Originally Posted - January 3, 2007

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Michael Schiavo has some 'splaining to do.


Even he and his brother Brian Schiavo have to follow the rules, regulations and law at the Federal Elections Commission.

And things just don't add up.

The Federal Elections Commissions wants some answers in regard to the financial disclosure filings of TerriPAC, Schiavo's political action committee, but so far, although FEC imposed a deadline of Jan. 2, according to the FEC website, the Schiavos haven't favored the federal agency with a response.

For the moment, with a lot of help from Pinellas County and other officials, primarily Sixth Circuit Court Judge George W. Greer (left) and initially the St. Petersburg Police Department, Michael Schiavo has escaped accountability. Even though there are long standing allegations of impropriety involving the handling of his disabled wife's trust fund in addition to accusations of insurance and Medicaid fraud, with Greer sealing the financial records in the Schiavo case, hiding them from even the eyes of the state's Department of Children and Families in their investigation of the neglect, abuse and exploitation of Terri Schindler-Schiavo (right), Michael Schiavo hasn't had to account for his actions----financially, legally or ethically.

That may be about to change.

Terri Schindler Schiavo suffered brain damage in still inexplicable circumstances at her home on Feb. 25, 1990, when presumably only her husband was present. Her parents battled Michael Schiavo in the courts for nearly 10 years, trying to save the life of their daughter but ultimately Schiavo was successful in obtaining a judicial order to kill his wife by removing all food and water, from her, natural as well as artificial. She died on March 31, 2005, of marked dehydration 13 days after her feeding tube was removed. Greer had violated Florida statutes by ordering that no attempts could be made to give Terri food and water naturally.

Last December, TerriPac was registered with the Federal Elections Commission, listing Michael Schiavo as chairman. It was to be a national political committee to "hold politicians accountable", especially Republicans who tried to save the life of his brain injured wife. His brother, Brian, was listed as the treasurer.

In August, TerriPAC registered in Florida with political consultant Derek Newton of November Group and OnTime Fundraisers listed as the registered agent. Although Brian Schiavo is the treasurer registered with the Federal Elections Commission, Newton listed himself as treasurer in Florida.

Brian Schiavo apparently either can't add, can't read or is intentionally filing false written reports with a federal agency.

Or all of the above.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that when one claims receipts of $66,724 for the year, disbursements of $58,829 with contributions to political candidates of $13,000 that you can't claim that you have a balance left of $48,025.59 cash on hand and no debt.

According to fundamental third grade arithmetic, with these figures as reported to the FEC by Brian Schiavo as TerriPAC treasurer for the post-general report required to be filed, as of Nov. 27, TerriPAC expended $5,105 more than it received from Jan. 1, 2006 through Nov. 27, 2006. http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/com_ind/2005_C00417576

Individual contributions	$64,224.00
Other committee contributions	2,500.00
Total Disbursements	58,829.00
Contributions to other committees	13,000.00
Cash on Hand	$48,025.59

In the third quarter report filed by TerriPAC for the period ending Sept. 30, 2006, Schiavo claimed that the committee's cash on cash was $12,818.43. In the subsequent pre-general report filed for the period of Oct. 1-Oct. 18, he reported receipts of $2,615.11 which he claims brought the cash on hand as of Oct. 18 to $27,251.97.

In the post-general report for the period of Oct. 19 to Nov. 27, Schiavo reported receipts of $1,811.65 which he says brought the amount of cash on hand to $48,025.59.

That's a $19,000 discrepancy.

The Federal Elections Commission wants answers. No doubt the Internal Revenue Service and Florida Division of Elections will too.

The federal agency sent three letters to Brian Schiavo as TerriPAC treasurer on Dec. 1 and in two of those letters, advised him he had until Jan. 2 to submit a response which is required to be filed electronically. TerriPAC was advised that no additional notice would be given, no extensions would be granted and that failure to provide an "adequate response" could result in not only an audit but an enforcement action.

As of Wednesday, Jan. 3, the FEC website indicated that Schiavo had not filed a response by the designated date.

Although Schiavo and TerriPAC filed a report with the FEC for multicandidate status, claiming it made a contribution to Colorado Congressional candidate Angie Paccione on July 12, the third quarterly report filed by the PAC failed to disclose the claimed contribution to Paccione. FEC advised Schiavo to amend TerriPAC's report and to disclose the five federal candidates that TerriPAC claimed to have contributed to as well as to provide the correct date for meeting the qualification requirements to attain multicandidate status. PDF Multicandidate

The FEC took strong exception to TerriPAC's report filed for the third quarter, 7/1/06-9/30/06, telling Schiavo that "this notice requests information essential to full public disclosure of your federal election campaign finances".

Michael Schiavo and his attorneys, Deborah Bushnell (left, in photo) and George Felos (right, in photo), were successful in hiding the financial records of Terri Schiavo's trust fund from the public review by petitioning Judge Greer for an order sealing the records. Although Schiavo claims that the trust fund was handled properly, with new information coming forth such as the alleged insurance fraud which occurred in relation to Michael Schiavo's claims for medical malpractice, his false claim in March, 2005 that 98% of the trust fund proceeds was spent for Terri's medical care as well as the financial irregularities his operation of TerriPAC in both the Florida Division of Elections as well as the Federal Elections Commission, there is increasing cause to unseal the trust fund records for an independent audit by a forensic accountant to determine if the money was handled properly. In that banks such as Barnett Bank, First Union and South Trust in addition to Alison Carpenter were guardians of the property, then there should be no problem in opening the fund for an independent audit subject to public review due to the controversy in the matter.

It has been proven on numerous occasions that Michael Schiavo gave false testimony under oath, giving cause to question the credibility of any statement that Michael Schiavo has made regarding the injuries to his wife, the handling of her money and certainly his self-serving hearsay testimony about her so-called death wish that he remembered only after he had collected the more than a $1 million in fraudulent insurance monies, claiming that her injury was caused by an undiagnosed eating disorder, a claim which was later dispelled by an investigation by the Agency for Health Care Administration.

For instance, in a sworn deposition given by Michael Schiavo on Sept. 27, 1999, on page 48, line 6, Pamela Campbell, attorney for Terri's parents asked Schiavo about Terri's trust fund money: 1999 Schiavo Deposition

Q: Have you been reimbursed for expenses?

SCHIAVO: No. No money whatsoever. The only thing that I'm reimbursed for is if I go and buy her supplies, her soap, clothes. They reimburse me for that.

Q: You submit an invoice?

SCHIAVO: Yes.

Q: With receipts?

SCHIAVO: Yes.

According to public court records of payments made from Terri's trust fund through Jan. 14, 2002, Michael Schiavo had been reimbursed $10,929, and not all for supplies. The accountings show that on Oct. 4, 1993, he was reimbursed for a $1,500 legal retainer he had paid. He was given $3,525 on Dec. 8, 1994 for a promissory note and $5,904 on July 25, 1994 for reimbursement for legal fees paid to Stephen Nilsson. Michael Schiavo lied under oath about Terri's trust fund, a material fact.

Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.

In the Schiavo case, the court relied on the sworn testimony of Michael Schiavo, including the self-serving hearsay evidence of Michael Schiavo, and as a result, a disabled woman was put to death simply because she used a feeding tube to receive sustenance and hydration and because she hadn't at age 26 made a living will.

Terri Schiavo's trust fund was and is material to the entire Schiavo case.

Proven false testimony about the financial matters in the Schiavo case and the serious questions now surrounding Schiavo's campaign finance matters beg for the opening of the sealed financial records in the controversial trust fund.

In its' second of three Dec. 1 letters to Brian Schiavo, the FEC questioned the contradictory monetary amounts reported in the third quarter report and in essence, questioned the entire operation of the PAC.

TerriPAC failed to disclose the identification of all contributors as required as well as their occupations and employer.

"Commission regulations require a committee disclose the identification of all individuals who contribute in excess of $200 in a calendar year. Identification is full name, mailing address, occupation and name of employer. Your report discloses contributions from individuals for which the identification is not complete", FEC told Schiavo.

"You must provide the missing information or if unable to do so, demonstrate that "best efforts" have been used to obtain the information, providing the commission with a detailed description of the procedures used".

Finally, an agency is holding Michael Schiavo accountable.


The FEC gave particular interest to the monies paid out to November Group, the firm operated by Derek Newton, "an apparent corporation", the FEC states.

However, according to the www.sunbiz.org, November Group is not a corporation.

In addressing the multiple payments for "reimbursements" to November Group, the FEC said "This appears to be an in-kind contribution made on behalf of your committee as the original payment for the goods or services has been made by an entity other than your committee".

"Any goods or services provided to your committee by a person, except volunteer activity, unaffiliated political committee or any other entity would be considered an in-kind contribution from that person, committee or entity and would be subject to disclosure requirements and limitations and prohibitions.

Schiavo was asked to "clarify" the reimbursements for apparent operating expenses made to 'The November Group' by your committee and provide the dates the goods and services provided.

In the latest report filed by TerriPAC, the 12-day post general report, payments of $6,500 were made to Newton's November Group, $2,500 for media relations and events, $2,000 for consulting fees and another $2,000 unitemized payment.

FEC is also questioning the administrative expenses of TerriPAC. "Your quarterly report discloses limited payments for administrative expenses. Administrative expenses are payments made for the purpose of operating a polticial committee including but not limited to rent, utilities, salaries, telephone, office equipment and supplies. Any such payment to a person aggregating more than $200 per calendar year must be disclosed. If these expenses are being paid by a connected organization your statement of organization must be amended to reflect this relationship. If expenses incurred but not paid in the reporting period, the activity must be listed as a debt".
PDF 1731

The third quarter report, as the other quarterly reports, fails to list any rent or operating expenses such as utilities.

The third letter sent Dec. 1 to Schiavo concerns irregularities in the 12-day pre-general report filed by TerriPAC. PDF 5871

What penalties can the FEC impose for violations of the law?

According to the FEC website, most violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) result in civil penalties--fines arrived at through a conciliation process. Knowing and willful violations of certain FECA provisions can lead to imprisonment. The FEC has exclusive civil enforcement authority, and may refer criminal violations to the U.S. Department of Justice.

When forming TerriPAC, Schiavo had claimed that the PAC "will raise and spend funds to educate voters on where their elected officials stood when they had a choice between individual freedom and personal privacy and overreaching government action. TerriPAC is a federal political action committee and is able to endorse or oppose candidates for federal office.

Derek Newton, a so-called political consultant who operates or has operated under several business names such as November Group and On-Time Fundraisers, appears to be the person operating the PAC and also, according to the filings, appears to be the one benefiting the most financially from the PAC.

On-Time Fundraisers has been the recipient of money from TerriPAC according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission, most recently receiving $2,185 from TerriPAC on Sept. 30 but according to the Florida Secretary of State's office, was administratively dissolved as of Sept. 15. Businesses registered as non-profits with the state including the November Group Consultants Inc., the November Group Inc., Progressive Fundraising Corp., the Magnum Restaurant and Entertainment Group Inc., the Swift Foundation NC, Foundation for Florida's Future Inc., all listing Derek Newton as an officer or director, have all been administratively dissolved according to the Secretary of State's office.

The current entity, November Group, is not filed as a corporation with the state of Florida according to the SOS office.

These latest questions of FEC surrounding TerriPac's finances aren't the first. In October, the political action committee was reprimanded for failure to timely file its third quarterly reported.

The report was due on Oct. 15 while Michael Schiavo was roaming about the country campaigning. http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?_26039232707+0

According to the FEC website, Brian Schiavo still hasn't filed a response to a letter sent to him over a year ago on Dec. 21, 2005, requesting clarification regarding whether the political committee had any affiliated committees or connected organizations. Schiavo and the PAC were given until Jan. 20, 2006, by the FEC to file a response under a warning that failure to make an adequate response could be a factor the FEC would weigh in a decision about whether or not to audit TerriPAC.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102406SchiavoPenalties.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/053106PACPlea.html

TerriPac is currently under scrutiny by the Florida Elections Commission for their reporting activities and contributions in Florida, particularly in regard to the Jim Davis for Governor campaign.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/102406SchiavoPenalties.html
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/110906DavisRefunds.html

In November, Jim Davis, the defeated Democratic candidate for Florida governor, refunded a $500 campaign contribution to TerriPAC, the political action committee chaired by Michael Schiavo which had endorsed Davis.

The refund came two weeks after a complaint was filed Oct. 16 with the Florida Elections Commission which alleged that Davis and TerriPAC had violated Florida's campaign finance laws by exceeding the maximum allowed contribution to the Davis campaign, a violation which constitutes a misdemeanor and carries possible jail penalties. 1-03-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette