, his wife Darlene and Almblad suggests classic financial trickery. Instead of paying up on the due date, Swanson was offered more work.

Almblad’s messages are filled with phrases like “complete the deal within three months” and “get paid no later than the beginning of June.” He never says “The money is here and I’m sending you a check.”

Almblad does confess, however, that he is in severe financial straits and doesn’t want the people he’s hoping will buy his machines to know.

One remail read, “Between you and I [sic]….my house is in foreclosure and because of creditor judgments against me I no longer have a checking or savings account. The power lift is turned off to prevent the boat from being repossessed. I am promoting like hell and holding the creditors off to the last minute and beyond.

“None of the people I am selling technology to know my financial situation. I need to keep it that way. I can’t ask for a little bit of money or they will know how weak I am.”

Eventually, Almblad wouldn’t even pay $3,600 for a special computer Swanson needs to do his work.

And the communication between them ends.The hard-working Swansons are out $160,000-plus

and Almblad carries on without a care.This, through the eyes of Dan Swanson, is Robert

Almblad at his worst.His very worst.

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Robert Almblad’s Henchman: Mike Rinder,a PR Disgrace

After leaving his Laser Key investors behind, and after taking their money, Robert Almblad turned his attention to his next business plan.

The scheme was twofold:First—devise another “invention” aimed at luring in

more unwary investors. In this case, a so-called “safe ice machine” that, purportedly, removes bacteria from ice.

Second—To feed a long-simmering resentment by attacking the religion that expelled him. Simply, because the religion, Scientology, had no choice.

To achieve this twofold purpose Almblad enlisted the aid of a disgraced ex-Church member to work as his public relations executive. This man, Mike Rinder, a documented liar, abandoned that same Church and his family. He, too, was expelled from the religion.

Rinder is also a documented wife abuser who savagely stripped the flesh from his estranged wife’s arms—an injury that took surgery and months of medical attention to heal. And, the ex-wife’s arms are still not completely healed.

Why did Rinder do that? Because his estranged wife simply wanted to talk to him.

This man, Rinder, also attacks his former Church by spreading lies and propaganda to the media, including a newspaper entitled the St. Petersburg Times which is located near the Gulf coast of Florida.

The managing editor of that paper, Joe Childs, makes sure that any lies Rinder tells him concerning the religion he now hates are printed in the newspaper.

As a payback to “public relations” expert Rinder, managing editor Childs directed that the business section of his newspaper print a glowing profile of Almblad’s safe ice machine.

That article appeared in February of this year.But, there is another more germane reason

that the article was published: Anyone who opposes Scientology is a

friend of the newspaper’s editors, including its chairman, Paul

Tash, even if it means not giving their readers any details of Almblad’s seamy business background and current precarious financial position.The story, with references

to most major ice machine makers which are supposedly,

but not in fact, seeking licensing rights from Almblad, was what jour-

nalists call “a puff piece.” It even claimed that the U.S. Army and Air Force

wanted Almblad to develop his machine to military specifications.

However, no major company has paid any money for Almblad’s machine and the U.S. armed forces are still getting clean and safe ice their own way.

Managing editor Childs, along with reporter Tom Tobin, even visited Almblad’s warehouse in Tarpon

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Springs, Florida. They did not ask Almblad, or his media advisor Rinder, why Almblad’s home is in foreclosure and why he eludes creditors who want their money back.

Childs gave approval for the major story on the ice machine, yet again accepting Rinder’s lies as he had done for a whole series of biased attacks on Scientology. Business writer Robert Trigaux went to work on his naively optimistic article. Trigaux was later to confirm to this writer that Rinder was the man to contact for information on Almblad’s “invention.”

In essence, that is what Robert Almblad and his employee, Mike Rinder, who earns $1,500 a week, are all about.

The duo feeds off each other and fuels each other in pursuit of this twofold scheme: To defraud investors who may—although so far none have—put money into the “safe ice” machine.

And secondly, to satisfy their ever-hungry and gnawing resentment by waging a campaign of hatred at the religion that was forced to expel them.

Robert Almblad and Mike Rinder—partners in financial fraud and hate-filled vengeance.

Those are their only concerns.

MIKE RINDER IN ACTION

Mike Rinder: Violent Abuser of Women

A year after the assault by Rinder, his estranged wife still suffered from nerve damage to her arm and a dislocated shoulder, requiring surgery to repair.

M ike then came directly over to me, grabbed me by both arms and shoved me which nearly knocked me down.”

The above are not the words of his estranged wife, whom he abused in exactly the same manner when he viciously attacked her in April 2010. (See  Robert Almblad’s Henchman: Mike Rinder, A PR Disgrace.) The words are those of another woman, another attack, years earlier.

Brutally grabbing women by the arms—which Rinder did to his wife and then lied about to the police and press—is a standard Rinder MO. After stories in a Florida newspaper lifted the veil on Rinder’s violent attacks and made them public knowledge, some of his victims were emboldened to come forward to tell their stories. Here are a few. FEMALE VICTIM 1

“I knew he was going to hit me, so I put my hands over my face. He grabbed me by the shoulders in a very strong, tight and painful grip (squeezing my shoulders very hard) and began shaking me violently, toward him and away from him, back and forth rapidly... He kept on shoving me back and forth and then, on a back shove, threw me against the wall hard enough that it hurt my rib cage, knocked the breath out of me and I bounced off the wall.”FEMALE VICTIM 2 Some years later, and well away from witnesses, another incident occurred:

“He placed both his hands on an 8-by-11-inch wooden clipboard he was carrying, did a half turn, swung and hit me on the side of my face with the clipboard, using the full force of his body… I developed a severe toothache. The pain became quite excruciating. The dentist…found that it had been cracked and had to be removed.”FEMALE VICTIM 3:

Then there was the case of a woman who inexplicably left her job, much to the dismay and surprise of those

with whom she worked. Today, her reason is abundantly clear, as the following was submitted by her after she learned of Rinder’s other transgressions:

“I needed financial approval to purchase something, but I was worried as I had been told in the past that Mike Rinder would not approve this type of purchase. I mentioned my concern to a colleague as to whether or not Rinder would approve the request, but I was advised to make the request and turn it into Rinder anyway, which I did...

“He came out into the hallway, walked right up to me and physically slammed me against the wall. He used his right forearm up against my chest and moved toward my throat in a choking position, my head was pinned against the wall and I was desperately trying to get him to move his arm down by pulling down on his forearm with my two hands… Rinder never apologized for that incident, for slamming me against the wall, for upsetting me or anything. That was the beginning of my thinking about leaving...”

When asked about the abuse, Rinder stated he didn’t “recall” the incident. What would one expect from Rinder? It takes a  man  to admit when he’s done something wrong.

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Published as a public serviceby FREEDOM Magazine