Defendants in kickbacks case involving former Arkansas senator try again for dismissal

Defendants in kickbacks case involving former Arkansas senator try again for dismissal:



"FAYETTEVILLE -- Defendants in the corruption case involving former state Sen. Jon Woods filed notice Thursday that they will appeal U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks' refusal to dismiss the charges.

Woods, Oren Paris III, and Randell G. Shelton sought to have charges against them dismissed because FBI Special Agent Robert Cessario had a hard drive of a laptop computer used in the investigation erased after being ordered to turn it over for inspection in a evidence-related dispute.

Brooks' released his ruling to allow the charges to stand in a court order last week.

The appeal will be lodged with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Appeals taken while a case is pending typically result in the case being delayed. The trial is scheduled to begin April 9.

The three defendants have pleaded innocent. They face up to 20 years in prison on the fraud and conspiracy charges, if convicted. Woods faces an additional 10 years on the money-laundering charge, if convicted."

'via Blog this'

More details emerge in Northwest Arkansas kickback indictment | NWADG

 Randell Shelton Jr. and his attorney Shelly Koehler of Fayetteville walk into the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building in Fayetteville for his original indictment March 28.

More details emerge in Northwest Arkansas kickback indictment | NWADG:



"Paris paid Shelton's consulting company $267,000 out of college money from 2013 to 2015 without notifying his college's board until October 2015, according to the indictment. Shelton is described in court documents as a mutual friend of Paris and Woods.

The case still rests on the same set of facts, and the change in the number of charges doesn't add any risk to the defendants because of federal sentencing guidelines, said attorney Shelly Koehler of Fayetteville. Koehler represents Shelton. Attorneys for Woods and Paris did not answer requests for comment Wednesday."

 Did Paris forward all those funds to Shelton without the knowledge of the college's CPA?
Certainly someone knew about that much
money being sent.

'via Blog this'

Innocent Pleas Entered in Ecclesia College Bribery Case - Oren Paris III Indicted

Innocent pleas entered in college bribery case:


"The law setting up the work-college account is still on the books, the department confirmed Monday. Grants from the account could only benefit colleges that are "part of the Work College Consortium," the act states. The only college in Arkansas that is a member of that consortium is Ecclesia, according to the consortium's website.

Woods emailed a draft of his proposed work-college legislation to Paris on Dec. 2, 2014 -- the same day Paris had the college send a $15,000 check to Shelton's company, according to the indictment. Two days later, Shelton withdrew $12,400 in cash, the indictment says.

Woods also agreed to encourage other state lawmakers to give money to the college. In all, Ecclesia College obtained more than $700,000 in state General Improvement Fund grants in 2013 and 2014, records show.

In other developments at Monday's arraignment, Paris received permission to travel out of state to meet with private donors to the college as long as he gives federal authorities 14 days' notice. Paris was also granted leave to attend family gatherings where potential witnesses in the case are present so long as he does not discuss the case with them."

 Bob Headrick is the academic dean at Ecclesia College.

'via Blog this'

President's Message for Ecclesia College Students

Dear Friends,

Our world is changing.  But we know that God’s ways have not changed and are still perfect.  When it comes to helping shape our minds and the minds of our students, we are determined to follow His ways so that His purposes will be fully realized in our lives.

There is a particular order He prescribes to us in II Peter 1:5-10.  As we follow this prescription for knowledge, we arrive at an increasing understanding of Him, the Truth Who sets us free.  According to Scripture, the proper foundation for knowledge is first “faith” and then “character.”   In Christ we continually add faith, character and knowledge, in that order of cyclical increase.  Knowledge gained through any means apart from the foundation of Christ inevitably leads us to spiritual ignorance and eventual ruin.  Begin with the wrong premise, and you will arrive at the wrong conclusion.

We encourage you to stand firmly against the trends of this present culture to pursue a faith and character-based education.  And we invite you to do it here at Ecclesia College.  Here we always emphasize—whatever your major—setting your mind on the things above so you will be rooted and grounded in unshakable Truth.

Allow us to help equip you with godly knowledge, skills and credentials so you can be even more effective for His Kingdom in your sphere of influence!

"Dr." Oren Paris III

BA Ecclesia College, BA University of Arkansas, Online DMin Laurel Univeristy
President, Ecclesia College

---

Ecclesia College President Oren Paris Among New Indictments in Arkansas Bribery Scandal

March 2, 2017 by Warren Throckmorton 35 Comments

The other shoe dropped today.

After Arkansas state representative Micah Neal was indicted for his part in a kickback scheme involving Western Arkansas non-profits, including Ecclesia College, speculation mounted that state senator Jon Woods would also be indicted. The fate of others mentioned in the Neal indictment was not as clear. However, today a federal grand jury released indictments of Woods, Ecclesia College president Oren Paris III and their mutual friend Randell Shelton, Jr.

Read the indictment here.

According to the indictment, Neal, Woods, Shelton and Paris conspired to defraud the citizens of Arkansas.

---

Inside Higher Education wrote -

On Sept. 27, 2013, Ecclesia College President Oren Paris III signed an agreement accepting $200,000 from the Arkansas General Improvement Fund -- $200,000 that had been directed to the college by Republican State Senator Jonathan E. Woods, federal prosecutors say.

The same September day, Ecclesia College cut a check for $50,000 to a consulting firm that had been established the day before by Randell G. Shelton Jr., a friend of both Paris and Woods. Shelton took the check and used it as an initial deposit to open a bank account for the consulting business. Then four days later, on Oct. 1, Shelton transferred $40,000 from the newly opened bank account to a personal account owned by the state senator, Woods.

Also on Oct. 1, Woods withdrew $33,000 from his personal account to buy a cashier’s check. The only funds in the account at the time had come from the consulting firm’s account, which was only filled with money from Ecclesia College.

Shelton issued a check to himself on the same day from the consulting firm’s account for $1,035.62, writing that it was a reimbursement for gas expenses. Two days later, Ecclesia College’s Board of Governance approved a $25,000 bonus payment to its president, Paris. The board approved the bonus on the same day the college deposited the state General Improvement Fund money into its own account.

That series of events is described in an indictment issued March 1 of this year against Woods -- who did not run for re-election past the start of 2017 -- Paris and Shelton. A similar series of transfers took place numerous times between September 2013 and October 2015, according to the indictment. A federal grand jury charged the three men with multiple counts of mail and wire fraud in the alleged kickback scheme. The college was not named in the indictment.

Paris paid a total of $267,500 to Shelton’s consulting firm over the two years without the knowledge of Ecclesia’s Board of Governance, according to the indictment. He also had the college hire a secretary in the summer of 2013 at the behest of Woods, paying her a salary of $43,000 and increasing her bonus from $4,000 to $7,000 during the hiring process, the charging document alleges.

It’s rare for a college president to face such a serious set of charges. But Paris has not signaled any intent to leave Ecclesia, a work-learning interdenominational Christian college founded by his parents. Paris, his mother and his brother-in-law are all on the Board of Governance. His sister, Christian singer-songwriter Twila Paris, is on the college’s Board of Regents.

On Thursday the Board of Governance issued a statement backing Paris, writing that while the charges should be taken seriously, its members believe the president acted with integrity and is a “godly leader.”

 Angie Paris Snyder is charge of the college website,
so I would not take any of the "facts" posted there
too seriously.
Thanks to excessive spending on themselves, the Paris family
has let the Third World college facilities run down even more.
No gym. No stand-alone library (just a room in the old octagon building). Three "classrooms" upstairs are separated by a
folding plastic curtain on a track.
One classroom near the dean's office is little more than a broom closet with desks there.

How Money Helped Ruin Higher Education

 "We are here to learn how a couple can
start a one-building college and give it to their children
as their own tax-funded non-profit piggybank.
If that is capitalism, we're all for it."

An on-going scandal involves Ecclesia College, Springdale, Arkansas, obtaining tax money to buy a large parcel of land. Here are links to the latest stories and commentary.

The advent of the federal student loan made it possible for private colleges to make a bundle from their students and not bother the denominations for support. Imagine the cars that college students would buy if they could borrow the price and have a lifetime to pay it back. Their parking lots would be full of Lamborginis and BMWs.

Every educational institution treats students as snowflakes that might melt and flow elsewhere. Every single one is a bag of money waiting to be drained for faculty salaries, buildings, and administration income. Foreign students are even more valuable, with their affluent parents who pay cash. No English? No problem!

Denominations and religious groups have an unwritten rule that their celebrities can do no wrong. Often they are children of celebrities within their sect, which is even worse. This attitude is very bad for those who seem to enjoy that status. They can do no wrong, even outsiders look at their behavior and think, "How could you do this?"

 We built this college on DNA! -
and your taxes.

When Oren Paris II wanted to pass his little college onto his son, Oren III wanted a salary of $100,000 a year. His father backed him and he obtained that amount, based on no experience and no education beyond a college degree. Before that, Oren III was getting $60,000 a year for being the chancellor, whatever that means at Ecclesia College. Now his mother is chancellor and gets that $60,000 a year, serving on the board and supporting her son's tax money manipulations.

Oren III's only qualification to be president of Ecclesia College was being the only son of Oren II and Inez. If a degree from EC is so valuable, why did Oren III (with an EC degree) also obtain a bachelor's from the University of Arkansas, a school he routinely deplores?

Now Oren III has skipped seminary to get a DMin from an online school, where everyone I know has gone to seminary three years before applying for an easy DMin (equivalent to the old STM degree).

So now the board calls him "Dr. Paris." He should take that doctorate and try to get a job teaching at a real college - not that he teaches at EC.

Three former faculty members have discussed their dismay at Oren's lack of leadership, absence from the campus, and general incompetence. Oren, his wife, his sisters, his brother-in-law, and his mother use up an inordinate amount of EC's income for themselves. They pay almost nothing for faculty salaries. The campus is a dump, the facilities a disgrace by anyone's standards. Two former employees told me they could not encourage anyone to attend the college, after they saw how it was was mismanaged by the Paris family.

But, as long as they keep the ruse going, Ecclesia College can obtain state and federal money for their operation.

Some EC students are excellent scholars and live up to the image portrayed in campus materials. Certain faculty and staff are exemplary and work for sacrificial wages. To show Oren III's stinginess, one person was expected to work all summer for nothing, during the school year for next to nothing. But Oren and his mother needed big homes and salaries.
A real estate agent told me Oren was also a landlord, the kind to say away from.

More Than One House of Cards Will Collapse
I could repeat some facts about Lutheran institutions of higher education, how they are controlled by a few and used to promote an agenda. Such schools are often a place to put incompetents and drunks, favored alumni who cannot be expected to live up to normal standards. A failed pastor becomes a fake Dr. from Fuller and teaches future ministers and teachers. How pathetic - and expensive.

 Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois

They remind me of the old days when a full professor at Yale University gave up his prestigious title to become president of a nearly bankrupt Lutheran college. Many students did not even qualify for a college education, so they established a prep school to build upon their rural educations. When I studied there at Augustana College, 50 years ago, the faculty were expected to have PhDs or to be completing them. The school never belonged to a family.

The future Mrs. Ichabod lived in Andreen dorm. I wonder how many residents (one a Nazi spy, during WWII) realized their highly rated college was built up by Andreen's willingness to give up Yale for a pokey little college job in Rock Island.

My mother, wife, sister-in-law, and I
all graduated from Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois.
This is my mother's graduation photo from 1943.

Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit Lawsuit Filed by Former Ecclesia College Board Member, Instructor

 Nothing to see here. Move on.

Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit:



"FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for a Christian college at the center of a kickback scheme want a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school thrown out.

Arkansas legislators gave nearly $700,000 in public funds to help the private Ecclesia College buy almost 50 acres in Benton County. The lawsuit seeks information from the college about the state money.

Ecclesia's receipt of the grant money entered the spotlight after former state Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale, pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 4 to taking a pair of kickbacks totaling $38,000 for helping two entities receive grants through the state's General Improvement Fund.

Former state Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, has since been indicted on 11 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of honest services mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the case.

Also indicted in the kickback scheme are the college's president, Oren Paris III of Springdale, and Randell Shelton Jr. of Alma, a consultant. Each was indicted on nine counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services mail fraud."

...

The lawsuit against the school, filed in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, contends that private organizations that receive public money, engage in activities that are of public interest, carry on work that is intertwined with that of a government body or receive grants to promote economic development are subject to the requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Parsons is chairman of the Benton County chapter of the Transparency in Government Group. He said he's a former Ecclesia board member and faculty member.

'via Blog this'

Mom's on the board, and she supports me.
I've got that going for me.
And we give her a big, fat salary for...for...
being my Mom.

Pat Boone listed on Arkansas college's board of regents, said he's never heard of the school

Ecclesia? Ecclesia? Never heard of it.
I'm on the board?

Pat Boone listed on Arkansas college's board of regents, said he's never heard of the school:



"Singer Pat Boone said he has never heard of Ecclesia College and doesn't know why he is listed on the Springdale school's board of regents.

Robin Whitmore, Boone's assistant, relayed the message to a reporter after speaking with Boone on Tuesday night.

"Pat said he's not only not on the board, he's never even heard of this college," Whitmore said. "He said he would love to know who the person is who put his name on there because that is just wrong information."

Boone, 82, and nine other people are listed as "featured" members of the board of regents on the college's website, ecollege.edu/regents.

Last week, Ecclesia College President Oren Paris III was charged in federal court with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud in a kickback case involving state legislators and hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funds.

Paris hasn't returned telephone calls or emails seeking comment about the indictment or the board of regents.

Attempts to reach members of Ecclesia's board of regents or its board of governance also have been difficult.

Steve Henderson, president of Christian Consulting for Colleges and Ministries Inc., said Friday that he was surprised to learn he was listed on Ecclesia's board of regents, although he does know Paris.

"I don't know how I got listed," Henderson said."

'via Blog this'