[classicman]

Acorn Offices in New Orleans Are Raided
Acorn Offices in New Orleans Are Raided


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 6, 2009

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — State investigators raided Acorn’s offices here on Friday, taking hard drives and documents in an investigation into accusations of embezzlement and tax fraud when the group’s national headquarters was in New Orleans.

“This is an investigation of everything — Acorn, the national organization, the local organization and all of its affiliated entities,” said David Caldwell, an assistant attorney general.

A lawyer for Acorn said in a statement that the raid was prompted by accusations that former Acorn employees had removed or altered electronic documents and might do so in the future.

The lawyer, Pamela Marple, said investigators wanted “virtually every document in the possession of Acorn and any related entity.”

The raid was the latest in a string of troubles for Acorn. Videotapes released recently showed two people posing as a pimp and a prostitute seeking advice on tax evasion at Acorn offices. The responses given by the Acorn workers in the tapes led Congress and state governments to cut financing for the organization.

State prosecutors said their investigation into the New Orleans offices stemmed from accusations involving embezzlement at Acorn nearly a decade ago that were made last year by board members.

Last year, Acorn settled an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke, the brother of the group’s founder, Wade Rathke, made about $948,000 in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. The Rathke family and a donor repaid the money, and no criminal charges were ever filed.

Last month, Louisiana’s attorney general, James D. Caldwell, the father of David Caldwell, said he would investigate accusations that the embezzlement might have been as high as $5 million.

For 33 years, Acorn’s national headquarters was in New Orleans after Wade Rathke moved there in the 1970s from Little Rock, Ark., where he started the organization. The embezzlement scandal led the organization to move its headquarters to Washington this year, allowing the national organization to distance itself from the Rathkes.

This could get much more interesting.