Today, the Internet is used as a tool to search for information about people we do not yet know, especially in business. We live in a time when "Googling" someone we do not know is an important part of the due diligence process. Alarmingly, there are more and more examples emerging where angry people abuse the Internet to defame and harass innocent victims in an effort to hurt them by attempting to destroy their reputation online. All too often, there is a disgruntled family member at the heart of the defamation. In this case, that family member is Eliot Ivan Bernstein. With his partner, Crystal Cox, they represent the dark side of the Internet by taking advantage of unsuspecting people who are completely unaware that such tactics exist. Most people cannot imagine the tactics Internet defamation criminals are using today.
Ted Bernstein, owner of Life Insurance Concepts is a well-respected insurance professional in Boca Raton, Florida who has been the victim of malicious, libelous, and defamatory blogs. These blogs are fueled by Ted's brother, Eliot Bernstein and a person named Crystal Cox, an "investigative blogger" that masquerades as a journalist. If you do not know Ted personally, this blog provides accurate information with the hope of rectifying the ongoing damage done to his reputation. In service as Trustee for his deceased parents, Ted is paying a hefty price. Along with many esteemed professionals hired by Ted and his family and in their service as fiduciaries, there has been a systematic campaign of defamation and harassment waged against them by an angry family member with a simple and obvious agenda. In complete transparency, we invite you to contact Mr. Alan Rose, counsel for Simon and Shirley's trusts and estates. Mr. Rose can be reached at the well respected law firm in Palm Beach, Mrachek Rose. As an esteemed member of the Florida Bar, Mr. Rose will answer any questions you have about Ted Bernstein and Life Insurance Concepts in Boca Raton, Florida.
Due to circumstances beyond his control, these malicious blogs can overshadow the important professional and charitable work Ted has done for the better part of 30 years. On a regular basis, Ted is featured and quoted in the national media for his expertise and innovations in the insurance industry. Ted is also a financial columnist for the Boca Raton Tribune.
This blog attempts to explain the motivations behind Eliot Bernstein (Ted's brother) and Crystal Cox's mission to defame Ted. Please take a few minutes to read this if gaining honest information about Ted is what you are seeking. It is critical to understand who he is and to understand how the power of online defamation can destroy innocent people's reputations––despite the wild inaccuracies written by those with no credibility. Also, please know that other than the outrageous allegations made by Eliot Bernstein and Crystal Cox, there has never been a negative word written about Ted Bernstein, either personally or professionally. In any capacity, he has never been accused of wrongdoing. Because he has spent a lifetime caring about his professional reputation, he is vulnerable to people with nothing to lose:
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My name is Ted Bernstein and this blog has been created by me. It is important for you to know that there are multiple blogs online using my name and image without my permission. These are attack blogs designed to harass me and to defame me, my family, my business, my reputation and my credibility––but let me assure you of one very important fact: There is not a credible word stated in those blogs. They are nothing but allegations from an angry family member without credibility. I urge every person searching for information about me to call state agencies, insurance companies, the Florida Department of Insurance, accounting firms, local and national law firms, existing clients, members of the Boca Raton business community and even many of my competitors.
Why am I being defamed online?
Each and every one of the defamatory blogs has been created by the same person, someone named Crystal Cox who gets her information from my brother, Eliot Bernstein. Crystal Cox has been sued on numerous occasions for unspeakable things. She and my brother Eliot Bernstein are under court orders throughout the U.S., ordering them to stop filing vexatious lawsuits in dozens of frivolous lawsuits completely unrelated to the trusts and estates of my parents. Both Cox and Bernstein are known as vexatious litigants, meaning they abuse the courts by filing meaningless lawsuits, representing themselves. Yes, Shakespeare said that a person representing himself has a fool for a client.
Their blogs are designed solely to damage my reputation, especially with people who do not know me. I would suggest you contact a journalist from Forbes named Kashmir Hill. Or, look up the article she recently wrote about Crystal Cox. The New York Times also did an excellent story, stating: "a case of a blogger [Cox] using the web in unaccountable ways to decimate the reputation of someone who didn't seem to have it coming."
After this story was written in the New York Times, Crystal Cox sued the New York Times and the journalist, personally. She also sued Forbes and Kashmir Hill for writing the story that exposed Cox.
Eliot Bernstein, Running for President, and Crystal Cox have been trying to decimate my reputation for nearly 4 years now. They have filed hundreds of lawsuits against innocent victims over the past 15 years in both State and Federal courts. These suits are often 500 pages or more and they allege fraud over and over again. Between Eliot Bernstein and Crystal Cox, they appear to have stumbled into a thousand cases of police fraud, fire department fraud, judicial fraud, attorney fraud, insurance fraud, corporate fraud, state fraud, U.S. fraud and even Botox fraud. Here is a sample of only one of the cases filed by Cox and only a few of the Defendants in this one case:
Plaintiff Crystal L. Cox
and John and Jane Doe Plaintiff 1 - 25
Complaint
Jury Trial Request
v.
APPLE, Corporation
Judge Gloria M. Navarro personally and Professionally,
Intel Corp. Oregon Business, California Business, Global Business / Steven Rodgers Vice President & Deputy General Counsel at Intel Corporation, Liberty Capital, AOL Inc. (1% through Liberty Capital and 2% through Liberty Interactive), Barnes and Noble Inc.
Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (21%), Motorola Mobility Inc. (2%)
Motorola Solutions Inc. (2%), Priceline.com Inc. (1%), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (40%)
Sprint Nextel Corporation (2%), Time Warner Cable Viacom
Greenberg Traurig Law Firm, Brown, White and Newhouse Law Firm, Kashmir Hill of Forbes, personally and professionally, Forbes Inc. Godaddy Inc.,
Proskauer Rose Law Firm, Obsidian Finance Group, New York Times, David Carr, personally and professionally, Philly Law Blog, Philadelphia Business, SaltyDroid, Jason Jones Esq., personally and professionally - Oregon State Bar Bulletin - NPR, New York Public Radio, Tracy L. Coenen personally and professionally - SequenceInc.com, Wisconsin Company, Roxanne Grinage, personally and professionally, HireLyrics
Incredibly, these nonsensical suits must be considered to be real lawsuits by the system and they wreak havoc in our already overly stressed county, state and federal courts. Anyone can sue anyone for anything; these suits by Cox and Eliot Bernstein attest to that fact. With a deep sense of appreciation for one's right to access the courts, these abusive tactics are detrimental on so many levels. There must be an effective way to prevent these vexatious litigants from gaming the system. In the probate cases of my parents, all of Eliot Bernstein's pleadings have been stricken. For years, we suffered through these preposterous filings. The cost to the estates and trusts is well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in professional fees. Every ruling goes against him and he appeals every single ruling, wasting more of his children's inheritance.
As a result of these unauthorized blogs and frivolous suits, I have been forced to protect my name and reputation from this malicious online defamation. Because I serve as the appointed Trustee of the trusts created by my mother and father, I am being defamed and attacked by my brother and his "partners", all of whom appear to be quite capable in using the worst elements of the Internet against me. In a desperate attempt to be viewed as relevant and "in the know", their blogs talk incessantly about police reports, investigations and fraud. They post court proceedings and file motions with the names of all the minor grandchildren. Tragically, this will be the online identity for my children and my nieces and nephews.
Eliot Bernstein feeds Crystal Cox the information from court proceedings and she who is nothing more than the alter ego of Eliot rushes to put it on the blogs designed to intimidate the professionals and the family members - in my opinion. I say "in my opinion" with sarcasm. Read their blogs carefully and you see that Cox begins or ends every sentence with a qualifier like that. When you are lying or uninformed, those qualifiers are your get out of jail free card.
As far as the facts regarding the estate administration cases, we are making progress. Below is a summary of the recent developments that we are achieving through the courts. Please email me for the recent Orders from Judge Phillips in which a Guardian was appointed to protect the interests of my nephews, Eliot Bernstein’s children. Eliot is also being sued by Oppenheimer in their fiduciary capacity as Trustee and Oppenheimer also had a Guardian appointed for my brother's children in that case. In summary:
1. Upon being disinherited by my mother and father’s carefully constructed estate planning documents that were designed to prevent him from doing exactly what he is doing, Eliot’s obsessive behavior continues to defame all the professionals working to administer their estates. Part of his unique lifelong challenges leads him to relentlessly abuse the state and federal courts.
2. Both Oppenheimer and me, in my capacity as Trustee, asked the Court to appoint a Guardian ad Litem for my 3 nephews based upon my brother’s inability to protect their interests from his ongoing crusades.
3. The Court agreed and appointed a guardian on March 1st, 2016.
4. The court ruled there was no fraud and all of my parent’s documents are valid. Eliot Bernstein alleges that I, the attorneys for the trusts, several judges including Judge Phillips, my siblings and numerous others are part of an ongoing fraud and conspiracy. Judge Phillips ordered there was no fraud.
5. The Court ruled that my brother has no legal standing in these matters and barred him from all further proceedings.
6. The Court has stricken all of Eliot Bernstein’s pleadings in this case.
7. The Court has ruled that Eliot Bernstein is not a beneficiary, as he claims.
8. Eliot Bernstein has been deemed a vexatious litigant in multiple courts, including being referred to as a vexatious litigant in the recent Court Order for guardianship.
9. We are requesting the Court order the defamatory and slanderous blogs being used to destroy the reputations of all the fiduciaries be permanently removed from the Internet.
Many people have asked why Eliot Bernstein has chosen this path, one that appears so destructive?
I am the Trustee of trusts created by my parents while they were alive, for the benefit of their grandchildren. My brother is angry and disillusioned about the fact that he was disinherited. As I have come to learn, my parents had always supported Eliot and his family while they were alive. My father’s instructions upon his death, through his estate planning documents, provided for no further support – it stopped immediately and the support was significant. With very little personal contact with Eliot over the past 30 years, I was not aware of the severity and complexity of these issues. So, as the Trustee, I stand in the way of what he wants. He claims to have no assets and no income, and now no support. His harassment has been relentless. He has filed countless actions to remove me as Trustee. The court has ordered that Eliot can no longer file actions to remove me as Trustee and the Court has upheld my appointment as Trustee.
Who is Crystal Cox? She appears to be a malicious blogger and it has been reported that she has been repeatedly sued over a period of decades for extortion, harassment and other cyber related matters. She is involved with and associated with my brother, Eliot Bernstein. The links below will help you understand the motivations behind their defamatory web sites. A Nevada attorney named Marc Randazza will provide you with a history involving Cox and Eliot Bernstein that is all too similar. Randazza is a well known attorney in the area of cyber crimes and I would urge you to call Mr. Randazza for meaningful insight about Reverend Cox and Eliot Ivan Bernstein.
The New York Times story about Cox said, "all of the allegations and almost all of the coverage in the case were coming from Ms. Cox, who churned URL's and cut and pasted documents to portray Mr. Padrick as a "thug" and a "thief" who "committed tax fraud" and who may have "hired a hit man" to kill her while engaging in "illegal and fraudulent activity".
The Oregon State Bar does a great job explaining who Crystal Cox is and the tactics she uses against innocent victims: Click here.
The only negative things ever posted about me come from this woman named Crystal Cox. I have no idea who she is other than what I read online about her involvement with my brother; I have never spoken to or met her. FORBES LINK
How is she connected with my brother? Again, I have no idea but this is what you find online when you look: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-928570
• CNN
Although the blogs and web sites fueled by my brother and his partners clearly cross the line of absurdity, the level and intensity of the hateful and paranoid content is increasing. All of his pleadings have been stricken and he has been found to be detrimental to the interests of his children, per the Order of Judge Phillips.
I have written to him and pleaded with him more than 100 times to remove the hateful content. In response, they allege multiple murders, poisonings, car bombings, insurance fraud, real estate fraud, investment fraud, guardianship fraud, legal malpractice, theft, extortion and systemic worldwide judicial fraud. None of it is amusing and it is costly and painful to watch these futile actions melt away the assets of the trusts. As fiduciaries, we have done everything we know how to stop them but it is a long and costly process to do that too.
A few people who do not know me personally have questioned my silence, expressing concern about his allegations being valid - some expressing that "where there is smoke there must be fire". Hopefully, the information here puts that to rest. The fact that I have had to go to these lengths is certainly frustrating. But, with my reputation at stake, obtaining these Court Orders has been the most effective answer to their allegations. In court on December 15th, Eliot had to prove his spurious allegations in my presence, rather than hurling insults and outrageous accusations over the Internet, from behind his keyboard. The Court did not believe him and Ordered there was no fraud and found:
“There is no evidence to support the assertions of Eliot Bernstein that Ted Bernstein forged or fabricated any of the Testamentary Documents, or aided and abetted others in forging or fabricating documents. The evidence shows Ted Bernstein played no role in … any other improper act, contrary to the allegations of Eliot Bernstein.”
On February 1st, the Hon. Judge John L. Phillips stated:
“Eliot has proven to be an inadequate representative of the best interests of his children. In fact, his actions are ADVERSE AND DESTRUCTIVE to the children’s interest…. Eliot Bernstein is barred from any further participation in this action, whether individually or as purported parent and natural guardian…. Any violation of this order may subject the violator to severe sanctions for contempt of court. The court will use the full measure of its coercive power to ensure compliance of this order.”
Despite my best efforts and numerous motions, I have been unsuccessful in keeping this information private and off the internet. I realize that these details are typically private family matters, but my brother has chosen to make all of this public.
For those of you who have stood by me, I thank you and will work to justify your continued support and faith in me. For those of you whose concerns over this sad family saga have caused you to withdraw from our relationship, I hope this explanation offers clarity and restores your trust in me. Thank you for your support and understanding and for taking the time to read this.
Please email me at Ted Bernstein if you have any further questions about these matters or would like a copy of the Court Orders. Ted Bernstein, Life Insurance Concepts, Boca Raton, Florida.
