Howe's prior activities
Various websites and online discussion databases detail Howe's range of previous business and income-generating enterprises in his own words.
Many of these sites remain available through the internet archive at www.archive.org.
Between 1999 and 2005, Howe purported to run an online news summary service, initially at http://members.aol.com/drewdaily and then at www.drewdaily.com; when Howe began posting at alt.talk.royalty in October 2006, he used the email address 'drewdailyATaol.com'.
He has also been active in the martial arts community, and operated a number of martial arts websites discussing his interest and touting his businesses in this field. A number of these are summarised here:
www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=11682
These sites include:
www.brucelee-jkd.com (active between 2001 and 2005)
www.howebjj.com (active between 2002 and 2003)
www.gotbase.com (active between 2002 and 2004); this was the website for the 'Howe Jiu Jitsu Garage Academy' of Frederick, Maryland
www.ojkd.com (active between 2004 and 2005)
Howe made a range of assertions about his martial arts, academic and professional qualifications which turned out to be false. After being exposed on the Bullshido forum, he admitted that he had committed frauds and stated that he 'reformed'. Using the alias 'Reformed One', he posted the following on 22 December 2004 at 4.44 pm (edited at 6.14 pm to add his name) in a thread he initiated under the heading 'Exposed Fake: Thank you':
"Hello to all.
"Starting many years ago, I began training in the martial arts with various instructors, some legit and others who had questionable backgrounds. In any case, I have to say that I adopted some of the habits, good and bad, from my instructors. One of the bad habits was to exaggerate my background and training and to over promote myself as an expert as a cheap ego boost. I'm not proud of this, it is just something that I did and I want to be honest about it.
"Well, I got called out for what I was doing on this forum....and rightly so. I was called a fraud, a fake, a McDojo and a range of other things on this forum...and a few others. This was for attempting to pass myself off for something that I was clearly not...and you the experts knew the truth. In the face of being exposed and other threats, I pulled my site and advertising down, and I closed the doors to my school -- after refunding every penny to the handful of students that I had...
"In closing, I thank you all here for exposing me for what I was. You helped me put an end to believing my own BS and forced me to stop. It was embarrassing at first... But, it was a liberating experience and has helped to put some of the bad examples that I had to rest once and for all.
"Depending on the response, I may tell you all who I am. But, I really prefer to remain somewhat anonymous until I see some of your responses. Sometimes it is better to let a dead dog stay down. Just know I am grateful for the help.
"----------added-----------
Sincerely,
Drew Howe
-----------------------------"
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19824
At 11.54 pm the same day, Howe posted a further note to the same forum:
"It is embarrassing what people, like me, try and pass off...and the scams that they will pull on the unsuspecting public. I've learned a lot, and I know a lot about this kind of thing."
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19824&page=3
And on 27 December 2004 at 3.24 pm he posted the following:
"Me buying certificates and misrepresenting myself as an expert in combat for profit only, is a selfish act and also a stupid one."
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=19885&page=3
In addition to these admissions about his practices, Howe also made a post on 30 December 2004 at 11.59 pm which appears to present a contradistinction with his current alleged scheme to assist people in Sub-Saharan Africa through selling 'noble titles':
"No doubt, but I expect ignorant teens not to know things that happened before they were born. It's the bastards that we are sending millions in relief money to that I think should have a bit of respect."
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?p=526391#post526391
These various posts were identified and posted to the google group rec.heraldry on 13 January 2008. Later that day they were edited or deleted by Howe on the Bullshido forum. However, they remain viewable through the internet archive.
Although Howe has admitted to having in the past made false representations and assumed fake qualifications in order to generate income, he has denied that this current scheme falls within the same category.
