Painter Said to Be Focus of FBI Probe (Thomas Kinkade)

Los Angeles Times ^ | August 29, 2006 | Kim Christiensen

[Cecily]

The FBI is investigating allegations that self-styled "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade and some of his top executives fraudulently induced investors to open galleries and then ruined them financially, former dealers contacted by federal agents said.

Investigators are focusing on issues raised in civil litigation by at least six former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners, people who have been contacted by the FBI said.

ADVERTISEMENTThe ex-owners allege in arbitration claims that, among other things, the artist known for his dreamily luminous landscapes and street scenes used his Christian faith to persuade them to invest in the independently owned stores, which sell only Kinkade's work.

"They really knew how to bait the hook," said one former dealer who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the case. "They certainly used the Christian hook."

Kinkade has denied the allegations in the civil litigation.

Two former dealers told the Los Angeles Times that they had been asked to provide documentation of their business relationships with Kinkade's company. They said agents asked for copies of dealer agreements, retail sales policies, training materials from "Thomas Kinkade University" and correspondence, including e-mail.

[martin_fierro]

[martin_fierro]

DONNA DEWBERRY IS TEH ANTICHRIST!

[theFIRMbss]

>If more than half of American homes have Kinkade or PM in them

Don't know if someone
mentioned this already, but
Kinkade is close friends

with James Gurney who
thought of Dinotopia. [!?]
Here is their story . . .

[Cecily]

It looks like Reuters managed to photograph the Unluckiest Lady in Lebanon just before the IAF reduced one of her many houses/Hezbollah arsenals to rubble, rather than after.

[NFOShekky]

Next thing you know they will go after the Velvet Elvis artist then the Dogs Playing Poker artist!!! Oh the humanity, the humanity. . .

[martin_fierro]

Make. It. Stop.

[sully777]

I understand Precious Moment characters are dedicated to dead children. If I have the story right, at first the guy painted as grief therapy but in time his work expanded to other people's children, then to an ideal child in an idealic setting. Now he has an empire based on the caricatures of dead children in religious settings.

I went to his chapel for a bite to eat a few years back. It's sort of like there's little Festus fishing in a man-made fountain inside a cheesy chapel/cafeteria/hotel outside Carthage, Missouri! Very goth when you ponder the psychological implications of this man's expanding domain.

PS the fried chicken was nothing to write home.

JMO

[AnAmericanMother]

OMG! That's really awful.

For those who can't bear to live another moment without a virtual tour of the chapel . . . here it is.

[sully777]

ROTFLMAO... Precious Moments Warrior Xena.

[sauropod]

pingaroonie.

[sully777]

RE: Post #347

---

From AnAmericanMother's link: "...The mural “Hallelujah Square” celebrates the lives of real children whose lives ended too soon..."

[Xenalyte]

You are vile and hateful.

I like that. I will kill you last.

[martin_fierro]

[Verloona Ti]

Okay, I'll stop.No more PM stuff.Here's another Kinkaid. :

[martin_fierro]

IT'S TEH FREAKING CHESHIRE CAT!!1!

[Charles Henrickson]

Hey, X, don't feel bad. Look what martin_ did to me:

[sully777]

I stress the warrior part--out of due respect.

[mikrofon]

Chakram and Awww ?

[Verloona Ti]

That particular image makes a good rorshak (sp?) test. When one looks at it, does one only see the gate as a McDonald's logo? Or does one see the entire image-the gestalt, if you will-of the cottage and the gate as a snarling demon's face? (The chimneys as ears, the windows as eyes, the arched trellis as eyebrows and nose, the gate as a fanged mouth...) You know, now that I think of it, it really resembles Darth Vader's helmet, doesn't it?

[Hildy]

Oh, I'm not kidding. 60 Minutes did a profile on him during his heyday. Must have been four or five years ago at least. The Communities were in the works at that time.