Air America Radio, Gloria Wise Invesigation

COUGH IT UP, GUYS

Air America Finally Forced To Turn Over Charity $$$






Even as it fades into broadcast oblivion, Air America Radio still won't concede any ground on its sleazy charity funds raid. This is one stubborn operation, folks.

But it has been compelled to cough up the dough nonetheless, and the New York State Attorney General's office has now transferred the case to its criminal prosecutions bureau, the New York Times (!!) reports today.

Late Yesterday, the New York City Department Of Investigation finally broke its lengthy recent silence on the status of the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club scandal, where the liberal radio network received $875,000 in taxpayer funds that had been earmarked for the Bronx- based charity.


For many months, Air America attorney Bill Schaap has controlled an (IOLA) escrow account for the purpose of repaying this money, with the DOI now having ordered at least some, if not all, of this dirty dough returned. Liberal "investors" funded the kitty, generally in $50,000 contributions.

The company, meanwhile, continues to foolishly insist that a different corporation ran Air America during the time of the scandal, which is true only in a technical, but not in any moral, or ethical sense. Yes, some of those behind the network at the time have long since left the building, but many others are still in the mix, or have departed just recently.

But the continued denials may be an attempt to avoid further legal liability. And even for those who weren't involved in the initial swindle, the subsequent Enron- like cover- up was just as disgusting.


Because the exact details of these new developments vary somewhat, let's do a quick rundown:


From the New York Sun's David Lombino:

A Boys and Girls Club in the Bronx has received $250,000 from the leftleaning radio network Air America in the wake of a probe by the New York City Department of Investigation.

Last summer, as part of DOI's investigation into the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club regarding improper expenditures of city funds, the agency discovered that the club had transferred $875,000 to Air America in the period leading up to the network's launch in March 2004.

A co-founder of Air America, Evan Montvel Cohen, had simultaneously served as development director for the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. Mr. Cohen later told The New York Sun that he arranged the transfer of $875,000 to the radio network from the club.

Ownership of Air America has since changed hands, and last September the current owner, Piquant LLC, deposited $875,000 into an attorney-controlled escrow account to be released to Gloria Wise when the DOI authorized payment.

Yesterday, the DOI announced that it had asked Air America to release the money. A statement from DOI said that $625,000 would be returned to a variety of city agencies after Gloria Wise was found to have misused the funds. The remaining $250,000 has been returned to Gloria Wise for its operating expenses.

Gloria Wise has been badly damaged by the scandal: It has lost its city funding and its affiliation with Boys & Girls Club of America.

The club's new chief executive, Fred Lewis, told the Associated Press that the investigation will likely lead to criminal charges.

From Sewell Chan at the New York Times (a publication that tried to ignore this story last year):

A Bronx charity will pay the city back $625,000 that had been intended for children and the elderly but was improperly lent to Air America Radio, a network known for its liberal programming and hosts like Al Franken.

The settlement, announced yesterday by the city’s Department of Investigation, is the latest but probably not the final chapter in an investigation that began last year.

The state attorney general’s office is continuing to look into the misuse of the funds, and the case has been transferred from its charities bureau to the criminal prosecutions bureau, two people close to the investigation said yesterday.

City investigators found that the charity, based in Co-op City and formerly known as the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club, lent $875,000 to Air America Radio. At the city’s request, the network put the money into an escrow account while the investigation continued.

Now, $625,000 will be returned to the city and $250,000 will be turned over to the charity for its operations. The $625,000 recouped by the city includes $250,000 from the Department of Youth and Community Development and the Department for the Aging that the charity misused from 2001 to 2004 and $375,000 in overpayments from the Department of Education to a nursery and kindergarten run by the charity from 1997 to 2006.

“This is a somewhat shocking case,” said the commissioner of investigation, Rose Gill Hearn, who described the circumstances as “clearly unusual.” She said the recovery of the money was significant because “most of the time, people spend it and it’s dissipated.”

Ms. Gill Hearn said that the investigation into the charity involved “a copious analysis and forensic audit of their books and records.” In some instances, officials at the charity fabricated invoices for consulting services that never existed.

Until last year, Gloria Wise and an affiliated charity, Pathways for Youth, relied on the city for nearly 80 percent of their budgets. The city no longer has contracts with Gloria Wise.

And from the AP's David Caruso:

NEW YORK -- A community center investigated after it gave $875,000 to the liberal radio network Air America has reached a financial settlement with the city over government funds mishandled by its former officers.

The city's Department of Investigation announced Wednesday that the Gloria Wise Community Center in the Bronx has repaid $625,000 it had received from city agencies for its youth programs and nursery school.

A majority of that money was a refund of overpayments the center received from the city's education department, but at least $250,000 were related to "improper expenditures," by executives, the Department of Investigation said.

Those expenses included pay bonuses and personal expenses by some Gloria Wise officials, said the department.

It declined to elaborate, citing an ongoing criminal probe by the New York Attorney General, but the center's newly installed chief executive, Fred Lewis, said some of the charity's money was used for home renovations and car payments.

Lewis said he expected the case to result in criminal charges, but not against any current administrators or staff.

The organization, which was stripped of its affiliation with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America last summer, has ousted its old board members and has a new personnel, he said.

Working with Michelle Malkin, your Radio Equalizer did a lengthy series of investigative reports on this matter, beginning in July, 2005. We established not only the fact that Air America Radio has existed largely as part of an ongoing shell game, but that Al Franken was well aware of the scandal, long before he claimed.

Rather than insist the kids get their money back, Al Franken pushed for an outrageous salary and benefits increase, including a successful demand that he be paid a full year's compensation up front.


Left-leaning bloggers and Air America hosts, meanwhile, have long tried to pretend this scandal didn't exist, even going as far as to attack us for "making up" the story. Others actually tried to blame it on a Republican plot, simply because Evan Cohen, a key player in this mess, once worked for the GOP governor of Guam. But he's as liberal as they come.

Network hosts, who thunder about the "Bush crime family" on a daily basis, have mostly avoided discussion of their own sleazy ca$h grab.


Meanwhile, via an internal source, it had come to our attention recently that some former and current Air America executives could face further questioning in the matter and were said to be very concerned about that possibility.

No matter how the company may try to spin this mess today, one thing is clear: it not only hasn't put the matter behind it, but the biggest fireworks are yet to come.

Images: Pete at IHillary, David A Lunde AAR Scandal: Darleen Click


Technorati tags: air america gloria wise talk radio new york city new york sun boys and girls club al franken michelle malkin brian maloney doi New York Attorney General