Naive financial questions

by gcc2k 16 Replies latest watchtower scandals

  • gcc2k
    gcc2k

    This is a sort-of-followup to my previous thread on "WT as Sally Mae" and the KH remodeling thread.

    We all know that the WT must have a lot of money. My big issue is, where does the money go, and whom does it benefit?

    So, my naive questions:

    1) Since the WT is a non-profit organization, aren't they subject to some kind of regular reporting and/or auditing so that the government knows there is nothing funny going on? I spent a little time on the IRS website, and it is likely that the WTBTS is registered as a 501c (non-profit). These do have to file returns, EXCEPT for religious organizations/churches. Nice loophole.

    OK, so I decide to form the church of GCC. Our beliefs are sincere and clearly held (an IRS stipulation), we bought land dirt cheap and pay no taxes on it, and after improving it using volunteer labor, we sell it for a huge profit. None of this is taxable? Now, suppose I decide to funnel out 2 or 3 million bucks for my own personal use, without anyone at my church knowing about it. No one knows about this?

    I'm sure someone would have discovered a way into the WTBTS' financial inner sanctum by now if one existed, but I just had to ask.

    What do other churches do? For example, the Catholic Church is rumored to have massive holdings. They don't get audited either?

    2) Has anyone actually tried going to Brooklyn or writing and saying "Hi, I've been contributing to your work for years now, I'd like to examine your financial records and make sure my money is being put to good use". (OK, this one was a stretch).

  • Scully
    Scully

    The likely scenario, if you were to go to Brooklyn and ask (very nicely) to see whether the money you donated was being put to good use, would be that several very large JW men wearing dark glasses would pick you up and escort you to the curb.

    The one in charge would tell you something to the effect of "Once you donate the money, it isn't yours anymore. Have a nice day."

    Love, Scully

  • Mr. Kim
    Mr. Kim

    In reality, you, as well as everyone else have the legal right to view the books or at least the last three quarters statement. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET ANY COOPERATION FROM THE POWER BOYS.

    I have. Lots of plane trips and "fancy" or should I say CREATIVE accounting.

    I'll leave it go at that!

    Mr. KIM

  • gcc2k
    gcc2k

    With all the high ranking people who have left the org., I still find it hard to believe that there is no explanation for how the WT uses its assets. Yes, the Bethel facilities are well equipped, almost luxurious (at least in the US), but that's a drop in the bucket.

    Where does the money go? This is a key question for many people and in my opinion, the only thing standing in the way of a massive exodus from the WT.

  • Mr. Kim
    Mr. Kim

    You wrote: Where does the money go? This is a key question for many people and in my opinion, the only thing standing in the way of a massive exodus from the WT.

    There have been several "international bankers" involved and a FEW DIFFERENT "MONEY" ACCOUNTS. Time will tell!

    There are several more surprizes on it's way to the media. But, there have been some agreement and cooperation with the giants in the media. WONDER IF "THEY" HAVE BEEN CONVERTED?? SOMETHING IS UP!!

  • Gerard
    Gerard

    [FromNewsday.com, in an article reporting the top-40 New York City corporations.]
    [ http://www.newsday.com/business/printedition/ny-cvtop52369349sep17.story?coll=ny%2Dbusiness%2Dprint]

    Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of New York

    25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, 11201

    718-560-5000

    www.jw-media.org

    Revenue: $951 million
    Industry: Publishing

    President: Milton Henshel

    Employees: 3,415

    It takes a lot of printing to supply more than 6 million Jehovah's Witnesses with the materials for their ministry. One publication, Watchtower, now has an average print run of 23 million copies twice per month, an increase of 7.5 percent over last year.

    "Our report for the year is different from a Wall Street company," said vice president George Couch. Indeed, the company's employees are volunteers who live and work in the Brooklyn complex.


    Biggest Pressline order ever:

    http://members.whattheythink.com/news/newslink.cfm?id=9398


    http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/919034/000104746902007862/a2087860z485bpos.txt

    I just found another company on which the Watchtower is a shareholder:

    MUTUAL FUND TRUST , located in: 522 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10036

    The WT is listed as a shareholder under the name of:

    WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

    ATTN TREASURERS OFFICE

    DOMESTIC CASH MANAGEMENT

    25 COLUMBIA HTS BROOKLYN NY 11201-1300

    Percentage held: 5.51%

    The WTBTS of PA is actually listed as 5.51% owner of the J P Morgan Liquid Assets Money Market Fund:

    LIQUID ASSETS MONEY MARKET FUND JP MORGAN CHASE BANK AS AGENT FOR 8.10%
    (INSTITUTIONAL SHARES) PAUL G ALLEN
    ATTN SPECIAL PRODUCTS
    500 STANTON CHRISTIANA RD
    1/OPS 3
    NEWARK DE 19713
    JP MORGAN CHASE BANK AS AGENT FOR 6.45%
    ICO GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS
    ATTN SPECIAL PRODUCTS
    500 STANTON CHRISTIANA RD
    1/OPS 3
    NEWARK DE 19713
    JPMORGAN CHASE BANK 5.81%
    LIPPER CONVERTIBLES LP
    ATTN: FUND OPERATIONS 3/OPS3
    500 STANTON CHRISTIANA ROAD
    NEWARK DE 19713-2105
    JP MORGAN SECURITIES LENDING ASSET 5.77%
    MANAGEMENT
    ATTN ADAM BRINTON
    4 NEW YORK PLZ FL 18
    NEW YORK NY 10004-2413
    BEAR STEARNS SECURITIES CORP 5.77%
    1 METROTECH CTR N
    BROOKLYN NY 11201-3870
    WATCHTOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY OF 5.51% PENNSYLVANIA ATTN TREASURERS OFFICE DOMESTIC CASH
    MANAGEMENT
    25 COLUMBIA HTS
    BROOKLYN NY 11201-1300

    If you go to http://www.jpmorganfunds.com/index.jsp?uuid=F11404F1E66B3AD4-10390318391991990&fund=2252&team_id=3 and click on "Fund Profile" under "Fund Literature", it will tell you that the fund assets are $1.69 Billion. If you take 5.51% of that $1.69 Billion comes to $93,119,000. That is some serious money!


    http://www.oha.doe.gov/cases/refunds/2002/September/rk27201885.htm

    U. S. Department of Energy

    Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA)

    Case No. RK272-01885

    September 5, 2002

    DECISION AND ORDER

    OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

    Supplemental Order

    Names of Cases: Watchtower Bible & Tract Society

    Dates of Cases: July 14, 1995

    Case Numbers: RK272-01885

    Pursuant to the long-standing policy of the Department of Energy (DOE), thousands of purchasers of petroleum products have applied for, and been granted, refunds from crude oil overcharge funds under the jurisdiction of the DOEs Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA). See Statement of Modified Restitutionary Policy To Be Implemented In Crude Oil Cases, 51 Fed. Reg. 27899 (August 4, 1986). The standards for considering Applications for Refund from these crude oil funds are set forth at 10 C.F.R. Part 205, Subpart V.

    The OHA has approved more than 87,000 requests for refund from the pool of crude oil overcharge funds. In Subpart V crude oil refund cases, a claimant is generally eligible for a refund equal to the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum products it purchased during the period from August 19, 1973 through January 27, 1981, multiplied by a per gallon amount. That per gallon refund amount is derived by dividing the total refund monies available by the total U.S. consumption of petroleum products during the crude oil price control period. Refunds had been calculated by multiplying the number of gallons of eligible refined petroleum products purchased by the applicant by $0.0008 (the volumetric factor). That volumetric factor had been in use since April 1989, when it replaced an earlier volumetric factor of $0.0002 per gallon. Any applicant who received a refund at the lower volumetric factor also received a supplemental refund based on an additional $0.0006 per gallon. See Crude Oil Supplemental Refund Distribution, 18 DOE 85,878 (1989).

    Additional crude oil overcharge funds have become available for disbursement and we can now issue additional refund checks to applicants. Sufficient funds are available to pay applicants at a new, aggregate rate of $0.0016 per gallon.(1) Thus, the amount of the supplemental refund will be equal to the refund already received. Refunds are rounded to the nearest dollar.

    In order to receive a supplemental refund check, applicants are being required to verify (directly or through their representatives) that their name and address in our records are correct, to correct any information that is not accurate, and to indicate whether there has been any change in circumstances affecting the payment of the refund. We intend to issue a series of Decision and Orders approving supplemental refunds as we receive completed verification forms from all applicants or certifications from their representatives.

    This Decision and Order contains the name and address of a claimant receiving one of these supplemental refund checks. In this case, we were informed that there had been a change of circumstances since the previous refund was disbursed. Accordingly, we set up a new case file (designated RK272-)(2) and investigated whether the party that submitted the verification form (or on whose behalf the form was submitted) was the proper party to receive the supplemental refund. On the basis of that investigation, we have determined that the party listed below is the proper recipient of the supplemental refund. The dollar amount of the supplemental refund being approved in this Order for the claimant is $7,787.

    It Is Therefore Ordered That:

    (1) The Director of Special Accounts and Payroll, Office of Departmental Accounting and Financial Systems Development, Office of the Controller of the Department of Energy shall take appropriate action to disburse a supplemental refund of $7,787 to the claimant at the following address:

    Watchtower Bible & Tract Society

    c/o James Kimball

    25 Columbia Heights

    Brooklyn, NY 11201-2483

    (2) The funds shall be disbursed from the escrow fund denominated Crude Tracking-Claimants IV, Account No. 999DOE010Z, maintained at the Department of Treasury.

    (3) To facilitate the payment of any future refunds, an applicant shall notify the Office of Hearings and Appeals in the event that there is a change of address, or if an address correction is necessary. Such notification shall be sent to:

    Office of Hearings and Appeals

    HG-1/LEnfant Plaza Building

    U.S. Department of Energy

    1000 Independence Ave., S.W.

    Washington, DC 20585-1615

    (4) Any conditions imposed that applied to an applicants receipt of the initial crude oil refund shall also apply to that applicants receipt of this supplemental refund.

    (5) This is a final Order of the Department of Energy.

    George B. Breznay

    Director

    Office of Hearings and Appeals

    Now think of it for a second: for a refund of $7,787 at a rate of $0.0006 per gallon, the WT must have traded 12,978,333 gallons (thats almost thirteen million gallons of crude oil!) The dates of case originaly filed is July 14, 1995, closed on September 5, 2002 but it is unclear to me the time range in which the WT purchased this large volume of crude oil - and its use.

    Full details can be downloaded from OHA Crude Oil Refunds Information--Database Crude Oil Refund Data Base. The file will require an additional 24Mb of disk space.": http://www.oha.doe.gov/data.htm


    http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_id=20001207X03587&ntsbno=ANC95LA077&akey=1

    ANC95LA077

    "On June 12, 1995, at 1530 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 402B airplane, N710WS, registered to and operated by the Watchtower Bible Organization and Tract Society, collapsed its nose gear while taxiing back after landing. The business flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 91, departed Good News, Alaska, and the destination was Tuntutuliak, Alaska. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The airline transport certificated pilot and the three passengers were not injured and the airplane was substantially damaged.

    According to the Director of the Watchtower Bible Organization, who was also a passenger on the airplane, they were taxiing back to the ramp after landing. The runway had just been graded and a small depression in the runway's surface was filled with soft material. The airplane's nose gear rolled into the depression and the nose gear collapsed.

    The Director of the Watchtower Bible Organization stated that the soft area on the runway had been marked with yellow cones. He stated that the runway maintenance person told them the cones were removed so the runway surface could be graded. The cones had not been replaced.

    There were no NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) issued. The Alaska Supplement, however, states that runway conditions are not monitored and that a visual inspection is recommended. The supplement states that there are dips and ruts to 4 inches deep."

    Cruise Speed: 210 kts Fuel Capacity: 102.00 gal Range: 1180 nautical miles.

    Cessna 402B , The letter "B" stands for Business comfort & Luxury.

    Their destination, Tuntutuliak, Alaska is located 440 miles west of Anchorage with one well known activity : Salmon fishing.

    Think of them having fun with their luxurious airplanes next time you go out on the field or send them your money!



  • sf
    sf

    Awesome Gerard! Thx!!

    sKally, unpredictable klass

  • Gerard
    Gerard

    Oops! Forgot to mention their mines:

    1) The WT owns and operates a shale mine in NY

    http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dmn/minres/shale_xls.htm

    30630227WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETYSHALE MINE900 RED MILLS ROADWALLKILLNY12589914-744-2041DENNIS OSTENDORFSHALEA3ULSTERSHAWANGUNK

    2) The WT got a $30,000 polluting fine < http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=36527&site=3 on the same shale mine.

    3) Now, this "environmentaly responsible" owner/operator expands its Earth-raping operation to a sand and gravel mine:

    http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dmn/minres/sg4_xls.htm

    30630243WATCHTOWER BIBLE SOCIETYBIRCH RD.900 RED MILLS RD.WALLKILLNY12589914-744-2041DENNIS OSTENDORFSAND AND GRAVELA3ULSTERSHAWANGUNK
  • Gerard
    Gerard
    According to the New York Times, the 30-building Brooklyn Heights complex is worth $186 million, and the tax-exempt status of the property costs New York City $7.3 million a year in lost revenue. A 1991 credit report estimates annual corporate sales at $1.25 billion. But since they offer publications in return for "donations," they avoid sales tax. The printing and distribution of their literature by unpaid volunteers maximizes the profit margin.

    http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/2347/atheistessay4.html

  • gcc2k
    gcc2k

    Thanks for the replies. There is no doubt that the WT has huge holdings. The question (for me at least) remains the same - where is all this money going? Who benefits from having it?

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