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Posted in Unspecified
DURHAM, North Carolina (11 Mar 2006) -- Despite sacking former CEO Peter Bennett for alleged financial improprieties, Divers Alert Network continues to be plagued by a corrupt corporate culture, ill-advised territorial marketing schemes and lavish, wasteful spending that has earned it the dubious distinction of being rated among the worst non-profits by independent auditors.
The prestigious Charity Navigator, which is universally acknowledged as the most unbiased independent authority on non-profits and charities, has rated Divers Alert Network as an organization that "fails to meet industry standards and performs well below most charities in its Cause."
Divers Alert Network, also known as DAN, received only one star out of a possible four and received an overall score of only 37.50 in the all important "Peer Analysis" assessment.
Conversely, the Burke Medical Research Institute and Huntington Medical Research Institutes, which are both rated as peer organizations, received four stars and overall scores exceeding 60.
Although DAN is a member supported non-profit, it has steadfastly refused to reveal the financial terms of what critics describe as ousted CEO Peter Bennett's "golden parachute".
But 990 income and expense statements filed by Divers Alert Network according to laws that govern non-profits based in the United States reveal that in fiscal 2004, DAN diverted $140,000 of member fees paid to Bennett presumably as part of his "golden parachute" deal.
Another $25,000 in member fees went to Bennett's son, a former DAN vice president who no longer works for the organization.
Expenses listed in DAN's 2004 "Exempt from Income Tax" statement include over $140,000 for "former President and CEO Peter Bennett", nearly $25,000 for "former Vice President Chris Bennett" (Bennett's son), more than $100,000 each for a small army of "Vice Presidents", $80,000 for DAN's webmaster and over $3 million for the four-story 27,000-square-foot Peter B. Bennett Center, DAN's luxurious corporate headquarters paid for by member fees.
New Deck, Same Old Dirty Cards
Although DAN board members finally prevailed and ousted Peter Bennett, they failed to clean house. Bennett's right-hand man Dan Orr and left-hand man Chris Wachhoz still hold key positions in the organization although both were implicated in Bennett's financial shenanigans.
Orr along with Bennett and DAN attorney Wes Covington were investigated for lining their pockets with profits from AGI, DAN's off-shore for-profit insurance spin-off located in the Cayman Islands.
Wachholz got his chunk of the cash cow when Bennett and Covington cut him in on another insurance spinoff called Travelers Emergency Network, a Divers Alert Network clone aimed at travelers.
Together, Orr and Wachholz pocket more than a third of a million dollars annually from DAN member fees and donations.
© CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK
12:17 PM - 3/18/2006
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