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Online Information Dispatch
New York, December 30, 1997
By Tony Dispirado

Carolyn "The Banker" Meinel is to be sued by one of her former husbands for
allegedly infringing a technique he perfected for ameliorating a sometimes
fatal condition in horses.

A delicate procedure pioneered by Dr Dennis Thatcher and now used under
license by specialists around the world, reduces abdominal pressure which,
if left unchecked, can cause ^Ñexplosive flatulence^Ò.

Thatcher was briefly married to Meinel, the feckless FBI informatrix, when
the two were undergraduate veterinary students in Kentucky 25 years ago.
Meinel, a well-known horsewoman, abandoned her studies after failing to pass
the qualifying examinations.

However, Thatcher completed his doctorate and went on to become one of the
leading veterinary proctologists in North America. His technique which,
entails inserting a soft, highly flexible canula into an afflicted animal^Òs
anal channel and providing gentle but powerful suction, was, he claims,
pirated by Meinel who has been using it without his knowledge.

"When we were students we worked out the technique together," he said on
December 29, "but she always used straight oral suction.

"I felt her oral method was crude and unreliable and added electrically
powered suction and a patented computer controlled blow-back prevention
valve and if she wants to use my procedure as it is today, she needs a
license like everyone else."

Thatcher continued that he^Òs been seeking Meinel for some time but had no
idea where she was until came across her name when he was surfing the Net
during the Christmas holidays.

"There was a news story referring to her pending trial [for allegedly
attempting to con an FBI undercover agent - see Online Information Dispatch,
#2337118/12/97]," he said. "At first I thought it was just coincidence -
someone with the same name. But when I learned she was in trouble for some
kind of fraud, I knew it had to be her."

Thatcher has issued a private writ against Meinel. This will entitle him to
any money she derived from practicing his technique without his permission -
if he^Òs able to prove that she did, in fact, use it.

But, "No problem," he added. "I^Òve got horse owners from all over who will
testify against her. She^Òs been getting away with this for years but now her
time has run out."

A spokesman for Meinel said she^Òs aware of the writ but intends to contest
it on the grounds that she has been, and still is, using the original ^Ñoral^Ò
procedure, which is substantively different from Thatcher^Òs newer process.