• $160,000 spent to settle multiple sexual harassment lawsuits.
• Over $5,000 in credit card fraud committed by a past Potentate.
• Over 30 temples reporting crime and fraud, with one missing over $300,000.
• Only 16% of crime and fraud cases prosecuted.
• $1,334,000 overspent by the Imperial Council, to be covered by each member at a rate of over $3,000 per capita.
• IRS returns to be filled out with minimum information.
• The Chairman of the hospital board advising members it’s ok to break HIPAA hospital privacy laws.
Pages 4 and 5 of the current Shrine Treasurer Association Policies and Procedures manual state that: “The Secretary-Treasurer must promptly have the minutes transcribed so they can be presented to anyone interested via the association’s web site, www.shrinetreasurers.org .”
It was discovered on 4/21/07, that all previously available Shrine Treasurers Association meeting minutes were taken offline. According to the site:
“The minutes from our March 2007 Seminar Meeting are available to Shrine Treasurers (only) in hard copy form upon request” and, for the first time, are not available to the public. (1)
According to the group’s February, 2007 newsletter, the S.T.A.N.A. Ledger, former U.S. Congressman Bilirakis (R) of Florida’s 9th District was scheduled to address the treasurers' mid-winter seminar. His position was just replaced by his son, Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R). The 9th congressional district includes Hillsborough County, where both Shriners groups are headquartered. Both are Masons and Gus is a member of the Egypt Shrine Temple. Shrine executive vice president, Mike Andrews, as well as Imperial Recorder, Jack Jones, are also members of the same temple.
So, who pulled the previous minutes offline and then ordered that the March, 2007 minutes be kept secret, especally when they contain, among other things, former Congressman Bilirakis’ remarks?
Let's move on and look at how these two groups differ.
The Shriners are made up of two non profit groups who have two different IRS classifications. The Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501c3 non profit charity. The Shriners who meet in the 191 mosques or temples across the country are classified as 501c10 non profit fraternal groups.
Analysis of the Shriner Hospitals for Children tax returns reveals that certain transactions and relationships are not disclosed. These include:
• Single and multiple mortgages between the Shriners Hospitals for Children and Shriner executives, officers and employees.
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