by Gary Snyder
The past month has been horrid for the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Now it is getting worse. One story claimed that up to two-thirds of some grants went astray, with “astonishing” corruption in some cases. It cited faked invoices, phony training events and other abuses, chiefly involving health ministries in some African countries. That was nothing new with evidence of the misuse of $34 million paid out in Mali, Mauritania, Djibouti and Zambia . Germany, Spain, Sweden and the European Union said they would freeze payments into the Global Fund pending their own inquiries. But few stories have shared the good side of the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria efforts. It claims to have saved at least 7 million lives, and many more millions of lives have been improved, and mortality rates in the diseases it targets have dropped sharply. The fund’s approach to allocating aid wins plaudits too: it makes countries compete for money based less on their needs than on their ability to get things done. Undoubtedly the plan will stall as a result of the corruption worries, but all are trying to right the ship.
Showing posts with label nonprofit nonprofit embezzlement nonprofit fraud nonprofit standards philanthropic fraud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nonprofit nonprofit embezzlement nonprofit fraud nonprofit standards philanthropic fraud. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Fraud With a Different Twist!!
by Gary Snyder
Newport-Mesa (CA) School Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard and Karen Anne Christiansen are an interesting couple. Prosecutors have accused Hubbard of two counts of misusing public funds by allegedly giving Christiansen an illegal $20,000 stipend and improperly increasing her monthly car allowance. Christiansen faces more serious charges, including conflict of interest and misappropriation of funds that allegedly netted her $2.2 million. Both were former employees in the Beverly Hills (CA) Unified School District. In addition to their criminal charges, they have bantering back and forth with one another flirtatiously with sexual undertones. In his e-mails, Hubbard's last year with Beverly Hills, he called Christiansen "sweetheart," "hottie" and said "I love you" and "I adore you," according to media reports. There were also sexual references in the e-mails to Christiansen. Christiansen called herself Hubbard's beck-and-call girl, to which he replied "I love that … you can give me head (s up)." In a Sept. 29, 2005, exchange, Christiansen asks for time off because her mother died and Hubbard replies "whatever." He apologized repeatedly after she responded with "Nice sympathetic response!!!! I'm grieving for god sake." Hubbard is accused of giving her the $20,000 stipend that day. Newport-Mesa board chair, Martha Fluor, "I take it with a grain of salt," said. "They are consenting adults." They used official district channels to communicate at both school districts. What do you think? Update: A judge in Los Angeles ruled that there is enough evidence for Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard to stand trial for alleged misappropriation of funds during his previous job as superintendent in the Beverly Hills schools district.
Newport-Mesa (CA) School Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard and Karen Anne Christiansen are an interesting couple. Prosecutors have accused Hubbard of two counts of misusing public funds by allegedly giving Christiansen an illegal $20,000 stipend and improperly increasing her monthly car allowance. Christiansen faces more serious charges, including conflict of interest and misappropriation of funds that allegedly netted her $2.2 million. Both were former employees in the Beverly Hills (CA) Unified School District. In addition to their criminal charges, they have bantering back and forth with one another flirtatiously with sexual undertones. In his e-mails, Hubbard's last year with Beverly Hills, he called Christiansen "sweetheart," "hottie" and said "I love you" and "I adore you," according to media reports. There were also sexual references in the e-mails to Christiansen. Christiansen called herself Hubbard's beck-and-call girl, to which he replied "I love that … you can give me head (s up)." In a Sept. 29, 2005, exchange, Christiansen asks for time off because her mother died and Hubbard replies "whatever." He apologized repeatedly after she responded with "Nice sympathetic response!!!! I'm grieving for god sake." Hubbard is accused of giving her the $20,000 stipend that day. Newport-Mesa board chair, Martha Fluor, "I take it with a grain of salt," said. "They are consenting adults." They used official district channels to communicate at both school districts. What do you think? Update: A judge in Los Angeles ruled that there is enough evidence for Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard to stand trial for alleged misappropriation of funds during his previous job as superintendent in the Beverly Hills schools district.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Oh No, Not the Bowl Games, too
by Gary Snyder
Corruption and deceit seem to be watchwords for the Bowl Champion Series (aka BCS) according to the authors of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series. In just one chapter (#3) charges are leveled on the CEO of the Alamo Bowl Derrick Fox’s testimony in front of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in May 2009. Fox stated before Congress, “Almost all postseason bowl games are put on by charitable groups, and since up to one-quarter of the proceeds from the games are dedicated to the community, local charities received tens of millions of dollars a year.”
The book’s authors, Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter and Jeff Passan, who used a two-year investigation of tax records, bowl contracts, university documents, and dozens of interviews with the power players of college football, to go to town destroying this argument with facts and figures:
“*The 23 tax-exempt bowls produced $186 million in revenue, including $141 million in net assets, but combined to give just $3.2 million (1.7 percent of revenue) to charity. More than half of that charity came from just two bowls, the Orange and Chick-fil-A.
*27 bowls enjoy not-for-profit status and do not pay taxes
*Not a single bowl game is run by a group that can be considered a charity. They are businesses first and foremost.
*23 bowl games with public records received $7.5 million in direct government handouts.
*The Sugar Bowl received $3 million in funding from Louisiana in 2007 and has its own lobbying firm to ensure its public financing. The organization brought in $34.1 million in revenue and gave ZERO money to charity, despite pulling $11.6 million in tax-free profit and $37 million in assets.
*Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan received $607,500 in compensation for fiscal 2008. Associate executive director Jeff Hundley took in $375, 732.
*The Sugar Bowl cronies live lavishly spending thousands of dollars every year including, $494,177 for “entertainment” in 2005, $201,226 for “gifts and bonuses” in 2007, $330,244 for “decorations” in 2007, plus many, many more.”
The rest of the chapter deals with the ”corruption that is starting to spring up as bowls like the Fiesta are reportedly contributing to political friends and allies to protect the Cartel system.” The Fiesta acknowledges spending $4 million since 2000 “on lobbyists, trips, dinners, and golf retreats to build relationships with athletic officials who control the BCS and to garner support from politicians.” The Arizona attorney general is currently investigating the matter. The authors deride this and claim the $4 million could be sitting in coffers of colleges and universities, but instead it is wasted to protect the current BCS.
Update from EO Tax Journal: In an IRS complaint against the Orange Bowl Committee, an organization affiliated with the BCS, the BCS's Orange Bowl, which is organized as a public charity, used its charitable funds to treat Orange Bowl executives and college athletic directors to a four-day "complimentary getaway" aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas earlier this year. As shown by the detailed agenda, this Caribbean cruise was a junket. No business meetings were held. Attendees were instead occupied with full-day excursions to Atlantis Resort and CocoCay, a private island, according to Playoff PAC. Also there is more information on bowl spending:
Recent Orange Bowl Spending Examples
-- $331,938 on "parties" and "Summer Splash" in FYE 2004;
-- $1,189,005 on unspecified "entertainment" and "catering" in FYE
2009;
-- $1,017,322 on undifferentiated "event food" and "entertainment"
in FYE 2008;
-- $756,546 on Bowl personnel travel in FYE 2009;
-- $535,764 on "gifts" in FYE 2006;
-- $472,627 on "gifts" in FYE 2008;
-- $111,492 on "postage and shipping" in FYE 2008;
-- $75,896 on "recruitment" in FYE 2008;
-- $60,000 on "governmental relations" in FYE 2008; and
-- $42,281 on "golf" in FYE 2004 and FYE 2006.
Fiesta Bowl Spending
The Fiesta Bowl spends $331,438 per year on "Fiesta Frolic," a golf weekend for college athletic directors and Bowl officials.
• The Fiesta Bowl has doled-out $124,500 in interest-free loans to its executives.
• The Fiesta Bowl has paid $1,217,081 to Arizona lobbying firms.
• The Fiesta Bowl spent $91,020 for "travel and entertainment expenses for public officials" in FY 2009.
Another update from Rick Cohen @ NonprofitQuarterly.org where he summarizes Time Magazine and Business Week articles in which he says bowl organizations are nonprofits – and they pay their CEOs exceptionally well for their nonprofit service. Some examples include Paul Hoolahan of the Sugar Bowl at $645,386, John Junker of the Fiesta Bowl at $592,418, Rick Baker of the Cotton Bowl taking home $490,433, Derrick Fox of the Alamo Bowl earning $438,044. “These bowls are high in the execs' salaries but low on the nonprofitness scale”.
More on how others are looking at it in the NYT.
Corruption and deceit seem to be watchwords for the Bowl Champion Series (aka BCS) according to the authors of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series. In just one chapter (#3) charges are leveled on the CEO of the Alamo Bowl Derrick Fox’s testimony in front of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee in May 2009. Fox stated before Congress, “Almost all postseason bowl games are put on by charitable groups, and since up to one-quarter of the proceeds from the games are dedicated to the community, local charities received tens of millions of dollars a year.”
The book’s authors, Dan Wetzel, Josh Peter and Jeff Passan, who used a two-year investigation of tax records, bowl contracts, university documents, and dozens of interviews with the power players of college football, to go to town destroying this argument with facts and figures:
“*The 23 tax-exempt bowls produced $186 million in revenue, including $141 million in net assets, but combined to give just $3.2 million (1.7 percent of revenue) to charity. More than half of that charity came from just two bowls, the Orange and Chick-fil-A.
*27 bowls enjoy not-for-profit status and do not pay taxes
*Not a single bowl game is run by a group that can be considered a charity. They are businesses first and foremost.
*23 bowl games with public records received $7.5 million in direct government handouts.
*The Sugar Bowl received $3 million in funding from Louisiana in 2007 and has its own lobbying firm to ensure its public financing. The organization brought in $34.1 million in revenue and gave ZERO money to charity, despite pulling $11.6 million in tax-free profit and $37 million in assets.
*Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan received $607,500 in compensation for fiscal 2008. Associate executive director Jeff Hundley took in $375, 732.
*The Sugar Bowl cronies live lavishly spending thousands of dollars every year including, $494,177 for “entertainment” in 2005, $201,226 for “gifts and bonuses” in 2007, $330,244 for “decorations” in 2007, plus many, many more.”
The rest of the chapter deals with the ”corruption that is starting to spring up as bowls like the Fiesta are reportedly contributing to political friends and allies to protect the Cartel system.” The Fiesta acknowledges spending $4 million since 2000 “on lobbyists, trips, dinners, and golf retreats to build relationships with athletic officials who control the BCS and to garner support from politicians.” The Arizona attorney general is currently investigating the matter. The authors deride this and claim the $4 million could be sitting in coffers of colleges and universities, but instead it is wasted to protect the current BCS.
Update from EO Tax Journal: In an IRS complaint against the Orange Bowl Committee, an organization affiliated with the BCS, the BCS's Orange Bowl, which is organized as a public charity, used its charitable funds to treat Orange Bowl executives and college athletic directors to a four-day "complimentary getaway" aboard Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas earlier this year. As shown by the detailed agenda, this Caribbean cruise was a junket. No business meetings were held. Attendees were instead occupied with full-day excursions to Atlantis Resort and CocoCay, a private island, according to Playoff PAC. Also there is more information on bowl spending:
Recent Orange Bowl Spending Examples
-- $331,938 on "parties" and "Summer Splash" in FYE 2004;
-- $1,189,005 on unspecified "entertainment" and "catering" in FYE
2009;
-- $1,017,322 on undifferentiated "event food" and "entertainment"
in FYE 2008;
-- $756,546 on Bowl personnel travel in FYE 2009;
-- $535,764 on "gifts" in FYE 2006;
-- $472,627 on "gifts" in FYE 2008;
-- $111,492 on "postage and shipping" in FYE 2008;
-- $75,896 on "recruitment" in FYE 2008;
-- $60,000 on "governmental relations" in FYE 2008; and
-- $42,281 on "golf" in FYE 2004 and FYE 2006.
Fiesta Bowl Spending
The Fiesta Bowl spends $331,438 per year on "Fiesta Frolic," a golf weekend for college athletic directors and Bowl officials.
• The Fiesta Bowl has doled-out $124,500 in interest-free loans to its executives.
• The Fiesta Bowl has paid $1,217,081 to Arizona lobbying firms.
• The Fiesta Bowl spent $91,020 for "travel and entertainment expenses for public officials" in FY 2009.
Another update from Rick Cohen @ NonprofitQuarterly.org where he summarizes Time Magazine and Business Week articles in which he says bowl organizations are nonprofits – and they pay their CEOs exceptionally well for their nonprofit service. Some examples include Paul Hoolahan of the Sugar Bowl at $645,386, John Junker of the Fiesta Bowl at $592,418, Rick Baker of the Cotton Bowl taking home $490,433, Derrick Fox of the Alamo Bowl earning $438,044. “These bowls are high in the execs' salaries but low on the nonprofitness scale”.
More on how others are looking at it in the NYT.
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