SALINE CO.—The situation with the directors of the Anna Bixby Women’s Center in Harrisburg has gotten deeper and more complicated this month as a Chancery suit has been filed against them by the state of Illinois.
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Barbara Wingo, 76, of Golconda, and Terrie Wingo Eichorn, 50, of Elizabethtown, are named in the suit which seeks a host of remedies against the two and their charitable organization, formed in 1979 and designed to help women and children in abusive relationships.
In March, after a months-long investigation and grand jury held in Saline County but conducted by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office, the two were indicted on multiple felony counts, any one of which could put them in prison for a lengthy term, for abusing funds run through the center over the three previous years.
There was no indication at the time of the indictments whether or not such activity (alleged personal use of state and charitable funds, as well as misuse of the center’s assets such as housing and benefits) had gone on in the years prior to the discovery of the alleged abuse (which actually came to light in the summer of 2013 when an employee of the facility was caught up in her own abusive situation and it was alleged that Wingo had the girl use the center’s assets in the form of housing, which is disallowed).
From that investigation stemmed a monetary investigation, and it was discovered that, dating back to 2010, there was alleged misappropriation of funds coming in to the ABWC, and, at the direction of either Wingo, Eichorn, or both, these were alleged to have been used for their own personal benefit.
Now, with the Chancery suit filed, the numbers are beginning to emerge, of just how much money has filtered through the ABWC…and just how much Wingo and Eichorn might be on the hook over.
As well, within the Chancery, the state is asking for “equitable relief” (the definition of a Chancery suit)…meaning that they will probably seek personal assets of both women in order to “settle up” with the state on monies granted the ABWC, as well as with the organizations which donated funds in the form of charitable money from 2010 to the time the indictments were handed down.
The complaint for an accounting
The Verified Complaint for an Accounting, Injunction, Removal of Charitable Trustees, Appointment of Replacement and/or Additional Trustees, and for Other Equitable Relief was filed by the AG’s office on April 14, 2015.
In 28 pages of legalese, the complaint tells about how ABWC was incorporated in April 1980, in order to provide assistance to victims of domestic violence, including counseling, transportation and food, and because of that, they have been exempt from income taxes under the applicable section of the Internal Revenue Code as an exclusively charitable organization, and held assets as described and governed under the Trust Act.
It notes that the ABWC has been funded in substantial part by private and governmental grants and charitable contributions “solicited and received from the public.”
The complaint then outlines how much money the ABWC received in contributions and grants for the three years just prior to the discovery of the alleged abuse of funds (which occurred in July of 2013): From July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, they received $915,025; from July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012, they received $978,420; and from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, they received $1,048,348.
The state can only go back three years from the date of discovery of the alleged crime when charging said crime against anyone.
As a side note, both state and federal authorities can go back longer than that—up to 7 years—if funds resulting from the crime are held in trust.
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Allegations continue to mount
The complaint then goes on to list that the Bixby Foundation—a separate entity from the Bixby Center—was incorporated in August 1991 to serve as a charitable organization and to assist and support ABWC.”
However, the Bixby Center failed to file a complete annual report with the Secretary of state in June 2001, and their registration was cancelled on or about February 25, 2003 and has never been re-registered. Nevertheless, they appeared to continue to be funded in part by charitable contributions received from the public and from the Bixby Center.
The complaint then listed that as director, Wingo was alleged to have provided charitable housing assets/services of the Bixby Center to people who didn’t actually qualify for them; caused center personnel to create false documents and records improperly accounting for services claimed to have been provided by the center; provided false documents and records to obtain a $100,000 bank loan for herself, family members and/or a personal business of which she is or was a partner but saying it was mainly for the benefit of the center; and used center credit cards and/or checks to purchase computers at Walmart.
The same was said about Eichorn with the exception of a specific check for $800 made out to “cash” she was alleged to have written for herself in July of 2013; and that the items purchased allegedly for herself at Walmart differed: she is said to have bought a 32-inch LCD TV with a Nintendo Wii and other items for her personal benefit and use, as well as also used portions of a Glen Poshard Foundation donation made to the Center in 2013 for her own personal benefit.
Failure to maintain registration is serious
Under a first count, Relief for Failure to Maintain Registration Against Defendants Bixby Foundation and Barbara Wingo, the attorney general states that in the incomplete annual report filed for period July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2001, Wingo failed to list any year-end assets of Bixby Foundation, noting only that they’d solicited, collected and/or otherwise held $26,554 in charitable assets during that period.
This is bad because under the previously-mentioned Trust Act, “every charitable organization receiving more than $25,000 during a calendar year is required to file a complete annual financial report for that year with the AG within six months of close of said fiscal period.”
The fact that the registration was cancelled and never re-registered is another huge no-no, since charitable organizations (and any corporation) are required to do so under Illinois law.
As such, the state claims Wingo is breaching her fiduciary duty by the ongoing failure to register the Bixby Foundation….but still operating it, and worse, transferring charitable assets to herself and to Eichorn for their personal benefit and/or use.
Because of this breach, the state can ask to basically take over the organization that operates under the Trust Act (both Bixby Foundation and Bixby Center) and ask for a new board of directors to be appointed, as well as new directors of the center itself.
That’s one of the things the state is asking be done in the Chancery suit.
Women won’t turn over books
Another is to have a full and complete accounting of all assets, receipts, costs, expenses and disbursements made in the past and to date by Wingo and Eichorn.
“The state cannot determine the full extent of any waste or misuse of charitable assets, self-dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty that has occurred,” the complaint reads. Wingo and Eichorn “are exclusively in possession of any and all of the books and records of Bixby Foundation, to the exclusion of the state. Therefore, an accounting is necessary, and additional/replacement trustees should be immediately appointed to attempt to account for and marshal Bixby Foundations assets and to determine whether and to what extent waste or misuse of charitable assets, self-dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty has occurred.”
The AG’s office said they’ve unsuccessfully attempted to obtain such an accounting, multiple times.
The AG’s office said that they’d sent an “order to produce documents” to The Bixby Foundation on or about November 26, 2014 and the Foundation “provided no response whatsoever to a follow-up letter” sent Dec. 30, 2014 requiring a response on or before January 19, 2015, despite the mail being sent certified with signature required…and the letter was signed for with the certification on file.
First total
The AG’s office says that if the women intentionally caused more than a thousand dollars of the Bixby Foundations charitable assets to be wrongfully disbursed for personal use or benefit, they should be subject to civil punitive damages.
First, they claim these damages should be “in an amount equal to the amount of charitable assets so disbursed, plus a civil penalty fine of $50,000.”
Then, they claim that if within a 3-year period those disbursements were shown to be wrongful, she should not only be subjected to civil punitive damages in the amount equal to the charitable assets ($1,048,348) as well as the civil penalty fine of $50,000.
They could also be subjected to punitive damages if found to have breached the fiduciary trust of the foundation; an amount of these wasn’t given in paperwork, and is usually reserved for a judge to order, or, in the case of a jury trial, a jury can often do the same.
The AG’s office is asking for this equitable compensation to occur, meaning they’re seeking for the state and charitable organizations to be reimbursed, by Wingo and Eichorn, the preliminary sum of $1,148,348.00, as well as anything punitive (punishment) that can be ordered to repay.
The AG’s office is also asking for the two to be prevented from holding any charitable assets; as well as “disbursing, transferring, expending or liquidating any funds, assets, bank accounts or depository accounts into which charitable monies were deposited without court approval,” and “freezing all such charitable funds, assets and accounts until resolution of this cause.”
Then, they’re asking for them to be removed as directors, and for a receiver to “identify, locate, collect and marshal all Bixby Foundation assets.”
The AG’s office is seeking for the two to give up and turn over any fees, salaries, commissions or compensation received or claimed to them by the foundation, and to pay costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
The big bucks, totaled
A second count in the Chancery formally calls for the “Removal of Barbara Wingo and Terrie Wingo and/or Appointment of Replacement/Additional Trustees to Protect the Bixby Center, for an Accounting, and for Appropriate Other Injunctive and Equitable Relief,” basically restating all previous claims.
This count focuses on the Bixby Center instead of the Bixby Foundation (as the previous count focused on), and states the amount of funds in question is in excess of $2.9 million over the previous three years, in both charitable contributions as well as grants.
The second count asks for the same amount in civil penalties be assessed against the two if they are found guilty of the civil charges.
At this point, the entire monetary package both Wingo and Eichorn are on the hook over is around $4,148,348.00…which doesn’t include any punitive damages they might be ordered to pay.
Salon shut down…what about the Subways?
This might be the reason why Salon 716 was shut down without any explanation about a week later.
The salon, owned by I. Downey Inc. (another one of Wingo’s corporations), and part of what was alleged to have benefited from the Legence bank loan that was alleged to have been obtained on the basis of the now-said-to-be-fraudulent Bixby Foundation “income and assets,” employed four; Eichorn ostensibly operated it.
Disclosure was advised on April 24 that the previous week (on or about April 17), the salon was shut down and employees were told they would receive their final pay. However, a week later, they hadn’t.
It remains unknown whether or not the employees made a claim with the Illinois Labor Board for uncompensated hours worked…which would be another cause the Wingo/Eichorn combine would be facing, on top of everything else.
But of further concern are other businesses Wingo has started up that may have been funded illicitly by the shifting of public and charitable monies through the Bixby Center or Foundation.
There are five known Subway restaurant locations in Paducah, Kentucky, that Wingo owns. Apparently, those haven’t shut down yet.
If they do, and if the state of Illinois can track down the source of ANY funding for those businesses as having come from state or charitable monies, any such shut-down and subsequent liquidation would be in direct violation of what the new Chancery suit is asking be done with Wingo/Eichorn.
Interestingly, the state of Kentucky is mentioned as a place Wingo has petitioned the court as somewhere she needs to travel.
The filing of a petition to amend her bond and permit out of state travel focused only on “medical conditions” for which she seeks treatment on a regular basis in Kentucky.
However, when the petition was granted on April 27, it also mentioned “existing business interests she may have there” as reason for travel to Kentucky.
It’s a pretty sure bet the state of Illinois is watching what both Wingo and Eichorn (who was granted permission to “accompany” Wingo on these “medical trips” to Kentucky) are doing in and around Paducah.
Criminal cases move forward
The most recent information having developed regarding the Anna Bixby Center criminal cases is the release of those who will be providing testimony in the upcoming litigation.
Via discovery, as requested by Wingo’s attorney Terry Green and Eichorn’s attorney Bryan Drew, it’s been learned that those scheduled to testify in the entire debacle include Maria Bowles, Nora Markham, Kyle Holloman, Jaelynn Franks, Mark Furrer, Mikki Donahue-Hall, Elizabeth “Liz” Hood, Linnea Hodge, Nora Little, Pam Mahoney, Janet Miller, Tashia Morris, Nancy Mosby, Brittany Oxford, Terra Taborn, Jo Poshard, Tina Pritchett, Ardith Russell, Karen Stillwell, Diane Taborn, Laurel Taylor, Tina Winkleman, Peggy Winters, Sheila Beasley, Amanda Pritchett, Ashley Hankins, Anne Ellis, Tammi Akens, Michele Diefenbach, Adrienne Fox, Ashley Malone and Amy Antonacci.
Court documents show that Amanda Pritchett gave grand jury testimony on March 30, 2015; Oxford on Feb. 23, 2015; and Franks gave a video-recorded interview on December 9, 2014.
The substance of those interviews or testimony is unknown.
Pritchett, however, is now a felon after entering a plea to a count of Theft from ABWC of between $10,000 and $100,000 on the day the indictments against Wingo and Eichorn were announced, March 30.
Interestingly, on the day of Wingo’s and Eichorn’s first appearance, April 27, a representative from the bank where Pritchett was said to most recently have been employed was present to gather intelligence on what was going on.
Apparently, the bank hadn’t been apprised of the felony status of their most recent employee, this according to Saline County official sources.
Disclosure had been lead to believe that Pritchett was working as a secretary for a trucking company, not a bank.
Wingo and Eichorn are both next set for a pre-trial conference on July 31. Both of them were able to put up $50,000 cash for their bonds, and likely a similar amount was put up for each of their high-end attorneys (at least, in name, if not performance).
They are, according to all accounts, going on with their lives as if none of the criminal or civil actions against them are proceeding, and lambasting anyone who references any of it, including Disclosure.
