Angel Food settlement reached
Wingo will remain CEO
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
An e-mail from Angel Food Ministries headquarters in Good Hope, Ga., announced that ministry co-founder Joe Wingo will continue as chief executive officer of AFM, according to a settlement reached in Walton County Superior Court on Friday
Two board members -- Craig Atnip and David "Tony" Prather -- had filed a civil suit in what the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described as a "legal fight over Angel Food Ministries, a $137 million nonprofit whose managing family has drawn millions in salaries, loans and benefits."
Atnip and Prather came to an agreement with the Wingo family on Friday.
The Journal-Constitution reported that under the agreement approved by Judge John M. Ott, the Wingos' company credit cards will be canceled, Angel Food Ministries will undergo a forensic financial audit, and Joe Wingo will sign to AFM a company he owns that was renting a corporate jet to Angel Food at a profit of $10,000 per month.
"Attorneys for the nonprofit and the Wingos said other issues already have been addressed.
Atnip and Prather apparently have agreed to leave the board of directors as part of the deal, but will retain standing to take actions, if needed, when the forensic audit comes in.
Wingo and his son, Wesley, will retain their jobs with AFM.
Joe Wingo's wife, Linda, left her job at the ministry last year; their son, Andy, left in late 2007.
The ministry announced last month that a search warrant had been executed at its headquarters by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.