July 2001 (Updated August 2009)
by Perry DeAngelis

On July 23rd, 2001 the NESS decided “To Be A Part of History!” At least that’s what we and hundreds of others were invited to be by Dennis Lee’s ever-traveling huckster show of technological magic. This is the opening line of the advertisement announcing the beginning of Better Home Technologies (one of Lee’s current front companies) new nation-wide tour. It goes on to promise kits to convert your present car or furnace to run on water, a heat “paint” that will eliminate the need to shovel snow, and of course, free electricity for life.

The NESS put together it’s own flyer to hand out at this very first show of the new tour that was held at the Waterbury Sheraton Hotel. The show was to begin at 7 PM and four NESS members arrived at 6:30 with hundreds of these flyers in hand, warning attendees not to be fooled by Dennis Lee. The crowd was beginning to build and the NESS faction placed itself strategically down the hall and around a corner from the registration table for the show. With two members on each side of the hall, we were well placed to put a flyer in the hand of almost every would-be victim of Lee’s chicanery. Many of the folk going to Lee’s show were elderly, an unfortunately often exploited segment of our society. One gentleman sat down on a nearby bench with our flyer, replete with its multiple warnings and a chronology of Lee’s criminal past (see appendix below) and then asked us, “So you believe in all this (!)?” We took a moment to correct that confusion.

This process went on happily for about 15 minutes wherein approximately one hundred NESS flyers were distributed, when a security guard came up to us and asked for a hand-out and thence whisked it away. Moments later another fellow came up holding one of our flyers and began loudly berating us for not having tried Lee’s miracle machines and yet decrying them. We tried to explain to him that others had indeed tested Lee’s devices that defied the known laws of the universe (an example of which can be found at www.phact.org/e/z/leemotortest.htm) and their findings were clear and damning. We also pointed out Lee’s multiple convictions for fraud, which only led this fellow to accuse the NESS of having a hidden criminal past.

Before we had a chance to explore this inanity, the security guard, having gotten his marching orders from the MOD (manager on duty) reappeared and informed us we would have to leave. The NESS asked if we could continue our endeavors if we purchased a room, but this would only allow us to stay on the premises without distributing the flyers. We said that we did not wish to break the law and began walking out, still handing our flyers to passersby, several of which were angrily yanked right out of the peoples hands by the Lee comrade. Once we had been escorted to the parking lot, the guard informed us that we would have to leave the property completely. Again, not wishing to break the law by trespassing, we got into our cars.

At the last moment driving past the guard we asked what would happen if we had a conference room at the same time as the Lee show. After a moment of thought the guard said, “Well, since the Sheraton doesn’t necessarily support those who hire their rooms, nor tell their guests what to do, then you could distribute your literature.” Sadly it was too late to go through the process of renting a conference room that night, and though the NESS considered getting one for Lee’s July 26th show in Boston, the cost proved prohibitive. We will however keep this in mind as a possible future tactic.

We can only hope that the 100 flyers the NESS was able to distribute got the warning out about Lee and kept a few extra wallets safely in pockets.

Free Energy Scam

The tactics used by Dennis Lee and others is to pack as many people into a conference room as possible and them dazzle them rapid fire with one fantastic device and claim after another. Over the course of several hours, those with more sense slowly drift away, leaving the most susceptible behind. Mental fatigue also begins to take its toll.

After the demonstrations the audience is left with the sense that even if one of these amazing devices turns out to work, they will become rich by investing in them. And that is what Lee sells – the opportunity to invest in his company. People are not asked to purchase a product, because Lee has no legitimate products to sell. Instead he sells an investment or a dealership.

Lee uses a generous helping of appeal to patriotism and religious faith to sell “opportunity.”

Here is a first-hand report by a former owner of one of Lee’s dealerships. He relates how Lee keeps people on the hook, sucking as much money out of them as possible, and then cuts them lose when they are finally onto the scam.

Over the years Dennis Lee has migrated from one scam to another. In 2009 he has been selling a hydrogen assist fuel cell – a way to increase fuel efficiency by separating water into hydrogen and oxygen. Such devices necessarily must consume more energy than they produce, so they are a scam.

Dateline NBC exposed Dennis Lee’s fraud in an in-depth investigation.

Appendix:
Lee’s Criminal Past

Dennis Lee was arrested 8 times between 1974 and 1979 in NJ on fraud, forgery, and drug related charges.

In 1975 Lee plead guilty in Bergen County NJ to 5 counts of passing bad checks and to taking money under false pretenses. He was given a 1 year suspended sentence and 3 years probation.

In 1978 Lee convinced Pat Robertson to give him $150,000. Two months later Robertson accused Lee of false advertising, operating a pyramid sales scheme, and unauthorized sales of securities. Robertson never got his money back.

He was arrested in NY in 1982 for passing bad checks.

He was accused by the Washington State Attorney General in a 1985 civil action of violating the state consumer protection act. Lee agreed to a stipulated judgment of $31,000, but left the state without paying the fines.

In 1990 he plead guilty to 2 felony counts of consumer fraud filed by the Ventura County, CA district attorney and 6 counts of violating the state’s Seller Assisted Marketing Plan law. Lee served 2 years in a CA state prison.

In 1999 the Washington State Dept. of Financial Institutions served a cease-and-desist order accusing Dennis Lee of marketing unregistered securities and defrauding potential investors. It labeled Lee’s activities, “A clear and present danger to the investing public.”

In 1999 Jim Murray, then electrical engineer employed by Dennis Lee, was asked by Lee to rig Lee’s system to make it appear 200% efficient, instead of the actual 20%. Murray refused and resigned.

Filed under: Pseudoscience, dennis lee, free energy, scams