Birthday Blues

However, Don Martin, the attorney representing Rael, says his client is no kingpin. "She's just another poor soul who got suckered into this. The AG's office has singled out some people," he says. "I like to think of it as selective prosecution." A trial date will probably be decided on in May, but Martin expects to settle out of court. "Dina just wants to get on with her life," he says.

No court dates have been set in the other three cases. Attorneys for the other women could not be reached.

"This is ongoing," warns AG spokesman Lane. "There are hundreds of women involved. We're not looking at going after everybody, but everybody who is a victim is also a perpetrator."

Wolfe doesn't know any of the four defendants personally, but she's heard their names; in fact, Valerie Bentien was the woman who started the Henderson group that she joined. The friend who recruited Wolfe hasn't been implicated, and neither have any of her family members, who also were involved. "We've put everything behind us," she says. "We don't even mention it anymore."

It's been easier for Wolfe to move on because she got her money back. On Wild's suggestion, she sent a certified letter to the woman she'd "gifted," along with a copy of the state statute on pyramid schemes. Figuring the woman wouldn't sign for the letter, Wolfe also sent a separate letter in a Home Depot envelope to make it look like a bill. The woman opened that one. "She called me and said, 'I want to work this out.' So we came up with a payment plan. I gave her three months to pay me back, and I told her to send only money orders -- no personal checks," Wolfe says. She received her final payment in February.

"This is supposed to be about women helping women, but women have been hurt by this, and a lot of marriages have been hurt," says Wolfe, whose husband was angry with her for months. "I like to think of myself as intelligent, but I feel really stupid. I just hope word gets out and other women realize this is illegal."