• A registered lobbyist who was hired to lobby against the post-Enron Sarbanes-Oxley Act, designed to enforce greater corporate compliance with higher standards of disclosure, accountability and transparency.
• Affiliations with other non profit groups such as the Masons, Knights Templar and Jesters.
• Conflicts of interest between a shared Board of Directors that serves both groups.
• Changes to governing documents.
Coincidentally, some fraternal groups seem to fill out their tax returns in much the same way.
All Shrine temples and clubs must obey specific federal, state and Shriner non profit, fundraising and disclosure laws.
For example. on the state level, the Georgia Secretary of State mandates that all non profit groups must register through the Securities division.
The Yaarab Shrine Temple is so registered.
The Gwinnett Shrine Club is not.
These fraternal groups must also disclose financial and fundraising information on their federal tax returns as well as obey the procedures detailed in section 5 of the Shrine Temple Financial Manual, “Fraternal and Charitable Fund Raising Activities.”
Online press releases, related articles and archived websites describe how the Gwinnett Shrine Club benefited from proceeds generated in a commercial co-venture with SportsCrew.com, which is a “high traffic sport and gaming portal that focuses its resources on the promotion and expansion of the online poker and gaming industry.”
This co-venture raised money for the club and hospitals from both online and Atlanta based charity poker tournaments or “Bar Wars.”
Sportscrew.com reported that:
They raised, with the Gwinnett Shrine Club, over $90,000 in 2004 “for the cause of these children.”
On March 28, 2005, a check for $60,000 was presented by SportsCrew.com and GamingClubPoker.com to “The Potentate and High Priest and Prophet from the Atlanta Divan of the Shriners Hospitals for Children.”
In one month, March, 2005, over $160,000 in poker tournament proceeds was donated to the Shriners.
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