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| As Oren Paris III says, it's good to take money from Satan - the taxpayer - and use it for the Kingdom of God (the Paris Family) instead of wasting it on the Kingdom of Satan (Arkansas). |
Woods Trial: Defendant dependent on Ecclesia College money, prosecutors say | NWADG:
"The kickbacks were from state General Improvement Fund grants to Ecclesia College, which received $550,000 in such grants from the two now-former lawmakers, according to prosecutors. Oren Paris III, former president of Ecclesia College in Springdale, paid Shelton fees, and Shelton passed some of the money back to Woods and Neal, according to the indictment.
Woods of Springdale; Paris; and Shelton, formerly of Alma, were indicted in March 2017. Paris pleaded guilty April 4 to one count of conspiracy and is expected to testify for the government. He resigned as Ecclesia’s president and from the college’s governing board the day before entering his guilty plea.
Total deposits to Paradigm Strategic Consulting’s accounts from 2013 through 2015 were $285,994, with Ecclesia providing $267,500, or 93.4 percent, of all deposits.
Woods’ financial records show he made cash deposits to various accounts of his totaling $82,488 from 2012 through 2015. That includes $24,877 in 2013 and $37,782 in 2014, bank records show. This compares to $3,700 in 2012 and $16,138.89 in 2015.
Paradigm accounts show cash withdrawals, transfers directly to Woods and one transfer to the Plaid Jackets, a band Woods managed, totaling $284,391.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser described Paradigm in his opening statement April 10 as a “bogus company” with the purpose of passing kickbacks from Paris to Woods and Neal. Neal pleaded guilty on Jan. 4 of last year for his role."
'via Blog this'
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| Nothing changed during this massive influx of tax dollars, except a small addition was put on one building, apparently for more political meetins there. Paris was always hob-knobbing with politicians. The main catch-all building was repaired a bit, but the big half-built building was left to sway and rot in the open elements. |
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GJ - I was at Ecclesia College during this time, and even went to meetings, but nothing was ever said about this windfall from the tax fund. Everyone was paid a pittance, except for Oren Paris III ($100,000 a year) and his mother ($60,000) and various family members. I told one non-family member, "Get a real job. Anything is better than this."
There is one exception to the low pay. A woman suddenly appeared as Oren's assistant, even though he was hardly present at the college. She drew something like $50,000 plus a cash bonus!!! - for answering the phone, etc. Her salary was part of a deal with one of the politicians.
Apparently the money came in and a large chunk was kicked back, all without the knowledge of the carefully chosen board, which included Oren's mother. And the actual net gain was blown on buying 50 acres of land the college did not need.
I was with Oren when he chuckled and said, "The board told me no more real estate buys." He wanted to get even more.
Motive? I think he longed to make a killing in real estate, with the Interstate bypass going past the college. The addition of the largest Walmart in the state made nearby land skyrocket.
I attended meetings where the leaders discussed fund-raising and even paid a fat fee for a sketch of the future campus. I did not know that Oren Paris, BA, was becoming land-poor. But I knew enough to tell the entire mailing list that I did not approve of his handling of money.
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| I can recall three failed Oren Paris schemes from the news reports: 1) A fund for work-colleges in the state (one - Ecclesia); 2) Some connection with recycled shingles (Oren Paris and political buddies); 3) my favorite - sharing medical marijuana fees with Ecclesia College. |
