LaSalle University (Mandeville) Chronology

From Times - Picayune - New Orleans, La.

FBI RAIDS MANDEVILLE CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL OFFICIAL AT LASALLE CALLS INVESTIGATION UNLAWFUL

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

With police officers cordoning off a subdivision, FBI agents raided LaSalle University in Mandeville Wednesday morning, blocking employees from entering and seizing documents from the controversial correspondence school.

The seizure effectively closed the university, which offers diplomas by mail and is operated by the neighboring World Christian Church. The school, which claims 15,000 students and a net worth of $15 million to $20 million, has fought off state licensing requirements because its parent organization claims religious exemptions.

Church president Thomas Kirk appeared at the scene Wednesday morning as Mandeville police officers blocked streets connecting the church complex with the the adjacent Beau Rivage subdivision.

SCHOOL IN ACTION DESPITE FBI RAID FEDS TOOK LOADS OF DOCUMENTS

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

A day after FBI agents seized several truckloads of records from Lasalle University, the controversial Mandeville correspondence school appeared to be running as usual.

Employees returned Thursday to the school, which offers degrees by mail. A large banner reading "Closed by the United States government" had been removed from the neighboring temple of the World Christian Church, which operates LaSalle.

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation seized records from the school during a daylong raid Wednesday as local police officers cordoned off streets. World Christian Church President Thomas Kirk said they took at least seven truckloads of items, including advertising records, computers, Rolodexes and calendars.

LASALLE MAY FACE CLASS ACTION

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

A former student of LaSalle University in Mandeville has filed suit against the controversial correspondence school, hoping to draw other students into a class action against the school for "fraudulent and inadequate alleged higher education."

The suit by Thomas Rodrigue of Lafourche Parish was filed Friday in district court in Covington by Mandeville attorney C. Arlen Braud. It claims that the school, owner World Christian Church, and church President Thomas Kirk "willfully and wantonly" misrepresented LaSalle's program, degrees and faculty, graded the work of students without regard to its quality or content and fraudulently bilked plaintiffs out of "thousands of dollars and large amounts of time."

CHURCH, PRESIDENT INDICTED IN FRAUD LASALLE STUDENTS ALLEGEDLY MISLED

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

Two months after the FBI raided a Mandeville correspondence school, the U.S. attorney's office Tuesday released an indictment charging the World Christian Church and its president, Thomas Kirk, with mail fraud, money laundering and other crimes, in what the government calls a scheme to bilk students out of millions of dollars.

Kirk and the church operated their correspondence school, LaSalle University, "for the principal purpose of making money by misleading prospective students about the `school's' accreditation status, its faculty and the value of its degrees," the indictment said.

The school, which offers bachelor's, master's, law and doctoral degrees through "distance education," has been in trouble before. The Louisiana attorney general filed suit against LaSalle in 1994 to force the school to comply with new licensing requirements for institutions of higher education. LaSalle ultimately won the court battle with its claim of exemption as a religious institution.

LASALLE SUSPECT TURNS HIMSELF IN

[KENNER Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

Thomas Kirk, the president of the World Christian Church and LaSalle University facing an 18-count indictment alleging fraud and other crimes, turned himself in Monday after disappearing for seven days.

An indictment was unsealed last week charging Kirk with conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering and tax evasion in an operation that bilked roughly $36 million from students at the Mandeville-based correspondence college, authorities said. Initially, Kirk was to turn himself in, but he disappeared and was declared a fugitive.

After being booked, Kirk appeared in U.S. District Court in New Orleans Monday afternoon, seeking release on bail. His attorney, Arthur A. Lemann III, told U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore Jr. that Kirk was in California on church business at the time the indictment was made public.

LASALLE HOPES TO BE REBORN ATTORNEY SAYS SCHOOL HAS VALUE

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

A day after its leader confessed to defrauding students of millions of dollars, an attorney for LaSalle University in Mandeville said the correspondence school will try to clean up its operation and continue offering degrees by mail.

Attorney Richard Muller spoke in terms of repentance and redemption Thursday. "The hope is to take what's a good product and make it into something the community can rally around," he said. "I'm not trying to whitewash this. It has its problems, but it has some good things about it too."

Muller tried to distance the school from its fallen leader, Thomas Kirk, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of conspiring to commit mail fraud, credit card fraud and tax evasion for misleading students about LaSalle's accreditation and using its parent corporation, the World Christian Church, to avoid personal income taxes.

THE TOP TEN BIGGEST ST. TAMMANY STORIES OF 1996

[SLIDELL Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

The top 10 news stories in St Tammany Parish LA in 1996, including the fraud-related shutdown of correspondence school LaSalle University in Mandeville, are listed

LASALLE TRIES TO UPGRADE ITS IMAGE CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL FORMS HIGH-PROFILE BOARD

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

In its quest to erase its reputation as a diploma mill, Mandeville LA's LaSalle University has formed a new governing board of high-profile community members, increased its community involvement and hired a political appointee, Richard Hart, as interim president. The moves are designed to upgrade the image of LaSalle, whose leader, Thomas Kirk, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in Nov 1996.

CHARGES FILED AGAINST LASALLE PAIR

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

Federal prosecutors filed felony charges Monday against LaSalle University's executive director and a former board member, adding a few more pages to their book on the controversial Mandeville correspondence school.

LaSalle executive director Terri Turow, 32, was charged with one count of tax evasion for failing to pay taxes on about $185,000 in university-paid income. Stanley Foster, 47, a former LaSalle board member and employee, was charged with one count of concealing a felony for hiding school director Thomas Kirk's tax evasion on $364,000 in personal income.

The bill of information filed Monday said Turow owed more than $50,000 in taxes for 1991 and 1992 income of $105,195 and $80,494, respectively. Despite a "vow of poverty" that Turow and other church ministers took, she received "a significant amount of income from church accounts," the document says.

LASALLE PRESIDENT GETS 5 YEARS IN JAIL, PLUS 125,000 FINE

[THIRD Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

A federal judge sentenced former LaSalle University leader Thomas Kirk on Wednesday to five years in prison for setting up a bogus school accreditation and using it to defraud thousands of students.

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman also ordered Kirk to pay a $125,000 fine and serve three years' probation upon his release. Feldman said Kirk would later be ordered to pay restitution.

Feldman told Kirk Wednesday that he would have given him a tougher sentence if he could. He accused Kirk of "preying on innocent students in the name of church and faith," and decried the lavish lifestyle Kirk lived while claiming to have taken a vow of poverty.

LIBRARY CHIEF TAKES LASALLE BOARD SEAT

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

The director of the St. Tammany Parish library system has accepted a position on the board of LaSalle University in Mandeville.

Jan Butler was appointed Thursday to the board of the controversial correspondence school, which was the subject of a federal fraud investigation that recently ended in a five-year prison sentence for its former leader, Thomas Kirk.

Butler said LaSalle interim president Richard Hart asked her to join the board. Hart, director of the St. Tammany Parish Environmental Services Commission, is also president of the St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control.

FORMER LASALLE BOARD MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY

[THIRD Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

A Covington man connected with the World Christian Church's LaSalle University pleaded guilty Wednesday to failing to reveal that president Thomas Kirk had diverted about $384,000 of the school's money to his personal use and failed to pay income taxes on it.

Stanley Foster, 48, 196 Tchefuncte Drive, a former LaSalle employee and board member, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Patrick E. Carr.

Around September 1995, Foster learned that Kirk, who claimed he had taken a vow of poverty, not only had skimmed church funds but also "used this money for gambling in casinos along the Gulf Coast," Foster said his plea agreement.

LASALLE UNIVERSITY EX-CHIEF PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX DODGE

[FIRST Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

The former executive director of LaSalle University and ex-wife of founder Thomas Kirk pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal income tax evasion by failing to report more than $185,000 of income during 1990 and 1991.

Terri Turow, 32, of Mandeville, entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Mary Ann Vial Lemmon, who set sentencing for June 25.

According to court documents, Turow received $105,195 directly or indirectly in 1990 from the World Christian Church, doing business as LaSalle University, and $80,494 from the same source the next year.

LASALLE REMOVES RELIGIOUS IDENTITY COLLEGE SEVERS LINKS TO CHURCH

[RIVER PARISHES Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

Mandeville's LaSalle University has moved to shed the skin of its fraudulent past by transferring the school to a new, nonprofit corporation - leaving its old shell to deal with tax and legal liabilities.

The new LaSalle Education Corp. took over all educational responsibilities from the World Christian Church effective July 1, LaSalle University President John Scarpitti said.

The new corporation removes the religious trappings of the World Christian Church, which founder Thomas Kirk used to shield the school from state regulation and taxes. Church attorney Richard Muller said the old company had "too much baggage" associated with an FBI raid last July and Kirk's subsequent conviction on fraud charges.

CHURCH SUES THE FOUNDER OF LASALLE HE AND WIFE TOOK JEWELRY, CARS, CASH, LAWSUIT SAYS

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

LaSalle University founder Thomas Kirk may have gotten a five-year prison sentence for fraud, but he's still sitting on a pile of cash, luxury cars, furnishings and jewelry reaped from his multimillion dollar scheme, a lawsuit filed in state court in Covington alleges.

The suit was filed last week by the World Christian Church, the parent corporation Kirk created to shield the Mandeville correspondence school from regulation and tax liability.

The church wants Kirk and his new wife, Natalie Handy, to return almost $900,000 in cash, plus other assets worth well over $100,000. Handy, whom Kirk married in a December prison ceremony, might have removed the property from the state, the lawsuit says.

MANSION OF JAILED LASALLE CHIEF AUCTIONED

[THIRD Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

The U.S. Marshal's Service Saturday auctioned a white-columned, Mandeville mansion purchased for $1.5 million in cash three years ago by the founder of LaSalle University, who is now serving a five-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.

New Orleans real estate broker Steve Stumpf outbid nine other potential buyers to purchase the five-bedroom home in the Deloaks subdivision for $1,285,000.

"That's why I did it. That's what's got the impact," said Stumpf pointing out the glass window to the back yard where tall pines and Spanish moss- covered oaks cast shadows over the rolling Tchefunte River glistening in the sunlight.

LASALLE STUDENTS FILE 2ND LAWSUIT THE PRINCIPLE, NOT REFUNDS, NOW THE ISSUE

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

Attorneys for former students of LaSalle University in Mandeville have filed a second lawsuit against the correspondence school in district court in Covington.

Like the previous suit, this one is based on federal indictments issued last summer against LaSalle and its corporate parent, the World Christian Church. Founder Thomas Kirk pleaded guilty to fraud charges in November 1996, admitting that he set up a bogus religious front to avoid taxes, while falsely representing LaSalle as an accredited university.

In the new suit, 17 students from California to New Jersey claim that LaSalle misled them about its lack of accreditation and the quality of its degrees, defrauding them of thousands of dollars. The suit names LaSalle, the World Christian Church, Kirk and Stan Foster, a former director who also pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges.

FORMER CHURCH EXEC GETS SENTENCE SHE AVOIDS PRISON IN LASALLE MATTER

[ST. TAMMANY Edition]

Abstract (Document Summary)

U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon gave Polly Zar a relatively light sentence because she provided "timely and truthful assistance" in the government's efforts to prosecute other officials, including World Christian Church President Thomas Kirk, at the church-run LaSalle University in Mandeville.

Zar had been sentenced May 13 to serve three years' probation and pay almost $20,000 restitution to the IRS, but Fallon vacated that ruling when both Zar's attorney, Vinny Mosca, and federal prosecutor Bill McSherry questioned the judge's ability to order Zar to pay money to the IRS.

Orion College Opens

Education Editors

MANDEVILLE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2001

The Orion Education Corporation is proud to announce the opening of Orion College, which began accepting students on December 12, 2000. Technological and social factors demand innovative conduits of education, and Orion will be an innovator for distance education, reinventing its delivery systems, as it plans to transition its programs to be completely online with multi-media enhancements. LaSalle University will continue to operate: teaching out students enrolled in its programs, maintaining its student and graduate records and fostering a flourishing alumni association. All new students, however, will be enrolled in Orion College.

Orion College is a nontraditional, not-for-profit institution of higher education licensed by the State of Louisiana and dedicated to the task of providing affordable, quality degree programs to its student body through the medium of distance education. Its undergraduate and graduate degree programs are designed to meet the educational needs of busy entry, mid-career and executive level students in a variety of academic disciplines. Orion aspires to deliver the best one-on-one contact between faculty and students in the distance education world. It is determined to be an academic pacesetter in distance education as it transitions into new courses to successfully equip and instill confidence in its students to meet the demands of an evolving job market.

Patricia Brister, Orion's Chief Executive Officer and Board of Trustees Chair speaks out assuredly, "While we face many challenges ahead, I know that we will reach our goal of providing an academically sound distance education program worthy of nationally recognized accreditation."

December 12, 2000 stands as a singularly rewarding day for faculty and staff at Orion. "We are all extremely proud of the focus, effort and dedication exhibited by our superb staff and faculty in making this vision a reality. Orion College is the culmination of their collective efforts and commitment to student service, " stated with a secure smile by Evans Spiceland, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President for Administration. Dr. Darrell Milburn, Chief Academic Officer and Vice President for Academic Affairs, confidently echoed Spiceland's statement, "We stand justly proud of our collective accomplishments and look forward to building our new college around academic excellence."

If you would like information about Orion's programs and what an Orion education can do for you and/or your employees, please call 800/809-9050 or visit the web site: www.distance.edu.

[Note:  After attempts made from 1997 through 2000 failed to get LaSalle accredited, the executive board changed the name to Orion College and attempted accreditation in 2001.   Orion college was not successful in becoming accredited and closed its doors the following year, the final end of LaSalle University.]