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Air America Scandal Revisited...

by Conservativity Staff,
Originally Posted: 9/9/2005 3:23:12 PM

Any mention of the shameful Air America scandal that we recently reported requires our salutation of, and heartfelt thanks to, the inimitable Michelle Malkin.  Her vigilance of this matter is the only reason that the leftist press has covered this horrid scandal at all.  She deserves our accolades for her love of the truth and her love of America.  Now more shenanigans have been exposed, to my utter shock and horror, and Air America’s callous handling of the theft of over three quarters of a million dollars from the needy kids and elderly of New York fuels that shock and horror most effectively.

"This was done by a ’progressive’ person, a member of a faction who has viciously attacked conservatives for indifference to the poor."

As Michelle Malkin reports, Air America was requested by the New York Department of Investigations ("DOI" for short) to repay the $875,000.00 that was given it as an interest-free "loan" by the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Center ("GW" for short).  GW had as its board member Evan Cohen, who ran Air America -- into the ground.  Cohen arranged the loan, which was funded with Federal grant money to his fledgling left-wing talk radio network.  This was done by a "progressive" person, a member of a faction who has viciously attacked conservatives for indifference to the poor.  In my former Hall of Shame article, I wondered if their justification would be an investment rationale, you know, earn money on the money until it was needed.  Well, the missing $875,000 nearly financially destroyed this charity, and it is now clear that the embezzlement was disguised as an interest-free "loan."

So, DOI demands repayment of the $875,000 into a trust fund controlled by DOI.  Air America gave $50,000, apparently the amount of a single long-overdue payment on the "loan," not to DOI, but to its own attorneys, who placed the money in an "escrow" fund that they control.  After DOI objected, and Air America resisted for a while, Air America has tendered the entire $875,000 to that attorney controlled escrow fund.

"If Air America files for bankruptcy protection, the repayment ’escrow’ controlled by its attorneys would be an asset of the bankruptcy estate.  There is the possibility that the bankruptcy trustee and /or the court would order the money returned to the estate for the benefit of all of Air America’s creditors."

As one of Michelle’s readers correctly notes in today’s entry on this matter, an escrow account is not a trust account.  If Air America files for bankruptcy protection, the repayment "escrow" controlled by its attorneys would be an asset of the bankruptcy estate.  There is the possibility that the bankruptcy trustee and /or the court would order the money returned to the estate for the benefit of all of Air America’s creditors.  Air America’s attorneys, if unpaid, could offset against those funds.  This is why DOI wanted the money in trust and in an account that DOI controlled.  Air America was already so financially desperate that its boss either arranged an improper loan or simply embezzled a large amount of money from a government funded charity.  Who’s to say that they could not simply dive under the Bankruptcy code and leave the poor high and dry?

Also, any interest on that money goes to Air America and / or its attorneys.  That means that Air America can arrogantly claim that they "paid" the money "back," while still earning interest on the money!  How arrogantly hypocritical!  Remember that this was ill-gotten gain in the first place!  The left pooh-poohs this entire matter.  Is anyone surprised?  I am not.  Their hypocrisy is nothing new.  They don’t actually care for the poor and downtrodden; they simply act like it in order to swindle votes out of them.  This entire debacle gives lie to their claims of "caring" and "compassion."

"Al Franken, the voice of the leftist network, had to sign a waiver of his claims against the network.  Hasn’t he been paid?   Isn’t this network supposed to be delivering the message that the people want to hear?"

Al Franken, the voice of the leftist network, had to sign a waiver of his claims against the network.  Hasn’t he been paid?   Isn’t this network supposed to be delivering the message that the people want to hear?  If so, why are Rush’s and Hannity’s numbers up while Air America still struggles for any audience outside of the liberal strongholds on the coast, where, by the way, Hannity and Rush still trounce it?  Maybe those numbers are why Al Franken is short on pay and long on wind.

Can Air America just do the right thing?  That would be to tender all of that money, plus interest at the prime rate average over the life of this so-called "loan," to DOI or GW?  That would go a long way to satiating our justified anger over this whole mess.