Overseeing more than a quarter-billion dollars in charitable funds, Community Foundation of the Ozarks is among the largest nonprofits in southwest Missouri.

Since its inception in 1973, the foundation has built a reputation as a bank of sorts, overseeing investment funds for hundreds of local nonprofit agencies. But now one of those client agencies — among the oldest catering to the area's African-American community — wants to know where its money went.

For more than three years, Springfield Community Center and its president, Calvin Allen, have been fighting CFO over $500,000 deposited more than a decade ago. Told the fund was empty, Allen and SCC sued in 2013, but a resolution has been slow in coming. The entities involved, and their leaders, are so well-connected locally that, as of last month, all of Greene County's circuit and associate circuit judges had recused themselves from the case.

Certain facts are not in dispute:

• In March 2004, Springfield Community Center deposited $500,000 into a newly created "Minority Foundation Capacity Building Fund" overseen by CFO;
• Within days, CFO transferred the $500,000 out of SCC's fund and into another account, where it was used to pay back a loan CFO received in connection with a downtown renovation project;
• In 2011, Allen asked to withdraw money from the original — and long empty — fund.

It's there the organizations' stories diverge.

Allen says he never authorized the transfer that emptied the fund. CFO, meanwhile, describes the deposit and use of the money as part of a larger plan, approved by Allen, that helped put SCC on more solid financial footing and provided the center some space in a newly renovated building.

That arrangement, if it existed as CFO says, doesn't appear to have been mentioned in news reports or related city ordinances from the time.

Now, Cheryl Clay — the head of the Springfield branch of the NAACP — is speaking out, concerned the lawsuit will pass under the radar. In a recent letter to the News-Leader, Clay asked whether it would become “just another local travesty of justice being ignored and swept under the rug."

"I am not challenging the fact that CFO does a lot of good in the community, but I am appalled at the disappearance of $500,000 plus interest that belongs to the Community Center and the African-American community," Clay wrote.

From a dairy company to an arts hub

To put the financial dispute in context, it's necessary to talk about the local art community — and the vision for a place that would serve as a hub.

The website of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, a local nonprofit that supports the arts, features a story in seven parts detailing the history of the Creamery Arts Center, located across from Hammons Field at 411 N. Sherman Parkway.

The building dates to the early 20th century. It started out as a tobacco factory, housed a dairy firm during the Great Depression and in the 1950s served as headquarters for O’Reilly Automotive, the Springfield-based retailer which has since grown into a Fortune 500 company.

By the early 2000s, the Creamery building was a derelict home to "mice, lizards, spiders and the occasional drifter," according to a News-Leader story from the time. As the city prepared to develop the adjacent Jordan Valley Park, however, artists and city officials bought into the idea of renovating it as a center for the arts.

The building is now owned by the city, but its renovation — particularly the process of securing funding — involved a variety of stakeholders. Among them, according to the Arts Council’s narrative, were banker Brian Fogle, Rob Baird — an executive at Springfield-based quarry operator Conco Companies — and the Community Foundation, led at the time by Gary Funk.

Remember those names: They'll factor into the lawsuit later.

State tax credits offered a means to fund the project, according to the Arts Council's narrative. As part of the application process, the city had to partner with a nonprofit that would actually be awarded the credits, and could then dole them out in return for donations for the renovation.

CFO filled that role. The Arts Council says on its website that the organization “would prove instrumental in leveraging donations of the Bairds and others" to secure those tax credits.

As part of the funding plan, Conco — Baird's company — loaned CFO $1.3 million in December 2002, according to documents filed in the recent lawsuit.

A community center makes a move

As a plan came together to renovate the Creamery, the nearby Springfield Community Center was financially struggling.

The organization was founded in 1945 to provide support for minority soldiers returning from serving overseas, according to Allen, who became part of the organization in 1969 and now serves as president and CEO.

Today, SCC provides after-school and summer school programs. There are no restrictions on eligibility other than age, Allen said, although many children are from lower-income families and are minorities. The organization also distributes food weekly to families, Allen said, and partners with numerous other area nonprofits or institutions, including the universities and Springfield Public Schools.

In December 2002, the center was operating out of a building it owned at 618 N. Benton Ave. News-Leader coverage from the time indicates the organization was subleasing part of the space in an effort to bolster its budget, but still facing challenges.

A plan was hatched that appeared to relieve at least some of that pressure, while also benefiting other organizations. Under an agreement approved by City Council that month, the city agreed to lease the building for two years and sublease the space for the dental care portion of the federally-funded Jordan Valley Health Clinic.

As part of the deal, the city agreed to give the center space in the Creamery. Jay Kirksey, a Bolivar-based attorney representing the center in its lawsuit, said the space provided is an office measuring about 12 feet by 11 feet. The organization primarily operates out of space at 911 E. Division St. provided by Springfield Public Schools.

In February 2004, the city canceled its lease of the North Benton property to allow the center to sell the building outright to Jordan Valley. That March, the center took the proceeds from the sale — $500,000 — and established the Minority Foundation Capacity Building Fund with CFO.

Oversight of such funds is what CFO is known for, said Dan Prater, director of the Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Drury University. As of last June, the foundation — which Prater called "one of the most influential nonprofits in the community" — managed more than 2,600 charitable funds totaling $259 million in assets, according to its website.

In addition to the financial oversight, CFO's nonprofit partners fall under the umbrella of the foundation's tax-exempt status, Prater said, and can benefit from the expertise of CFO staff.

"In a sense, when you join them, you have automatic credibility and expertise at your fingertips," Prater said.

Eight years later, checking in on the money

Funk, then CFO president, acknowledged the receipt of the SCC's $500,000 deposit in a March 11, 2004 letter that said the foundation looked "forward to administering this fund that will provide funding for the programs of the Springfield Community Center."

While most entities that hold an account with CFO receive regular statements regarding their holdings, court documents indicate the center never received any updates about the fund during the ensuing years.

According to the lawsuit, in late 2011 and 2012, Allen approached the Community Foundation about withdrawing money. That, he says, is when he learned that a week after the SCC fund was established in 2004, CFO transferred the $500,000 balance to its Jordan Valley Park Development Fund.

That fund was associated with the tax credits for the Creamery. Immediately after the transfer was made, CFO wrote a check for $500,000 to Conco as partial repayment of the company's 2002 loan.

The check to Conco was dated March 9, 2004 — two days before Funk's letter to Allen acknowledging the creation of the Minority Foundation Capacity Building Fund.

Was transfer part of larger Creamery deal?

Springfield Community Center sued Community Foundation of the Ozarks in April 2013. Conco and Baird were added later as co-defendants.

CFO summed up the essence of the lawsuit in a December 2015 motion: “The central question in this case is whether SCC authorized CFO to transfer $500,000.00 out of SCC's fund held by CFO in March 2004."

SCC says it received no notification the money had been transferred out of the building fund, and that it did not approve the transaction. The lawsuit alleges CFO is guilty of breach of contract, conversion, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. It alleges both CFO and Conco are guilty of unjust enrichment, and that all three parties are guilty of constructive trust and civil conspiracy.

In October 2014, SCC's attorney sent a letter offering to settle the case with Community Foundation for $2.95 million.

CFO maintains that it did nothing wrong. Fogle, who succeeded Funk as president of CFO, told the News-Leader this week the foundation has several documents it believes show SCC approved the transfer. The organization declined to provide the News-Leader with copies of those documents, which are not yet in the public record.

"Because the matter is in litigation we’re not going to comment further on the specifics of what we expect the evidence to be at trial," Fogle said in a statement. "We do believe there was a clear course of conduct by SCC and all of the others involved that shows this transaction was made with mutual agreement."

Fogle noted that the Community Foundation has provided grants and aid to SCC in the past.

"I wouldn't doubt that we would be among their biggest funders over the past several decades," Fogle said.

As for why the center would agree for $500,000 to be transferred out of its building fund, Community Foundation said in a December motion that it was part of a broader deal involving the renovation of the Creamery.

"CFO claims SCC knew about and authorized the transfer, understanding that it was part of a multi-faceted plan that would, in notable part, relieve SCC of an unmanageable mortgage, allow SCC to relocate into rent-free facilities at the Creamery Arts Center in downtown Springfield, and keep SCC solvent with the outwardly appearance of a successful organization," the organization wrote.

"For over seven years, SCC took advantage of this plan and the rent-free amenities, without ever once asking CFO about the $500,000," CFO continued.

CFO alleged in the December motion that Allen came to CFO in the fall of 2011 "out of the blue to ask for $500,000 for retirement."

"CFO told Mr. Allen that CFO does not handle retirement accounts, and that SCC's $500,000 had long ago been transferred as part of the 2004 Creamery transaction that benefited SCC," CFO said. "CFO provided information, the parties met to discuss, and the inquiry seemed to have been resolved. However, SCC returned more than a year later with (Allen's attorney) Mr. Kirksey and this lawsuit."

Baird did not respond to a voicemail left at his office this week, but an attorney for Conco gave the following statement to the News-Leader in August: "My only comment would be that there is no evidence that Mr. Baird or Conco had anything to do with the Community Foundation's actions regarding these funds."

Kirksey told the News-Leader the center wanted to withdraw the money to provide funding for operations and a succession plan to replace Allen. He called CFO's claim the $500,000 transfer was part of a wider deal "outrageous," and said the sale of the property on Benton and the space in the Creamery were independent real estate transactions.

What public records show

Newspaper articles and City Council bills describing the sale of SCC's property on Benton don't mention the Community Foundation being involved, or that proceeds would be used to help fund the Creamery. Nor does the Arts Council's history mention the center, or that its money was used to pay back a loan from Conco.

Public records detailing SCC's finances are inconclusive.

The IRS Form 990 reports, which most nonprofits must file annually, appear to include the $500,000 fund in some years but not in others.

In 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, SCC listed net assets or fund balances of $500,000 or more. Forms filed for 2008 and 2010 listed drastically reduced assets, between about $27,000 and $33,000 each year. (The News-Leader did not locate a report for 2009 or 2012).

The $500,000 fund appears to resurface in 2011. The most recent report, from 2013, lists "investment income" of $500,000, which the form makes clear is the subject of a lawsuit. In all, the 2013 reports claims $564,011 in total assets, $452,070 in liabilities for the same period.

Some of the forms have obvious errors — key fields on the 2008 form, for example, are filled out with $0 — making comparison difficult. Kirksey acknowledged the deficiencies, but called them a "red herring."

"It comes down to SCC and Calvin were overloaded on taking care of kids instead of being an expert on 990s," he said.

Kirksey said SCC clearly claimed the $500,000 on separate balance sheets the organization submitted for grants and to financial institutions throughout the 2008 to 2010 period. He said that SCC isn't the only nonprofit that makes errors on its 990s.

Allen's salary is listed as approximately $70,000 annually on some of the forms, although it is listed as $0 in others.

The impact, and the future

Clay, of the Springfield NAACP, told the News-Leader this month she feels the lawsuit has been swept under the rug.

The News-Leader published a story when the lawsuit was filed in 2013, but the case has since received relatively little attention in the media.

"It feels like it's just been one big gag order on this whole thing," Clay said, arguing that the minority community served by Springfield Community Center has suffered as a result of CFO's actions.

Fogle said he is a member of the Springfield NAACP and appreciates Clay's work in the community.

But Fogle said he would have appreciated a call from Clay about her concerns, rather than learning about her letter from the News-Leader.

Allen said the loss of the $500,000 has affected the center's ability to assist children. In 2004, Allen said, the center had an annual budget of about $350,000. This year, he said, its budget is in the $75,000 to $80,000 range.

"We have not been able to serve a third of the children that we would normally be able to serve," Allen said. "When other organizations don't trust you based on this lawsuit, sure it impacts you ... It's effectively shut down our fundraising process and everything that we do."

With all Greene County judges recused, one from neighboring Dade County was assigned to the case last month.

Both parties said they are hopeful for a resolution in the case as soon as feasible.

Fogle said the ongoing dispute should not erode confidence in CFO, which is "one of the biggest, in terms of transactions, community foundations in the country."

"We have never had any issue except for this one, so I think anybody could feel confident and secure that we will carry out their wishes and help them meet their charitable goals, and that's why we're in business."