In order for this to be legit, the President of the Gwinnett Shrine Club had to have followed the steps spelled out in the Shrine Temple Financial Manual, starting with submitting the proper paperwork up the chain of command, to the Yaarab Temple Potentate who would then sent it up to the Imperial Potentate (Head guy of the fraternal), the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (hospital) and the fraternal executive vice president. After the last poker tournament, the temple had 60 days to submit the event’s results as well as the net proceeds up the same chain of command.
Then, at the end 2004 and 2005, this fundraising information should have been reported on the Yaarab Temple’s tax returns.
Now for the technical stuff. If you really want to follow along, these documents can be found at Guidestar.org. Search for “Yaarab Shrine Temple" and click on the first of two “Ancient Arabic Order” Atlanta, Georgia listings. The first listing provides the temple's 2004 and 2005 individual returns. The second listing contains the temple's 2004 and 2005 group returns filed on behalf of the clubs they oversee.
The returns show how the poker tournaments and other discrepancies were or were not reported. For example:
The Yaarab Temple reported on all four returns that no funds were raised from special events and activities, including gaming.
The Yaarab Temple clubs operated at losses of $35,764 (04) and $114,210 (05).
The Gwinnett Shrine Club was not listed on the 2005 group return.
The 2004 and 2005 group returns indicate that no Clubs solicited for any non-tax deductible contributions, though the Gwinnett Shrine Club did so.
The Temple’s newsletter, the Basharat, lost $101,618 in 2004 and $72,821 in 2005.
The temple double deducted $80,885 on both the 2005 individual and group returns for a total of $161,770 as paid compensation to the temple’s business manager, though no employees were reported.
Coincidentally, one of the Shriners Board of Directors, Imperial Treasurer Gene Bracewell, has served on the board for a decade, served as Imperial Potentate during 1984-1985 and is also a member of the Yaarab Shrine Temple.
One would expect the Imperial Treasurer and former Imperial Potentate’s own temple to be a shining example of accurate record keeping.
In summary, it appears that:
The Gwinnett Shrine Club benefited from online and satellite charity poker tournaments without being registered with Georgia’s Secretary of State. (2)
The Gwinnett Shrine Club benefited from online and satellite charity poker tournaments without the proper Shriner authorizations.
SportsCrew.com reported that for two years, the Shriners benefited through gaming but the Yaarab Temple failed to report this on their tax returns.
