JUSTICE DEPARTMENT COMPLAINT
January 7, 2009
IN RE: ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS FOR REFORM NOW
EXCERPT The undersigned State Board delegates and National Board members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (“ACORN”) file this criminal complaint againstACORN Staff and Executive Board members for fraud, embezzlement, conspiracy and concealment, and criminal civil rights violations. Additionally, since there has already been thepublic admission that a felony was committed, it is also possible that other federal offenses have also been committed including but not limited to;
Title 18 U.S.C. §1341, Mail Fraud,
18 U.S.C.§1001, Presenting a False Document to the an Agent of the United States Government;
18 U.S.C.§1027 False statements and concealment of facts in relation to documents required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and other possible offenses including civil and/or criminal RICO violations.
18 U.S.C. §§1961-68 (RICO Act)
18 U.S.C. §1001 (False Statements to Agents of the U.S. Government),
18 U.S.C. §1341 (Mail Fraud),
18 U.S.C. §1027 (ERISA Violations), and,
18 U.S.C. §241(Conspiracy Against Civil Rights).
Finally, the complainants contend that full investigations of a RICO conspiracy under 18U.S.C. §1962(c) are warranted because they assert that (1) the defendant persons (2) were employed by or associated with an enterprise (3) that engaged in or affected interstate commerce and that (4) the defendant persons operated or managed the enterprise (5) through a pattern (6) of racketeering activity, and (7) the complaints were injured in its business or property by reason of the pattern of racketeering activity. Thus, the complainants feel that a formal RICO investigation is also warranted.
In a shocking report, Elizabeth Kingsley, who is an ACORN attorney, expressed concerns that ACORN and Project Vote may have violated federal laws because of how they interacted. Project Vote, the Kingsley report says, hires ACORN to perform voter registration drives.. Project Vote is a 501(c)(3) federally tax-exempt organization, which means that it is subject to prohibitions on partisan political activity.
ACORN, however, is not subject to those same restrictions, because itis not federally tax exempt. Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, told the New York Times that,“Project Vote and Acorn have a written agreement that specifies that all work is nonpartisan.”
Kingsley, however, claims that the way records were kept made it impossible for her to tellwhether or not PV's money had, at the end of the day, been used for strictly non-partisan purposes. Until 2007, Project Vote's board was exclusively composed of ACORN staff. ?Kingsley said about this, "As a result, we may not be able to prove that 501(c) 3 resources are not being directed to specific regions based on impermissible partisanconsiderations."?Kingsley also claims that governance issues plagued the organizations, writing, "Board meetings are not held, or if they are, minutes are not kept, or if minutes are kept, theynever make it into the files.
"Several Project Vote board members claim that they were unaware that they served on Project Vote's board:? George Hampton, listed as a board member on federal tax filings from 1994-2006, said that he had never heard of Project Vote.? Cleo Mata, listed as a board member on tax forms from 1997 to 2006, also said she was not aware she was on the Project Vote board.
Although ACORN represents itself as separate from its related or associated entities;these companies are in reality all ACORN. The entities share common goals, management,control, locations, financial management and interlocking directors and staff. (In a presentation to ACORN Funders, Steve Kest describes the Association or “ACORN Family” of as one corporation.)
--SNIP-- 24 pp long
SOURCE http://www.acorn-8.net/PDFs/USAttComp.pdf
REFERENCE The sound of ACORN falling
EXCERPT Bertha Lewis, embattled ACORN honcho can barely start explaining away the latest allegations surrounding her community-organizing behemoth before fresh ones pop up.
Yesterday, Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, a Democrat, floated a new charge: In a subpoena, he said fraud committed by a former top ACORN exec was five times bigger than previously reported -- and that Lewis knew about it.
Gee, what else is ACORN hiding? Dale Rathke, the group's then-bookkeeper and brother of founder Wade Rathke, embezzled ACORN funds in 1999 and 2000 to the tune of what the group said was nearly $1 million.
Yet Caldwell claims that at a 2008 directors' meeting, Lewis acknowledged that the fraud ran to $5 million -- likely consisting largely of taxpayer money. Bertha Lewis denies it, of course. But then, how does she even keep up? She spent all of yesterday morning equivocating over the rest of ACORN's sins.
Appearing before the National Press Club, Lewis condemned as "McCarthyism" the scrutiny her group has drawn since employees in several cities were filmed advising undercover journalists on how to commit housing fraud. They're just bad apples, see, and she's working to "turn this thing around."
But what of the ACORN affiliates under investigation in multiple states for voter fraud? What of the Rathkes themselves? Nope, the evidence is piling up that ACORN is rotten all through. No wonder its political allies are running for cover.
SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/the_sound_of_acorn_falling_h8m2v76gYoSTXLQd0cghEK