Executive Council Notified of Embezzlement Charges Today?

http://www.actscelerate.com/viewtopic.php?t=82057&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=denominations+funds&start=0

Executive Council Notified of Embezzlement Charges Today? 

Earlier I repeated a conversation about the handling of this “embezzlement” accusation. I now think it is best to wait for confirmation from church officials before revealing any more details.

Last edited by Clyde Walker on 3/27/15 5:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Friendly Face
Posts: 114
3/27/15 2:42 pm

Cojak

Embezzlement is a big word and a heavy charge against anyone. That sounds like more of a legal problem than an internal church investigation.

I really hate to hear that, for sure.
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3/27/15 4:42 pm

Report of Embezzlement Charges
Carl Jefferson Hart

The kind of news we are seeing on Acts-Celerate regarding the misuse of General Assembly Funds is a sad situation. Allegations is what it seems to be at this point. I have read very carefully the postings by Guide One, Eddie Robbins, Cojack, Alan Wagner, Central Fla Pastor, Clyde Walker and others who all have made very valid points regarding the possibilities with this problem. This kind of problem is impossible to fall at the feet of one person. It would take a very careful and well planned operation to misuse/embezzle a million dollars of the Denominations funds, especially since money is so scarce and needed.
We do know that for several General Assemblies the cost and repayment of those cost has been a reason for our leadership to call for a Four Year Assembly, until this last, 2014 Assembly when Juliam Robinson announced that this Assembly has been the lowest in Cost and will be paid for by the closing hour.
This problem we are now facing, with these allegations, may solve the mystery of Costly General Assemblies.
I now hear that the Executive Committee has notified the Executive Council of legal charges being forthcoming and that each State Overseer will notify the Credential Ministers in each state about what is happening.
We depend on our elected officials to keep us informed in matters like this.
Pastors in the US send the money in to State & General Offices each month and expect the best use of this money to harvest a lost world.
May God keep us in His Grip as we wait and see how this will play out. Hey, DOC
Posts: 57
3/27/15 6:56 pm

Executive Council Notified
TnTidings

The General Executive Committee and the Executive Council of the Church of God are elected and serve the Church of God to protect the Church (body of Christ) from embarrassment and hurt by never announcing anything that would hurt anyone when it is only allegation and accusation. You can rest assured that if there was anything to this The Executive Committee would make it very clear to the Ministry the details. As of now you can consider this to be just a rumor.
Rumors hurt more than Truth. Hey, DOC
Posts: 52
3/27/15 7:09 pm

Eddie Robbins

Yeah, it’s just a rumor.
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3/27/15 7:33 pm

Re: Executive Council Notified
Tom Sterbens

TnTidings wrote:
The General Executive Committee and the Executive Council of the Church of God are elected and serve the Church of God to protect the Church (body of Christ) from embarrassment and hurt by never announcing anything that would hurt anyone when it is only allegation and accusation. You can rest assured that if there was anything to this The Executive Committe would make it very clear to the Ministry the details. As of now you can consider this to be just a rumor.
Rumors hurt more than Truth.

In terms of allegations of embezzlement – that is not a rumor. Golf Cart Mafia Capo Famiglia
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3/27/15 8:02 pm

Eddie Robbins

I was being facetious, of course.
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3/27/15 8:09 pm

I stand by my original post.
Clyde Walker

I now have confirmation from two members of the Executive Council that the General Overseer called EC members yesterday to inform them of the status of the embezzlement scandal.

It seems that a former high up appointee at General Headquarters has been accused of embezzlement of a huge amount of Church of God funds, possibly in the millions.

It makes one wonder how someone could have access to this amount of money and how could the General Officials keep this from the church for the last three years. Friendly Face
Posts: 114
3/28/15 7:14 am

Joseph sought to put her away privily…
Aaron Scott

I always try to be mindful of this passage.

Joseph thought the obvious: Mary had slept around on him. But even then, he intended to put her away quietly…BEING A JUST MAN.

So justice is not always served by embarrassing someone AND THEIR FAMILY.

I, personally, am satisfied with just knowing it was found out, responsibility has been assessed, and it is being handled justly. No, that person should not be permitted to serve in any high position again, but let’s not shame the family that has no part in it. Golf Cart Mafia Consigliere
Posts: 3229
3/28/15 7:28 am

Aaron, I agree to a point.
Clyde Walker

If a person has done wrong we don’t to hang him out for ridicule. However, my concern is the loss of a huge sum of money that has come from the hands of Church of God laymen. Our officials could have and should have made the church aware of such a tremendous loss and they could have done it without naming the name of the perpretator.

There should and must be accountability to the laity of this church about the way our money is handled. It is a shame that it has taken 3 years and this forum to bring to the light this horrible loss.

We need to know exactly how much of the church’s money has been lost and what steps are being taken to recover some or all of it. Friendly Face
Posts: 114
3/28/15 8:09 am

diakoneo

I am wondering who finally broke this open and how long did it go on before it was finally discovered?

How much money are we talking about?

How does it compare with bottom line figures for the years it was stolen?

Is there anything we can do to prevent it from happening in the future?

What is our current procedure for internal auditing?

I agree there is a right way and a wrong way to handle this, but pretending it didn’t happen will not help. If we have a control problem we need to get to the bottom of it to prevent it from happening again. Acts Enthusiast
Posts: 1882
3/28/15 9:01 am

AnOnYmOuS4ArEaSoN

I guess I’m old school and believe in the “eye for an eye” mentality. This person obviously had no problem embarrassing the COG by STEALING so why are we concerned with not calling him out?

I have had people steal from my business and you can bet I had no problem calling them and their family out on it….this is just not one person who is involved…he will be the scapegoat. I am sure his family and others knew exactly what was going on. Friendly Face
Posts: 171
3/28/15 9:02 am

diakoneo

[quote=”AnOnYmOuS4ArEaSoN”]…this is just not one person who is involved…he will be the scapegoat. [quote]

That is what scares me.

I want it to be one person.

It has been stated on this forum that the person was not an elected official. The person was appointed, then I suppose. Or hired. I don’t know. How does that process work? Acts Enthusiast
Posts: 1882
3/28/15 9:09 am

Carolyn Smith

I freely admit to being a mercy person, but in the name of balance, how would you want this handled if this was a family member? Would you still feel the need for everyone to know?

I’m not saying this should be swept under the rug by any means. And if it won’t be. If there are indeed embezzlement charges, this is going to be all over the news unless someone can keep it quiet.

It needs to be brought out in the open & dealt with so it won’t happen again. And it needs to cause new checks & balances to be put into place so someone else won’t be tempted to take the Lord’s money. It’s surprising that those checks & balances are not already in place (unless more than one person was in on this.)

It is a sad situation.
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3/28/15 9:25 am

georgiapath

Unleess there are no checks and balances in place, one person could not do it alone. Someone else had to know about it, or had to help, for it to happen. Hon. Dr. in Acts-celeratology
Posts: 6513
3/28/15 9:26 am

AnOnYmOuS4ArEaSoN

georgiapath wrote:
Unleess there are no checks and balances in place, one person could not do it alone. Someone else had to know about it, or had to help, for it to happen.

That’s what I’m saying. If someone has embezzled millions of dollars then you can bet they were not the only one involved. Family members had to know and chances are….some who worked with them. Friendly Face
Posts: 171
3/28/15 9:39 am

caveator

From what I know, this situation is being handled properly. I have a background in law enforcement. It is very basic procedure to not give details of an investigation until the investigation is complete. If you release details or assumptions up front, you can actually do harm to your case.

This situation is just now being fully discovered. It has been suspected, investigated, and the criminal case is now being put together. Our “checks and balances” are what enabled the officials to discover a somewhat elaborate scheme that included kickbacks. These are not funds that ran through the COG books. These are funds that should have come into the coffers.

When this is all complete, everyone will see how efficient our leadership was in discovering, investigating, and prosecuting this situation. Friendly Face
Posts: 409
3/28/15 9:43 am

Whoever is involved ..
Rafael D Martinez

AnOnYmOuS4ArEaSoN wrote:
I guess I’m old school and believe in the “eye for an eye” mentality. This person obviously had no problem embarrassing the COG by STEALING so why are we concerned with not calling him out?

I have had people steal from my business and you can bet I had no problem calling them and their family out on it….this is just not one person who is involved…he will be the scapegoat. I am sure his family and others knew exactly what was going on.

.. broke the law of the land as well as the law of love.

If they were Church of God ministers, laymen, officials, administrators among whom we worshipped, and they enriched themselves at the expense of their brothers, it demonstrates a shocking, saddening and tragic moral failure of the lowest kind. It shows worse of all that they betrayed the trust given to them and looked upon our resources as their exclusive cash cow … and a complete alienation from true love of God and His people.

Regardless who they are, after reading the posts for the past few days, embezzlement is as precise a word as can be chosen and there are laws barring that kind of odious rapacity in our country. It’s a low down and dirty crime that can only happen when one is in a position of trust and has the power to divert money secretly away away from revenue streams they were designated to steward.

I’m saddened by all of this .. and at the same time enraged that someone so coldly, deliberately and intentionally siphoned away money at the expense of our movement. Brother or not, the full weight of accountability and responsibility should be brought to bear upon them. They don’t deserve any more privacy than any other criminal gets when their wrong doing is exposed by legal authorities and if it means they get hung out to dry in court, let it happen. As it is, every credentialed minister and COG layperson deserve a full accounting of the investigation of the matter as well as ecclesial charges forthcoming.

The truth should be known and it should be followed, no matter where it leads and who risks being embarrassed. A breakdown in our trust has occurred and dispassionately, the EC absolutely MUST make clear who was involved, what they did, how long it occurred, and when the law will be engaged. This egregious abuse of power by whoever needs to be exposed ASAP.

The Joseph Privily mindset doesn’t begin to apply here.
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3/28/15 9:46 am

The entire truth will come out
c6thplayer1

It will be published right next to the executive councils salary and expenses report. This is why we publish full financial disclosure. So that members can stay abroad of finances. We strive to hide nothing.

Oops wrong forum , this is the Baptist creed. Golf Cart Mafia Underboss
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3/28/15 10:47 am

Re: The entire truth will come out
caveator

c6thplayer1 wrote:
It will be published right next to the executive councils salary and expenses report. This is why we publish full financial disclosure. So that members can stay abroad of finances. We strive to hide nothing.

Oops wrong forum , this is the Baptist creed.

I do not understand your post. All of those things ARE available. Friendly Face
Posts: 409
3/28/15 12:05 pm

Nature Boy Florida

HQ financial disclosure is a joke.
The whole time we heard how they cut the fat to the bone was a joke. The person in question openly talked about how much money he was making….in his defense…he must not have thought he was doing anything wrong. Knowing this…I openly questioned his dept on this forum…and suggested there must still be loads of fat to be cut. I told other guys at HQ about it…and asked how they could afford all this.

Nothing happened. I just assumed everyone was cleaning up like he was. That is why I favored tot be cut in half again…and missions money be restored.

But nbf is an idiot….what do I know?
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3/28/15 1:52 pm

Cojak

Embesslement doesn’t always need or require help. Our local hospital just caught an embezzler who had worked on her own to get almost a million dollars in two years. Usually it can be caught in one year with a good outside audit, two at most.

Being ‘likeable’, outgoing, and if daddy or uncle Billy is a boss in the company helps. But one person can do it, This local lady at the hospital did it simply, she was in personell and just hired several new employees that didn’t exist. Hers was a simple embezzlement by the books, direct deposit of all checks. She should have fired them after a year though.

BAck to OUR problem, because it is OUR problem. Christian Church members have been paying tithes and giving in offerings. Many do not own their home and they make car payments, while someone ‘up the ladder’ is wasting God’s money. Living high and hven’t worked for it.
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3/28/15 3:56 pm

Statement from General Overseer
George Jones

Statement on Troy Scot Carter Matter
Cleveland, Tennessee–March 28, 2015

We learned yesterday that Troy Scot Carter, a former Church of God employee, was officially charged for his part in an elaborate scheme to financially defraud the church, over a period of several years, according to information provided to church officials.

Approximately two years ago, church officials were made aware of possible irregularities regarding General Assembly financial matters involving this former employee. Immediately thereafter Legal Counsel for the church was notified, and after consultation with outside legal counsel, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted. This began an extensive investigation, with which the International Executive Committee has fully cooperated.

During the pendency of this investigation, church leaders were advised by federal authorities and by legal counsel not to publicly comment on or publish information regarding the investigation. However, the International Executive Committee was allowed to and did keep the International Executive Council apprised as to the general progress of the ongoing investigation.

The findings of the investigation have revealed that no elected church official, former or present, was involved in or had any knowledge of the irregularities giving rise to this criminal matter.

It is believed that the irregularities relate to various expenses connected with past International General Assemblies. A significant amount of the missing funds potentially will be recouped due to an insurance policy protecting the church against such fraud. The church has taken additional measures to ensure that this type of scenario will not occur in the future. The church will take further steps to evaluate the prospects of exercising its legal options to recoup all of the money which was taken and is advised that restitution will probably be a part of any order of the court.

The church also has been advised that the filing of such charges usually is followed by the presentation of a proposed plea agreement which will outline, in some detail, the results of the investigation. The disposition of any plea agreement, when entered into, is under the sole discretion of the federal authorities. The church will continue to cooperate fully with the FBI and the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

We urge prayer for all involved and for the continued ministry of the church.