Aug. 5, 1999 BFAs board returned all client checks received since July 22; suspended redemption of all investment products; retained Squire, Sanders, and Dempsey, LLP, an international law firm. } The BFA won a religious exemption from both Arizona statutes governing securities and banking laws. View Jasmine's full profile See who you know in common Get introduced . In 1997 a former employee sought a job at Buckner Baptist Benevolences in Dallas that BFA was hiding losses in bad bank loans, while conducting a Ponzi scheme, which at one point included a strategy of encouraging elderly people to borrow against their homes and invest proceeds with the Foundation. The Cacaces were among 11,000 investors who lost a combined $580 million when the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, or BFA, a registered nonprofit, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999 in what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme. In 1962 Pastor Glen Crotts became the first full-time president and was subsequently their life savings. New Church Ventures It says that a new charity will be established that will be involved in traditional Baptist charitable activities, including, for example, ministries, education, and providing routine trust and estate planning. The new charity, the statement says, will be prohibited from selling debt securities. Baptist Group Execs Sentenced for Fraud. var setAdblockerCookie = function(adblocker) { propertys book value, not its diminished current value. Start Here; Testimonials; Contact Us; Start Here; Testimonials; Contact Us; Location. return '' In BFAs early days, it focused its attention The Baptist foundation began selling investment products to church members in 1983. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, } } We look forward to serving you! if (cStart !== -1) { A written statement from the foundation says that at the completion of the bankruptcy proceedings and the creation of a new for-profit company, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona will no longer exist. The clause was depicted as a housekeeping measure, Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano said, according to the paper, which quoted her as declaring, Arthur Andersen lied., Napolitano, according to a news release from her office, will be seeking severe penalties against Andersen LLP (formerly Arthur Andersen) and others., This is an absolute outrage, Napolitano said. [15] At the time, this settlement was the second largest settlement in the nation's history for a Big Five accounting firm that was not related to the Savings and Loan collapses of 1986 to 1995. When the foundation was closed by the Arizona attorney general's office, it owed $570 million to investors and had assets worth an estimated $220 million. A smaller-but-similar scandal hit Baptists in the 1990s, when 11,000 investors in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona fell victim to a $550 million Ponzi scheme. head.insertBefore(mpsload, head.firstChild) National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Religious Prey: Baptist Foundation Of Arizona / Medical Scams: Dr. Mikos, "Elderly couple pays dearly for Baptist fund's trouble", "In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Wholly Owned Subsidiary", "Baptist Foundation of Arizona's Financial Collapse", "Terry Goddard Applauds Verdicts in Baptist Foundation Trial", "Grabinski v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, CV 04-01751-PHX-MHM, D. Az", "Final 5 Ariz. Foundation Defendants Sentenced", "Victims of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona | SENTENCES IMPOSED", "BFA Liquidation Trust v. Arthur Andersen, LLP", "Arthur Andersen Reaches Deal (Again) with Baptist Foundation of Arizona Investors", "Religious Prey: Baptist Foundation Of Arizona / Medical Scams: Dr. Mikos", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baptist_Foundation_of_Arizona&oldid=1137812926, Christian organizations established in 1948, Baptist organizations in the United States, Baptist denominations established in the 20th century, Articles lacking reliable references from May 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 16:04. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona filed for bankruptcy in federal court last week, owing nearly $600-million to 13,000 people who had bought securities from the organization. return false; Reflection and resources at the intersection of faith and culture through an inclusive Christian lens. CNBC_Comscore = 'CNBC_TV'; The foundations plan -- which is still subject to approval by investors -- includes one other way people might get back some of their money: litigation. For example, Select Trading Group, a subsidiary of ALO, created its own subsidiary, Santa Fe Trails Ranch II. July 2, 1998 December 10, 1998 Arizona Corporation Commission begins an investigation of BFA based on the Phoenix NewTimes reports. When Got a confidential news tip? former board members, controlling these new companies. network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from v144.philanthropy.com and chronicle.blueconic.net. The BFA opens a web site address www.bfaz.org to answer questions. Looking for your Investment Portal? The real estate market did })(); PHOENIX (BP)Following is a time table outlining the major events surrounding the embattled Baptist Foundation of Arizona: April 1996 Foundation attorney L. Kyle Tresch resigns. The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1928. statements for periods beginning on or after December 15, 2002, and earlier When asked if a conflict of interest existed, the BFA indicated that both parties "had waived any conflicts of interest. (function(){var g=function(e,h,f,g){this.get=function(a){for(var a=a+"=",c=document.cookie.split(";"),b=0,e=c.length;b=e/100?0:100),a=[h,e,0],this.set(f,a.join(":"));else return!0;var c=a[1];if(100==c)return!0;switch(a[0]){case "v":return!1;case "r":return c=a[2]%Math.floor(100/c),a[2]++,this.set(f,a.join(":")),!c}return!0};this.go=function(){if(this.check()){var a=document.createElement("script");a.type="text/javascript";a.src=g+ "&t=" + (new Date()).getTime();document.body&&document.body.appendChild(a)}};this.start=function(){var a=this;window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener("load",function(){a.go()},!1):window.attachEvent&&window.attachEvent("onload",function(){a.go()})}};try{(new g(100,"r","QSI_S_ZN_3NNZu19yzvgN7tr","//zn3nnzu19yzvgn7tr-nysscpa.siteintercept.qualtrics.com/WRSiteInterceptEngine/?Q_ZID=ZN_3NNZu19yzvgN7tr&Q_LOC="+encodeURIComponent(window.location.href))).start()}catch(i){}})(); Inadequate disclosure regarding ALO and New Church Ventures Baptist Foundation of Arizona WorldCom Enron Sunbeam scandal Andersen knew of the bill-and-hold schemes Waste Management Scandal Avoided depreciation expenses, Andersen knew about it and received bribes for issuing clean audit opinions. bounce back, but by the mid-1990s the only phenomenon that kept BFAs a sobering reminder to auditors that it is important to understand the causes Baptist Foundation indictments thrown out. 'subtype' : 'primetime_show' , Legal Statement. 3210 E. Guasti Road Ontario, 91761 View on map. mps._adsheld = []; of Arizona (BFA) engaged in one of the most audacious fraud schemes on record. } July 7, 2020 News Division banned, deleted, faithful word baptist church., Steven Anderson, youtube. 2023 Southern Baptist Convention. The largest bankruptcy of a non-profit in history, the BFA, like Enron, allegedly hid losses. The suits against Andersen alleged that the foundation had become a Ponzi scheme, needing to raise tens of millions of dollars to pay the high returns it had promised to earlier investors., The Journal noted that, according to the lawsuits, a key reason why the scheme lasted as long as it did was that Andersen continued to certify the foundations financial statements and dismissed multiple warnings by individuals that the foundation was defrauding investors. 30. Aug. 27, 1999 A class action lawsuit filed by investor Franklin Kestner Sr. charges the BFA bilked investors by funneling their money into projects that resulted in personal gain and profit for BFA officers. BFA, an agency of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, was founded in 1948 to raise and manage endowments for church work in Arizona. With Enrons collapse, Andersen earned the distinction of having been auditor for both the largest corporate bankruptcy and largest bankruptcy of a non-profit in U.S. history. }, mpsopts = { If more than $40-million in claims are made, investors will have to share the money on a prorated basis, receiving even less than 20 cents on the dollar. regarding the disclosure of related parties and the recognition of losses, How did such a massive fraud develop? to these companies and received notes receivable that were recorded at the PHOENIX -- In 1999, Richard Kimsey and his wife, Susan, deposited $100,000 with a Phoenix-based Southern Baptist agency that promised to do the Lord's work. Baptist Foundation of Arizona was the largest non-profit in U.S. history. [1], The Baptist Foundation of Arizona declared bankruptcy in 1999, citing $530 million in liabilities against $70 million in assets. By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES. Investors who agree to receive any money recovered in such litigation must give up their rights to pursue other legal action against the foundation, such as joining the two class-action lawsuits that have already been filed against the foundation and its affiliates. However, }); Bob Allen is managing editor of EthicsDaily.com. // check for region and redirect if country is in EEARegion The new company will, like its not-for-profit predecessor, invest its assets in real estate, venture-capital deals, and some equities. if (window.mps) { script.setAttribute("async", true); One BFA subsidiary, Arizona Southern Baptist New Church Ventures, had a stated purpose of financing new Southern Baptist churches in Arizona. For example, on one day Grabinski attested to the value of a piece of property twice. This caused a lot of people, more than 11,000 investors, to lose their life savings ($550 million). Transactions . The first in a string of corporate scandals, Enron came to symbolize corporate excess of the 1990s and is Americas best-known white collar crime. return unescape(document.cookie.substring(cStart, cEnd)); 2 Case Study Two Part 1: Baptist Foundation Summary and Research The Baptist Foundation of Arizona was caught hiding important information about its financials when it filed for bankruptcy in 1999. An unambiguous lesson from the BFA case is that the audit team cannot rely The Phoenix-based. earlier fraud standard, SAS 82. fiduciary requirements governing nonbank passive trustees of IRAs. CONTENT_SELECTION_AND_MEASUREMENT: 7, real estate in exchange for notes receivable valued in the millions of dollars. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona was founded in 1948 by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention for the purpose of raising and managing endowment funds to further Southern Baptist causes. Accusations of New IFB being a cult were also made by former New IFB preacher Adam Fannin, who left after the Romero scandal in January 2019. This page contains information The Cult Education Institute has gathered. Your investment actually touches the lives of countless numbers while you earn a very attractive interest rate. Click the link below to sign up for updates from Good Faith Media via our daily or weekly e-newsletters. It expects that its preferred stock will start paying annual dividends of 6 per cent by 2002. Under William Crotts return _regex.test(_qs); purpose was to finance new Southern Baptist churches in Arizona. At the center of the scandal is Crotts, a charismatic 53-year-old lawyer, who took over the BFA from his father in 1982. owed BFA significant amounts of notes receivables. mps._adsheld.push(adunit) Management responded to the new environment by structuring accounting transactions a complex mesh of over 90 insider-controlled entities had been used to help It eventually grew into an independent nonprofit organization that sold individual retirement accounts and other investments. Two former executives committed fraud to hide their financial mismanagement of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, but they didn't line their own pockets, jurors said in convicting them Monday. "[3] Instead the BFA decided to hide its debt and began a series of dubious activities. Sept. 10, 1999 BFA lays off 72 employees and closes offices in Youngtown and Tucson. }; A lawyer for Crotts, Michael Piccarreta, said all the foundation's investors would have been paid back if the state hadn't shut it down in 1999 for what the Arizona Corporation Commission said were faulty financial statements. What clues did the [5], The BFA sold certificates of deposit that were non-refundable during the life of the CD. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona -- a non-profit fundraiser dedicated to the church. document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function(event) { Its only significant asset was 1,357 acres of undeveloped land in San Miguel County, New Mexico. Arizona has had its fair share of scams and schemes over the years, but none was more prominent than the Baptist Foundation of Arizona financial collapse and bankruptcy. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 'path' : '/id/100000099' , Arthur Andersen provided unqualified clean audit opinions on It is expected to last until at least March, with an estimated cost of $1.6 million to Arizona taxpayers. [10][11] In February 2004, the jury in the Arizona Superior Court civil trial found in favor of Grabinski, with the Court ordering National Union to pay Grabinski $2.5 million (equivalent to $3.6 million in 2021). Along with companies like Enron and Worldcom, it was audited by accounting firm Arthur Andersen, giving investors a false sense of security. was placed on probation, requiring that his work be monitored for two years function getOneTrustCookie() { Who We Are; The Team . His lawyer has said there was no fraud but rather a disagreement on the value of property. 'content_id' : '100000099' , [7], A land flipping scheme is one where a person or company inflates the value of a piece of property to make more money. By 1997, ALO had a negative net worth of $138.9 and owed BFA $70.3 million The foundations statement also acknowledges past wrongdoing, saying that the organization concealed money-losing investments by transferring them to affiliated companies. } STORAGE: 6, 2023 CNBC LLC. He pleaded guilty to six felonies and agreed to testify against other defendants, which include former CEO William Crotts and General Counsel Thomas Grabinksi. head = document.head || document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0], mpsload = document.createElement("script"); The BFA began marketing individual funds, often in churches, telling prospective investors their funds would be safe, yield high returns and help strengthen Southern Baptists in the state. This settlement takes on a sad historical significance Ponzi scheme. With what are they going to make donations?. 'keywords' : '~' , The BFA carried out a number of illegal activities in perpetrating affinity fraud against Southern Baptist worshipers in Arizona. The organization did this through the use of over 63 different public and private organizations all directly affiliated with the BFA. While the recently enacted Sarbanes-Oxley Act may only directly impact auditors All Rights Reserved. } In a Good bank-bad bank scheme, the two companies manipulate transactions to favor the public institution while using the "bad bank" to hide the deficiencies. if (typeof window === 'undefined') return; An investigation being conducted by Arizonas Attorney Generals office and the states Corporation Commission has already revealed that the foundation used bogus transactions and accounting tricks to hide financial losses and mislead potential investors. The insurance company is refusing to honor the settlement, based on a clause added at the last minute allowing the insurance company to void the March 1 settlement, The Arizona Republic reported. Some Baptist leaders worry that fund-raising efforts by Baptist agencies and local churches may be hampered not only by ill will created by the foundations troubles, but also simply because some donors will not have money to give. auditors overlook? All rights reserved. "host" : 'mps.cnbc.com', At the time BFA filed for bankruptcy in November 1999, it had total liabilities of approximately $650 million and listed assets of approximately $290 million. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona filed for bankruptcy in federal court last week, owing nearly $600-million to 13,000 people who had bought securities from the organization. Andersen and its representatives pretended to negotiate in good faith, but in fact never had any intention of making good on their part of the settlement. Investors Lost Millions in Church Fraud Executives Sentenced. The CPA Journal. const oneTrustCookie = getOneTrustCookie(); Market data provided by Factset. Arthur Anderson had the same problems with the Baptist Foundation of Arizona several years earlier when 750 million in assets was more like 125 million in assets because most of the assets booked by the Baptist Foundation were found to be substantially overvalued. PC Phone Home The Baptist Foundation of California. Information received from independent sources ALO in turn sold the stock to New Church Ventures, in exchange for a $1.6 million reduction in ALOs credit line owed to New Church Ventures. mps._queue.mpsloaded.push(function(){ Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. var mps = mps || {}; Baptist Foundation of Arizona (Southern Baptist charity) BFA: Books for Africa (St. Paul, MN) BFA: Body Fat Analysis (biology) BFA: British Fantasy Award (British Fantasy Society; UK) BFA: Baseball for All (various locations) BFA: Botswana Football Association (Botswana) BFA: Blank Firing Attachment: BFA: Benefit Fraud Assessment: BFA First, it was critical for BFA to meet the Treasury regulations Through it all, Andersen continued to give BFA clean audits, until the Arizona Corporation Commission forced the foundation to stop selling securities in August 1999. const EEA_REGION_COUNTRY_CODES = ['AT', 'BE', 'BG', 'HR', 'CY', 'CZ', 'DK', 'EE', 'FI', 'FR', 'DE', 'GR', 'HU', 'IS', 'IE', 'IT', 'LV', 'LI', 'LT', 'LU', 'MT', 'NL', 'NO', 'PL', 'PT', 'RO', 'SK', 'SI', 'ES', 'SE', 'CH', 'TR', 'GB']; console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK all blocked. Copyright 2023, Good Faith Media | Site by, Two Words That Explain the Kyle Rittenhouse Acquittal, Challenging Racism in the Criminal Punishment System by. We re-invest your money and the profit we earn goes to further such ministries as Christian education, care for children and senior adults, missions and new church starts. mps._ext = mps._ext || {}; BFA employees sold investment products through circulars touting not one investor has ever lost a penny of their investment or the interest they earned. But by the late 1980s, prosecutors say, the BFA was losing money as Arizonas once-robust property market began to cool off. .map(categoryPreference => parseInt(categoryPreference.split(':')[0], 10)); outside an entity that suggests the possibility that management fraud may mps.__timer = Date.now ? Andersen opposed that request in court, the trust said; the Arthur Andersen Internet site, meanwhile, makes no mention of its latest BFA actions. mps._queue.gptloaded.push(function() { People of faith vulnerable to 'affinity frauds,' authorities say. Tuesday, September 5, 2006. (function() { New Era, which solicited investments largely from Christian institutions, folded in 1995 after taking in about $350-million in what had amounted to a Ponzi scheme. mps._debug('[MPS]: email address detected in url, bypass gpt. The BFA now owes investors $200 million more than it did in 1995. Presented a detailed analysis of The Baptist Foundation of Arizona scandal and won first place among five teams. Aug. 28, 1999 The BFA board of directors votes to terminate the employment of William Crotts, Thomas Grabinski, and Donald Deardorff. } script.setAttribute("onload", "setAdblockerCookie(false);"); on funding church start-ups and providing aid for children and the elderly. Its initial mission was to raise donations and support for Southern Baptist causes. Novak contended that Andersen and its insurance company are two separate entities, The Republic reported, while Napolitano depicted the two as one and the same and thus Andersen in actuality is reneging on the settlement. detect fraud. Its initial mission was to raise donations and support credible tips or complaints are received about management fraud, auditors between the foundation and these corporations were designed to achieve the In 1989, Arizonas "Arthur Andersen's on-again, off-again $217 million settlement with investors in the Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) scandal is on again," reports The Arizona Republic. sale of these IRA-type investments, from $7.2 million in 1984 to $211 million Two former executives of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona were convicted Monday on three counts of fraudulent schemes and one count of conducting an illegal enterprise. In a March 29 statement, the day after receiving notice from Andersen, the trust said one of the first steps will be to ask the mediator who presided over the settlement negotiations, retired federal judge Layn Phillips, to rule that Andersen has breached the agreement and to order Andersen to pay the $217 million as promised.. Baptist Convention. have a responsibility to expand their work to obtain independent corroborating Founded in 1948, BFA was created as a nonprofit agency of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention. return false; for Southern Baptist causes. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. The BFA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that November, listing assets of $220 million and liabilities of $640 million. const name = ONE_TRUST_COOKIE_NAME; Another pastor, Manly Perry of Old Path Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas, posted a video Nov. 19 distancing himself from the New IFB. if (typeof mps.getAd != "function") mps.getAd = function(adunit) { In one year, there was an amazing increase in the Visitor Comments. In 1998 Deeann Greibel, a financial planner and CPA in Mesa, Ariz., looked into BFA finances on behalf of a client and found it was heavily underwritten with IOUs. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Money & Investing. 'type' : 'mobile: episode' , Also in 1998, an alternative Phoenix newspaper, the New Times, ran a series of 13 investigative reports alleging fraud and insider deals. cEnd = document.cookie.length; 'cag[template]' : 'special_reports' , Pope Francis I said in an interview with the Associated Press that "homosexuality is not a crime" and encouraged bishops to stop practicing forms of conversion therapy. window.location.href = `/opt-in-check?pub_referrer=${encodeURIComponent(url)}`; be taking place requires a higher degree of due diligence by auditors. } Payments were being made on the The Arizona Baptist Foundation. Sept. 20, 1999 Pastor Richard A. Kimsey amends his lawsuit against BFA to include the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and Steve Bass, executive director treasurer of the convention's Executive Board. 'nid' : '100000099' The majority of New Church Ventures changed under new management. 'pubdate' : '1343999322' , 'template' : 'special_reports' , to mitigate the real estate losses. Andersen settled a class-action lawsuit with BFA investors for $217 million, without admitting any wrongdoing. // execute [1] Grabinski signed documents as an officer for both BFA and a subsidiary. "true" : "false") + "; expires=" + d.toUTCString() + "; path=/"; "[1] Since he was working for both companies, Grabinski was able to authorize questionable transactions. Solely for the purpose of determining whether a transfer or ac- [8] The trial of Grabinski and Crotts was the longest criminal jury trial in the history of the state of Arizona. Reglious Prey: Baptist Foundation of Arizona. The only thing I can confidently tell investors is this: The commission will pursue every possible avenue to ensure that Arthur Andersen pays for their egregious errors., The size of the settlement, The Wall Street Journal had reported March 4, was remarkably large compared with the losses suffered by investors.. A jury on Monday found former foundation president William Crotts guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case. 'cag[type_franchise]' : 'American Greed' , aside any prior beliefs as to managements honesty. 'cag[project_management_team]' : 'CNBC US Team' , A total of $40-million is available to those who choose to cash out. mps.__intcode = "v2"; mps._queue.gptloaded = mps._queue.gptloaded || []; Thus, when people tried to sell it they could not because they did not own anything. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) was a Southern Baptist charity, which executed an affinity fraud on unwitting worshippers in the Southern Baptist community in Arizona, leading to the largest collapse of a religious financial institution in U.S. history. Redirecting. PHOENIX (ABP) The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld convictions of two former Baptist Foundation of Arizona officials sentenced to prison in 2006 for defrauding more than 11,000 investors in a Ponzi scheme. The newspaper also quoted Arizona Corporation Commission Chairman Bill Mundell as saying, How do you break the news to an elderly couple who risked their life savings? The audit team requested the financial statements Southern Baptist Foundation Scheme in Arizona. We want to hear from you. But a jury found them innocent on 23 counts of theft, saying they didn't intend to steal from investors but got in over their heads and tried to cover it up. An increased focus on professional skepticism in gathering return Object.values(OneTrustCategories).filter((c) => blockedCategories.includes(c)).length > 0; can are designed to be unpredictable and unexpected. Start Here; About Us. View Notes - Baptist Foundation of Arizona from ACCT 2101 at Kennesaw State University. mps._queue = mps._queue || {}; During its history, it did indeed return about $1.3 million to Baptist causes. console.log('PUB-GDPR-CHECK oneTrustCookie: ', oneTrustCookie); The following were among the major GAAP violations alleged by Oct. 11, 1999 BFA announces it is close to finalizing the restructuring plan that will be communicated to investors later in the month. In 2002 Andersen was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding documents related to its audit of Enron. for (var i in mps.response.dart.adunits) { than ever for auditors to employ sound fraud-detection audit procedures in A former BFA director Kimsey reportedly invested $100,000 with BFA. The Cacaces were among 11,000 investors who lost a combined $580 million when the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, or BFA, a registered nonprofit, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999 in what prosecutors described as a Ponzi scheme. } ALOs stated purpose was to develop real estate. [11] National Union appealed that ruling, leading to Grabinski suing them in July 2004 for damages due to abuse of process; the abuse of process claim was denied by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona in a September 2005 ruling on National Union's motion to dismiss. Its bankruptcy late in 2001 caused about 4,000 employees to lose their jobs, while stock losses wiped out their retirement savings and prompted many business reforms. 'cag[attribution_source]' : 'CNBC US Source' ,