Corporations Behaving Badly

[John Thomas8]

[RTH10260]

Salt Lake City

Developers demolish part of 114-year-old Fifth Ward Meetinghouse without a permit on Easter

Taylor Anderson
on March 31, 2024

A wrecking crew tore into a historic meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Easter before the city caught wind of the illegal activity and shut it down on Sunday.

Bulldozers working on the site owned by Jordan Atkin were tearing into the facade of the brick building at 740 S. 300 W. in the Granary District when the city issued a stop order. The site is home to the Fifth Ward Meetinghouse, which was built in 1910 and is listed on the local and national historic registries.

The partial demolition of the entryway to the building was illegal, as there are no permits associated with the site on record with the city.

“Two of the city planners stopped it,” said Nick Norris, the city’s chief planner in a post on X. “The people doing the demo tried to say they had a permit. They don’t. They took off. Police were called. This property owner knows the rules for demolishing a historic building.”

A skid steer was parked among trees and shrubs that were torn up this weekend. An excavator was mounted on top of a pile of bricks where the front of the assembly hall recently stood.

Documents filed with the county show a company called 300 West Holdings bought the property from Gunlock Capital in December. Atkin, owner of TAG SLC, which is an advertiser on Building Salt Lake, is listed as the only registered manager of 300 West Holdings.

Atkin said by email he didn’t know what happened, as a wrecking crew that tore through the building’s entryway and surrounding landscaping parked its equipment in place and left the site on Sunday.

“We are actively working to figure out how this happened,” Atkin said. “The property is owned by 300 W Holdings, LLC of which I am the registered manager but this property is not owned by TAG SLC, LLC or Jordan Atkin.”

Atkin declined to comment on who is involved. The city’s stop work order is issued to him.

“I’m not going to drag my partners through the mud by bringing them into this,” he said. “It’s incredibly unfortunate.”

It would be highly unusual for a demolition crew to tear down a multi-million dollar property without permission from the ownership group or a permit from the city. The fact that it happened on a high holiday and a Sunday adds to the mystery.



https://buildingsaltlake.com/developers ... on-easter/

[raison de arizona]

I dunno, that's what, half a percent? Seems fair for ripping off the whole country. /s

An $11 million fine on $2B in ill gotten profits... that's a transaction fee at that point. Our laws are pathetic.

Hormel Foods will pay more than $11 million to settle class-action lawsuits alleging the company worked with other pork producers to illegally fix prices and overcharge customers, according to court records. https://startribune.com/hormel-settles- ... e=twitterx

[Rolodex]

‘Control the narrative’: how an Alabama utility wields influence by financing news
A Floodlight investigation found Alabama Power runs a news service and its foundation bought a Black newspaper. Neither publishes critical stories about the utility

Miranda Green for Floodlight
Wed 17 Jan 2024 12.00 CET

In the more than a decade since Alabama regulators allowed a landfill to take in tons of waste from coal-burning power plants around the US, neighbors in the majority-Black community of Uniontown frequently complain of thick air so pungent it makes their eyes burn.


On some days, it can look like an eerily white Christmas in a place that rarely sees snow.

“When the wind blows, all the trees in the area are totally gray and white,” said Ben Eaton, a Uniontown commissioner and president of Black Belt Citizens Fighting for Health and Justice, a local group that is pushing to shutter the facility.

Residents of the former plantation town complain of high rates of kidney failure and neuropathy – two symptoms of exposure to coal ash, whose toxic byproduct contains mercury and arsenic. The controversy has been covered for years in local and national news outlets, including a civil rights case Eaton’s group filed – and lost – to close the landfill.

Just last year, coal ash in the state drew national attention when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tentatively denied a state clean-up proposal that it found to be too weak for waste coming in part from its largest electricity provider – Alabama Power.



https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... ngham-news

Alabama Power does what it wants. We have an elected Public Service Commission that's supposed to regulate them, but they basically do whatever AP tells them. The PSC had a "public" meeting about 4 years ago - the first one since the 1980s - and they barely let the public in. One person tried to live stream it, she got kicked out and the commission went into another room. They pretty run unopposed and all have an R by they name so of course they get reelected over and over.

We had a really cold couple of weeks (cold for us) and people started getting super high power bills. Every time I saw a discussion about it, I'd pipe up about the PSC and that AP owns them and ask if they voted for the people on the PSC (one of them has the first name of Twinkle so that's pretty easy to remember if you voted for her). We have some of the highest power rates in the country (per kWh), in one of the poorest states. It's ridiculous.

I hope I got some people thinking about maybe considering voting differently next election (we just had primaries and only one PSC position had 2 people running and they were both Rs - the other two were unopposed).

AP runs roughshod over everyone and the PSC just says "How high should we jump." Fortunately I get my power from an electric co-op (and my solar panels) but people are getting ripped off and the most vulnerable abused by AP and the PSC does nothing about it.

[RTH10260]

CEO of trust fund management company lent himself $100 million

'This whole system does not work:' Case of missing $100M from St. Pete non-profit back in court

WFLA News Channel 8
16 Apr 2024

One of the largest special needs trust administrators in the country could soon be shutting down for good.

[MN-Skeptic]

CEO of trust fund management company lent himself $100 million

'This whole system does not work:' Case of missing $100M from St. Pete non-profit back in court

WFLA News Channel 8
16 Apr 2024

One of the largest special needs trust administrators in the country could soon be shutting down for good.

There's a special place in hell for people who steal money from special needs trusts.

[bill_g]

That assumes the charity actually served special needs people. Who's heard of a non-profit with $100M in the bank for the CEO to "borrow"? Most non-profits work from grants and donations with just enough cash flow to make payroll and serve their mission.

[northland10]

That assumes the charity actually served special needs people. Who's heard of a non-profit with $100M in the bank for the CEO to "borrow"? Most non-profits work from grants and donations with just enough cash flow to make payroll and serve their mission.

I was about to say that they are a non-profit but not necessarily a charity but I checked and they are a 501(c)(3).

That said, in reading some articles, there were a bunch of red flags flying about. They were using a bunch of vendors which happened to be owned by somebody with authority in the the organization. That should have been a disqualified person in terms of payments (boards define these persons yearly to ensure there is no hanky panky like this).

And a loan that is not part of their programs? Um, no.

[raison de arizona]

Maybe they should increase the fine?

This TikToker just caught Walmart inflating the weight of chicken, and overcharging her.

It was posted days after Walmart paid $45 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of inflating the weight of groceries to rip customers off.

The fine doesn't seem to have stopped them.

[Suranis]

If the fine is less than the money they make by ripping people off, why stop?

[raison de arizona]

If the fine is less than the money they make by ripping people off, why stop?

Take the number of vehicles in the field, (A), and multiply it by the probable rate of failure, (B), then multiply the result by the average out-of-court settlement, (C). A times B times C equals X...If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

[raison de arizona]

CEO learns that nothing runs without labor.

[Rolodex]

That assumes the charity actually served special needs people. Who's heard of a non-profit with $100M in the bank for the CEO to "borrow"? Most non-profits work from grants and donations with just enough cash flow to make payroll and serve their mission.

I was about to say that they are a non-profit but not necessarily a charity but I checked and they are a 501(c)(3).

That said, in reading some articles, there were a bunch of red flags flying about. They were using a bunch of vendors which happened to be owned by somebody with authority in the the organization. That should have been a disqualified person in terms of payments (boards define these persons yearly to ensure there is no hanky panky like this).

And a loan that is not part of their programs? Um, no.

I was on the board (and president of the board) for a time of a local non-profit. Just before I rolled off the board, I worked on revamping the by laws to update them to our actual practice and ensure we followed non profit standards. It was kind of interesting doing all that, and my nerd self liked reading about best non profit board practices.

A key part of nonprofit bylaws involve "insider dealing." There need to be disclosures about relationships and controls to ensure that insiders aren't taking advantage of that relationship. I guess really good controls are important especially in huge orgs like one that had $100 million sitting around and someone could charge high prices for supplies to that nonprofit; our board was always looking for free stuff.

I also happen to own the building where this nonprofit for which I was on the board was located and they pay me rent. I charge an amount below market so that they can use more of their funds for their mission. Even so, I always left the room when the board discussed and voted on renewing their lease.

So when I hear nonprofit outfits getting ripped off by insiders it really pisses me off.

[northland10]

So when I hear nonprofit outfits getting ripped off by insiders it really pisses me off.

Yeah, me too. I work for essentially two non-profits, which are also considered charities. They both have substantial rules on financial matters to protect the organization.

The day job is a large non-profit so has a whole general counsel team, and normal processes on disqualified persons, and budgeting (and how much can be spent on volunteer and flight travel reimbursements, including which events the organization may pay for a senior volunteer's spouse travel). They also do millions of dollars grants worldwide so there is a great deal of stewardship going on to prevent improper usage.

The church job is smaller but has equal amount of rules. As an employee, I may authorize payments for supporting the ministry as allowed for in the budget (music, instrument tuning, substitute organists, extra musicians, copyright licensing, etc.) but any check has to be signed by two approved vestry members (i.e. the Episcopal Church version of a church council). The Rector nor any staff can sign checks, though I bookkeeper prepares that. I am not sure exactly how that works with the credit card though they just changed some procedures to strengthen the process.

Weekly cash/check offering (a shrinking thing with direct debit/online giving now) is counted by 2 volunteers (never staff), and they have to go through background checks. We have lots of rules on that process as well (apparently they had a small issue some 25 years ago).

In many churches, there is something called a Rectory Fund, or maybe Deacon Fund (or something similar). those that have those are funded usually by monthly "free offerings" (not part of a normal pledge offering). This is used to allow clergy to support those in need who approach them, or with a Deacon, sometimes in support of their service ministry. These funds also have strict usage rules, accounting and reporting requirements (though do sometimes involve having to give cash to a provide to help the person in need), and also go through the yearly external audit.

I think our food pantry may now be a separate 501(c)(3) as it makes it easier to budget outside of the church's budget and is likely a requirement of the Northern Illinois Food Bank. As such, they would have their own board/trustees but being attached to our parish, would still have accounting and reporting connections.

I am thankful to work for non-profits who believe in safeguarding the funding entrusted to us to fulfill our missions and ministry.

[Rolodex]

So many nonprofits do such great work. But they are also vulnerable.

Two examples from my world: About 15 years ago or so, our church got ripped off to the tune of about $150,000. One of the people in the finance office (our church is pretty large and has a total non-clergy staff of probably 12 or so, not including the day care staff). Somewhere the ball got dropped with the finance committee oversight as no audits had been done in a while.

Another nonprofit where I was on the board, the exec dir (the only employee) ripped us off for about $30,000. We had relied on our board treasurer keeping up with all that and he just believed what he was told and signed on the checks -which all needed 2 signatures. We turned her into the police and heard that many many non profits get ripped off, especially by insiders. Folks just trust that others are doing the right thing since they work for a non profit. Very sad to hear what a common occurrence it seems to be.

[sugar magnolia]

We were ripped off to the tune of $50,000 by one of our 3 employees. 27 year employee who handled all the financial stuff. She raised her own salary almost double in about a year. Fucked up situation all the way around. She still doesn't think she did anything wrong because she "deserved" the raises.

[Ben-Prime]

CEO learns that nothing runs without labor.

To be fair, Eloi Morlock over at the Xitter place still hasn't learned this one.

[Ben-Prime]

We were ripped off to the tune of $50,000 by one of our 3 employees. 27 year employee who handled all the financial stuff. She raised her own salary almost double in about a year. Fucked up situation all the way around. She still doesn't think she did anything wrong because she "deserved" the raises.

I lost my best job in a similar way -- in the early to mid aughts, just as my now ex-wife came into my life, I was transitioning into a one-man-band IT team position with a non-profit that worked to provide behavioral health services to adolescents in both residential treatment and outpatient treatment plans. Two locations - one for the residential clinic and one for the outpatient and admin offices. Just me driving 20 minutes between each as needed (but housed primarily out of the admin offices). The hierarchy was so flat that I reported directly to the CFO? Why? He was a retiree volunteer, unpaid, who had made his bones as a cost-cutter with various divisions of IRM before they offered him an early retirement packaged during downsizing so clearly he knew IT, right?

He hated the very idea of hiring a full-time instead of relying on contractors. He felt it was a waste of money and would try to justify the cost by expanding my role, keeping me busy with meaningless stuff, and requiring regular flits back and forth between the offices even on days I wasn't needed at the other location. We later found, after he had a furious slow-burning row with the newly promoted CEO (the former COO-equivalent, who had been his protege) and was let go, that he had been embezzling for years, to the low 7 figure tune, and didn't want a full-time IT guy around who had time on slow days to poke into things and maybe find out.

He would eventually go to jail, but the damage was done. The public reveal caused so much negative publicity, the CEO and the original founding CEO who had retired to become Board Chair both got hurt by it (the former fired, the latter forced into full retirement to step away from the organization he created), and donors dried up. I had to find a new job quickly and ended up taking a 10% pay cut to work in a local government hellhole for 10 more years until the State Department called. The founding CEO had been like a bonus grandpa to me -- I was the only other Jew in the adminstrative team besides him and his pre-retirement Board Chair, so they included me on a lot of the holiday planning committees, and if I had to do home office help for either of them, we'd make a morning of it and there'd be brunch involved. Watching the former man suffer so -- he would pass away a few years later of old age and a broken heart -- was the worst part of it. He blamed himself for never seeing what the CFO really was.

That felonious ex-CFO dude would be in his late 80s now if he were alive. But in writing this, I opened a Google window and found he died of a brain aneurysm in 2021. So, there's that.

[Ben-Prime]

That felonious ex-CFO dude would be in his late 80s now if he were alive. But in writing this, I opened a Google window and found he died of a brain aneurysm in 2021. So, there's that.

Amusing post-script. I just actually read his obit. It doesn't mention his work for the non-profit at all. It skips right from his years at IBM to his 'retirement to Florida.' Because he was technically a retired volunteer, of course, this is not a lie, and I get not wanting to speak ill of the dead by mentioning that he went to jail, but the dude literally spent something like 15 years as the CFO there, and they clearly were like "Yeah, probably best not to even mention that."

[Estiveo]

My father was the embezzler. Was Asst. Treasurer at the Lockheed Missiles & Space Federal Credit union, and his specialty was forensic accounting. I don't know how much he took or how he got caught, and he was the only one who lost his job, but he did a few years in Lompc for it. Idjit.

[RTH10260]

COVID glove factory fails to open despite $100 million in federal funding

WBFF FOX45 Baltimore
25 Apr 2024

Inside a massive, 700,000-square-foot warehouse in Sparrows Point a medical glove manufacturer hasn’t produced one glove in two years.

The New York based company called United Safety Technology (UST) formed in the wake of severe supply chain issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

article at https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/cov ... al-funding

[AndyinPA]

[AndyinPA]

https://www.scrippsnews.com/business/co ... ade-in-usa

Williams-Sonoma could be paying a hefty fine for claiming a small chunk of its products were "Made in USA" when they weren't.

In a federal court filing on Monday, the Federal Trade Commission asked a judge to sign an order that would fine the luxury home goods company $3.18 million for violating a 2020 order regarding the same false label claims. Williams-Sonoma settled those charges and was required to pay $1 million to the FTC, and the following year, it submitted a report describing how it had complied with every provision in the order.

However, the FTC's new claims state the company has violated the order with multiple deceptive U.S.-origin claims in the years since — including on three products in July 2021, when it filed the compliance order.

One such claim, which the FTC says Williams-Sonoma made between April 2022 and August 2023, involved certain PBTeen mattress pads that were advertised as "crafted in America from domestic and imported materials." The federal body said in numerous instances, those products were actually "wholly imported" from China.

[bill_g]

The "Made in America" sticker was!

This sounds like Trump logic.