minneapolis upside down

Frank Vennes Jr. leads an interesting life. Turning himself over to Jesus Christ, he leapt from the federal prison in Sandstone, MN into a lucrative life of ordained wealth, this after a modest pre-prison existence as a pawnbroker and felonious sleaze bag.

Now Frank's little winning streak has probably ended.

But not before Vennes braided a multicolored cable of born-again politics, chem-dep conniving, faith-based "nonprofits," questionable business practices, holy higher education, poverty pimping, and the mysterious ways of Allah.

Vennes still has not been charged with any crime but Jon Tevlin of the Strib details Vennes' role in the corrupt Petters operation: "Vennes was a facilitator who persuaded five major investors to invest $1.2 billion in companies controlled by Petters. The document says Vennes collected more than $28 million in commissions for his work."

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A little digging brings it all back home to south Minneapolis, where the notorious Minnesota Teen Challenge is left holding the (empty) bag.

Minnesota Teen Challenge is an oddly named chem-dep treatment nonprofit corporation that serves primarily adults--linked to a national organization, Teen Challenge USA, it is a religiously based operation, an arm of the Assemblies of God, as is Sarah Palin's church .

It's reputation is infamous. Homophobic, bigoted, rigid, and religiously biased it nonetheless operates with the apparent blessing of the "community," while privately some in the treatment industry will confess that its doctrinaire Christian approach to addiction is beyond the bounds of propriety and doesn't treat anything. Victims of its programs are a bit harsher. They'll tell of the rather wacky theories of addiction espoused by the "counselors" in the program (ie. demonic possession) and of those counselors' irrational of fear of sexuality and hatred for anyone who does not accept their word as scripture.

It's not that some people don't get sober through the program. It's that MnTC makes unsubstantiated claims about its success rate, and if you know anything about the Minnesota treatment industry--and are honest--you know that treatment programs can easily cook the books by running off bad risks early and relying on addicts' own words about their sobriety.

Further, if you are Jewish, Muslim, the wrong kind of Christian, a skeptic, or of any of the myriad wayward faiths and are not willing to swallow the lunch meat that is being served, you will not get any help with your addiction at MnTC. That's because an individual's sobriety is the tertiary goal at Minnesota Teen Challenge after his or her religious conversion.

But I digress.
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More importantly at the moment, Minnesota Teen Challenge has rapidly expanded operations like an overly aggressive start-up company in the past few years, mirroring Petters rise from a dealer of second hand goods to a multifaceted corporate machine. Under the firm thumb of Assembly of God alpha-male pastor Rich Scherber, who took the languishing business--I mean program--and scammed lots of donations to jump start it, MnTC has turned into a local treatment industry juggernaut. The program has moved into education, residential treatment, after care, publishing, and into our schools--with outposts now in Duluth and Brainerd. You can read the legend here.

Thanks to Mr. Vennes and the Star Tribune, we have been given a glimpse into a another side of the success of MnTC, financial.

MnTC now is faced with the harsh reality, that that other success was predicated on Petters Ponzi scheme and that they are likely out a cool $5.8 million according to the Strib.

The picture is incomplete, but we know that Vennes sat on the board of MnTC and that he allegedly worked as a "facilitator" of the Petters Ponzi scheme (inc.), encouraging investment in various Petters enterprises.

Soon after the Petters story broke, MnTC posted this letter which in part says,"[A] donor suggested that we work with the Harvest Fund, and later the Fidelis Foundation, organizations that work with many other Christian ministries, and consider investing some of his large charitable gifts in the Petters Companies, a once strong, respected corporate entity in Minnesota."

Who was that donor? At this point, MnTC won't disclose the donor's identity except to say that he or she knew Petters. The donation was significant, $3.225 million. Did Vennes use the "nonprofit" MnTC as just another way to facilitate investment in the Ponzi scheme? He apparently "reviewed" the investment as a member of MnTC's finance committee.

Isn't it a little odd that no one at MnTC seems to have wondered about the fabulous rate of return they were getting on their investments, as much as 24% on 90 day notes at one point? I know that it is unusual in the nonprofit world for a donor to earmark its donation as an investment in a specific company. At least, I used to think so.

But of course, God was at work.

The money was invested through the aforementioned Fidelis Foundation, the nature of which is a little vague, the Strib reporting that "Fidelis is a public charity that also serves as an investment agent for other public charities and nonprofits, including Teen Challenge."

But it is a "public charity" that invested $27 million+ in Petters but nothing in a website, apparently. Unless?

Who is the chair of the Fidelis Foundation?

That would be Craig Howse, Vennes personal attorney who often conducts Vennes' business.

So let's get this straight. MnTC invested money from an unnamed donor in Petters enterprises at said donor's recommendation. The donor knew Tom Petters. The money was invested through the Fidelis Foundation, chaired by Craig Howse, Frank Vennes Jr.'s attorney, while Vennes sat on the MnTC board and also operated as a facilitator recruiting fresh investors to the Petters Ponzi scheme.

Hmm, and who does your laundry?

Howse, appears , as does Rich Scherber, in this youtube video extolling the virtues of Hope Commons, located at 2300 Chicago Avenue South, which houses, among other "faith-based" programs, a part of the Minnesota Teen Challenge empire. A picture of Vennes appears nowhere on the web--odd for a man with his connections.

Meanwhile, the story of Vennes' (and Howse's) political contributions to Michele Bachmann and her letter on Vennes' behalf asking for his pardon is breaking wide open, thanks to the diligent work of the Dump Bachmann folks and the local independent press.

I hope some enterprising journalist has picked up this side story to the Petters fiasco--the connections between easy money and faith-based initiatives at work in Minneapolis, the nexus of Christian poverty-pimps and sleazy business types, and the hypocrisy and corruption behind it all.

I'd love to do it myself, but I have to go to work.

UPDATE: (10/9 6:34 PM) Judge Ann Montgomery's order to seize assets lists Frank Vennes Jr. as a defendant and lists Hope Commons as one of his businesses, ie. Frank Vennes Jr. dba (doing business as) Hope Commons. I am no lawyer, but that would seem to mean that Hope Commons is in receivership.

--Loosestrife