Basic HTML Version
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, January 25, 1980
Page 6
The Arthur Andersen managers expressed nothing but the highest praise for
the Church as an organization, and for its financial department which is
managed by Mr. Jack Bicket, Assistant Treasurer of the Church, Foundation
and College. "An outstanding organization," "top-notch people," and "high
degree of performance" is how they ch arac�erized the Church and its finan
cial personnel.
Mr. Jack Kessler, who has done the auditing for the Work's various entities
for a number of years, was described as a "top-notch individual...a very
important cog in the wheel," and whose firm, they said, has not been re
placed by Arthur Andersen. Also, in checking out the legal firms repre
senting the Church in the current litigation, Arthur Andersen's legal
department found them to be among the very top in the field.
One interesting sidelight was a comment made by one of the managers about
the much ballyhooed allegation that Mr. Armstrong was "senile." Last
summer a small group of Arthur Andersen auditors, headed by Mr. Derinis
Pope who is a partner of the firm and in charge of the Church's audit,
went to Tucson to discuss the audit with Mr. Armstrong. It was stated
emphatically that they found all such allegations to be totally unfounJed!
The gentlemen conducting Thursday's meeting explained that in the normal
process of an audit such as ours, it was absolutely necessary to become
thoroughly familiar with the purposes and operations of the entire Work.
A number of the auditors were even sent to various festival sites last
year!
The meeting clearly revealed that Arthur Andersen & Co. has acquired
a high degree of respect for the Worldwide Church of God and its affiliate
organizations, as well as for its leaders--obviously a direct result of the
"excellence" and integrity God's Apostle, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, has
been led by God to exemplify in His Work for the past 45 years.
KESSLER & PALAZZO ACCOUNTING FIRM CLEARED OF CHARGES
Although the California Attorney General's bizarre intrusion into the
management of church affairs may not yet be over, the State was neverthe
less dealt a significant setback this week jn Los Angeles County Superior
Court. In an ironic twist, the first defendants to be served with the
complaint on the morning of January 3, 1979, are now the first to win a
final judgment at the trial court level. The dismissal order was obtained
by an ex parte motion without any representation from the Attorney Gen
eral·
's- office!
On a number of occasions over the past year Messrs. Kessler and Palazzo
pointed out to the court the deficiencies in the State's complaint against
their firm. And each time the court gave the Attorney General a chance to
revise the lawsuit in order to make it stick. Try as he did, he could not
come up with a revision of the lawsuit which had any basis in law. There
fore the judge dismissed the case against the accounting firm "with prej
udice" (meaning that this decision bars future action by the Attorney
General in this suit).
Here now, based on information provided by Mr. Jack Kessler, is a summary
of what led up to this significant court order dismissing the accounting
firm from the case. Starting with a little background, then going on into
the "blow by blow" story, especially notice the irregularities in court
procedure and the favoritism shown the Attorney General in this uphill