World Trade Center Miracles Foundation, Chairman Sues for Defamation, after being accused of Crooked Accounting

Nelson who was reached for comment on the litigation first filed in early March, issued a written statement, from Prague in the Czech Republic where he was attending the Global Telemedia Conference, discussing online activism; in the statement issued, Nelson states: “The statements Morrison has complained of in his frivolous litigation are nothing more than demands for accountability in the accounting of one of dozens of non-profit organizations, which Morrison claims financial responsibility. The statements are made in editorial retort to quotes from articles which appeared in the Blue Dog Diaries and the New York Post’s article entitled: A Not-so-Sweet Charity”. Nelson’s statement goes on: “These publications are more than a year old, and exempt from litigation under the single publication rule. Morrison’s suit is nothing more than a ‘shake-down’ attempt, to prevent a formal criminal investigation into his fundraising. I stand behind the intentions of the articles posted on www.SecuritiesFraud.org, those persons who choose to make themselves National Public Figures, and take hundreds of thousands of dollars, we know about and claim to have raised millions, under the guise of non-profits MUST be held accountable for the accounting of this money. The American people deserve and have the right to hold national figures accountable for the solicitation and management of charity donations, especially donations which are claimed to assist American’s injured during the worst terrorist attack in US history. It is more than a responsibility, it is a duty of Citizens to demand accountability of National Leaders, integrity demands it, morality demands it and the US Constitution demands it.”

Morrison who claims involvement in the insurance and financial services industry since 1980, and to have conducted more than 2,000 seminars on investing, founded and chaired the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation (WTCMF), and America’s Ride a coast to coast motorcycle charity event, which raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, in some reports Morrison claims millions were raised. Morrison claimed WTCMF was a division of Charitable Alliances another organization he also founded and chaired.

The cross-country motorcycle event even drew the support of US Representative, Congressman Christopher Cox, R- CA, who spoke to a crowd of bikers in Washington D.C., each biker paid $3,500 to participate in the ride. In the same article from Rep. Cox’s website, it is stated WTCMF is made of five funds and “Organizers (Morrison) report that more than $400,000 has been donated directly to families affected by September 11…”. In another article regarding Rep. Cox’s involvement with the WTCMF, the amount of money collected from just that one ride was stated as: “…collecting $1 million to help the families of 9/11 victims.”

Morrison who also claims to be an author and to have worked as an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation could not be reached for comment. Barry L. Silver, of Los Angeles, CA, who according to Yahoo! Finance is the attorney for the public company EFOODSAFETY.COM INC (OTC BB:EFSF.OB), drafted the legal action, which was filed on behalf of Morrison, also could not be reached for comment. According to information on file with the State Bar of California, Barry Lee Silver, CA Bar # 94862, has an active bar license, however, has a disciplinary record, which states: “Discipline w/actual suspension”, having his “Status changed to: Not Entitled”, (a temporary disbarment) Case Number: 95-O-12059.

Nelson filed several motions, for Dismissal of the action against him and others and/or requesting transfer of the action to the US District of Nevada, where Nelson is a resident. The case has been assigned to US Federal Judge David O. Carter, who has issued an order regarding Nelson’s filing and set the motion for a hearing at 8:30 AM on Monday, May 23rd, 2005.

The World Trade Center Miracles Foundation appears to be a DBA of Charitable Alliances Group, also a DBA, which has been linked to the World Bible Institute of the Air Inc. by the Federal Employer Identification Number it uses. The World Bible Institute of the Air Inc. is run by a radio preacher, Kenton Beshore, also of Newport Beach, California, according to the Orange County Register, Beshore was charged, with influencing the testimony of a witness, a felony. Stemming from monetary offers (bribes) he made to an Orange County father, in efforts to prevent the father’s preteen daughter from testifying in a molestation case. Police taped offers.

In a letter, from the Internal Revenue Service to the Bible Institute of the Air, Inc. of Costa Mesa, California, the IRS states: “We also indicated that you were organized and operated exclusively for religious purposes.” The letter goes on to state: “As a church, you will not be required to file Form 990.” IRS form 990, is the Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax; printed right on the form it states: “Form 990 is available for public inspection and, for some people, serves as the primary or sole source of information about a particular organization. How the pubic perceives an organization in such cases may be determined by the information presented on its return.” Based on the IRS determination, of the World Bible Institute of the Air, Inc.’s status as a church, they do not need to file form 990, apparently Morrison’s Charitable Alliances Group nor his World Trade Center Miracles Foundation are accountable to anyone for the money they take from Companies or the American people; they need not even account for this money to the Internal Revenue Service.

The website Morrison ran to solicit donations for his World Trade Center Miracles Foundation was located at www.wtcmf.org on that site, Mitchell Morrison of Newport Beach, California, claimed more than 95% of the money collected would go directly to the victims of the World Trade Center Attacks. The website wtcmf.org is now registered to Orion Web of the country of Kenya. The site now appears to be a landing page with advertisements run by DirectNIC. In documents field with the court as exhibits to Nelson’s motion, it is clear Morrison stated on the site, under the “About WTCMF”: “All funds will be held in the Bank of America with quarterly reports available at the WTCMF website. All dispersing of funds to a particular organization will also be listed at the website. A yearly accounting statement will be released in the first quarter of the following year.” Nelson stated to the best of his knowledge Morrison has never issued a quarterly report on his now defunct website, Morrison has not listed funds to any particular organization nor has Morrison released any “yearly account statement”.

Morrison is the registered owner of CharitableAlliances.org a website which he used to provide credibility to the site wtcmf.org, this site no longer exists on the Internet either, however, just a few months ago was up and running soliciting donations to dozens of purported non-profit groups, including the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation. Morrison stated on the site CharitableAlliances.org: “Charitable Alliance is a national and worldwide outreach 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization.”

Nelson who was reached on Wednesday, at his residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, commented he was looking forward to having justice served and he vowed he would hold Morrison accountable for the money he has collected. Nelson went on to advise all Americans quoting the FTC: “Be wary of appeals that tug at your heart strings, especially pleas involving patriotism and current events.” This is the exact situation and heart-strings Morrison and his charity, are believed to have exploited. Nelson went on to ask: “How hard would it have been for Morrison to post on the website he used to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars, we know about, and perhaps millions of dollars as Morrison claims, the full accounting of these monies collected? This would cost less than fifty dollars a year for Morrison to maintain the website URL and hosting of this accounting, rather than simply hiding behind an IRS letter which references a purported church, which does not need to file any income tax return. “I (Nelson) wonder how many people knew the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation was really a church. He (Morrison) stated on his site wtcmf.org, (which is no longer online), under the heading: “Accounting and Disclosure” “A yearly financial statement from the World Trade Center Miracles Foundation will be posted for review at this website. It is our desire to inspire confidence in our Foundation.” Nelson questions Morrison’s motives, and is deeply disturbed that a National Public Figure can use the Federal Courts to harass the media “Despite having raised millions of dollars as Morrison claims, he could not pay the less than fifty dollars to maintain his promise regarding the accounting of money he collected?” asked Nelson.

Nelson ended saying he is working on another philanthropic website, www.CharityFraud.org which will act as a “sister site” to www.SecuritiesFraud.org this new site www.CharityFraud.org will provide the American people with warnings regarding suspected cases of Charity Fraud as the site www.SecuritiesFraud.org reports on suspected cases of Securities Fraud. The site www.CharityFraud.org will also feature tips and advice for those considering making a donation to a specific charity. Nelson also encourages Americans and others to reference the FTC’s website www.FTC.gov or their State’s Attorney General’s website for alerts regarding suspected fraudulent charities. It is important for citizens to ask questions and demand full and open accounting of money collected by charities.