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CORRECTION 5/31/24 - our source changed his declaration that he spoke to FCRP Chair Stephanie Endres at the GA GOP 7th District convention, not the GA GOP convention recently in Columbus.

Yesterday, we published part one of our series on the 'financial issues' within the Fulton County Republican Party.

PART 1: The Audit Of Fulton County GOP That No One Can See

The concept of a 'trust', means exactly that - assets are placed in 'trust' to be administered by a third party, trusting the assets will be used as directed by the grantor.

A simple internet search reveals the following:

Fiduciary responsibility refers to the duty of care, loyalty, and good faith that a person or entity owes to another, typically in a position of trust or authority. In the context of governance, fiduciary responsibility is essential for ensuring that decisions are made in the best interests of the organization, its stakeholders, and the public.

A fiduciary is someone who manages money or property for someone else. When you’re named a fiduciary and accept the role, you must – by law – manage the person’s money and property for their benefit, not yours, writes ConsumerFinance.gov.

The Georgia Record has been shown FCRP internal investigative documents which allege this 'fiduciary responsibility' for the 'FCRP trust' was not carried out for over a decade, and the current FCRP leadership has covered it up.

The Georgia Record will be publishing documents soon to back up our reporting.

The FCRP was gifted a trust of over $2 million in 2006, with stipulations the money was to be used, as we understand it, specifically for GOP candidates in their elections. The money was not to be used for administrative, or operations purposes. The principle was supposed to be safeguarded and grown to protect purchasing power.

This did not happen.

At some point, the trust stipulations were 'changed' to allow for 'operational expenses' for the FCRP. Based on the information we have seen so far, it is difficult to prove the legality of this change to the grantor's wishes for the trust. More on this later.

A review of documentation we have reviewed to date shows a pattern of withdrawal of funds from the trust for possible personal use, and unknown large payments amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For instance, a $407,000 withdrawal in 2009 with no documentation. And, a payment of over $265k in 2006 for 'campaign expenses' with no documentation.

Large transfers were made to the Suntrust operating account in 2020 out of the FCRP Investment account at Morgan-Stanley. What was the purpose of these transfers, and what expenses were paid? The transactions include: $32,000 on 3-12; $65,000 on 4-6; and $215,000 on 9-30, reads a document we have reviewed.

A random internal review of one month's bank statement revealed the following:

1. Charge on a debit card on 11-4-2022 for Ruth’s Chris Steak House - $1,309.83
2. Check for $1,000 - #6349 – paid on 11-1-2022; to whom? purpose? two signatures?
3. Check for $4,550 - #6357 – paid on 11-10-2022
4. Check for $690 - #6351 – paid on 11—10-2022

The current value of the trust appears to be less than $2 Million; no growth in its value has been achieved in over 15 years. Many large transactions have occurred for which documentation or approval records do not exist or cannot be found. Record-keeping has been spotty and key documents that have been requested cannot be located. In short, the current trust records are not in good shape and have not been maintained in a professional manner, reads a document we have reviewed.

There are many large withdrawals and expenditures from the Trust assets for which no supporting documentation has been found to date.

And then there is the issue of 'the hedge fund'. The Georgia Record will be reporting more on this situation in future installments of this series.

The FCRP records do not show that the initial move of $400,000 of the FCRP Trust capital into the PBU Partners hedge fund was approved by 75% of the Operating Committee, as required by the Trust provisions in effect at that time, reads a document we have reviewed.

A reasonable analysis of potential growth of trust assets due to market conditions over the last 15 years shows the principle should have been many millions higher than the current valuation. This is not the case due to apparent mismanagement and large withdrawals.

There was also apparent stonewalling from FCRP officials involved in financial management of the trust over the last decade, during the attempt to discover what actually happened with the trust's assets.

Overall Problem – the FCRP financial records are in poor condition, and it is difficult if not impossible to get answers to basic questions regarding authorization of and support for previous transactions, reads a document.

Sources with knowledge of the situation have told The Georgia Record that current officials of the FCRP acknowledged [changed to] 'lack of fiduciary responsibility' had likely occurred.

Speaking of FCRP Chair Stephanie Endres, one source remarked, "I now believe she allowed a statute of limitations to run out."

When questioned at the recent [changed to 7th District GOP convention], FCRP Chair Stephanie Endres told party members, to paraphrase, 'the audit had found nothing nefarious.'

After multiple requests for comment were sent last week, and a lengthy set of questions about the situation was sent to FCRP Chair Stephanie Endres yesterday morning, we received the following response yesterday evening.

Hey Todd. I’m out of pocket for graduation so I apologize for the late response. As soon as the findings are shared with the membership I’m happy to share with you. I’ll keep in touch. Stephanie

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