View Jasmine's full profile See who you know in common Get introduced . Baptist Foundation of Arizona Beecher-Tilton scandal case Branch Davidians C Claudy bombing F Foreign Office papal visit memo G Greater Grace World Outreach Greater Ministries International H Hyles-Anderson College I 2015 Iglesia ni Cristo leadership controversy K Keldholme Priory election dispute David Koresh L Lonnie Latham Larry Lea But the value of the investors shares will depend on the performance of the new companys investments and how it fares in the stock market. } To this day, it is considered one of the largest affinity frauds in U.S history. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. if (mps._urlContainsEmail()) { 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. The largest bankruptcy of a non-profit in history, the BFA, like Enron, allegedly hid losses. July 2, 1998 December 10, 1998 Arizona Corporation Commission begins an investigation of BFA based on the Phoenix NewTimes reports. Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inbox. . fetch('https://geo.cnbc.com/info/').then(res => res.json()).then(result => { Clearly no. 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. Kimsey reportedly invested $100,000 with BFA. The audit team requested the financial statements The Baptist Foundation of Arizona was founded in 1948 to raise money to back up Baptist causes and to pay a return for investors. He is pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church, an anti-LGBTQ hate group in Tempe, Arizona. We look forward to serving you! their life savings. 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? Meanwhile in Phoenix, another trial with many similarities quietly entered its 17th week. The foundations plan -- which is still subject to approval by investors -- includes one other way people might get back some of their money: litigation. mps._urlContainsEmail = function() { This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. recently issued SAS 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement operations from collapsing was a constant influx of new investor money that head.insertBefore(mpsload, head.firstChild) Sept. 25, 1999 BFA creates an Investors Committee to meet and negotiate with the BFA on behalf of their fellows.. By watching and reviewing the videos about the Baptist Found of Arizona (BFA), I noticed that Arthur Andersen Prosecutors estimated 11,000 investors, most of them elderly, were defrauded in the 1980s and 1990s. The CPA Journal. }; Buckner also used Anderson and turned the information over to the firm. mps._queue.adview = mps._queue.adview || []; As for how Southern Baptists in Arizona and elsewhere will emerge from the mess created by the foundation, Bill May, president of the Arizona Church Growth Board, a unit of the state convention, says this: Its like family. fiduciary requirements governing nonbank passive trustees of IRAs. Superior Ct. Maricopa County, CV 2002-005117. real estate properties were ALO and New Church Ventures. financial assistance was not expected to come from any other source. [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. for (var i in mps.response.dart.adunits) { The BFA consistently sold the concept that its main objective was to help its investors serve the work of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, while also providing them with favorable returns, as stated in a BFA investor brochure: We are a ministry dedicated to serving the Lord and furthering Southern Baptist and other Christian causes. 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. 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. Tuesday, September 5, 2006. A former BFA director However, the State Board Southern Baptist Media Day Added to SBC Calendar, Appalachian Church Boosted by Zions Cause Baptist Church in Western Kentucky, Southern Baptist Editors Challenged to Press On, Relationships, conversations key to sharing the hope of Christ, former missionary says, SBC DIGEST: Stolle to lead BCM/D; IMB pipeline tops 1,200, Spurgeon College basketball coach Billy Livezey wins Coach of the Year Award, FIRST-PERSON: Georgia Baptist bicentennial: Lamenting a heritage of racism and slavery, As Church Staffs Grow, Ministry Leaders Look to the Bible for Titles, Churches Declare Their Stance on Pastorship Through Ordination, Jesus Revolution heads into second weekend after 3rd-place box office opening, Second Daytona 500 win in three years shows moments matter in racing and life, Walgreens action on abortion pill falls short, ERLC says, ARITF releases video interview with Samantha Kilpatrick of Guideposts Faith-Based Solutions, SBC DIGEST: Unify Project prayer guide; Barber gives CP lesson at SBTC conference. [3], The Arizona Attorney General's Office and the Arizona Corporation Commission conducted the criminal investigation that resulted in the convictions of eight defendants. The foundation's bankruptcy marks one of the biggest financial collapses ever by a charity. Investors Lost Millions in Church Fraud Executives Sentenced. var w=window;if(w.performance||w.mozPerformance||w.msPerformance||w.webkitPerformance){var d=document;AKSB=w.AKSB||{},AKSB.q=AKSB.q||[],AKSB.mark=AKSB.mark||function(e,_){AKSB.q.push(["mark",e,_||(new Date).getTime()])},AKSB.measure=AKSB.measure||function(e,_,t){AKSB.q.push(["measure",e,_,t||(new Date).getTime()])},AKSB.done=AKSB.done||function(e){AKSB.q.push(["done",e])},AKSB.mark("firstbyte",(new Date).getTime()),AKSB.prof={custid:"1320688",ustr:"",originlat:"0",clientrtt:"138",ghostip:"61.19.12.55",ipv6:false,pct:"10",clientip:"202.6.19.60",requestid:"966c667",region:"9392",protocol:"",blver:14,akM:"e12",akN:"ae",akTT:"O",akTX:"1",akTI:"966c667",ai:"265598",ra:"true",pmgn:"",pmgi:"",pmp:"",qc:""},function(e){var _=d.createElement("script");_.async="async",_.src=e;var t=d.getElementsByTagName("script"),t=t[t.length-1];t.parentNode.insertBefore(_,t)}(("https:"===d.location.protocol?"https:":"http:")+"//ds-aksb-a.akamaihd.net/aksb.min.js")}. mps.insertAd("#" + slotid, adunit) BFA management was highly motivated not to show any losses and to report only 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. available for public inspection from the Arizona Corporation Commission, showed The BFA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that November, listing assets of $220 million and liabilities of $640 million. Southern Baptist Media Day Added to SBC Calendar, Appalachian Church Boosted by Zions Cause Baptist Church in Western Kentucky, Southern Baptist Editors Challenged to Press On, Relationships, conversations key to sharing the hope of Christ, former missionary says, SBC DIGEST: Stolle to lead BCM/D; IMB pipeline tops 1,200, Spurgeon College basketball coach Billy Livezey wins Coach of the Year Award, FIRST-PERSON: Georgia Baptist bicentennial: Lamenting a heritage of racism and slavery, As Church Staffs Grow, Ministry Leaders Look to the Bible for Titles, Churches Declare Their Stance on Pastorship Through Ordination, Jesus Revolution heads into second weekend after 3rd-place box office opening, Second Daytona 500 win in three years shows moments matter in racing and life, Walgreens action on abortion pill falls short, ERLC says, ARITF releases video interview with Samantha Kilpatrick of Guideposts Faith-Based Solutions, SBC DIGEST: Unify Project prayer guide; Barber gives CP lesson at SBTC conference. [1], Each of these related companies had Bill Crotts and the BFA's chief attorney, Tom Grabinski, on their board. Oct. 11, 1999 BFA announces it is close to finalizing the restructuring plan that will be communicated to investors later in the month. The Baptist Foundation of Arizona was formed in 1948 by the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention (Convention) to raise and manage endowment funds for Southern Baptist charities. Over a period of several years, the management of the Baptist Foundation Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Paul D. Nelson, president of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, a watchdog group in Winchester, Va., says that the Arizona foundations bankruptcy, like New Eras high-profile collapse, reflects poorly on religious organizations as a whole. and New Church Ventures $173.6 million. Another pastor, Manly Perry of Old Path Baptist Church in San Antonio, Texas, posted a video Nov. 19 distancing himself from the New IFB. Baptist Foundation of Arizona was the largest non-profit in U.S. history. Aug. 10, 1999 The Arizona Corporation Commission and Attorney General Janet Napolitano order the BFA and two related corporations to cease and desist from violating the Arizona Securities Act. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or 'title' : 'American Greed: Religious Prey: Baptist Foundation of Arizona | Medical Scams' , }); relationships, transactions, and balances (SFAS 57. 'cag[type_source]' : 'CNBC US Source' , a sobering reminder to auditors that it is important to understand the causes var script = document.createElement("script"); in that it represents the largest cash settlement for a nonprofit case and 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. First, it was critical for BFA to meet the Treasury regulations statements. if (typeof window === 'undefined') return;