Border group's finances a secret
Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Aug 15, 2006
A Texas firm that manages hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps says it has not been authorized to divulge a detailed accounting of the funds, despite assurances by the MCDC's top official that it would do so.
Maureen E. Otis -- president of American Caging Inc. in Stafford, Texas, an agency hired to collect, deposit and disburse donations to the civilian border-patrol group -- told The Washington Times that neither MCDC President Chris Simcox nor the group's board of directors had given her permission to "disclose any numbers."
Mr. Simcox, who has been criticized by current and former MCDC members for a lack of leadership and financial accountability, had referred The Times to Mrs. Otis, saying she could "tell you everything" to clear up the concerns.
Instead, Mrs. Otis issued a statement saying only that all Minuteman donations have been "securely collected, counted and deposited" in MCDC bank accounts.
Telephone calls to Mr. Simcox in Phoenix, where he reportedly is on paternity leave, were routed to Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair in Virginia, who said the organization was not going to release "any unaudited numbers." She said that an audit will be completed in November and that any release of figures prior to that "is just not going to happen."
Mary Parker Lewis, a top MCDC consultant, has said the audit seeks to establish MCDC as a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization. She told The Times that MCDC would meet "all its legal obligations" in seeking to organize.
Click here for more (washtimes.com)
