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Vanished: The
flight of Keli Swenson
Or are we really talking about Celeste
Miranda?
By Marisa Hoheb
When Keli Swenson first announced the launch of Female
Entrepreneur in the early days of 2003, her big challenge at the time appeared to be
persuading the world that entrepreneurship wasn't for men only.
These days, Swenson's bigger challenge, should she choose to reappear, may well be
to persuade the world, specifically the California courts, that her real name is not
Celeste Miranda.
Miranda has her name on several arrest warrants for deeds that, while somewhat
entrepreneurial in spirit, are in violation of a number of state and federal laws.
They include forgery, fraud and grand theft.
Steve Bellizi, a criminal investigator for the San Diego District
Attorney’s office, says charges stem from a vacation
brokerage business Miranda ran. They suggest a range of schemes on Miranda's part
to bilk folks she did business with.
Bellizi doesn't know where Miranda is these days but not for a lack of
looking.
“I’ve been trying to find her myself and have not been successful,"
Bellizi tells Media Life.
“What I can tell you is that there is a warrant out for Celeste Miranda’s
arrest and it’s for 60 counts of grand theft, worth about $2 million.”
Bellizi believes, moreover, that Miranda and Keli Swenson are one in the
same.
“I’m sure we’re dealing with the same person because I’ve seen
pictures of both of them and they look extremely similar.”
If indeed they are the same person, that could well explain the rather abrupt
disappearance last week of Swenson to parts unknown and the shuttering of her magazine,
now called FemPreneur and based in Seattle as part of her company, e-Spirit Holdings, LLC.
Swenson, or Miranda, leaves behind a slew of angry writers and advertisers who have
banded together in their rage to alert the world to her alleged past through a web site www.espiritholdingsllc.com,whose
tagline is: "Enough is enough…too many people have been hurt… stand up and
be heard. We need your help!" They allege that Miranda over years of various schemes
has bilked slews of victims of many millions of dollars.
In leaving last week, Swenson sent an email, dated June 22, to
subscribers and advertisers.
“As several of you are aware, there are a few misguided individuals making
unsubstantiated claims about myself and my involvement in previous business ventures.
"...This unfortunately means that the magazine, FemPreneur, will be going on
an unplanned hiatus.”
In a recorded message at the office of e-Spirit
Holdings, a voice tells callers the magazine will be on hiatus an undetermined amount of
time, citing as the cause personal issues.
Just about that time, Swenson also quit a local radio
show aimed at a business audience. Michael Purdy, CEO of World Talk Radio, which
broadcast Swenson’s show, tells Media Life, "Keli gave notice last week that she
was going to stop doing her show effective immediately."
Swenson, or Miranda, is believed to be in Canada, where she is now also in
hot water with local authorities for similar magazine ventures and for passport fraud.
Among the many remaining mysteries about Swenson, in addition to her identity of
course, is the magazine she founded, Female Entrepreneur, which morphed into FemPreneur.
Just how much of a magazine was it, really?
In the months after it launched, parent e-Spirit Holdings was sued by
Entrepreneur Media, Inc., publisher of Entrepreneur magazine. The suit was later settled,
leading to the name change.
The suit was primarily over the use of “entrepreneur” in its title as a trademark
violation, but the suit also went after Swenson for borrowing rather grandly from
Entrepreneur’s printed materials.
“FemPreneur copied virtually our entire press kit,
including circulation numbers, specific demographics and other information they
couldn’t possibly have known considering they hadn’t yet launched when the kit
was released,” says Ron Young, corporate counsel for Entrepreneur Media.
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June 29,
2004 © 2004 Media Life
--Marisa Hoheb is a staff writer for
Media Life.
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