M Elizabeth Broderick

Despite renouncing her American citizenship and claiming she was immune from U.S. laws, Montana "Freemen" disciple M. Elizabeth Broderick carried a driver's license and Social Security card--evidence that she did not believe her own anti-establishment rhetoric, a federal prosecutor said Friday.

Lacing their words with anti-government rhetoric from the militia movement, they try to pass bogus checks to pay off big bills, stock their bank accounts with piles of cash or post bail to get out of jail. More than a dozen residents of Ventura County are under investigation on suspicion of attempting to negotiate millions of dollars in fraudulent checks that were designed by the Montana-based "freeman" anti-tax group or other militia-style organizations.

M. Elizabeth Broderick, the Palmdale woman whose anti-government courses on paying debts for free have come under federal scrutiny, lashed out Monday in a videotaped address at a judge who said that she may be committing bank and mail fraud. "He will pay dearly for this," fumed Broderick, a student of tax resister LeRoy Schweitzer, whose armed "freemen" group remains in a standoff with government agents in Montana.

In the wake of a federal investigation and judge's warning that her activities may constitute bank and mail fraud, M. Elizabeth Broderick was a no-show at her own seminar Sunday, which drew nearly 500 people from across the nation hoping to hear her methods for paying off debts for free. At her popular seminars, held once every two weeks, Broderick takes orders for checks bearing the words "Payable at Office of Postmaster," which she says can be used to pay bills.

In the wake of a federal investigation and judge's warning that her activities may constitute bank and mail fraud, M. Elizabeth Broderick was a no-show at her own seminar Sunday, which drew nearly 500 people from across the nation hoping to hear her methods for paying off debts for free. At her popular seminars, held once every two weeks, Broderick takes orders for checks bearing the words "Payable at Office of Postmaster," which she says can be used to pay bills.

Calling her activities seriously illegal, a federal judge on Thursday ordered a Palmdale student of the Montana Freemen not to promote use of bogus checks at the seminars she holds for thousands of students in the high desert. Federal officials say they have received more than $30 million worth of the checks signed by M. Elizabeth Broderick, who claims to be a "private bank" that can issue "warrants" backed by liens she has filed against the government.

A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of two Southern California men who passed $800 million in fake checks. Barry Switzer of Santa Clarita and Julian Cheney of Van Nuys, formerly a chiropractor in Reseda, were sentenced Monday to five years in prison on conspiracy and fraud charges for a scheme that netted $1.2 million. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Switzer's claim that there was insufficient evidence he intended to defraud buyers of the checks.

A federal appeals court this week upheld the convictions of two Southern California men who passed $800 million in fake checks. Barry Switzer of Santa Clarita and Julian Cheney, of Van Nuys and formerly a chiropractor in Reseda, on Monday were sentenced to five years in prison on conspiracy and fraud charges for a scheme that netted $1.2 million. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Switzer's claim that there was insufficient evidence that he intended to defraud buyers of the checks.