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Dominion of Melchizedek

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The Dominion of Melchizedek is a micronation known for the banks it licensed, being directly linked to large scale banking fraud in many parts of the world.

It was conceived in 1950s by Evan David Pedley and his son, Ben David Pedley, who uses a number of pseudonyms, including "Tzemach David Neter Korem" and "Branch Vinedresser". The Pedleys were each convicted and imprisoned for various frauds unrelated to Melchizedek during the 1980s, for which they maintained their innocence. They are also responsible for publishing a bible translation known as the Melchizedek Bible.

While supporters of Melchizedek assert that it is an "ecclesiastical sovereignty," similar to Vatican City, and while its flag incorporates Christian, Jewish and Islamic symbols, Melchizedek posesses no established church or formally constituted religion, so this claim is considered meaningless by some external observers. They do refer to their citizens and bible students as "Melchizedekians".

Melchizedek also claims Jerusalem as its "homeland", based on the Biblical legend of Melchizedek, who is said to have been priest-king of Salem, however as this claim has no legal foundation, as no person associated with Melchizedek is known to reside there, and as the "Dominion" posesses no means of enforcing its claim, it is also dismissed as fantasy.

During the 1990s and early 2000, Melchizedek began to promote the idea that it claimed sovereignty over a number of Pacific islands. All of these territories, except for Karitane, were already claimed by, or dependencies of recognised states. Melchizedek's claims include Taongi Atoll (an uninhabited Atoll of the Marshall Islands), Malpelo Island (a posession of Colombia, inhabited by a military garrison), Karitane Island (a shaol submerged under 9 metres of water), Solkope Island (a semi autonomous dependency of Fiji) and Clipperton Island (a territory of France). Melchizedek also claims a large section of Antarctica. None of these claims appear to be recognised by any established government.

The Melchizedek website claims that it is a recognized sovereign entity, however, numerous media outlets, including Forbes magazine and The Washington Post, have called it dubious. Over 300 would-be investors have lost money in purported investments run by several banks licensed by Melchizedek, operated in one instance by a supposed "diplomatic representative" of the "Dominion".

When brining a lawsuit against a New York lawyer, the Dominion of Melchizedek was described as "non-existent" by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. . When the SEC concluded that case, it wrote that the "Dominion of Melchizidek has a website promoting itself as a sovereign entity, recognized by certain governments."


Frauds linked to Melchizedek

According to John Shockey, former special assistant, U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, in an address to the 4th International Financial Fraud Convention in London, 27 May 1999: "The Dominion of Melchizedek is a fraud, a major fraud, and not a legitimate sovereign entity. Persons associated with the Dominion of Melchizedek have been indicted and convicted of a variety of crimes." The U.S. Comptroller of the Currency website only refers to Melchizedek as a "non-recognized sovereignty" that "licensed" Caribbean Bank of Commerce.


At one stage in the early 2000s, Melchizedek maintained a post office box address in the Australian capital city of Canberra. Coincidentally, one of the individuals identified by Philippino authorities in November 1998 as the ringleader of a series of frauds perpetrated in the name of Melchizedek was John Gillespie, a former Australian felon who was convicted on the basis of his involvement in the Fine Cotton horse substitution racket during the 1980s. According to a media report originally published in The Nation (Bangkok) on 30 May 1999, "hundreds of Filipinos, Chinese and Bangladeshis paid up to US$3,500 to Gillespie's gang for worthless Melchizedek travel documents", and some had also paid significant amounts of money to obtain "government jobs" on one of the uninhabited Pacific islands claimed by Melchizedek. The total amount defrauded was estimated at one million dollars. While the other gang members were arrested and released, Gillespie himself eluded capture for some time, until he was finally arrested and release by Philippino Authorities without convictions. The Melchizedek.com web site claims that Gillespie and his gang had no authority to offer jobs or sell citizenship.

Marshall Islands statement

In response to one of Melchizedek's territorial claims the government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands responded as follows:

The Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands condemns the claims and activities asserted by (alleged) representatives of the "Kingdom of EnenKio" and the "Dominion of Melchizedek". The representatives making claims of separate sovereignty are not citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and have no right to make claims on behalf of Marshallese landowners. Furthermore, these representatives are making fraudulent assertions that violate the Republic of the Marshall Islands's constitution. The area of land and ocean which the "Kingdom of EnenKio" asserts as a sovereign nation separate from the Marshall Islands and (some of) the area of land and ocean which the "Dominion of Melchizedek" is asserting control over are areas within the geographical and political boundaries of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

Subsequent to the above diplomatic memo by the Marshall Islands to other nations, wherein it encouraged nations friendly to it not to recognize claims of Melchizedek in the Marshall Islands, the recognized Iroijlaplap (chief) of Taongi appeared on an Australian television current affairs programme in which he was quoted as saying he granted Melchizedek a 50 year sovereign lease over Taongi Atoll, however, sovereignty (as opposed to land title) belongs to the Republic, not to any private citizen, so the Iroijlaplap's action may not extend sovereignty.

Recognition

An article in the Washington Post notes that The Dominion of Melchizedek was "diplomatically recognized" by the Central African Republic, in 1993, but commented "you get the feeling" that that nation would probably "recognize the State of Denial if it had a letterhead", while an article on Quatloos, an online anti-fraud site states that "Melchizedek has apparently obtained some sort of recognition from some smaller states all of which are notable for their corruption. Claims that the DoM has received recognition from any major government are purely lies."

As far as is known, Melchizedek does not maintain a diplomatic mission or any other form of representation in the Central African Republic, nor is there any other evidence confirming the existence of a formal bilateral relationship of any substance. Melchizedek's web site claims that it has since been "recognised" by several other African nations, including Burkina Faso.

See also

External links

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