Update: Silver Publishing Owner on the Run

By A.J. Llewellyn

They say loose lips sink ships, and apparently not everybody was happy to see Lodewyk Deysel, AKA author Leiland Dale return to his family’s humble abode in Rugby, Cape Town, South Africa last Thursday.

It seems that some locals have not forgotten that he got away with embezzling R60,000 ($5,625 US) in 2005 from a fruit and nut company he worked for before fleeing to the US.

A few of them read my blog.

The power of the Internet, people!

One former friend of his became scandalized when reading that Lodewyk Deysel had used his own mother’s name – S. Hemmings – as the alleged owner of Emerald Entertainment, the new, non-existent company that he claimed was taking over Silver…

Yes. Some people from his past realized he was up to his old tricks, and that authorizing his assistant to sell his RV – she admitted on my Facebook wall that she got $10,000 for it and put the funds in his bank account – was another form of fraud.

A former co-worker and another ex-friend of his contacted me after reading my expose on the soap opera-like developments.

Some people – people who have integrity – have  a problem with somebody stiffing their employer. So Silver Publishing, LLC was not Lodewyk’s first trip to the rodeo.

Nope. His theft in Cape Town was target practice.

Back in 2005, there was a criminal case involved and he made a deal with the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court but took off for sunnier shores in the US.

He reinvented himself as CEO of Silver Publishing LLC – not bad for a kid who never graduated high school.

Now, I have utter respect for anyone who can make their way in this world without a formal education. My father is one of those people. The amazing author Laurann Dohner, a New York Times best-seller, also makes no bones about not having graduated high school.

BUT -

I have no respect for people who use cunning and their beguiling personalities to charm money and favors out of people. Who steal, lie, swindle…from their employees and staff, AND their own company. Well, you get the idea.

He fled home last week after his friend and assistant Alisani Brazil (AKA Allison Kelleman), former perfume CEO and current, proud flight attendant for Endeavor Air, dropped him at the airport.

She is a charm school drop-out for sure. When I contacted her to beg her not to sell the RV that the money belonged to authors she said on my Facebook Wall:

Alisani Brazil · Friends with Leiland Dale and 34 others

oh dear people… you guys are sadly misinformed and it’s in his account already.

April 10 at 9:19pm · Like

Good to know!

When DJ Manly and I tried to talk to her she bantered back and forth in a demeaning manner. She claimed not to be working for Lodewyk Deysel in spite of her LinkedIn resume saying so:

Alisani Brazil · Friends with Leiland Dale and 34 others

What? My job concerns me. It’s called flying the friendly skies and living a dream that I’ve wanted to do for years. I’m a lucky girl. Apparently you guys aren’t because you’re ranting about who knows what. I focus on need to know things and getting wrapped up in your drama is not a need to know for me

April 10 at 10:01pm · Like

Hmm…maybe she’s friendlier in the sky??

Meanwhile back in Cape Town, Lodewyk gave locals conflicting accounts for his sudden arrival. He told some people he had immigration issues. He told others that he owed ONE author money and was being threatened.

He told everyone he’d be staying three months – until he became aware of my blog.

According to Alisani Brazil, Lodewyk’s dog Gracie was supposed to be sent to him in June because he was expecting money then.

After consulting with his former staffers, we all assume he is waiting for Silver Publishing’s quarterly royalties – so he can steal those as well.

Pooling all the information I have, the best tally I can make is that he owes the people he’s stiffed $259,000.

I thought it was a lot but apparently not enough for the police in his town to arrest him.

“It’s a civil matter,” they told our representative, though their interest in Lodewyk M. Deysel became sparked at the mention of a previous embezzlement case.

We were told the same thing by the Michigan police. But no worries, I now know of two people who are suing him in that state.

He and Alisani have been doing a lot of house cleaning. And I don’t just mean his luxury home in Grosse Point, MI that she’s been busy rectifying after he left it looking like trash.

No. They have both deleted many incriminating posts on their Facebook walls and he has completely deleted his Lodewyk Deysel account. Other links provided in my last blog have suddenly vanished.

Silver Publishing is dead. It closes its doors finally on May 1. A notice on it now indicates the board is staying up to allow people time to download their purchased books.

In the meantime, readers who made advance sale purchases have been refunded – at the authors’ insistence.

We’ve made this situation as public as possible.

Lodewyk M. Deysel can do all the deleting of online accounts he wants. But I have a little thing called Screen Caps.

And I will also say this. Plans are in motion, even though I am told he intends to move to France next week. He can flee again if he likes, but for the moment, we former authors of Silver Publishing stand united.

We will get you. One way or another. You will be forced to be responsible for your crimes.

You can run, but you can’t really hide.

I see it’s 72 degrees and sunny in your neck of the woods, Lodewyk. I hope you enjoy warm weather…because it’s about to get a hell of a lot hotter.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

A.J. Llewellyn

D.J. Manly

Edward Kendrick

L.M. Brown

Ethan Stone

Hurri Cosmo

Gregory Peters

Ashlynn Monroe

Simon Peel

Michele Montgomery

Serena Yates

Lee Brazil

Casey Holloway

Toni Griffin

TN Tarrant

Sara Bella

Madeleine Ribbon

Joey James Hook

and others…