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Monday, April 20, 2015

GRAVY TRAIN, LEAVING ON TRACK NUMBER 3! Steven Ingersoll's Grand Traverse Academy Looting A Six-Year Scheme

BOARD COMPLIANT...OR COMPLICIT?

Regular readers know this "brick shitting" Mark Noss email excerpt (referenced in Jennifer Dixon's February 8, 2015 Detroit Free Press article) is one of my faves.

I believe I can now answer this scandal's most burning questions: when exactly did that multi-million dollar gravy train leave the station, and how long did it run?

After a thorough examination of the Grand Traverse Academy's annual fiscal statements (twelve years: from 2002 through 2014), I have the answers—the 2006-2007 fiscal year, and six years.
 
Prior to its 2007 financial report, the Grand Traverse Academy's "accounts receivable" category consisted mainly of state school aid due from “governmental units”.

However, beginning with the audit report issued in October 2007, the Academy began listing separately amounts due from governmental units and other accounts receivable. In addition, my analysis reveals that "prepaid expenses" began making a significant impact that year.

The chart below, developed using data generated from my review, indicates that Steven Ingersoll began racking up unpaid "accounts receivable" amounts from the Grand Traverse Academy during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2007.
 *  Formerly a related-party receivable; reclassified in 2013 as "prepaid expense"
** Written off as a "bad debt"

The "pre-pay that has sat on the books", as Noss so inelegantly termed it, ballooned to over $3.5 million dollars by the end of the 2012 fiscal yearafter sitting (in varying seven-figure amounts) on those GTA "books" for over six years.

On June 13, 2013, Grand Traverse Academy attorney Doug Bishop sent Ingersoll a "demand letter", seeking the immediate repayment of $3,548,319.

Although the Academy's 2013 financial report doesn't include details of any actual repayment by Steven Ingersoll, when its report was finally issued in late October the Academy's $3,548,319.00 2012 Steven Ingersoll "related party receivable" had been reclassified as a "prepaid expense" and cut to $2,338,980 ― a $1,209,339 reduction.  

The Academy's finances often required Ingersoll to make year-end adjustments, with fee rebate amounts booked as receivables.

But Ingersoll never completely repaid his receivables, continuing a circular pattern of fee overpayment/rebate booking/unpaid receivables for nearly six years!

And then, after dicking around for months, the Grand Traverse Academy board let Ingersoll off the hook last year, writing off nearly $1.7 million dollars he still owed as a "bad debt".

Was a gravy train, or is it a runaway train?

30 comments:

  1. Thank you, Miss Fortune, for all your research. There is no question that it was a run- away train. In some ways it was a gravy train for Ingersoll and because of the lack of due dilgence by the complicit GTA board and all that money that he was playing with for at least six years. Then, because of the ecalating dollar amounts that Ingersoll prepaid himself, he must have figured that he got away with it so far, he might as well continue.... and he did...and all the honest tax payers were paying for it.

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    1. Oops.... please forgive the typo....I meant 'escalating'.

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  2. Who turned what in that caught him? Was it the asbestos issues or did questions start with finances? Any idea what started the federal review?

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    1. According to testimony during Ingersoll's federal fraud trial, the asbestos mishandling investigation at the Bay City Academy spurred the larger tax fraud case.

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    2. Serves them right. Probably trying to save money and telling Roy Bradley, "Hey, do what you gotta do to save money on this project; I don't care how that asbestos is removed. This building has got to get done; I need that money (oops, I meant kids) flowing through the building."
      Eventually, it backfired on Bradley and Ingersoll. One would think financial irregularities would have eventually caught up to Ingersoll and hit the Feds' radar, but everyone (except the 'IngerBrad' parties) is happy Ingersoll's greed with the improper asbestos removal got these matters to the Feds attention.

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    3. Public schools in the past were charged when absestos wad not removed properly. Ingersoll avoids that as property owner because he is not public?

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    4. He did not avoid it. Rather, Roy Bradley's construction company and people he hired took short cuts and improperly removed some of the asbestos. Ingersoll's school is a public charter school and they would have had to follow proper asbestos removal, but didn't.

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    5. The school districts paid additional fines when their contractors did not remove the asbestos correctly. Huge fines. This building is not a public property - does Ingersoll get special waivers as a private owner?

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    6. This is the issue with private companies running "public schools". Your tax dollars go to these schools, but the money ends up with the third party entity for managing the school. Once the public funds become private assets, those funds are no longer required to be part of the state-mandated school transparency financial report.

      Keep in mind, Ingersoll using for-profit charter schools to launder money didn't start with GTA. We know he did this 20 years ago with his first for-profit charter school, Livingston Developmental Academy in Brighton. He's had 20 years of practice stealing taxpayer money.

      Up North Progressive

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    7. Basically Ingersoll has been a criminal for two decades. His assets are stolen goods from the public. Prison should be a nasty one. As Miss Fortune and readers are beginning to clear up why he is so arrogant. He never thought anyone would call him on the law violations. Ingersoll intended or rather intends to keep stealing for the rest of his life.

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  3. Those numbers are so large when related to their budget. Did their ISD address this with the board? I am just amazed this does not have people in TC wanting to throw stuff at them.

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    1. And Rick Snyder wants to run for president...of the United States!

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    2. Ingersoll (and now Noss) would only want you to throw more money at them, that's all.

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    3. This information was never "hidden" but sat right on GTA's balance sheet for all to see. Yet somehow Midwest Professionals CPA, Lake Superior State, MDE, and all other users of the financial statements somehow overlooked all of this. I urge you to find financial transactions like this on the books of any other school in the state (you won't). So how was this ignored for so long and how is that auditing firm still in business for blowing this off for so long? Questions that I'm afraid will never be answered since the state attorney general apparently has no interest in this slam dunk case. Why??

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    4. No one "overlooked" the information, they just disregarded it. The process, a review of financial statements, is not an audit by any sense of the word.

      However, I do agree that the growth of Ingersoll's debt should have been stopped by LSSU and the MDE--but they chose to do nothing substantive.

      And here's the thing: since Ingersoll was not charged with embezzlement, the case of the missing millions is STILL being ingnored.

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    5. Since the MDE, LSSU, the Michigan State Attorney General have not done anything substantive about the embezzlement, can the Feds pursue this financial fiasco now?

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    6. Maybe we are all frustrated for nothing. The state could be waiting for the first federal charge to proceed. They have not collected the first verdict. Once the collections start - accurate financial numbers in the Ingersoll net worth and actual revenues being received can be calculated. Get him in prison. When he is not around to juggle his lies - the feds should get better numbers once their interests are served. The USDA gets their 1.8 million back. The owe millions - so it will take time to seize and sell.

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    7. If you're waiting for the State of Michigan to "do something", keep waiting.

      Nothing will happen as the MDE was clearly aware of this situation the whole time.

      According to Michigan's Revised School Code, the State Superintendent has the ability to “suspend the power of the authorizing body” for not engaging in “appropriate continuing oversight.”

      But the State Superintendent has never issued formal rules about how and
      why authorizers would be suspended, which he would have been required to do so he could act on this authority.

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    8. Education maybe not. Michigan department of treasury should be getting involved pretty quick for the state income tax. Maybe pushed back to Sept? I really do not care which ones take it back. I just want them to go after all the assets they can legally take. Close down current and future scans. If the charter schools do not want to collect it back; I am happy with IRS USDA. And Mi Treasury taking the first 6 million. Then liens on assets and collection of rents and income until the fraud and costs are paid off. At least it is some part of repayments.

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  4. Any idea how much money he is still clearing from GTA when he owes them mega buck.

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  5. Since 2007 the Ingersoll gang has used stolen money for their activities. When the federal seizure accountants come in the Ingersoll's are going to have a field day. Steven should be in prison. He will not be paying the expensive Attorney. Do you think Gent will be doing his buddy a good turn and explaining his loan terms to auditors investigating all financial activities in the Ponzi scheme? I hope the seize and lien every thing they have.

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    1. Please remember the spelling is 'Geht'...let's all hope that attorneys Mr. Crandall and Mr. Geht will have lots of fun explaining....! I wonder if they'll charge that to the Ingersolls too, since it was something they provided? And who knows how willingly? Or maybe they're greedy too and saw the "Magic 7" properties as a way for them to make money whether the Ingersolls lose their properties or not, and for Mr. Ingersoll, whethere he goes to jail for a while or not? That law firm may not be as benevolent as we think by helping the poor innocent Ingersolls who were just trying to "help" their community.

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    2. I may have had a spell catch change for 'GEHT' that I did not catch. You need to know Ingersoll will go to a federal prison not a jail.

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    3. Thank you for the distinction between 'jail'and 'prison'. I used the term generically. But man, 'federal prison' does sound so much better!

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  6. Attorney's typically do not stay involved without a pay check and any information would be priviledged regarding Ingersoll. The 'GEHT' may be different since he may have left his lawyer protections aside when he decided to become part of the Ingersoll fraud. His threatening letters to the school may need to be explained. He is one attorney would has forgotten the real world plays differently than the fraud Ingersoll has been selling for 20 years. GEHT has had a nice Ingersoll graver train for years. With any luck - his $250000 loan will be the bottom of Ingersoll pile of debts to be paid. Wonder how the paper work on his loan differed from the loan paper work Ingersoll gave the school?

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