Updated June 21, 2011 with new articles in Door #3, Door #4 and Door #5.

UPdated March 1, 2011: Door #2 reposted.

UPdated on January 2, 2011: Wikileaks document described in Internal Shriner Report Confirms Corruption? can be found here.

Door #2 has been temporarily taken offline.

Updated on November 18, 2010

Door #1 with "Shriner Retaliation w/a Jester Twist"

Updated Door #5 Jesters and Child Sex Tourism in Brazil on 10/8/2010.

Thank you,

Sandy

UPdated on 9/28/2010 with a map of ROJ courts nationwide. An intereactive version can be found here. Clicking on the marker will provide the name and contact info for each court mapped. It's only half way done but is useful to show regional concentrations.

Thank you,

Sandy

Imagine five doors, like those in "Let's Make a Deal," but in these cases, there are no fabulous prizes.

No one wins.

We hear sirens and see flashing lights as the doors open.

There are no models.

There are instead regulators and law enforcers who, in dark sunglasses, black suits and crisp uniforms, point at piles and piles of evidence.

The following articles are organized into five categories that detail and document why a handful of presumably innocent Shriner leaders and those they do business with should be investigated under the RICO statutes.

It would be almost excusable if these were stand alone incidents and, once discovered, were dilligently cleaned up. Instead these crimes and otherwise corrupt irregularities have occurred in a climate of corruption, fueled by fear and retaliation and led by leaders who either participate, promote or protect, above all else.

Most Shriners are kept in the dark about all of this as they dedicate their retirement years to supporting their network of 22 hospitals that now takes insurance to provide medical care for burned and crippled children. Most Shriners have been brainwashed into blind obedience or are punished, retaliated against and/or sued if they question those leaders who have hidden behind these poor kids to operate a nationwide network of prostitution and profit from their positions of public trust, all at taxpayer expense.

Behind door #1 is Shriners' corruption.

Behind door #2 is how the Shriners used burned children like guinea pigs in a clinical research study so bad it was shut down by the FDA.

Behind door #3 is the Shriners’ secret sex group, the Royal Order of Jesters.

Behind door #4 are details about how three Jesters were busted in a FBI human trafficking sting for taking illegal alien prostitutes from state to state for their weekend parties. Those caught include a former New York State Supreme Court judge, his law clerk, a retired police captain and a retired sheriff.

Behind door #5 are details about how 19 Jesters went to Brazil, asking to be called “Masons” and for girls over 13. The guy who took them has been indicted by the Brazilian Federal Police for rape, prostitution and corruption of minors

Categories follow.

Door #1 Shriners Corruption:

Shriner Retaliation w/a Jester Twist

The Shriners & "Management by Mirth"

Findings 2008: Shriners' Corruption, Jesters' Prostitution

East West Shrine Game Loses Nearly $2 Million Over Four Years, Operating Illegally?

Shriners Retaliate, McGonigal Fired?

Editorial: Shriners Hustle Justin Timberlake, the PGA Tour and NASCAR's David Ragan?

Internal Shriner Report Confirms Corruption?

Mortgage Madness?

Treasurers Meeting Minutes Vanish, Gambling Proceeds Unaccounted For?

The Minimum of Disclosure to the IRS

Above the law? Shriner Treasurers' Minutes

Conflicts of Interest?

Did Shriners Retaliate Against Whistleblower?

Shriners In Hot Water Again?

Door #2 OHRP/FDA Investigations into suspended clinical research study at SHC Cincinnati:

PermaDerm (tm) Timeline, Shriner Skin Study Audit Findings

FDA/SHC News & Unanswered Questions

SHC Study Suspended, FDA Excludes Doctors' Research

FDA Report Details Hundreds of Violations in Shriners' Burn Treatment Study as Product Heads To Market

FDA Warning Letter Sent to SHC Cincinnati Still Unresolved

Bad Medicine?

Shriners Hospital Violated FDA Regs

Door #3 Royal Order of Jesters:

Added 6/21/2011 Jesters Named,  Commentorial: Royal Order of Jesters, Namaste Magazine Cover Story: "Masons Facilitate Prostitution at U.S. Taxpayer Expense" by Sandy Frost

Updated: Copyright Infringement Challenge Settled, Jesters Hide Prostitutes' Expenses, Blackmail Themselves into Secrecy

Jesters in High Places

Shriners Swarm Vegas, Jester Girl Code of Conduct Revealed

Nevada Assembly Formally Welcomed Shriners & Jesters

Tax Returns Reveal Jesters Controlled by "Secret Order of Brothers in Blood," Jester Officer Links National Court to Fishing Tour Operator Indicted in Brazil Child Sex Case

Jester Confesses to Wife He Organized Prostitutes

Royal Order of Jester (ROJ) Resource & Poll

Ex-Jesters confirm "Sam Houston" E-mail

Jesters Exposed

Door #4 Jesters busted in FBI human trafficking sting:

Added June 21, 2011 Fourth Jester Convicted, Former Judge Tills Out of Prison in Three Weeks, Fourth Jester Sentenced

Feds Define Jesters

Retired Deputy Charged in Jester Sex Trafficking Investigation

Editorial: Filings Fly Prior to Tills Sentencing for Jester Prostitution

Shriner/Jester Court Updates, Brazilian Indictment & My Statement to the Buffalo News

Tills' Sentencing Rescheduled in Jester Prostitution Case

Jester Prostitution Updates, Stebick Sentenced

Judge Tills Pleads Guilty, Admits Coordinating Prostitutes with Jester National Representatives

Felony Conspiracy Plea Confirms Investigation into Masonic Sub-group, Royal Order of Jesters

Trowbridge Sentencing Delayed as Jester Prostitution Investigation Links to Sex Trafficking

Judge Central Figure in FBI Probe, the S.O.B.I.B. and the Jesters' Half Million Dollar Weekend Parties

Feds 1, Jesters 0: Court Papers Revealed

Judge Resigns, Police Captain to Plead Guilty as FBI Investigates Royal Order of Jesters for Prostitution

Door #5 Jesters and Child Sex Tourism in Brazil

Updated June 21, 2011  Brazil Child Sex Tourism Resource with Timeline, Brazil Prosecutes Schair & Co. for Running House of Prostitution, Brazilian Girls Sue Richard Schair for Sex Trafficking

"Brazilian News Investigates Child Sex Tourism & Case of Richard Schair, Includes Pictures of Girls with Jesters."

ABC News Confirms FBI Investigating Jesters for Child Sex Tourism

Newsitorial: Schair's Failed Application for Habeas Corpus Confirms Indictment, Implicates Jesters

Richard W. Schair v Newsvine Dismissed as Brazilian Judge Accepts Rape & Underage Prostitution Case Against Him

Editorial: Schair v Newsvine Illustrates Importance of Reporter Shield and Child Protection Bills Before Congress

Brazilian Judge Rejects Jester Fishing Tour Operator's Request for Habeas Corpus
Child Sex Tourism: Brazilian Teens Testify About Being Lured into Minor Prostitution for American Tourists

Brazilian Fishing Trip Depositions: "Masons" Pictured Having Sex with Teen Prostitutes?

"Jesters" To Testify about Illegal Drugs, Child Prostitution?

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from “by Sandy Frost” must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2010 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

I was puttering around the other night and got the urge to find the Jesters most recent tax returns.

I found them on Guidestar and armed with a yellow highlighter, sticky notes and legal pad, began scanning the categories, dollars and answers reported.

My brain started screaming "WTF?" until I got up and started pacing around as I couldn't believe what I was reading.

You'd fall asleep.

I was nearly running in place.

Over three years ago, I was contacted by a Shriner who'd been working with a former IRS agent. He asked me to investigate his own because expert analysis of Shriner tax returns revealed "discrepancies."

This all started with allegations of the misuse of charitable donations, retaliation and tax fraud.

We're WAY beyond that now.

So, the Shriners sued these guys, my sources, for defamation after one claimed the charity was being investigated by the state of Pennsylvania. The Shriners, among other things, named me as a secondary party of interest and used "production of documents" in an attempt to get their paws on otherwise protected communications between me and the whistleblowers to see if they were telling me what to write and/or if they were writing articles for me.

What an insult.

Then, I began wondering "What are the Shriners so desperate to hide?"

The lawsuit was settled out of court and today, you're reading about the Shriners' secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters and prostitution.

I've been at this since April, 2006, digging into all sorts of documents as well as countless tax returns and have reached a bizarre conclusion that ends, for the first time, at a dead end.

Well, except for an unfounded rumor.

Based on officers named on tax returns as well as in a secret directory, my bizarre conclusion is that:

The Shriners are controlled by their secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters. And Jester tax returns reveal that the Royal Order of Jesters is controlled by their secret sub-group, the Secret Order of Brothers in Blood or S.O.B.I.B.

I have no idea what this means except for the possibility that the Shriners are controlled by a bunch of guys who belong to a nationwide group described by a U.S. Attorney as having members who get prostitutes for their weekend meetings.

Or if the unfounded rumors are true, the Jesters are controlled by a bunch of guys who have a thing for menstrual blood. Or girls. Or maybe both. But really, I have no idea as this is just a wild rumor.

Interestingly, the Jesters report on their latest tax return that they spent over $13,000 on "Rituals."

What we do know is that three Jesters were convicted after getting caught in an FBI human trafficking sting for taking illegal alien prostitutes to their weekend parties.

One of those caught, a former judge, will soon be heading to federal prison for 18 months. He pleaded guilty to violating the Mann Act and got a reduced sentence for cooperating with an investigation into the Jesters for the sexual exploitation of minors and travel out of the country for those purposes.

He's a S.O.B.I.B. too.

We also know that the former fishing tour operator who took 19 Jesters fishing on the Amazon was indicted by the Brazilian federal police last April for allegedly providing underage prostitutes for his North American fishing clients.

Per "Newsitorial: Schair's Failed Application for Habeas Corpus Confirms Indictment, Implicates Jesters" :

"A failed application for habeas corpus has made public a court file that details the evidence for which former fishing tour operator Richard W. Schair was indicted by the Brazilian federal police as they investigated the sexual exploitation of minor Indian girls living along the Amazon. The file includes a client manifest that names three members of the Shriners secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters (ROJ)."

Schair had sued a competitor for defamation for alleging his involvement with prostitution. A witness list for the defense names 19 Jesters who were expected to testify about their first hand knowledge of fishing trips to Brazil and sex with underage prostitutes. Eye witness depositions in the case testify that the Jesters asked to be called "Masons" and asked for girls over 13.

One must first be a Master Mason to join groups like the Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar and the Shriners.

One must be an invited Shriner to join the Royal Order of Jesters.

And at this point, I have no idea about how a Jester joins the S.O.B.I.B. or what they do at their meetings other than meet as "Brothers in Blood."

As evidence mounted against him, Schair paid the defendant $15K to settle out of court.

One guy on the witness list, Samuel "Scutter" Newton of Las Vegas, Nevada links this case to the Jester National Court, as he's listed on their 2007 tax return as an officer.

A comparison of the Jester's national officers to a secret directory reveals that eight out of nine national officers are also members of the S.O.B.I.B., including Newton, who is named on both.

All the officers listed on the Jesters' 2006 tax return are also in the S.O.B.I.B. and all but two listed on the 2005 tax return are in the S.O.B.I.B. including:

William Siders

Robert M. Haynes

John T. Stafford

James M. Lake PRD

Taylor E. Best

Gary Martin

Dennis R. Schueler

Raymond Grannis

Paul A. Stradman

John T. Stradtman

Robert C. Davis

Alex Rogers - Business Administrator

Now, back to the tax returns.

Nonprofit groups file tax returns like everyone else because they're corporations, just nonprofit. That means they don't make any money and no one is supposed to benefit. These groups get these tax breaks because they're supposed to benefit society like helping the needy or finding homes for animals.

The Jester's exempt purpose is:

"Promoting fellowship and fraternalism and extending assistance and good cheer to others."
"Management by Mirth" reports that:

* Eleven out of twelve of Shriner Hospitals for Children (SHC) trustees are Jesters.

* Fourteen out of twenty one of those listed on the SHC 2006 tax returns are Jesters.

* Nine out of fourteen of those listed on the 2006 fraternal tax return are Jesters.

This could help explain the hospital's financial woes that nearly led to closures. Which, for those faithful Shriners who have dedicated their lives to supporting the hospitals, was worst case scenario. The last Shriner national convention saw a vote to keep the hospitals open as well as throw out former SHC CEO, Ralph Semb.

An internal investigation investigated Semb and Imperial Treasurer Gene Bracewell and, among other things, recommended that they be reprimanded for lobbying on behalf of a fundraiser who kept $43 millin out of $47 million raised for the hospitals.

Last I knew, both were Jesters and Semb's pictured here in the S.O.B.I.B. directory.

Now, the Shriners are made up of two nonprofit components, a 501c10 fraternity made up of members and a 501c3 charity of 22 hospitals that provide free medical care to burned and crippled children.

Same for the Jesters, who somehow convinced the IRS to grant them a 501c3 charitable classification for operating a "museum" out of their new headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Marion county assessor rejected the Jesters application for a property tax exemption because they didn't buy it but on appeal, the exemption was granted because executive director Alex Rogers convinced the tax board that the Royal Order of Jesters was an appendant group of Masonry.

So, what kind of a museum lists it's worth as $1.4 million but has no employees, phone or computers; nor does it pay for utilities?

The museum's directors all are in the S.O.B.I.B. including:

Hugh Libby

Ray Thagard

George Burt

Ray Grannis

James White

Henry Everett

Here's the S.O.B.I.B. Toast:

"A Few Good l\len and A Few Good Times"

To the Chap who seeks

Those of his kind

Who treasure the drink

And savor the wine.

An Evangel of Mirth

Time and again

Found in the company

Of a Few Good Men.

A Toast to the One

Who reveres the food.

Cursed by his wife in "surly" mood

For quite often he's mocked

By those who malign

That Fellow who cherishes

A Few Good Times.

So here's to our Order

And those we call Brother.

To the bond that binds us

One to the other.

For there are "Traveling" groups of admirable intent

With glossy mottos and rhymes

But as for us, it's the simple notion

Of a Few Good Men, and a Few Good Times.

A copy of the S.O.B.I.B directory, including members' pictures and contact information, can be found here.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com. Copyright (c) 2009 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

Leaders from the Society of Professional Journalists spent yesterday and today on Capitol Hill advising our nation's law makers why they should support a federal version of the reporter shield law.

From this SPJ press release:

"There are currently two federal shield law bills pending in the Senate, S. 448 and H.R. 985, both known as the Free Flow of Information Act. H.R. 985 passed the House earlier this year, and both have been placed on the Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for markup once Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings are complete... A federal shield law would protect reporters and the sources who come forward with sensitive information. Without the guarantees a federal shield law would provide, people may be less likely to share information vital to a well-informed citizenry."

S. 448 provides "a bill to maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media."

Another important bill making its way through congressional committees is HR 2737: The Child Protection Compact Act of 2009.

This "provides United States assistance for the purpose of eradicating trafficking in children in eligible countries through the implementation of Child Protection Compacts, and for other purposes. The Child Protection Compact Act of 2009 authorizes the Secretary of State, through the Ambassador, to provide assistance (grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts) for an eligible country with a significant prevalence of trafficking in children that enters into a Child Protection Compact with the United States to support policies and programs to eradicate the trafficking of children."

Congressional findings call for the immediate elimination of the worst forms of child labor including "the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances."

The findings continue:

"The sexual exploitation of minors is a global phenomenon. The International Labour Organization estimates that 1,800,000 children worldwide are exploited each year through prostitution and pornography."

Passage of these two bills would protect sources who provide information to journalists investigating crimes like child sex tourism.

Case in point.

On June 26, 2009, former fishing tour operator Richard Schair sued Newsvine in an attempt to intimidate other media from reporting that he was recently denied habeas corpus by a Brazilian judge.

You can read the complaint here.

Now he'll probably be arrested upon entering Brazil after the federal police charged him on August 8, 2007 with rape, corruption of minors and operating a prostitution network.

For those of you who have followed along the past year, you already know that the FBI is investigating the Shriners' secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters, for prostitution, sex trafficking and child sex tourism.

For those of you not familiar, here's the short version.

In March, 2003, I began investigating the nonprofit claims of a group made up of retired spies. After three years of what seemed like hand to hand combat, they finally posted their compliance documents online.

A month later, in April 2006, a Shriner whistleblower asked me to investigate his own for misusing charitable donations and tax fraud.

On February 19, 2009, two years into exposing Shriner corruption, I wrote and published the first ever article about the Royal Order of Jesters.

Three weeks later, I reported that 19 Jesters were named on a witness list for the defense in a defamation lawsuit between two Peacock Bass Fishing Tour operators. These Jesters, Schair's clients, were expected to testify about their first hand knowledge of prostitution, minor prostitution and illegal drugs while fishing in Brazil.

The plaintiff, Richard Schair, of Wet-a-line-tours, sued Philip Marsteller of Amazon Tours on May 11, 2007 for defamation and libel per se after alleging that Schair provided drugs and prostitutes for his clients as they fished the Amazon.

Three days later, Dan Herbeck of the Buffalo News broke the news that a New York state Supreme Court judge resigned because he and two other Jesters were caught in a FBI human trafficking sting for taking illegal alien prostitutes across state lines to weekend stag parties in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Florida and Canada.

Memberships go like this.

One must first be a Master Mason before becoming a Shriner. The Shriners are known for providing free medical care to burned and crippled children in their 22 North American hospitals.

One must be an invited Shriner to become a member of the Royal Order of Jesters, somehow classified by the IRS as a nonprofit or tax exempt group with the exempt purpose of just having fun by spreading mirth and merriment.

No kidding.

Court documents in these cases point to investigations by both U.S. and Brazilian authorities into child sex tourism involving members of the Royal Order of Jesters as well as those who allegedly facilitated it.

Back to Richard Schair.

He settled with Marsteller out of court on December 9, 2008 after mounting evidence seemed to render his case unwinnable.

But that didn't stop him because Schair again sued for defamation and libel per se, this time using my articles to threaten Newsvine.

Again.

This second lawsuit continues to draw unnecessary attention to and media scrutiny of Schair's denials as he claims he's been damaged by articles that describe evidence produced in his own defamation lawsuit and provide links to federal court records that show on August 8, 2007, the Brazilian federal police charged Richard Wayne Schair with rape, corruption of minors and operating a prostitution network.

The complaint whines:

"Rather than generate an unbiased article Frost instead unscrupulously quotes from alleged witness affidavits and witness lists."

My online bio clearly states that I am biased against corruption and those who exploit children, sexually or otherwise.

Schair's attorney, Aaron C. Clark continues:

"The material quoted was created in respect to a pending lawsuit and Frost was fully aware that such information was in no way objective or accurate."

Schair and his attorney imply that Marsteller somehow fabricated depositions provided by five "Jane Does" to the Brazilian Federal Police as well as depositions provided by two fishing tour operators. The girls' depositions share the same case number cited in Schair's charges, first made available to the public on June 23, 2009.

These charges became available to the public after Schair's application for habeas corpus was denied by the judge overseeing his case. This means that Schair can now be arrested upon entering Brazil for the previously described charges.

The complaining continues:

"Frost sifts through the deposition material consciously cherry picking material that fits her version of reality."

Here's my version of reality.

I'm an award winning investigative journalist and author who gives voice to the voiceless and by doing so, has singlehandedly exposed the biggest nonprofit fraud of our time.

As a Native American mother and grandmother, my instinct is to try and help these Brazilian Indian girls from being further victimized by those sworn to uphold the highest standards of brotherly love and virtues common to honest, hardworking family men.

I've written before that as far as the Jesters go, who gives a rip if anyone wants to mess around, get snot slinging drunk or gamble your ass off. But to do so as a nonprofit group now under investigation for child sex tourism is not acceptable by anyone's standards.

And, yeah, I hit the wall after reading what those five Indian girls told the Brazilian federal police; that from age 13 to age 16, they were illegally lured off their reservations by a north American named "Richard" who tricked them into being prostitutes on his fishing boats for other North American tourists.

One testified that she was left pregnant after one such trip at age 13.

You can read their depositions here.

Depositions from two fishing guides were taken by the defense after they had similarly testified to the Brazilian federal police and officials at the American embassy in Brasilia about witnessing some of these 19 Jesters, who asked to be called "Masons," having sex with minor prostitutes since they claimed that these guys asked for girls over 13.

Back to the Buffalo FBI investigation into the Royal Order of Jesters.

In contrast to Schair, who continues to draw unnecessary attention to himself with his legal bullying and braying repeated denials in the face of official court charges, one man is cooperating with federal investigators as he, through the Western New York Human Trafficking Task Force, is providing cooperation into the investigation of the Royal Order of Jesters for sex trafficking and child sex tourism.

That guy is former New York state Supreme Court judge, Ronald Tills. The other two Jesters who were also caught with him have, like Tills, sucked it up and pleaded guilty to violating or conspiring to violate the Mann Act and have already been sentenced.

Court documents in Tills' case paint the picture of a once powerful mover and shaker who joined a group that relied on its members to protect each other and after he was caught running prostitutes across state lines, was directed to get treatment for alcohol abuse. He probably did these types of things while drunk with power and whatever else.

God knows this is certainly no excuse but I'll be sober 27 years this upcoming August so I understand that we do things we're not proud of while intoxicated.

So, I have compassion for the guy.

One of the most shocking things I've learned about Shriner leaders is the ruthless retaliation with which they come after those who question them or try to expose their corruption.

This is probably the reason that Ralph Semb was ousted as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Shriners Hospitals for Children at the last Shriner convention, held over the Fourth of July in San Antonio, Texas.

It looks like Tills was thrown under the bus and left to twist in the wind by his "brothers."

I'm surprised he's still alive.

Kinda like testifying against the mob.

Part of Masonic vows pledge to protect their brothers to the point of perjury except in cases of murder and treason.

Many thought that retired police captain John Trowbridge got off light after being put on probation and put on the New York state sex offender list.

Prison time for him would have been a death sentence.

Same for Tills.

Tills' pleading guilty has provided public records in the federal court's document system AKA PACER that paint a picture of a nonprofit organization gone way wrong.

Don't get me wrong here.

Tills admitted to doing bad stuff but from where I sit, he's risking his life to expose a group of men who are hiding behind burned and crippled children just so they can party with prostitutes at tax payer expense.

Tills' case also provides unprecedented access to the secret inner workings of the Royal Order of Jesters to include how he coordinated prostitutes with national officers for a national meeting in Canada. He's probably provided enough evidence for the IRS to, at the very least, jerk their nonprofit status.

The Senate Finance Committee, by the way, needs to open hearings into nonprofit corruption with a focus on the Shriners and the Jesters as they've known about this stuff for over a year.

The big picture here is that Richard Schair is attempting to intimidate other media from covering the breaking news out of Brazil that his request for habeas corpus was denied. Now he could and probably would be arrested by the federal police upon entering Brazil for the charges of rape, corruption of minors and operating a prostitution network.

Since suing in federal court didn't work out so well, Schair filed against Newsvine where he lives, in Hall county, Georgia, hoping for blind justice.

This is why both the Free Flow of Information Act and the Child Protection Compact of 2009 must become law else the press be intimidated from working with whistle blowers who want to rid the world of such ugly crimes against children.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com. Copyright (c) 2009 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

Looks like the Shriners want to return to the business of helping the kids instead of sustaining politics as usual.

Editor's Note:
This resource was created as a public service for those wanting to know more about the Shriners' secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters. The intention is to provide more information in advance of the April 29 UTMB v Shriners hearing in Galveston, Texas and the May 6 and 7 sentencings of those two Jesters caught by the FBI in a human trafficking sting out of Buffalo, NY.
Thank you,
Sandy Frost
Starbucks, WA

The buzz at this year's Shriner Fourth of July convention is going to be how their endowment lost $3 billion in less than a year, on top of losing $1 million a day since 2001, as everyone was blindsided by the news that the joint boards are considering closing six of their hospitals "because of the economy."

If anyone asks Shriner leaders "Where did all the money go?" they will be hushed up or threatened or told to leave or brought up on "charges" before an internal kangaroo court or sued for defamation or otherwise retaliated against.

There is a bigger problem, however, that the Shriners should address. It is one that leaders will never acknowledge and one that members will never be allowed to discuss and that is the Shriners secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters and their prostitution/sex crime scandals.

Though the Jesters are holding their annual meeting at the same time as the Shriners convention in San Antonio, they will be persona non grata and swept under the rug.

Why?

Because the majority those who control the Shriners joint boards are also Jesters. Why would they implicate themselves and invite more scrutiny when the media is already asking about hospital closures? What if anyone factored mismanagement, corruption and a lack of ethics into the "blame the economy" equation to hypothesize a corporate model that either allowed or facilitated these staggering losses?

So what does the Shriner/Jester family tree look like?

The Shriners and the Royal Order of Jesters are appendant groups of Freemasonry. One must first be a Master Mason before being able to join sub-groups like the Scottish Rite, Knights Templar and the Shriners. However, one must first be an invited Shriner before joining the Royal Order of Jesters, a self-described "luxury organization for only those who can qualify and who can afford it."

There are about 23,500 Jesters organized into "courts" that correspond to the 191 Shriner temples located across North America.

Below is a list of Jester related articles, beginning with "Jesters Exposed," the first article ever written about the ROJ.

It was published on February 15, 2008 and was mostly about nonprofit tax technicalities and how the nonprofit group's leaders ordered that the internet be scrubbed of ROJ information to "minimize to the extent possible, our public exposure or its access to Jesters information" because it had been alleged that their weekend meetings were nothing more than prostitution parties where they drank and played high stakes poker at taxpayer expense.

A few days after that, I learned about how 19 Jesters were named on a witness list for the defense in a defamation action between two fishing tour operators who took groups to fish the Amazon in Brazil. "'Jesters' To Testify about Illegal Drugs, Child Prostitution?" was published about three weeks later, on March 6, 2008, and reported how these Jesters were expected to testify about "their first hand knowledge of prostitution, minor prostitution, use of illegal drugs and/or the alleged illegal entry of one of the tour operators into Indian reservations by the plaintiff and his customers."

Three days later, on March 9, 2008, The Buffalo News reported "Former Judge Tills resigns amid FBI prostitution investigation."

Reporters Dan Herbeck and Aaron Besecker wrote:

"A retired State Supreme Court justice resigned his post as a hearing officer as federal agents investigate his alleged role in taking a local massage parlor worker across state lines for purposes of prostitution. FBI and U.S. Border Patrol agents are investigating allegations that retired Judge Ronald H. Tills, his former law clerk and a retired police captain took the female massage parlor employee in a motor home to a gathering of members of a nationwide group called the Royal Order of Jesters."

Turns out the judge, his law clerk and the retired police captain got caught in a FBI human trafficking sting and pleaded guilty to taking, or conspiring to take, illegal alien prostitutes to Jester parties in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida as well as a national meeting held in Ontario, Canada. The law clerk was sentenced last December to four months home confinement, fined $5,000, ordered to 250 hours of community service and put on two years probation.

The former judge and retired police captain are scheduled to be sentenced May 6 and 7 for violating the Mann Act.

Below is a chronological list of Jester articles, with links to those documents being described including Jester tax returns that show how they spent nearly $600,000 on one of their weekend parties, a revised constitution that shows the interdependence between the Shriners and Jesters, a list of meetings, ceremonies like "The Book of the Play," depositions and plea agreements.

http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/_news/2008/02/15/1304754-jesters-exposed”">Jesters Exposed Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:35 PM EST

This is the first article ever written about the Shriner secret sub-group, the Royal Order of Jesters or ROJ. It reports:

• ROJ 2005 tax returns AKA the 990s show that the Jesters fraternal brought in over $1.3 million dollars with assets totaling over $1.8 million dollars.

• ROJ 2005 tax returns show that Jesters charitable brought in over $420,000 with assets totaling $835,000, for a combined worth of about $2.65 million dollars and that charitable contributions went toward building their new $1.2 million 5,000 square foot HQ/museum in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• In 2006, ROJ executive director Alex Rogers, who is also an attorney and past potentate, submitted an application for property tax exemption to the Marion County Assessor that was initially denied because tax authorities were not convinced that the Jesters qualified as a charity, based on the museum claims, under Indiana law.

• Rogers appealed the decision and convinced the Indiana Tax Assessment Board of Appeals that the Jesters are an appendant body of Masonry. Both parties entered into a Settlement Agreement in January, 2007 that stipulated a 100% fraternal tax exemption for the year 2005, otherwise the Jesters would have had to cough up about $12,000 in property taxes.

• Two ROJ executive directors appear to be practicing law out of Jester HQ in Indiana and Texas. IRS nonprofit laws state that no one shall benefit personally from a nonprofit group.

• “Royal Stage Manager” Dennis Schueler sent a letter to Jester webmaster Frank Baillie, informing him that the Jesters had “directed the abolition of all Jester-related bulletin boards and internet sites. The primary reason behind such action was the desire of the Board to minimize to the extent possible, our public exposure or its access to Jesters information.”

• ROJ functions have always been listed on the Imperial Council’s annual session agenda.

• Shriners’ corporate communications director, Alicia Aargiz-Lyons failed to respond to phone messages and emailed questions about the Royal Order of Jesters.

"Jesters" To Testify about Illegal Drugs, Child Prostitution?
Thu Mar 6, 2008 1:35 PM EST

This article is about how 19 Jesters were named on a witness list for the defense in a federal defamation lawsuit and associated court documents. It reports:

• Federal court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division regarding a defamation lawsuit between two fishing tour operators, Richard Schair and Phillip Marsteller, includes a defense witness list that names 19 witnesses who are members of the ROJ and are expected to testify about fishing trips to Brazil and “their first hand knowledge of prostitution, minor prostitution, use of illegal drugs and/or entry into Indian reservations by Schair (plaintiff) and/or his customers.”

• The ROJ was investigated by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas in 2005 after they received a complaint alleging Jester parties revolved around sex with prostitutes, illegal gambling and alcohol. It ended with no “prosecutions.”

• The Wichita Jester Court #24 reported to the IRS that they spent $122,102 in 2006 for the exempt purpose of “recreation, entertainment and companionship.”

• The Long Beach Jester Court #161 reported to the IRS that they spent $82,543 in 2006 as “benefits paid to members.”

• Five girls gave statements to Brazilian federal police officers last year as they were investigating “minor Indian and other girls living near the rivers in the region of the Municipality of Autazes/AM who became victims of sexual exploitation by North American foreign tourists.”

• These depositions described how the girls were, at the time of the alleged minor prostitution, aged 13, 14, 16.

• One of the 16 year olds stated that her 14 year old sister was also recruited.

• All the girls state they were lured onto the fishing boat by someone named "Richard."

• These depositions describe the crime otherwise known as “child sex tourism.”

Judge Central Figure in FBI Probe, the S.O.B.I.B. and the Jesters' Half Million Dollar Weekend Parties
Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:30 PM PDT

This article describes how Shriner/Jester and former New York Supreme Court Judge Tills has become the focus of the FBI’s investigation, exposes a clandestine Jester sub-group called the S.O.B.I.B. and details shocking data found on Jester tax returns. It reports:

• Tills is listed as a member of an inside Jesters group called the "S.O.B.I.B." The acronym allegedly stands for something like "Secret Order of Brother/s in Blood."

• Ralph Semb, chairman of the board of trustees for the Shriners Hospitals for Children, is both a Jester and a member of the S.O.B.I.B.

• The International Royal Order of Jesters, Inc. and the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters fail to list the S.O.B.I.B. on line 80b of their 2003, 2004 and 2005 tax returns. Line 80a asks "Is the organization related (other than by association with a statewide or nationwide organization) through common membership, governing bodies, trustees, officers, etc., to any other exempt or non exempt organizations?" Line 80b asks “If 'Yes,' enter the name of the organization."

• The Jesters further fail to correctly answer questions about their exempt purpose.

• Tax returns report that in 2003, the Jesters' weekend ritual “The Book of the Play” (BOP) expenses were $226,268, with income of $400,548. In 2004, they spent $545,806 on the BOP, with income of $584,661. In 2005, they spent $307,345 with income of $454,783.

• Three years of ROJ tax returns report that director's expense as $31,116, $24,778 and $31,865 respectively, though these expenses are not reported in Part II.

• Three years of ROJ tax returns list $0 for Program Services.

• Three years of ROJ tax returns report gross receipts of $1,208,146, $1,394,551 and $1,310, 539.

• A Thursday, December 20, 2007 request for the ROJ 2006 990 and Form 1023 remains unanswered. (The Form 1023 is a group's application for tax exempt status. IRS regulations state that the organization must provide the requested document/s within 30 days from the date it received the request.)

Brazilian Fishing Trip Depositions: "Masons" Pictured Having Sex with Teen Prostitutes?
Sun May 25, 2008 3:55 PM PDT

This is the second article requiring an “Adult Warning.” What began as a defamation lawsuit between two fishing tour operators has led to the possibility that “Masons” participated in child sex tourism and minor prostitution. It reports:

· Two fishing guides, previously employed by the plaintiff, were deposed by the Brazilian federal police to describe what they witnessed as part of their same investigation into the international crime of “child sex tourism.”

· These guides spent three days in Miami with attorneys from both sides, interpreters, a videographer and both parties as they testified about what they witnessed in pictures of “Masons” allegedly having sex with teen prostitutes on “Wet-a-Line” fishing boats, some underage.

· Brazilian teens lured into prostitution told fishing tour guides that they had “sex of all kinds” with those on “Wet-A-Line” tours.

· Tour guides described going by fishing boats as the girls engaged in oral sex with the fishermen.

· Tour guides identified groups of American men who went on these tours year after year to party, drink, watch strip contests, have sex and take drugs.

· Tour guides said that girls as young as 9, 13, and 14 were used as prostitutes on the fishing boats.

· Tour guides identified those who returned each year as “Masons.”

· “Masons” were pictured with two underage prostitutes at a party on the fishing boat.

· The “Masons” asked for girls over 13.

Child Sex Tourism: Brazilian Teens Testify About Being Lured into Minor Prostitution for American Tourists
Mon Jun 2, 2008 5:58 PM EDT

This is the third of three articles related to how 19 Jesters were called as to testify for the defense in a federal lawsuit about their alleged firsthand knowledge of minor prostitution while fishing trips to Brazil. It reports:

· Child sex tourism is in the news.

· Five girl’s depositions were taken by the Brazilian Federal Police that allege how same man named

· “Richard” went to the same village every year, luring girls to help him with housekeeping and cooking on his boat.

· Upon arriving at the boat, the girls discover they were to drink whiskey and have sex with the fishermen.

· The girls report that they are victims of sexual abuse perpetuated by a group of North American tourists.

· One 13 year old reported that was left pregnant.

· These Indian families live way below poverty.

· “Richard” failed to pay the girls what was promised.

Jester Confesses to Wife He Organized Prostitutes
Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:10 PM EDT

This is an interview with a wife who discovered that as her husband became more and more involved with the Jesters, he was getting prostitutes to Jester functions. It reports:

· The ROJ is a strictly stag, luxury organization for no purpose other than to “spread mirth.”

· Wives are allowed at only two events a year.

· The husband said that the Jesters have a “pool” of girls.

· Certain Jesters request their favorite girls.

· Each court's director assigns the job of inviting the girls.

· The Jesters have a doctor who checks the girls “papers.”

· Every court has a member who organizes the girls for their BOP.

· The U.S. Attorney's office describes the Royal Order of Jesters as organization that “maintained chapters throughout the United States, including in Western New York, and it was the custom of these chapters to host periodic meetings, usually on weekends, for their members. At most of these meetings, some members of the organization would be tasked to arrange for the presence of women at the meetings, for the specific purpose of utilizing the women to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity with the organization's members in exchange for money."

Judge Tills Pleads Guilty, Admits Coordinating Prostitutes with Jester National Representatives
Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:14 PM EDT

This article is based on a Department of Justice press release that reports “Terrance P. Flynn, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, announced today that RONALD H. TILLS, 73, a former State Supreme Court Judge from Hamburg, New York, pleaded guilty to Information charging him with knowingly transporting a female in interstate commerce with the intent that the female engage in prostitution (Mann Act).” It reports:

• The 9/11 terrorist attack did not deter Judge Tills from getting prostitutes to a weekend Jester party because air traffic was delayed or suspended.

• Judge Tills arranged for the transportation of prostitutes from the Buffalo airport to the Jesters’ national meeting then being held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

• Tills agreed with representatives of the Jesters’ National Court that members of the Buffalo Court #22 would get the women from the Buffalo airport to the hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, where the national Jesters meeting was being held.

• Judge Tills paid one of these prostitutes to engage in sexual acts with him at a massage parlor.

• Tills and Trowbridge knowingly transported a different illegal alien from New York to a Jester meeting in Pennsylvania to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity

• Judge Tills arranged for a woman from Buffalo to attend a Jester party in Florida to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• Judge Tills arranged for several women from New York, Ohio and Texas to attend a Jester meeting in Brantford, Ontario, Canada to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• Judge Tills held high offices in the Masonic Grand Lodge of New York and the Ismailia Shriners.

• ROJ bylaws show that they are closely related to the Shriners, with national events being held together as well as ROJ courts dependent on where Shriner temples are located.

Jester Prostitution Updates, Stebick Sentenced
Sun Dec 7, 2008 7:11 PM EST

This is the last story of the year and the headline sums it up. It reports:

· Michael Stebick, 61 was put on probation for two years, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and directed to provide 250 hours of community service.

· According to sentencing Judge Skretny, the victim in the case was put up in a hotel by the Jesters, with a sign stating '$70-an-hour' posted outside her room.

· Pictures show Jesters fishing, drinking and cuddling with Brazilian girls.

· John Trowbridge’s sentencing November 4 date was been again rescheduled for May 6, 2009.

· The owner of the “massage parlors,” Len Wah Chong, was sentenced on November 19 to six years in federal prison for enslaving as many as 11 illegal alien prostitutes. She pleaded guilty early last April to "Sex Trafficking of Persons by Force, Fraud and Coercion." She forfeited two properties, $70K in cash and jewelry seized and now must pay $350,000 in restitution to those she kept as sex slaves.

· The Richard W. Schair and Wet-a-Line Tours LLC v Phillip Marsteller and Amazon Tours, Inc. defamation lawsuit was settled out of court on Friday, December, 5.

· Defendant Marsteller was honored on Monday, September 15, 2008 at a ceremony held at the Church Center of the UN. He, on behalf of his Peacock Bass fishing business Amazon Tours, Inc., took a public stand against child sex tourism by signing "The Code" AKA Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The event was sponsored by ECPAT, which stands for "End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes."

· On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, Imperial Potentate Douglas Maxwell, Chairman of the SHC Board of Trustees Ralph Semb and Corporate Director of Public Relations Alicia Aargiz-Lyons were emailed the following questions "What is your reaction to the latest news articles about those members of the Royal Order of Jesters pleading guilty in Buffalo to violating the Mann Act?” and “Those Jesters allegedly involved with child sex tourism?" To date, no response.

Results: The plaintiff in the defamation lawsuit between two fishing tour operators settled out of court with the defendant.

Tills' Sentencing Rescheduled in Jester Prostitution Case
Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:17 PM PST

This article reports that:

· Judge Tills’ sentencing was rescheduled from January 12, 2009 to May 7, 2009.

· Questions about these matters repeatedly phoned and emailed to the Masonic Grand Lodge of New York remain unanswered.

· On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, Imperial Potentate Douglas Maxwell, Chairman of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees and member of the Royal Order of Jesters, Ralph Semb and Corporate Director of Public Relations Alicia Aargiz-Lyons were asked “What is your reaction to the latest news articles about those members of the Royal Order of Jesters pleading guilty in Buffalo to violating the Mann Act?" To date, all three have failed to respond.

The Shriners & "Management by Mirth"
Sat Mar 14, 2009 5:31 PM PDT

This editorial points out that the majority of those on the Shriners joint boards are also members of the Royal Order of Jesters and reports:

· Eleven out of twelve on the SHC board of trustees are Jesters.

· Nine out of fourteen of those listed on the 2006 fraternal tax return are Jesters.

· By the end of 2008, four key executives had "resigned" because they opposed recontracting with a fundraiser as not being in the hospital's best interests and may have personally benefitted some board members.

· With the hospital's executive vice president, director of corporate development, controller and senior attorney gone, those Jesters in charge were free to run things without much, if any, corporate oversight.

· The corporate model of "Management by Mirth" could prove fatal because it's based on undisclosed conflicts of interest. It's based on deception because the Shriners have hidden this affiliation with the Royal Order of Jesters from the IRS by not listing them as an affiliated group on their tax returns.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2008 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

Ralph Semb is featured in this Associated Press article as he explains about the Shriners' financial crisis and decisions to strongly consider closing many of their hospitals because they can't afford to keep them open. He's telling the press the endowment has been shrinking since 2001 but fails to disclose that he's been at the helm since 2002. In other words, this has happened on his watch, the loss of $1 million a day.

GALVESTON — The chairman of Shriners Hospitals for Children is scheduled to be in Galveston on Monday first for a meeting with the local board of directors and then an afternoon session with employees of the Galveston hospital.

The board already sent a letter to Semb arguing for the hospital to remain open.

A contingent of Shriners also is expected to hold a rally outside the hospital Monday morning. Representatives from the Mexican Consulate are also expected to be there.

GALVESTON — Ralph Semb, CEO of Shriners Hospitals for Children, spent more than an hour Monday besieged by hundreds of employees, volunteers and patients — some who said they had been betrayed and misled — demanding answers to many questions, including those about how managers had allowed the endowment that funds the island hospital along with 22 other pediatric centers to lose $3 billion.

If you’ve followed this investigation the past two and a half years, you know my process.

I get up before the sun, nuke a cup of coffee from the day before and start reading nonprofit tax returns or some other equally exciting documents.

They’re exciting to me anyway in an intellectually challenging kind of way as I've been doing this for six years now.

So, what does nonprofit mean?

According to online sources, nonprofit means:

"An agency, institution, or organization owned or operated by one or more corporations or associations having no part of the net earnings or benefit of any private shareholder or individual not conducted or maintained for the purpose of making a profit. Instead, it operates to serve a public good. Note that 'tax exempt' also does not excuse an organization from maintaining proper records and filing any required annual or special-purpose tax returns."

Benefit means things like the "excess benefit transactions" described in the April 10, 2008 internal Shriner committee report that detailed their investigation into allegations that Ralph Semb, Chairman of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees and Gene Bracewell, Imperial Treasurer, behaved unethically and with conflict of interest as they lobbied to re-contract with Vantage Direct Marketing after they raised $47 million on behalf of the hospitals but kept $43 million.

In other words, the hospitals got only $2.5 million out of the $47 million raised on behalf of the burned and crippled children.

The report also detailed the committee's efforts to discover the circumstances surrounding Semb's abrupt and unsubstantiated firing of the Director of Corporate Development. The investigative committee further reported that Semb pressured the hospital's executive VP to violate employee confidentiality in an attempt to skew the director's performance evaluations and falsely create cause for dismissal because he opposed re-contracting with Vantage.

There may be a relationship from this same situation to the alleged "resignations" of four high level Shriner executives opposed to the same deal with Vantage.

When the IRS determines a group such as the Shriners or Royal Order of Jesters or East West Shrine Game qualifies for their 501(c) designation, that organization is then exempt from certain federal, state and county taxes in exchange for providing a benefit to society.

Qualifying for this nonprofit status means that the exempt organization must provide the last three years' tax returns AKA 990s and its application for exempt organization status, the 1023, to anyone who asks within 30 days of their request.

The Orlando Sentinel investigated the Shriners 20 years ago and wrote that:

"Estimates from available records also show that Shrine hospitals in 1984 received just 1 percent, or $182,000, of an estimated $17.5 million in profits from about 175 Shrine circuses. Only one of the 76 temples for which IRS records were available reported contributing any circus money to the hospital system."

Back to the 84th East West Shrine Game that will be televised on ESPN2 tomorrow at 3:00pm from the University of Houston's Robertson Stadium.

The East West website claims that the game raises money for the hospitals.

According to a January 12, 2009 press release:

"The football match-up, which began in 1925, features many of the best college players in the nation divided by region, but coming together to raise money for Shriners Hospitals for Children, an international health care system of 22 hospitals across North America."

I wanted to find out how much money the game actually raised for the hospitals and sent email requests on July 8, August 11 and November 23, 2008 to executive director Jack Hart, asking for the East West Shrine Game's 1023 and nonprofit tax returns for the past three years.

After the first 30 day deadline passed, I called Hart to find out why my request remained unanswered. He said he never got it, though I used the same email address that's on the East West website and that I needed to send another request.

So, after two more unanswered requests, for a total of three over a five month period, a December 3, 2008 email brought this and other concerns to the attention of Imperial Potentate Douglas Maxwell, Chairman of the Board of Trustees Ralph Semb and Director of Corporate Public Relations Alicia Aargiz-Lyons.

To date, no response from any of them.

Through Guidestar.org I was able to download the East West Shrine Game's tax returns for 2002, 2003 and 2004.

According to these tax returns, the game's exempt purpose is to raise money for Shriners Hospitals for Children.

These returns show that the game not only failed to raise any money for the hospitals but instead lost:

- $192,000 in 2001

- $618,984 in 2002

- $805,621 in 2003

- $321,975 in 2004

That's a loss of $1,938,580 over four years.

The 2003 return reports an $834,833 loan from a related entity, either the Imperial Council AAONMS or Shriners Hospitals for Children and a $69,345 line of credit, for a liability of $904,178.

The 2004 tax return reports that Shriners Hospitals for Children converted a short term debt of $729,531 to a "contribution."

The Shriners Hospitals for Children 2004 tax return fails to report this "contribution" or affiliation with the East West Shrine Game.

Though the East West tax return discloses Hart's expenses, the Shriners' tax returns consistently list $0 for expenses on behalf of the hospitals' 21 directors, officers and trustees, giving the appearance that these individuals pay their own way to attend functions like the East West Shrine Game without reimbursement.

This is another bone of contention alluded to in the above-mentioned internal Shriner investigation report.

In an attempt to find out if more recent tax returns had been filed, a call yesterday to the IRS Exempt Organization office revealed that the East West Shrine Game "has not been recognized as being tax exempt" since June, 2007.

This means that the Concord, California group's status is now "for profit" and as such, must be registered with the California's Attorney General and Secretary of State.

An online search revealed that the East West Shrine Game is not registered with the State of California as either a nonprofit or for-profit corporation.

This means that the group could be operating illegally.

So, what did the Shriners get for their "contribution" after the game lost $805,621 in 2003?

Take your pick.

Maybe Hart's $85,000 salary, $16,200 expense account and $4,200 auto allowance for a total of $105,200?

Or maybe the $422,812 spent on "Promo, Sponsorship & Other Misc."

Or maybe the $394,883 spent on "Other Game Expenditures."

Or maybe the $209,005 spent on "HOF (Hall of Fame) Various Expenses."

Or maybe the $201,677 spent on "Game Giants Expenses."

If any combination of these doesn't add up to the Shriners "contribution" maybe these can be factored in to equal things out:

$12,611 spent on "Misc. Expenses."

$20,924 spent on "Staff Benefits."

$12,000 spent on "COLA."

$8,436 spent on "Board Meeting."

$10,446 spent on "Travel."

$41,079 spent on "Occupancy" as rent to the Asiya Shrine Temple.

In an attempt to find out if donations to the game were tax deductible, a call to the East West Houston office revealed that the game’s number is the same as the Houston Shriners Hospital, indicating some sort of cooperative relationship between the nonprofit hospital and an unregistered for-profit entity. I was told that donors wishing to support the game should make their checks out to Shriners Hospitals for Children and that their donations are tax deductible, though this is not made clear on the East West "Donate Here" web page.

And are sponsorships likewise tax deductible?

Those interested can ring up or email Jack Hart though be warned that emails may not be answered.

At this point, the only ones who might be able to figure any of this out may be investigators from the FTC for the possibility of false advertising or from the IRS exempt organization classification office in Dallas, just a four hour drive to Houston, south on I-45.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2009 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

Warning: Adult Content.

Download Alert! Get a cup of coffee, put your feet up and prepare for lengthy downloads.

Editor’s Note: This is not about those faithful Shriners who get up at zero dawn thirty to put on their clown makeup and drive to the hospital to put a smile on the face of burned and crippled children. This is not about those hardworking Shriners who spend their Saturdays building porches or putting on a fish fry or marching proudly in parades. The focus of this investigation has been on non profit transparency, disclosure and accountability and those who abuse their positions of public trust for private gain.

Sandy Frost
Starbucks, WA
Thursday, September 11, 2008

A September 4, 2008 Department of Justice press release reports that:

“Terrance P. Flynn, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York, announced today that RONALD H. TILLS, 73, a former State Supreme Court Judge from Hamburg, New York, pleaded guilty to Information charging him with knowingly transporting a female in interstate commerce with the intent that the female engage in prostitution (Mann Act). The charge carries a maximum penalty of ten (10) years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or both.”

The Mann Act was born of the United States White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910. It prohibited white slavery, banned the interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes” and addressed prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking.

On March 9, 2008, The Buffalo News first reported that Judge Tills had resigned after it was learned that the FBI was investigating him, retired police captain John Trowbridge and Tills’ former law clerk, Michael Stebick, for taking prostitutes across state lines to parties held by a nationwide men’s group called the Royal Order of Jesters.

On March 20, 2008, Trowbridge pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Mann Act, article here. His plea agreement can be read here.

On August 7, 2008, Stebick pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiring to violate the Mann Act, article here. His plea agreement can be read here.

On September 4, 2008, Tills also pleaded guilty and you’re reading about that now. His plea agreement can be read here.

The Royal Order of Jesters is a secret sub-group of the Shriners, best known for their red fezzes, secret handshakes and running a network of 22 hospitals that provide free medical care to burned and crippled children.

Memberships go like this.

A man must first become a Master Mason before he can become a Shriner, who then must be invited to become a member of the Royal Order of Jesters. There are approximately 2 million Masons, 350,000 Shriners and 24,000 Jesters in America.

The IRS has classified both the Shriners and Jesters as non profit organizations. The Shriners exempt purpose is to support their hospitals. The Jesters exempt purpose is to “Hold annual events which were devoted to fraternalism and spreading the gospel of mirth and good cheer.”

Here is the Jester mascot, Billiken.

Here’s what Tills’ plea agreement says.

The parties agree that in or about September, 2001, Tills was the Director of the Buffalo chapter of the Royal Order of Jesters Court #22 and was responsible for arranging for the presence of a number of prostitutes from outside New York State to attend the Jester’s meeting in Dunkirk, New York in order to have sex with the members for money. Tills made several calls to women for this purpose and also gave a list of names and telephone numbers of additional women to Michael Stebick to do the same. Although some of these women were unable to attend due to flight cancellations following the national tragedies on September 11, 2001, other women drove to the Dunkirk meeting by car at Tills’ and Stebick’s invitation, including one from Toronto and one from Minnesota and did engage in various sex acts, including sexual intercourse , with the Jesters in exchange for money.

In other words, after nearly 3,000 died in the horrific suicide attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, these officers of the court didn’t think to cancel their weekend bash. Tills and Stebick were instead more concerned about getting the prostitutes to their meeting because the 9/11 tragedy messed up their transportation plans.

The parties also agree that in or about Spring, 2006, Tills arranged for the transportation of prostitutes from the Buffalo airport to the Jesters’ national meeting then being held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. The women came from various parts of the United States to the Jesters’ meeting to have sex with the members for money. Tills agreed with representatives of the Jesters’ National Court that members of the Buffalo Court #22 would get the women from the Buffalo airport to the hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, where the Jesters were meeting. Jesters then took the prostitutes from the Buffalo airport to their national meeting in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, where the women engaged in various sex acts, including sexual intercourse, with the Jesters for money.

According to the Jesters 2006 tax return, the national court spent nearly $600,000 on their annual Book of the Play weekend, which may or may not have been this same national meeting. Their 2005 tax return coincides with this same meeting and lists those Officers of the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters who may have worked with Tills.

They include William Siders, Royal Stage Manager, Robert H. Haynes, Royal Leading Lady, Paul A. Stradman, Royal Heavy Man, John T. Stradtman, Royal Property Man, James M. Lake, P.R.D., Royal Treasurer, Robert C. Davis, Royal Director, Dennis R. Schueler, Royal Leading Man, Taylor E. Best, Royal Tragedian, Gary N. Martin, Royal Impresario, Raymond Grannis, Royal Prelate and Alex Rogers, Executive Director.

Rogers has been quoted as saying the Jesters try to take the "highest caliber Shriners we can get" who distinguish themselves in the community and that they try to keep the “cream of the crop.” Rogers has also said that he had no information about Tills, or whether he still holds a leadership post in the Buffalo Jesters group.

Tills also admitted to and the parties agreed that:

• On or about October 28, 2005, Tills, along with John Trowbridge and Michael Stebick, knowingly transported an illegal alien from New York to Kentucky to engage in prostitution.

• Tills paid this same woman sums of money to engage in sexual acts with him at a massage parlor named Golden Acupressure, located in North Tonawanda, New York.

• During the weekend of October 28 - 30, 2005, Tills knowingly transported, along with Trowbridge and Stebick, a woman from New York to a Jester meeting in Kentucky to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• In or about Fall, 2006, Tills and Trowbridge knowingly transported a different illegal alien from New York to a Jester meeting in Pennsylvania to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• Tills and Trowbridge had engaged in various sexual acts with the same illegal alien at the Golden Acupressure massage parlor and paid her for it.

• In or about Fall, 2006, Tills arranged for a woman from Buffalo to attend a Jester party in Florida to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• Tills and other Jesters flew with the same woman from Buffalo, New York to the Florida Jester meeting.

• In or about October, 2007, Tills arranged for several women from New York, Ohio and Texas to attend a Jester meeting in Brantford, Ontario, Canada to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

• Tills arranged for the women to be transported from the Buffalo airport by other Jesters who then transported them to the meeting in Canada to engage in sexual intercourse and other sexual activity and be paid for it.

On Thursday, December 8, 2005, New York Congressman Thomas Reynolds (R - NY) cited Tills’ accomplishments to Congress in honor of his retirement including being:

• A veteran of the United States Army Reserve

• An assistant town attorney and town justice

• A New York state assemblyman

• Chairman of the Assembly’s Select Committee of the Assembly’s Select Committee for Revision of Corporation Law

• Nominated by Governor George E. Pataki and confirmed by the NY Senate to the State Court of Claims, July, 1995

• An acting Supreme Court Justice

• A member of the Lions, Chamber of Commerce, Hamburg Volunteer Fire Company

• Potentate of the Ismailia Shrine Temple

• Director and President of the Shrine Oasis

• Director of the Buffalo Court #22 of the Jesters.

• Proctor of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York

In 2005, Tills was appointed to the Commissioners of Appeals for the same Grand Lodge. According to the Grand Lodge’s 2008 “Be It Known” pronouncement, Tills resigned from this position midterm. Questions to the New York Grand Lodge about Tills’ Masonic status and possible disciplinary actions remain stonewalled.

According to the current potentate of the Ismailia Temple, he signed Tills demit from the Shrine in March, 2008. This means Tills was not expelled and instead was given the option to rejoin at any time in the future as long as he catches up on past dues.

Tills is scheduled to be sentenced on January 12, 2009.

So, how closely related are the Royal Order of Jesters to the Shriners?

Like brothers.

The Royal Order of Jesters bylaws state:

• The Annual Meeting of the National Court of the Royal Order of Jesters shall be held on the day preceding the annual meeting of the Imperial Council, A.A.O.N.M.S., at the city chosen for such meeting, or at such time or place chosen and voted by the National Court.

• A subordinate court may be established by the National Court in a jurisdiction where a temple of A.A.O.N.M.S. is located and where a Subordinate Court does not exist upon petition there for by not less than (13) Nobles of the Mystic Shrine all of whom shall be actual residents of and who maintain their domiciles in the jurisdiction of said temple of A.A.O.N.M.S.

• Upon action of the Imperial Council A.A.O.N.M.S. issuing a dispensation for a new temple A.A.O.N.M.S., the National Court may, upon application of the required number of Nobles of the A.A.O.N.M.S. for a new Subordinate Court and the recommendation of the Charters and Dispensations Committee, and the approval of the Royal Director and Royal Impresario, issue a dispensation for a Subordinate Court of Royal Order of Jesters.

• After one year under dispensation and upon recommendation of the Charters and Dispensations Committee, the Royal Director and Royal Impresario shall issue a charter to said Court under dispensation after a Charter for a Shrine Temple has been granted.

• The territorial jurisdiction of a Subordinate Court shall be the same as that provided by the By Laws of the Imperial Council A.A.O.N.M.S. for the Temple of that Order located at or nearest to the City in which the Subordinate Court was granted a charter to hold such Court, as of July 1, 1999.

• The jurisdiction of the Subordinate Court shall be exclusive in the Oasis of the Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S. where the Subordinate Court is located and in the city in which such Subordinate Court was granted a Charter to hold such Subordinate Court, as of July 1, 1999.

• A Member of the Royal Order of Jesters must be in good standing in a Temple of the A.A.O.N.M.S. Termination of membership in his Temple likewise terminates his membership in the Royal Order of Jesters.

• If a Noble is and for at least six (6) months has been an actual resident and has maintained his domicile in the jurisdiction of a Subordinate Court of the Royal Order of Jesters, as defined by Article VII, Section 10, he shall be eligible for election to membership in that Subordinate Court, providing he is in good standing in his own Temple A.A.O.N.M.S.

So, are other Jesters in positions of Shriner leadership?

Yes.

And they also appear to be in trouble.

Ralph Semb, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Shriners Hospitals for Children, is not only a Jester; he’s a member of the secret Jester group, the SOBIB, which stands for “Society of Brothers in Blood.” There are no copyright marks or any other indications that this "Confidential Membership Directory" is in any way proprietary.

Last year, Semb and fellow Jester and Imperial treasurer Gene Bracewell, were investigated by a committee of Shriner leaders for allegations that:

•Semb and Bracewell violated the Shriners Code of Ethics

•Semb retaliated against the hospitals’ Director of Development, Edgar McGonigal, by firing him over a fundraising contract dispute.

•Semb and Bracewell both used subterfuge to negatively influence McGonigal’s employee evaluations so he could be fired again.

•Semb knowingly executed a fraudulent tax return.

•Bracewell got a free trip from the fundraiser he was lobbying for.

•Controller Willard Fawcett resigned because "improper reimbursement of expenses that did not further the exempt purposes of SHC and contracts that were not in the best interests of SHC and may have involved self-interest on the part of members of the Joint Boards."

•Executive vice president James Full violated employment confidentiality to "in part, avoid a confrontation with Mr. Semb."

The Interim Report revealed how both Semb and Bracewell pushed hard to reinstate contracts with one specific fund-raising company, Vantage Direct Marketing Services. Vantage raised over $46 million between 1999 and 2003 on behalf of SHC and kept $43 million, with only $2.5 million going to the hospitals. In other words, if someone donated $100 during these campaigns, Vantage kept $95 and the hospitals got only $5.

The committee’s interim report can be read
here.

The committee members also described how headquarters personnel worked under the threat of being fired in a culture of fear if they did not bend to the wills of leaders like Semb and Bracewell.

The committee’s presentation was booed down last July during a business meeting at the last Shriner convention and Semb was ceremoniously “re-elected” by those members who failed to review report’s findings.

“Internal Shriner Report Confirms Corruption?” Can be read here.

Additionally, seven of twelve on the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees are also Jesters. In addition to Semb and Bracewell, they include W. Brandt Bede M.D., Charles A. Claypool, Raul L. Frevel, Sr., Immediate past Imperial Potentate Bernard J. Lemieux M.D., and Gary Dunwoody.

Gene Bracewell also sits on the Imperial Divan and is the current Imperial Treasurer.

In addition to Bracewell, others on the Imperial Divan who are also Jesters include:

Alan W. Madsen, current Imperial High Priest and Prophet and Director of the Royal Order of Jesters Court #109 in Charlotte, N.C.

Jack Jones, current Imperial Recorder and member of the Royal Order of Jesters.

Jerry Gantt, current Imperial Second Ceremonial Master, chairman emeritus of the Houston Shriners Hospital Board of Governors and past director of Houston Court #136 Royal Order of Jesters.

Other influential Jesters include the head of a law enforcement organization in Louisiana, the vice president of a commercial bank in Maryland, and a judge and regional planner in Florida

One Jester who arranged for prostitutes confessed all after he was caught by his wife. Her interview can be read here.

The long arm of this international human trafficking investigation may also be reaching out to those 19 Jesters called as witnesses in a libel/slander lawsuit between two fishing tour operators. They were expected to testify about their first hand knowledge of sex with minors while on a Jesters’ sanctioned fishing trip to Brazil.

“’Jesters’ To Testify about Illegal Drugs, Child Prostitution?” can be read here.

“Brazilian Fishing Trip Depositions: ‘Masons’ Pictured Having Sex with Teen Prostitutes?” can be read here.

“Child Sex Tourism: Brazilian Teens Testify About Being Lured into Minor Prostitution for American Tourists” can be read here.

And what about this investigation?

It is being conducted by New York Western District's Human Trafficking Task Force and Alliance.

According to a Department of Justice announcement, the task force was created in November, 2006 and "is a collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and non-government service organizations working together to identify, rescue and assist victims of human trafficking, human smuggling and other civil and human rights offenses in the 17 counties of the district, through aggressive investigation, prosecution, training, education and outreach to law enforcement, non government organizations, vulnerable and affected persons and the general public."

These groups include the FBI, Erie County Sheriff's Office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE, Custom and Border Protection, United States Border Patrol with the assistance of the Niagara County Sherriff's Office and the Tonawanda Police Department. The investigation is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert C. Moscati, who is also in charge of the task force. When asked about the investigation, Moscati said "We will go wherever the evidence leads us."

At the end of the day, these guilty pleas beg the following questions:

• Did Officers of the Royal Order of Jesters hustle the IRS and manipulate the non profit system so they could party with prostitutes at tax payer expense?

• Do the Royal Order of Jesters rely on their influential members to operate and protect an international prostitution syndicate that specializes in human trafficking?

• Do these Shriners AKA Jesters act as if they are above the law because “Shrine law does not include the law of the land” and they are, above all else, sworn to protect the brotherhood?

• Are the Shriners ongoing problems with theft, embezzlement and mismanagement because they are run by a bunch of Jesters?

Only the FBI, the Human Trafficking Task Force and IRS can know for sure.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from “by Sandy Frost” must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2008 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.

The New York Times reports on the Shriners' Interim Report. This article does a great job of further describing how politics seems to be more important than doing what is right for the crippled and burned children.

Wikileaks Update:

The below referenced document that had previously published on Wikileaks can be found here.

Thank you,

Sandy Frost

January 4, 2011

Editor's Note: Updated with timeline on July 21, 2008.

Sandy Frost, Starbucks, WA

A confidential "Interim Report of the Special Investigative Committee of the Joint Boards of Shriners Hospitals for Children" describes how immediate past potentate Bernard Lemieux appointed a committee to investigate the conduct of Shriner leaders, Ralph Semb, Chairman of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Board of Trustees and Gene Bracewell, Imperial Treasurer Shriners International Imperial Divan. The report was leaked online at Wikileaks.com and can be found here.

The April 10, 2008 document describes how Lemieux appointed committee members on September 20, 2007 to "inquire whether Semb and Bracewell engaged in unethical conduct by intervening in the executive evaluation process (the so called 360 degree review) of Edgar McGonigal, Director of Development of SHC during the year 2007."

It is believed that this is the first time that an Imperial Potentate has appointed such a committee to investigate allegations that top Shriner leaders behaved unethically.

The report reveals how Semb and Bracewell pushed hard for continued contracts with one specific fund-raising company, Vantage Direct Marketing Services. Vantage raised over $46 million between 1999 and 2003 on behalf of SHC with only $2.5 million going to the hospitals.

In other words, if someone donated $100 during these campaigns, $95 was kept by Vantage with only $5 going to the hospitals.

Bracewell admitted to committee and board members that he got at least one free trip from Vantage in 2007.

The report suggests that Semb retaliated against McGonigal, who opposed Vantage contracts, by unilaterally firing him on October 31, 2006 without first consulting the joint boards or HR.

The report suggests that both Semb and Bracewell were attempting to accomplish their purpose by using subterfuge rather than by directly making their views known by "compromising the 360 degree review process in an unprecedented way." The committee reported that Semb and Bracewell contacted confidential employment reviewers in an effort to further retaliate against McGonigal by having him removed for poor job performance. This was done after executive vice president James Full allegedly violated employment confidentiality to "in part, avoid a confrontation with Mr. Semb."

The report also describes how the committee was suspended by an unrecorded action of the joint boards in executive session on November 2, 2007. After the investigation was reinstated on January 26, 2008, it was expanded to include events surrounding the resignation of controller, Willard Fawcett.

The report describes how Fawcett alleged "improper reimbursement of expenses that did not further the exempt purposes of SHC and contracts that were not in the best interests of SHC and may have involved self-interest on the part of members of the Joint Boards."

"Of greater concern," the report explains "is Mr. Fawcett's allegation (which we emphasize is unsubstantiated at this time) that the 2006 Form 990 may include improper reporting of certain items, and that the form was executed by Mr. Semb notwithstanding the identification by Mr. Fawcett of irregularities in the return."

The committee members also described how headquarters personnel worked under the threat of being fired in a culture of fear if they did not bend to the wills of leaders like Semb and Bracewell.

The committee recommended that:

* Semb and Bracewell be reprimanded for violating both SHC and AAONMS Code of Ethics.

* Deloitte and Touche be hired for forensic accounting.

* Records be reviewed to correct or recover improper reimbursements.

* The Conflict of Interest Policy and Bylaws be amended to designate a full time member of the legal department for conflict of interest compliance.

* The SHC bylaws be amended to "debar from business with SHC any entity that provides or offers any gifts, gratuities or favors to any member of the joint boards, any officer or senior executive."

* SHC provide a whistle blower hotline or other program so employees, senior executives, trustees or directors can report suspected incidents, corporate wrong doing, conflict of interest, violations of corporate policy or violations of law.

The report concluded the committee's investigation into the Semb/Bracewell/Vantage conflict of interest matter but stated that Fawcett's allegations required more investigation.

NOTE: The following timeline is based on dates and information provided in the above mentioned Interim Report of the Special Investigative Committee and was added on July 21, 2008. Some dates are based on month and year only per the report.

July 18, 1997 Joint Boards and SHC adopt conflict of interest policy.

June, 1999 Vantage Direct Marketing Services enters into fundraising contract with SHC.

October 2003 Henry Lewis and senior executives of Vantage DMS face criminal charges in Postal Service proceedings and settle after paying a fine of $4.5 million w/out admission of guilt by Vantage or its executives.

December 2003 Contract w/Vantage terminated due to "unsatisfactory business relationship" because return from the direct mail campaign was very low with Vantage raising $46,155,104 and SHC receiving only 5.4% or $2,514,694. Vantage paid fees in addition to 93.9% profit.

September, 2004 Edgar McGonigal hired as corporate Director of Development.

May, 2006 Gene Bracewell arranges meeting w/Ralph Semb and McGonigal in Boston to hear a direct marketing proposal at Vantage Travel HQ. Proposal features names of Vantage DMS and Convergence.

June 21, 2006 Convergence submits proposal to SHC for direct mail marketing services.

August, 2006 Imperial Divan retreat where Bracewell urges approval of the Convergence proposal. One of the participants raises concerns about Convergence's relationship to Vantage Travel or DMS and raises improper relationships with Vantage. Bracewell reacts angrily and accuses McGonigal of leaking details. No minutes taken at this meeting, in violation of AAONMS and SHC by-laws.

October 31, 2006 Semb attempts to terminate McGonigal for poor performance in advance of joint board meeting.

November, 2006 Joint Boards meeting.

November 27, 2006 Semb and Bracewell meet with McGonigal for a performance review.

December, 2006 According to committee interviews, Bracewell is still in contact with representatives of both Vantage and Convergence. "Bracewell was concerned because several members of the joint boards were taking what he characterized as 'free trips' with Vantage Travel and that they should not be taking free trips from people they would not do business with."

April 2007 Bracewell, John Cinotto and four other members of the Joint Board take a cruise arranged by Vantage Travel. Bracewell and Cinotto attend a presentation arranged by Vantage Travel. Presentation was by MCS Direct, a direct mail solicitation firm who is pursuing a vendor relationship with SHC. Cinotto is chairman of the Development Committee.

April, 2007 Joint Boards meeting where Bracewell makes a motion to award McGonigal the raise that was denied to him in November 2006. McGonigal gets salary increase retroactive to January 1, 2007.

April 18, 2007 Conflict of Interest Policy amended to include "A conflict of interest is deemed to exist whenever any director, trustee, officer or employee accepts gifts, gratuities or other favors from any individual or entity that does or is seeking to do business with SHC..."

April 22, 2007 Semb and Bracewell execute disclosure statements in which they indicate that they were aware of no conflicts of interest within the meaning of the amended policy.

May 14, 2007 Representatives from MCS and PEP Direct make marketing presentation to Semb, Bracewell, Cinotto and McGonigal. McGonigal reports that he has discovered an apparent joint venture between MCS Direct and Vantage DMS, per the Vantage website. "Bracewell was upset by mention if this issue and terminated the conversation."

May 15, 2007 McGonigal sends Bracewell an email that points out that MCS proposal would cost more and did not compare to current arrangement w/current vendor, Barton Cotton.

June 2007 Executive VP James Full begins the 360 degree review process for senior execs at SHC, including McGonigal.

September 7, 2007 Semb contacts Full and requests that Robert Cotner, Director of Development at Chicago SHC and William Austin, Director of Development at Tampa SHC be included as reviewers of McGonigal's performance. Full regarded this as unusual, in that the identities of individuals providing reviews are intended to be confidential and Semb could not have known who would be designated for this purpose. Semb did not explain the reason for this request…Full acknowledged the request and did submit an evaluation form to Austin, in part to avoid confrontation with Semb.

September 20, 2007 Imperial Potentate Bernard Lemieux appoints committee to investigate Semb and Bracewell for "unethical behavior."

November, 2007 Cinotto reports a meeting w/Semb in his office at SHC and learned that both Semb and Bracewell had communicated w/Lewis of Vantage DMS and that Vantage was prepared to offer whatever was necessary to buy out SHC's obligations to Barton Cotton. Cinotto rejects idea as he believes Semb and Bracewell have a particular interest in Vantage. Semb and Bracewell deny having discussions w/Lewis other than to hear Lewis is going to make a "major gift" to SHC, but gift never materializes.

November 2, 2007 Bracewell secretly tape records his interview with Special Committee.

November 8, 2007 Investigation suspended by an unrecorded action of the Joint Boards in Executive Session.

November, 2007 Bracewell admits to members of Joint Boards that he taped his November 2 interview w/the Special Committee.

November 27, 2007 Full issues McGonigal's performance appraisal, stating good results in fundraising results but needs to improve interpersonal skills.

January 17, 2008 Controller Willard Fawcett resigns/retires after 25 years.

January 26, 2008 Special committee reinstated by joint boards.

March 25, 2008 Semb interviewed by Special Committee and is asked about the circumstances concerning the 2006 990. Semb says he did not recollect signing the form because he signs so many. Semb denies receiving a letter from Fawcett detailing any concerns about the form and denies having a conversation w/Fawcett in which he suggested falsifying any information on the Form 990. Semb expresses view that "all of the direct marketing programs behave in unethical manners to attract business."

March 27, 2008 Fawcett's attorney states that his client has information concerning the following matters: failure to report benefits as income (presumably reimbursement of personal, non-business expenses that should have been reported on either Form W-2 or form 1099-MISC and Form 990) and business transactions not in the best interests of SHC (presumably involving conflict of interest or private benefit or inurement).

April 2, 2008 Bracewell interviewed by Special Committee and indicates he is unaware of any issues concerning his expenses and that he believes he has adequately documented all expenses reimbursed by SHC. He admits he 'took free passage."

April 10, 2008 Interim Report issued by Special Committee.

All copies of material reprinted or duplicated from "by Sandy Frost" must include the following credit line: From http://sandyfrost.newsvine.com/ Copyright © 2008 by Sandy Frost. Used by permission.