Greater Salem Church kept poor financial records in 2010, court officer says

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Greater Salem Church kept poor financial records in 2010, court officer says

By Glenn Burkins – March 17, 2011

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Greater Salem Church failed to maintain adequate financial records for much of 2010, according to a report filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The report, dated March 11, covered church finances from Nov. 19, 2010 through Nov. 30, 2010.

Robert Weld, appointed by the court to serve as Greater Salem’s chief restructuring officer (CRO), said the November report was filed late because of poor recordkeeping by church officials.

“Numerous hours have been spent by both Church personnel and the CRO to reconstruct the activities of the Church for the calendar year 2010,” he wrote. “It is now believed that the records contain substantially all of the activities of the Debtor.”

Weld said he was still investigating “other potential assets” – cash-value life insurance polices, safe deposit box items, etc. – that might “inure to the benefit of the Church.”

Weld noted that all of Greater Salem’s former bank accounts have been closed and new accounts established.

The document showed that Anthony Jinwright, Greater Salem’s former pastor, was paid $5,000 during the period covered by Weld’s report. At the time payments were made, Jinwright was in the Mecklenburg jail waiting to be sentenced for tax evasion. He is now serving eight years and nine months at the McDowell federal prison in West Virginia, and all church payments to Jinwright have been stopped.

Well’s report showed only one other salary -- $1,500, paid to Blease Turner, listed as interim board chair.

Greater Salem, one of the region’s oldest African American congregations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2010 to avoid a foreclosure sale. The church had fallen behind on a $5 million loan from a California-based credit union.