Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1986. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - October 18, 1986
An order signed by Judge Thelton E. Henderson in San Francisco, which was made public Friday, directed the attachment of up to $63,958 in the bank accounts of the Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee, or Panic, and Caucus Distributors Inc. Both are part of Mr. LaRouche's network of organizations.
The AIDS committee is the primary force behind Proposition 64, a voter-initiated referendum that, if approved by California voters Nov. 4, would allow wide testing and quarantining of victims of acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
A suit filed in the Federal court in San Francisco Oct. 10, which was kept sealed by Judge Henderson, charged that Mr. LaRouche's followers used "relentless pressure, psychological harassment and deceit" to persuade Margaret M. P. Beynen, 83 years old, to turn over much of her life's savings as loans to Mr. LaRouche's organizations.
Mrs. Beynen, of Berkeley, Calif., said she was persuaded to make four loans in late 1985 and early 1986. The principal and unpaid interest now total $63,958.
The suit also seeks more than $5 million in damages.
The suit charges Mr. LaRouche, several of his organizations and associates with racketeering, fraud, breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The judge's order allowing attachment of assets was an unusual move, imposed the day the suit was filed without a judgment and without notice to Mr. LaRouche's groups.
It was issued and kept secret after Mrs. Beynen's lawyers argued that Mr. LaRouche followers would move their money and conceal it if they had advance notice. Judge Henderson lifted the seal late Friday.
At LaRouche headquarters in Leesburg, Va., a spokesman, Nereida Thompson, would offer no comment today.
Mrs. Beynen's lawyers, Daniel H. Bookin and George A. Riley of San Francisco, said they had not yet learned how much money was in the Panic account but that they understood it was less than what was owed Mrs. Beynen.
In persuading the judge to grant the unusual order, her lawyers, who took the case without charge, amassed a list of other elderly people around the nation who they say were victimized by LaRouche fund-raisers.
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