Thursday, January 20, 2011

A TIMELINE IS IN ORDER!

By now you know the trial and all that led up to it was a travesty of justice.  It seems it is as good a time as any to set out a timeline showing the events I have shared and adding a few illuminating details.
  • December 1999  Non-profit corp ("The Noah School Project, Inc.") was filed with the state of Texas.
  • 2000 - 2002  Provided a free to the public - Speaking Series while researching the market plus best treatments and strategy.  Training for eventual school was on-going at my home.
  • January 2001  Filed application for 501(c)3 - Federal Non-Profit Determination.
  • October 2001  Received Non-Profit status from IRS and began search for appropriate school site.
  • April 2002  Signed lease for school.
  • April - June 2002  Obtained approval from city to build out special purposes school.
  • June 2002  Began construction.
  • October 2002  Construction completed, school opened.  Client's/contributor's divorce process commenced.
  • November 24,2002  CBS aired The NOAH Project segment on Evening News (national coverage).
  • December 2002  Meeting with client's divorce attorneys to determine what information and schedules I would need to provide.
  • January 2003  After receiving the December 31, 2002 financials on a timely basis my client's wife called informing me she was going to "bust" his Separate Property and apologizes for all the extra work that would cause me, knowing I was also busy with NOAH.  The details of all Separate Property transactions plus bank/brokerage statements had to be reported from inception (1988).  In the case of investment in real estate development deals - walk forward increases on both cash and tax basis, plus all supporting documents of the legal entities and their transactions.
  • January - October 2003  Continued to work for clients, plus direct the school.  Repeatedly asked client for 2nd Separate Property Partition so I could make needed adjustments to allocations based on effective date of partition.  Client never actually allowed me to have the signed partition (or even a copy as support in the accounting records).  This was very unusual and created an error in allocations.
  • July 2003  Called to a meeting with my client and his divorce attorney.  The attorney reviewed with me everything I knew about my client's two partitions to create Separate Property and all activity since inception, asking me to diagram on a board in the conference room.  He told me to stop sending things directly to wife's attorney but send everything to him from that point on.
  • July or August 2003  Client says this is when he found out about "theft" according to his deposition in the civil suit.
  • August 2003  Client tells me of threatened litigation regarding his collaborative divorce.
  • August 2003  Business trip to Washington DC to meet with NIH regarding research grant for NOAH.
  • September 2003  Meetings with client's business partner to discuss recasting of client's contributions to debt. This was to help him with his divorce issues.  Treating his contributions as a start-up cost that could be recouped through NIH research grant funding.  He had me prepare several amortization schedules, varying the term and rate, saying the client would review and decide which terms he wanted.
  • October 1, 2003  Conference call with client and his business partner saying he could no longer fund NOAH as he was in trouble with his divorce.  They gave me the choice to continue with NOAH (either keep it going or reorganize it) or go back full time with them and let NOAH close for good.  I chose to stay with NOAH and agreed to a 3 - 4 week transition period.  I was given a list of work priorities to do during the transition period.  There was a parent training meeting scheduled for that evening.  I canceled the training and called an emergency meeting of key parents, Board members and business consultant group.  The main topic was how do we keep the school open in the short term.  Many of us left that meeting with assignments.
  • October 2003  Transitional meetings with client's business partner throughout the month.   
  • October 3, 2003  Clients had their corporate controller rent a U-Haul (in his own name) and along with another business associate pick up their file cabinets and oldest files from my garage at 7:00am.  Later that day I had my first transitional meeting with client's business partner, at which time he instructed me to provide a resignation letter, which I did.  Parts of that resignation letter were recovered from computer but date at top of letter was removed as were my words of gratitude for all the years of working for them.  Did a dead battery pick those things to delete?
  • October 7, 2003  At trial (2007) Contributor testified this is the date he found out about "theft" and froze his personal accounts.  In contrast to Contributor's deposition saying July or August.  In further contrast to police report and statement provided by Contributor's business partner saying "some time in October".  You'd think their "memory" would have been best for the police report but instead the exact date comes four years later in my trial.  Curious?
  • October 11, 2003  Date of contrived confession.  Not found in the computer, but a letter I wrote on that date to Reese Technology, saying just the opposite was recovered from the computer. 
  • October 15, 2003  Meeting with client's business partner to go over their personal tax returns.  At this transitional meeting I was asked to explain all exposure items of client's divorce.  For which I named three major issues  related to the 2nd Separate Property Partition of which I was further questioned about each.  In addition I named two other items having explosive potential in the divorce proceedings.
  • October 15, 2003  Follow up meeting with key parents, Board members and business consultants to communicate our progress on search for emergency funding, meetings with local foundations, timing of payables and a brainstorming of what else we could do.
  • October 25, 2003  Meeting with Contributor's business partner to go over strategy regarding meeting with Texas Tech and Reese Technology in Lubbock.  The Lubbock trip was to discuss emergency funding, moving the school and families to Lubbock and the purchase of the NOAH assets and transfer to Lubbock.  I was instructed to bring that list of NOAH assets to the meeting for review by the Contributor's business partner.  He kept a copy.
  • October 26, 2003  That evening flew to Lubbock with a business consultant for meeting next day as referenced above. 
  • October 27, 2003  Meetings all day in Lubbock.  At the end of day it was determined they could not fund fast enough to keep The NOAH Project open in Plano or move the school and families to Lubbock.  Their money would not be available for about nine months.  So we knew on our flight home that we would need to close the school the next day in order to cover payroll and most of accounts payable with remaining money in operating account.
  • October 28, 2003  The last day of school for The NOAH Project.  At end of day we had a joint meeting with parents and staff so they could more easily transition their children's programs to their homes, setting up on-going work for employees as they left NOAH.  All parents were called during the day (prior to the meeting) to tell them what was decided about the school and to prepare them to move programs to home setting.
  • October 29, 2003  The NOAH Project files were packed, desks cleared out, preparing for the furniture and equipment move the next day to Contributor's storage as they were going to keep assets  for us while we worked on reorganizing the school with new funding.  Many of us, including NOAH friends worked late into the night.
  • October 30, 2003  The Contributor's business partner showed up with four of the largest commercial moving vans of a major moving company along with their moving professionals.  They worked from 8 in the morning to almost 10 at night.  Now tell me that was only $20,000 of assets as he testified in my trial!  He probably spent $20,000 on the move itself!  The same night I received a call at home from insurance agency, partially owned by Contributor.  They were trying to get me to extend the Director's & Officer's policy for which I did not approve.  Although, they chose to go ahead and extend it and pay for it out of agency funds.
  • November 2003  Tied up loose ends of school as best I could.  Worked with business consulting group on reorganization, preparing an investment package.  I worked on book about The NOAH Project.  Went to New Mexico for Thanksgiving to be with my family.  My dad had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer earlier that year. I decided to move out there for a few months to be close to my dad while working on book and reorganizing NOAH, plus had to move out of Plano home since I was no longer earning income from clients (now ex-clients).  I had been packing since early October (with help from several friends) knowing I would have to move to a smaller place.
  • December 6, 2003  Moved last truckload of furniture - left Plano that evening.  
  • December 9, 2003  My parents received call from DPD detective saying I was being charged with theft of money to fund school.  The detective called me back at their home once my dad was able to reach me, my phone wasn't set up yet.
  • Remainder of December 2003  Received several calls at my home from detective.  He was always calling me a liar no matter what I said.  I asked him to get the computer, knowing there would be evidence on the computer of correspondence and contribution calls.  Plus documentation on the Contributor's financials statements and supporting schedules regarding contributions.  In addition to bank reconciliations with same information. 
There is the timeline of initial events in a nutshell.  Some nutshell, right?  If you've made it this far, you probably need a break...I know I do.  I have spent the day writing this and it feels as though I've relived it.  I have so many good memories of the school, the creation of the school itself, the kids, their unique personalities and their progress, the parents and their enthusiasm and love for their children, and our staff was extraordinary, an inspiration unto itself.  We taught and ran the school on the 3 E's.  Energy, Excitement and Enthusiasm.  Those were at the center of all we did, we wanted the most for our kids and in the process we received the gift of growth and joy for ourselves.  As I look back I will remember the best and going forward I know I'll get through this.  One thing I forgot to do at the time, but its never too late....that is to give God all the Glory.  That school would have never existed without Him.  He was so very present as we watched the miracles of transformation in each of those special childrens' lives.  I am grateful for the time we all had together and will never regret a moment of it as I continue to work towards clearing my name.

3 comments:

  1. Although we are friends, having known each other since 1996, one wouldn't need to know you personally, to read your writings and see your many talents. Highly organized, honest, open, having an eye for detail, one who strives for quality in education and business, someone who is dedicated to her job, her children, to the education of special needs' children, smart + business savvy, loyal...I admire your positive energy to keep pressing on toward the goal. The goal of clearing your good name. "With men this is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible." ~ Matthew 19:26

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  2. My goodness.

    I never cease to be amazed at all this.

    SaucerSipper made a good comment.

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  3. Thank you both! I am always humbled by what you two say. I have some very good news. My attorney is writing the habeas application this weekend. I will review/edit it this next week, then it will be filed. I am praying for speedy justice with a conviction overturn.

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