Discussion:
Air America Embezzlement
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Orval Fairbairn
2009-06-30 16:55:13 UTC
Permalink
To: "LaMont Cranston," "Roy Blankenship," Fredric L. Rice" and all the
other Leftie sockpuppets out there:

You accused me of lying about Air America embezzling money from
charities, so here it is:

A simple Google search, using the term "Air America Embezzlement" yields
a number of accounts, the best of which is
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12network.html?_r=1

Excerpt:
"The state attorney general's office and the city's Department of
Investigation are looking into whether a boys and girls club serving
poor children and ailing elderly people in the Bronx had improper
financial dealings, including loans to the Air America radio network,
state and city officials said yesterday.
The separate investigations are trying to determine whether the Gloria
Wise Boys and Girls Club, run from an office in Co-op City in the Bronx,
made improper loans of up to $875,000 to the radio network, known for
its liberal programming and hosts like the comedian Al Franken, the
officials said.
Investigators from the charities bureau of the attorney general's
office, which oversees about 60,000 nonprofit agencies in the state,
requested documents from the club last week but have yet to receive
them, state officials said. Historically, the charities bureau has
required nonprofit agencies caught up in financial improprieties to make
compensation for any misspent money and to institute tighter fiscal
controls.
The allegations of financial mismanagement at Gloria Wise came to light
in June, when the Department of Investigation announced in a letter to
the club that all city agencies were canceling their contracts with
Gloria Wise and an affiliate, the Pathways for Youth Boys and Girls
Club, because officials at the clubs had "approved significant
inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted
to various city agencies."
Emily Gest, a spokeswoman for the department, said that Gloria Wise and
Pathways had 19 city contracts and one city grant - some with the
Department of Youth and Community Development, the Department of
Education, the Department for the Aging and the Housing Authority -
worth a total of $9.7 million.
Jim Grossman, a spokesman for Gloria Wise, said the club had given Air
America about $875,000, though he added that he did not know exactly
how, or in what form, it had been given. He also said the club and the
network had reached an agreement under which the money had been placed
in escrow and would eventually be repaid to the club.
According to a statement posted last month on the network's Web site,
the current owners of Air America, Piquant LLC, criticized "the
allegations of mismanagement and corruption" at Gloria Wise as
"disgraceful," but said Piquant was not responsible for the loans
because they had been given to the radio network under the leadership of
its previous owner, Progress Media."

Now, fools, go pack up your venom and vitriol and swallow it yourselves!
--
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Spartakus
2009-06-30 23:02:21 UTC
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Post by Orval Fairbairn
To: "LaMont Cranston," "Roy Blankenship," Fredric L. Rice" and all the
You accused me of lying about Air America embezzling money from
A simple Google search, using the term "Air America Embezzlement" yields
a number of accounts, the best of which is
 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12network.html?_r=1
A simple Google search also turns up this:

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/air-america-funds-returned-to-a-bronx-boys/40533/

The money was never embezzled; it was a loan, which has since been
repaid. I hope you learned a valuable lesson about the futility of
using cherry-picked evidence.
Orval Fairbairn
2009-07-01 04:13:51 UTC
Permalink
In article
Post by Spartakus
Post by Orval Fairbairn
To: "LaMont Cranston," "Roy Blankenship," Fredric L. Rice" and all the
You accused me of lying about Air America embezzling money from
A simple Google search, using the term "Air America Embezzlement" yields
a number of accounts, the best of which is
 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12network.html?_r=1
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/air-america-funds-returned-to-a-bronx-boys/40533
/
The money was never embezzled; it was a loan, which has since been
repaid. I hope you learned a valuable lesson about the futility of
using cherry-picked evidence.
From the article:
"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."

Further:

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

SURE it was a loan! It became a loan AFTER it was exposed!

If it were an unauthorized bank loan, it would STILL be called
"embezzlement", even if it were repaid.
--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.
Spartakus
2009-07-01 14:54:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Orval Fairbairn
"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."
[...]

Ah yes, Evan Cohen... how long was he with Air America again?
Orval Fairbairn
2009-07-01 16:52:43 UTC
Permalink
In article
Post by Spartakus
Post by Orval Fairbairn
"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."
[...]
Ah yes, Evan Cohen... how long was he with Air America again?
Apparently long enough to embezzle funds. I don't know about the rest of
the management of AA.
--
Remove _'s from email address to talk to me.
Spartakus
2009-07-02 01:46:43 UTC
Permalink
Post by Orval Fairbairn
Post by Spartakus
Post by Orval Fairbairn
"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."
Ah yes, Evan Cohen... how long was he with Air America again?
Apparently long enough to embezzle funds. I don't know about the rest of
the management of AA.
Well, this is the deal on Evan Cohen:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Montvel_Cohen

From what I read here, there was widespread corruption on the part of
the board of directors of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club - much
misappropriation of funds for personal use. It could be argued that
Cohen, not Air America, was obliged to pay back the funds that Cohen
misappropriated.
Orval Fairbairn
2009-07-02 03:34:28 UTC
Permalink
In article
Post by Spartakus
Post by Orval Fairbairn
Post by Spartakus
Post by Orval Fairbairn
"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."
Ah yes, Evan Cohen... how long was he with Air America again?
Apparently long enough to embezzle funds. I don't know about the rest of
the management of AA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Montvel_Cohen
From what I read here, there was widespread corruption on the part of
the board of directors of the Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club - much
misappropriation of funds for personal use. It could be argued that
Cohen, not Air America, was obliged to pay back the funds that Cohen
misappropriated.
It could be that way. I wonder, however, who provided the $850K to AA to
pay back the "loan". Was it George Soros or someone of similar ilk?
--
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