Clinton Firm's Deal Left Pennsylvania Churches In Shambles

[mod mom]

Clinton Firm's Deal Left Pennsylvania Churches In Shambles

April 10, 2008 01:00 PM

There is an old axiom of government: all politics is local.

And while the saying is cliché, it can certainly prove true. How else does one explain the connection between former President Clinton, a hot shot Italian real estate speculator, and several Pennsylvania church-buying ventures that went terribly wrong?

It began in 2005, when an aide to Clinton helped a young Italian businessman named Raffaello Follieri get into business with the former president and his pal Ron Burkle. Follieri had an idea: to buy and redevelop old Catholic churches that were struggling in the wake of sex-abuse scandals. And Yucaipa Companies, which Burkle ran and on which Clinton served as a senior adviser, came on board.

But the scheme, while in some cases profitable, was also a house of cards. Using the Yucaipa money, Follieri purchased a Philadelphia church that he subsequently let rot. In a separate purchase in Pittsburgh, he instructed the church to be gutted of all its religious objects, then failed to come up with the money needed to finalize the deal.

-snip

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/10/clinton-firms-deal-with-i_n_96032.html

[Catherina]

1. Yucaipa money is popping up in the oddest places. PA Catholics won't be pleased

...

Follieri's standing was soon on the rocks. In April 2007, Burkle sued the Italian in a Delaware state court for allegedly misappropriating more than $1.3 million. Follieri, he claimed, was spending the money on a lavish lifestyle, including gifts for his movie-star girlfriend Anne Hathaway (of Devil Wears Prada fame). The suit has since been settled. Last week, however, Follieri was arrested and charged with trying to pass a bad $250,000 check.

...

In the fall of 2005, Follieri was introduced to Yucaipa through Bill Clinton's aide and gatekeeper Doug Band. The Italian claimed he had close ties to the Vatican that he would use to buy run down churches in need of new ownership. The Wall Street Journal reported that in exchange for Clinton and Burkle's help, Follieri offered to assist Sen. Hillary Clinton with the Catholic vote. The senator was not officially running for president at the time.

Soon after their meeting, Yucaipa invested $100 million in the Follieri Group. With those funds, Follieiri quickly purchased two church properties in Philadelphia. Both structures had long been dormant. And he promised sweeping changes, including environmental restoration and structural repairs.

Virtually none of it panned out.

...

"They were absentee landlords who didn't keep track of what was happening or care," Chris Brennan, the reporter who broke the story of Follieri's mishandling of the church, told The Huffington Post. "When they received some bad publicity from the Daily News, they got moving."

Another Follieri Pennsylvania venture was equally disastrous. In the fall of 2006, the Follieri Group offered a bid on St. Nicholas Church in Pittsburgh, a 108-year-old building and historic city landmark. The church was a staple of the Croatian community, and in 2005, the newly formed Croatian American Cultural and Economic Alliance tried unsuccessfully to buy the building for $250,000. Their bid, observers say, fell through after Follieri promised more money.

As part of his plan for the property, Follieri had the church undergo massive internal changes. In the spring of 2007, all religious objects including the altar and statues were removed, and the murals were painted over. The community reacted with uproar.

...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/10/clinton-firms-deal-with-i_n_96032.html

:wow:

[mod mom]

2. WSJ Reports Follieri would help Hillary with Catholic voters:

How Bill Clinton's Aide
Facilitated a Messy Deal
Mr. Band Introduced
Italian to Ron Burkle;
Lawsuit Over Spending
By JOHN R. EMSHWILLER and GABRIEL KAHN
September 26, 2007
For the past six years, the road to Bill Clinton has often run through Douglas Band, a 34-year-old former White House intern who has helped manage Mr. Clinton's time, accompanied him around the world and even fielded some of his calls.

Two years ago, Mr. Band befriended a handsome and charming Italian businessman named Raffaello Follieri. The young Italian, now 29 years old, had moved to New York in 2003 to launch a business buying and redeveloping Roman Catholic Church properties. He claimed close ties with Vatican officials that would smooth the way for deals, according to business associates and material issued by his company, Follieri Group LLC. He also said he could help Mr. Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, with Catholic voters during her presidential campaign, people in the Clinton camp recall.

As a gatekeeper to the former president's web of business and charitable enterprises, Mr. Band helped Mr. Follieri get into business with Mr. Clinton, according to people involved with the three men. In 2005, Yucaipa Cos., a Los Angeles investment firm where Mr. Clinton has been a partner and a senior adviser, agreed to invest up to $100 million in Mr. Follieri's church-property venture.

Later, Mr. Band helped Mr. Follieri secure several million dollars more from Michael Cooper, a Toronto real-estate executive and supporter of Mr. Clinton's humanitarian initiatives. Mr. Band received $400,000 from Mr. Follieri for arranging that deal. Mr. Band's connection to Mr. Follieri was reported in Il Sole/24 Ore, an Italian newspaper.

-snip

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119076741770539360.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Bigleaf]

3. Good article! You lie with the dog, you get some fleas.

K&R

[mod mom]

5. It seems Bill Clinton should do a little research into who he is associated with.

from the WSJ article:

"Mr. Follieri's résumé also says he worked as executive vice president of EFFE Holdings, "a London based, privately held investment firm" that "purchases large real estate packages from government holdings in Europe and the Middle East" and "is also active in oil trading as well as gold and diamond mining," with "mining operations in Gambia, Senegal and Angola." British public records show an EFFE Holding Ltd., with Mr. Follieri listed as a director, was formed in 2002 and dissolved two years later. (Mr. Follieri has told people there also is an EFFE entity in Luxembourg involved in those activities.)

Mr. Follieri's father, Pasquale, is president of the Follieri Group. In 2005, he was convicted in an Italian court of misappropriating more than $300,000 from a failed resort company whose assets he had been charged with overseeing. He has denied wrongdoing and has appealed the conviction."

It sounds like some alarm bells should have been sounded.

[PetraPooh]

4. Uh, oh. I might have to change my mind about the Clintons,

anyone that destroys religion in America is a good thing in my book; especially the ones that are rampant with homosexual pedophilia.

[quantass]

6. k

[mod mom]

7. It appears this story hasn't broken into PA papers yet.

[FrenchieCat]

10. That's cause the Power that be want Hillary to win.....

Why else is bowling and Fidgeting more important than a quid pro quo involving foreign countries and inequitable trade deal with death squad supporting countries?

[johnnydrama]

8. when there's money involved

There are no alarm bells.

My wife, a major politican who is going to run for President is 100% against a Colombia free trade bill vs $800,000 = victory for $800,000

[mod mom]

9. sad, putting the almighty dollar ahead of the country.