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Tuesday, July 7, 2015

"THE PRECARIOUS STATE OF THE BAY CITY ACADEMY": Steven Ingersoll Responds To Government Motion Ordering Him To Provide "Complete And Accurate Financial Information For Presentence Report"

Less than zero? 

No liquid assets?

The fraud fun doesn't stop! 

Steven Ingersoll, the man who previously secret documents reveal spent years manipulating financial statements at the Grand Traverse Academy in an effort to cover up his multi-million dollar, taxpayer-fueled ‘loot-a-thon’, responded yesterday to the government's demand that he provide an accurate presentence listing of his assets and liabilities.

The government’s June 19 motion asked the court to order Ingersoll to provide "complete and accurate financial information" to his probation officer no later than July 20, 2015, and to sanction Ingersoll if he failed to comply.   

In its motion, the government asserted "the most egregious manifestation of Ingersoll’s refusal to provide necessary information to his probation officer is in the listing of assets and liabilities that Ingersoll gave to his probation officer through his defense counsel."  

The government claimed Ingersoll "grossly understated the value of his assets, double counted his potentially legitimate liabilities, and claimed liabilities that are not actually his obligation to pay."

Duke Wayne Suite, 1725 Carlisle Farms Drive ("The Carlisle House")
However, Jan Geht, Ingersoll’s mouthpiece, stated the government’s complaint about the Ingersoll’s valuation of his real estate assets is “unwarranted”.

Geht says his client provided a financial summary to the probation officer listing his assets. To avoid being accused of providing inaccurate valuation information, Geht claims Ingersoll “disclosed next to each real estate asset that the value being provided is “SEV”. Lest there be any doubt about what was meant by SEV, the note to the Financial Statements stated “Real estate values are stated as the state equalized value, which is the taxable value of the property as determined by the county tax assessor.

The values are not admissions of actual value and are included for reference only. Actual value of real estate can only be determined with an appraisal or in an arms-length sale.”

Snippy much?

Geht, a CPA and tax attorney, states the “probation officer was free to leave that value in his analysis, to simply double that value (as is a common practice), or to obtain an independent appraisal.”

The government’s motion revealed Ingersoll reported his home in Traverse City, Michigan as an asset with a value of $162,830 but also reported a liability of $384,000 from the mortgage on that residence.

Ingersoll reported that his second home in Bay City is worth less than $88,000 but also listed a $103,000 mortgage on that home as a liability.

In its June 19 motion, the government said "Ingersoll’s information of that nature does not withstand scrutiny. If one charitably indulges a theory that Ingersoll may have reported — not the value of his assets, but the equity he is willing to acknowledge in those assets after deducting encumbrances such as mortgages and taxes — then it is apparent that Ingersoll also has double counted the encumbrances by listing them as liabilities."

In addition, the prosecution motion stated Ingersoll claimed to his probation officer to have liabilities associated with at least four parcels of Bay City real estate that do not appear to be included in his list of assets.

In the July 6 defense response, Geht stated the “government then proceeded to complain about the exclusion of other assets.  While the government asserts that Dr. Ingersoll failed to value his optometrist-related assets or the value of the intellectual property, the government provides no information for why it believes the value of either is greater than zero.”

Value?

Why not ask the Grand Traverse Academy why Ingersoll was reportedly paid $300,000 annually for his "curriculum development" Integrated Visual Learning-based “intellectual property” if it’s truly worth zero?

And ask them if he’s still receiving that money?

Or how about asking Ingersoll’s insurance carrier how much they paid out a few years back after Ingersoll’s IVL/optometric-related equipment was destroyed in a ‘flooded basement’ at the Bay City Academy?

Geht also asks the government to identify what other “real estate interests outside of Bay City other than his primary residence in Traverse City” were omitted by Ingersoll.

Now that I’d like to know, too!

In its June 19 motion, the government claimed Ingersoll listed liabilities that “were not truly his, apparently seeking to magnify his indebtedness.”

As an example, the government stated “Ingersoll included on his list of liabilities the property taxes and a $1.6 million-plus mortgage on the Bay City Academy building at 400 North Madison in Bay City. Ingersoll and his wife quit claimed any interest in that property in a deed dated April 9, 2010 and recorded on January 26, 2011.”

Ingersoll also reported that he is personally liable for the property taxes and a $759,974 mortgage on the Farragut School in Bay City, and even a $700,000 State Aid Note for the Bay City Academy.

Since when has he paid any property taxes?

2011?

Geht responds to the government’s claim that Ingersoll has “overstated his liabilities”, saying the complaint is suprising, “given that the government acknowledges Dr. Ingersoll personally guaranteed those liabilities.” (Unlike the so-called management fee “repayment plan” at the Grand Traverse Academy, which was never immortalized in writing.)

In its June 19 motion, the government asserted “all of those liabilities claimed by Ingersoll are actually obligations that are to be paid out of state per pupil funding provided to the Bay City Academy by the taxpayers of Michigan”.

Geht counters, claiming that with the “precarious state of the Bay City Academy in the wake of Dr. Ingersoll’s conviction”, it’s not surprising that Ingersoll “expects to be liable under those guarantees.”

(The entity that currently operates the Bay City Academy, boy wonder Brian Lynch's Mitten Educational Management, not Ingersoll, is legally responsible for directing the state per pupil funds to pay the mortgage and property taxes owed in connection with that public school academy.)

According to the government, Ingersoll reported to his probation officer that his liabilities exceed his assets by almost $3.6 million dollars. At the same time, Ingersoll has refused to give information regarding his income and his necessary living expenses to the probation officer.

Here’s how Geht counters that one — with Ingersoll’s “liquidity problems.”

Yeah, don’t cry for me, Argentina!

Geht says Ingersoll “did not provide an income statement to the probation officer because a preparation of an accurate income statement (to avoid the accusations of obstruction of justice) would require services of a professional accountant. Dr. Ingersoll has no liquid assets with which to pay such an accountant and the government is seeking to block Dr. Ingersoll from selling his assets to solve his liquidity problems.”


Even that little red Mercedes Benz convertible (it looks to Miss Fortune like a 380 SL) concealed in the garage at Ingersoll's 1514 Center Avenue Bay City home? Or the other Mercedes tucked under the portico behind the Perry House at 2230 Center Avenue?

Wonder if the government knows about them?

Whoops, I guess they do now!

Geht claims Ingersoll expressly stated in his financial disclosure statement that to “the extent the Probation Officer requires clarification or additional information, or would like to see supporting documentation related to this or any other submission” Ingersoll reiterated his “intent to provide full disclosure and will gladly supplement as required.”

Geht asserts Ingersoll’s probation officer never made a request.

While Geht states Ingersoll “understands the probation officer’s need for this information”, and would “sign any authorization for release of financial information requested by the probation officer for any period of time desired by the probation officer.”

In its June 19 motion, the government suggested that the court order should require Ingersoll to provide documentation of his current household income and expenses, including records that would enable Ingersoll’s probation officer to verify the amount, source and manner of receipt of all income in Ingersoll’s household, along with proof of payment of all expenses Ingersoll claims are incurred in his household.

In addition, the government motion stated Ingersoll should also be required to provide a letter to all of his creditors, directing each creditor to submit directly to the probation officer all available documentation to support the financial information Ingersoll has or will provide, including loan applications, appraisals, and loan payoff amounts for all claimed liabilities. The order should also require Ingersoll to “cause the entities holding Ingersoll’s financial accounts (such as Ingersoll’s bank, credit union, credit card, brokerage, and retirement accounts) to release directly to his probation officer all account statements for the period between January 1, 2013 and July 1, 2015, to enable the probation officer to better understand Ingersoll’s financial situation in the year before Ingersoll was indicted to the present.”

In conclusion, Geht says Ingersoll “does not have the funds with which to obtain all of the financial information demanded by the government, but has always been willing to sign any release for any information desired by the probation officer.”
 

I wonder if Ingersoll's including that $1.7 million dollars he still owes the Grand Traverse Academy in his "liabilities"? 

Nah! 

Those folks were crooked crafty enough not to put that in writing.



 

29 comments:

  1. Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!

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  2. If they wait too long he will have it all distributed into other hands, he is a crafty one indeed. Bay City Academy needs to be shut down. The authorizing university, Lake Superior State, is not doing anything about it, because they are getting a lot of free money from the government through Ingersoll. Those people are in just as deeply as he is. LSSU you guys better retract and get out before the Feds start going after you. Find another school, cleanup your act. The Michigan Department of Education is in on it too, time to cleanup your act, you are breaking the public schools by turning a blind eye, pretending like you don't know what is going on, you too must be somehow profiting.
    It is time for people to standup and say no more of this, get out of Bay City, get out of Traverse City, put honesty and integrity back into your towns. Anyone associated with him is dirty; plain and simple. If any of them say they didn't know, that is just a line of baloney!

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  3. Has anyone asked about Ingersoll's income from his trademark, IVL? Since his so called educational curriculum, IVL is a branded trademark, shouldn't the investigation look into the income he receives for this? Ingersoll's IVL so called curriculum has made it's way all the way to California public schools. I believe it has also made its way to at least one Canadian tutoring center. Wouldn't he have income from his trademark rights? I'm just thinking, "Wouldn't this be considered an asset?"

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    1. Good question. I'd like to know how much Ingersoll receives from his California buddy, Eldon Rosenow. Rosenow hired Ingersoll and Kaye Mentley as "consultants", paying them a mid-six figure amount during the startup of his Modesto, California charter schools.

      Rosenow now calls his brand of hokum Dynamic Visual Learning (DVL). On the Delta Charter School website, DVL is described as "modeled after the renowned Integrated Visual Learning program developed by Dr. Ingersol in Michigan." (Looks like they might need "Integrated Visual Spelling"!)

      Here's more:

      "Our teachers work extensively with Optometrist, Dr. Eldon Rosenow, OD, on teaching techniques to improve the students’ visual perception function in the brain, improving visual thinking skills, and applying their visual abilities to academics as well as other areas of their lives. Our students have shown tremendous growth using this model of teaching." ​

      And don't forget the fees likely paid by GTA Board member Danna Haba, a Sterling Heights optometrist who runs the "Excel Institute of Shelby" using a logo identical to the Ingersoll/Noss Excel logo.

      Looks like there's lots of money--or should I say "liquidity"--out there.

      It reminds me of the old joke: My assets are above millions. I live over a bank.

      (It helps if you substitute "ass sits" for "assets".)

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    2. There was/is a charter school in the metro Detroit area that listed IVL as part of their curriculum and boasted that at least 80% of their students finished high school (compared to a much lower rate from the Detroit Public Schools). It was interesting to note that that same charter school with such "bragging rights" also stated that their proficiency rate was 4.19%. Now, imagine that ... less than five out of 100 students were proficient in their MEAP scores (now a different proficiency is used). Not exactly something to brag about. It would be nice to check with the Detroit Public Community Schools that had that very low percentage and how much they paid Ingersoll/Noss for the IVL curriculum.

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    3. You wonder if the two Mercedes are in her name to try to prevent them from being his personal 'assets' and making it harder for the Feds to seize when the clawback comes. After the July hearing, the next song may be "See you in September"?

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    4. Maybe Mr. Ingersoll's refusal to provide living expenses and income to his probation officer will help the Judge in his sentencing later? Maybe Ingersoll's lack of full cooperation will land him in jail before the September sentencing?

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    5. Ingersoll is unlikely to be jailed until he's sentenced. The foot dragging and futzing around with finances are delay tactics (aided and abetted by high-priced attorneys Mr. 'Lack Of Liquidity' seems able to pay)--Ingersoll's gambit is to drag this out so the September sentencing itself is rescheduled.

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    6. When you think about the $250,000 future advance mortgage that Geht's Traverse City law firm provided in February, you wonder how much of that is used up and how that will be handled when the Feds will do their clawback in the fall. Those slick attorneys must have figured some way to take possession of the magic seven properties when the Feds start to repossess the Ingersoll empire.

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    7. I don't think the 'students have shown tremendous growth'. I think there was an even more tremendous financial growth at Rosenow's school. IVL and DVL = IVF (Ingtegrated Visual Fraud)

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  4. What about the bed and breakfast income? If you check the online. The bookings look fairly consistent. How about the sale of the Webster house. If Debby did not earn the wages- I consider it and the home cars boats TC home Bed and breakfast all items purchased with stolen funds. Time for a sale.

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    1. Some people in the Traverse City area's East Bay Township are not too happy about the Ingersolls' rental of Carlisle House. How can the neighbors have an element of privacy with all that traffic on a supposedly private lane? And there is no inspection or approval needed to rent out your home here! It is not an ordinance in our community. Maybe later it will be.

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    2. East Bay Township's planning department confirmed that the Ingersolls do not have a Special Land Use Permit to host wedding receptions (touted on the Ingersoll VRBO.com listing), while admitting the Township has no policy on "Transient Vacation Rentals".

      If you live in East Bay Township's Carlisle Farms, you'll need to complain to EBT zoning department.

      But here's the good news: you can pack up to 18 people into 1725 Carlisle Farms Drive.

      Party!

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    3. There was an article in the Traverse City News Ticker on Sunday about illegal rentals in Traverse City. Once there is a complaint and the zoning board determines the rental is illegal, the owner gets a warning to delist the property and cancel all reservations. If they continue to rent out the property and use their home like a hotel, then the fine can be as much as $500 a day until the owner stops. The only way to stop illegal rentals like the Carlisle House is complain to the East Bay Charter Township zoning and planning office.

      Up North Progressive

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  5. Ingersoll attorney is as stupid as Ingersoll. He is also stealing funds he is calling fees. I would not be surprised if the Ingersoll value is being calculated by alternative means.

    Ingersoll can not complain when assets are sold at his listed values and profits used to pay off tax debts.

    If he can not figure out his assets and liabilities in a few months - he should just be charged with obstruction and add 10 years to his sentence making him serve 25 years.

    Judge Ludington should use these antics to Max out his sentence.

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    1. You would think at this stage of the fraud game that his attorneys would encourage him to cooperate with the Feds. But, afterall, it's the Ingersolls they're dealing with. They always think they're above the law and try to wiggle out of any responsibilities.
      When sentencing time comes, maybe Mr. Ingersoll will be 'rewarded' for his and his attorneys' antics and get full sentences on all counts, plus extra sentencing for obstruction.

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    2. Ingersoll will only be sentenced on his fraud convictions. He's never been charged (or convicted) of obstruction of justice.

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    3. Yet. Ingersoll has not been charged yet. His criminal activities continues. The rest of us out here can hope the investigation continues. Charges and conviction would be appropriate from the view point - some of us are just sick of watching these thieves profiting at the expense of children and taxpayers.

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    4. Best description I have ever heard for it.

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  6. Has Debby had any personal income in decades? All of it was on stolen funds. Her name his name in trusts in either party - take it all. If thee feds can go after investor income with Bernie all Ingersoll assets are game.

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    1. Only her horticulturalist knows.... she's been planting money trees all along.

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    2. It's a shame that Bernie Madoff and the Ingersolls didn't get together and then shafted each other. Afterall, they all 'made off' with innocent people's/states money.

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    3. Wonder if the Perry House will open before the federal sentencing? Maybe now Mrs. Ingersoll will hide both Mercedes or give them to some relative. Better yet, maybe the two Mercedes should be given as compensation for the attorney fees - one for Mr. Crandall and the other Mercedes for Mr. Geht?

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    4. The cars are probably leased.

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  7. Ingersoll's 'intellectual property"? You wonder how much it's really worth because it's completely unfounded propaganda and a fraud, just like Ingersoll himself. It's amazing that he and Noss have been able to charge so much for this non-proven IVL curriculum and get away with it. It appears that other optometrists and charter school owners/managers like to latch on to something to get their charter so they can get state money from the states they live in. It's not about education, it's about greed and having some gullible people swallow that bunk.

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  8. I think I have the answer to your questions, "Why not ask the Grand Traverse Academy why Ingersoll was reportedly paid $300,000 annually for his "curriculum development" Integrated Visual Learning-based “intellectual property” if it’s truly worth zero?" He may have been paid that much money for it, but the actual value of this non-peer reviewed, non-validated voodoo curriculum is truly zero! But you and I get to pay for it all the same.

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  9. Love the phrase "non-validated voodoo curriculum".

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  10. Oh, I would just bet Ingersoll is still getting paid for his "non-validated voodoo curriculum" from public school funds in other states. He has been selling this curriculum all over the country. I know California schools were (and maybe still are) paying for this IVL curriculum. So I find it very difficult to believe that Ingersoll tells his probation officer he doesn't have the funds to pay for financial advice. What did he do with the public funds CA schools sent him? What about trademark rights? Isn't he getting funds from Excel, ICon Learning, the tutoring center in Canada, Great Valley Academy in Modesto, and Manteca, California. And... New Jerusalem's Delta Charter, and now the new Delta Bridges Charter? All of these schools refer to using Dr. Ingersoll's IVL in some way or another. I doubt Ingersoll is just giving his "curriculum" up for free. He doesn't seem like that kind of guy. Has anyone every seen this IVL curriculum? What are public funds being spent on? Has a full audit ever been done on Ingersoll's bank accounts to find out how much money he has actually made off of public schools?

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  11. You're right on the money ... when you said "I doubt Ingersoll is just giving his 'curriculum' up for free." He and his whole entourage are not givers, they're takers. They want people to believe they're so generous, but they're takers with a capital 'T'. It will be so interesting to watch when the Feds, on behalf of the citizenry, take whatever Ingersoll has left.

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