Thursday, December 5, 2013

Board Members To Be Held Accountable by PA Attorney General

by Gary Snyder

Two Western Pennsylvania nonprofits are tangled up in court, where tax delinquencies and alleged mismanagement of millions of dollars have volunteer board members under Attorney General Kathleen Kane's scrutiny.

Kane aims to oust trustees at Conneaut Lake Park in Crawford County, which failed to pay taxes and keep fire insurance on its Diamond Ballroom, destroyed in a fire in 2007.

In Pittsburgh, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture fell behind on mortgage payments for a $40 million building constructed without a clear revenue plan, ending up in foreclosure.

Among the fiduciary lapses cited in the petition are the board’s failure “to take advantage of business opportunities that would have generated more revenue” and “failure to insure Dreamland Ballroom and The Beach Club,” as cited in a Meadville Tribune article. Should Kane’s petition be approved, the soon-to-be-ousted trustees collectively would be on the hook for a “surcharge” of $1 million to offset some of the expenses associated with a breach of trust—in this case for failing to protect the park’s assets and manage its finances properly.


Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Charity Navigator, Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), “Betrayal”, (a movie), NBC (on Charity Fraud…TBD), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, Charity Navigator, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, Board Room Insider, USA Today Topics, Accountants News, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times, Portfolio Magazine, The Virgin Islands Daily News, NANKAI (China) BUSINESS REVIEW, National Religious Broadcasters newsletter, The Charity Governance Blog, American Chronicle, Palm Beach Post, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Nonprofit World, Socially Responsible Business Forum, PNNOnline, Ohio Nonprofit Resources, Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Nonprofit Startup Guide, Nonprofit Blog, National Coalition of Homeless Newsletter, Finance and Administration Roundtable Newsletter, MichiganNonprofit.com, CORP! Magazine, Crain’s Michigan Nonprofit, ncrp.org, PhilanTopic, Nashville Free Press, Nonprofit Law Blog, Seniors World Chronicle, Carnegie Reporter, Assoc. of Certified Fraud Examiners Examiner, msnbc.com, Worchester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, Carnegie Corporation of America, EO Tax Journal, Wikipedia: Non-profit Organizations; Parent: Wise Austin, Accountants News, Veterans Today, Answers.com, Far-roundtable, #Nonprofit Report, nonprofithelpnews, nonprofit news; National Enquirer, Northwest Herald, The HelpWise Daily, The #Nonprofit Report, Wikipedia (Nonprofit Organization), Answers.com, Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

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