Air Enron (Michelle Malkin)

Michelle Malkin blog ^ | Tuesday August 2nd, 2005 | Michelle Malkin

[ajolympian2004]

AIR ENRON

By Michelle Malkin   ·   August 02, 2005 05:57 AM

David Lombino of The New York Sun continues to move the Air America story forward. According to Lombino's latest article, Al Franken revealed that Air America's current owners have known about the loan from Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club for some time:

Mr. Franken said he has learned details of the story only in the last week. He said Piquant LLC, current owner and operator of the radio network, found a record of the transfers while conducting a "forensic" investigation into the finances of the previous owner, Progress Media, which was run by [former Air America chairman Evan] Cohen. That internal probe was conducted before the city agency became involved, Mr. Franken said.

A spokesman for the NYC Department of Investigation, Keith Schwam, told Lombino that if Air America discovered the transfers before the city probe began, "They neglected to tell anyone at DOI or in the city about it."

Franken also said yesterday that "he did not know whether the hundreds of thousands of dollars apparently lent to the radio network by a Bronx social-service organization had indeed been relayed to Air America" by Cohen, who asserted that he needed money to treat a brain tumor. A Piquant spokesman said that Gloria Wise will "be compensated regardless of the amount of money it transferred."

So: by Franken's own admission, Air America's current owners have known for months that their network received a large cash infusion from Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club, a non-profit organization funded primarily by government grants. Presumably, they also knew that Gloria Wise's director of development at the time the money was transferred was also Air America's chairman at the time--a glaring conflict of interest. According to Franken, the owners still don't know whether that cash was ultimately placed in Air America's coffers or diverted somewhere else. (Franken seems to be hinting that the money was embezzled by Cohen.) Yet even as the radio network's hosts railed on about Enron, it didn't occur to any of Air America's accountants, managers, or investors to mention the sketchy Gloria Wise transaction to law enforcement officials until after the city launched its investigation.

Despite the near-total MSM blackout, this story just keeps getting more and more interesting.

***

Previous:
Air Deadbeat: the saga continues
The Air America loophole
Air America is scrambling
Air America: Don't blame us
Air America: Stealing from poor kids?!

[AlexW]

I am sure the New York Slimes will be onto this story any minute? day? year? century? now. Oh, never mind, the name is not Gloria Rove.

[Stoat]

 

[JRios1968]

Franken also said yesterday that "he did not know whether the hundreds of thousands of dollars apparently lent to the radio network by a Bronx social-service organization had indeed been relayed to Air America" by Cohen, who asserted that he needed money to treat a brain tumor.

Having a brain tumor would probably explain why he founded Err America.

[jigsaw]

...who asserted that he needed money to treat a brain tumor.

It sounded to me that Cohen wanted to treat Franken to lunch.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Cohen, who asserted that he needed money to treat a brain tumor.

Shades of Scamdy!

[JRios1968]

...who asserted that he needed money to treat a brain tumor.

It sounded to me that Cohen wanted to treat Franken to lunch.

Now that's another way to look at it!