JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating housing bonds in Memphis, Tennessee, connected to Global Ministries Foundation, the nonprofit that owns Eureka Gardens and five other subsidizing housing projects in Jacksonville, as well as dozens of others in several states.
This comes one week after federal housing investigators raided GMF's headquarters in the Memphis suburb of Cordova and at a third-party location in Dexter, Missouri.
A document obtained by the I-TEAM shows the investigation appears to be connected to a federal lawsuit stemming from $11.8 million in tax-exempt bonds issued by Bank of New York-Mellon for GMF’s troubled Warren-Tulane Apartments in Memphis.
The letter lists “potentially relevant” documents as those created on or after June 1, 2010, that “were created, modified or accessed by Reverend Richard L. Hamlet, Alan Swafford, Dr. Thomas Stoval, Natalie Metcalf or Nancy Hall.”
DOCUMENT: SEC letter 'in the matter of GMF'
Hamlet is the president of Global Ministries and Swafford and Stoval are board members. Natalie Metcalf is Hamlet’s daughter, and works for GMF. Hall is the nonprofit’s controller and CFO.
The letter explains that the “documents” could include text files, word processing documents, spreadsheets, e-mails, voicemails, databases, instant messages, text messages, or notes.
A SEC spokesperson said they could not confirm nor deny an investigation.
A GMF spokesperson told the I-TEAM that “GMF will continue to fully cooperate with the government’s investigation as called upon.”
Seven Jacksonville public housing projects, including Eureka Gardens and Washington Heights, are among 61 that Global Ministries owns across the country. The nonprofit foundation's Jacksonville properties have been the subject of I-TEAM reports since last fall and subject of local, state and federal investigations.
When the city of Jacksonville inspected 160 of the 400 units at Eureka Gardens in October, it found 340 safety, health or code violations. Inspectors found mold, crumbling stairs and carbon monoxide leaks at the property.
GMF put its seven Jacksonville properties up for sale earlier this year. A U.S. Housing and Urban Development official told News4Jax that an offer from a prospective buying is under consideration.