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Feed the Children Charity Faces Takeover, Lawsuits

Things are weird for Feed the Children at the moment. In June, the Oklahoma based charity’s founder, Larry Jones, was ousted, and sold the rights to videos, papers, and other property belonging to the charity for $1. Those rights were bought by former Texas lawyer Edward Roush, Jr. who has since referred to the charity as the “Enron of the nonprofit world,” and claims that they need a serious housecleaning.

Among other things, Roush claims that, when he visited a warehouse he was shocked to find that there was no food there, just books. The charity responded that he simply didn’t enter the part of the 120,000 square foot warehouse where they actually keep the food, and that all six off their distribution centers are well stocked.

Roush is also suing the charity for libel, claiming that one of their lawyers made disparaging remarks about him. The charity’s lawyers are trying to get that case dismissed, as they see it as frivolous, because what was said about Roush was substantially true, and because they see it as intimidation. They claim his attempts to take over the charity are part of a nefarious plan, although what that plan might be is unclear.

What is clear, however, is that Roush no longer practices law because he was convicted for tax evasion in 2007. He was also involved in a stock fraud scam. Roush claims that he voluntarily left law after the trial, which he claims was politically motivated.

Regardless of why Roush is no longer practicing law, despite his claims to only have the good of the charity at heart, he seems to be using some rather draconian tactics to get his way. He also threatened the charity with a class action lawsuit involving donors. If he really does just want to make the charity better, he seems to have chosen a round about, and potentially destructive way to do so.