Baptist foundation leader pleads guilty in US fraud case
PHOENIX - The final defendant has pleaded guilty in a fraud case linked to the collapse of the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, one of the nation's largest nonprofit bankruptcy filings.
Lawrence Dwain Hoover, 71, who served two decades on the foundation's board, faces up to 12 1/2 years in prison when he's sentenced in late November and has agreed to pay $500,000 in restitution, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
He pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of fraud.
The foundation, which was created in 1948 as a nonprofit religious entity to raise money for Southern Baptist causes, collapsed in 1999 in what was then the largest nonprofit bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
About 11,000 mostly elderly investors lost almost $600 million as a result.
Prosecutors said Hoover participated in various BFA financial transactions that allowed the foundation to falsely portray its financial position to investors.
In July, a Maricopa County jury found former foundation president William Crotts and ex-BFA general counsel Thomas Grabinski guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise.
Prosecutors said Crotts, 61, and Grabinski, 46, could face anywhere from six to 23 years for each count when they are sentenced later this month. - AP
Lawrence Dwain Hoover, 71, who served two decades on the foundation's board, faces up to 12 1/2 years in prison when he's sentenced in late November and has agreed to pay $500,000 in restitution, according to the Arizona Attorney General's Office.
He pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single count of fraud.
The foundation, which was created in 1948 as a nonprofit religious entity to raise money for Southern Baptist causes, collapsed in 1999 in what was then the largest nonprofit bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
About 11,000 mostly elderly investors lost almost $600 million as a result.
Prosecutors said Hoover participated in various BFA financial transactions that allowed the foundation to falsely portray its financial position to investors.
In July, a Maricopa County jury found former foundation president William Crotts and ex-BFA general counsel Thomas Grabinski guilty of three counts of fraud and one count of illegally conducting an enterprise.
Prosecutors said Crotts, 61, and Grabinski, 46, could face anywhere from six to 23 years for each count when they are sentenced later this month. - AP
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