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The plaintiffs and a petitioner in a lawsuit over alleged self-dealing by board members of a trust have asked that a court force the recusal of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who is a petitioner in the matter, due to alleged conflicts of interest between the AG and the defendants and the defendants’ counsel.
Plaintiffs Leigh Manning and Megan Carmack, along with petitioner Tyra Lindsey filed suit against the board members of the Mabel Amos Trust – a scholarship-allocating trust established by a former Alabama secretary of state – after it was discovered that the members allegedly utilized funds from the trust to benefit themselves, their businesses, their business associates and their children. The trustees also allegedly misappropriated the money by violating the guidelines of the trust, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, the plaintiffs have accused Regions Bank, which administered the trust, from improperly jacking up fees.
Among those on the board of the Amos Trust is Tom Albritton, the executive director of the Alabama Ethics Commission. The lawsuit specifically accuses Albritton of receiving at least $135,000 in trust funds to pay for his children’s college tuition at the University of Texas.
The Alabama Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court’s decision to appoint a certified public accountant to go through the tax documents and paperwork related to the Trust, and submit findings to the court. That move had been opposed by Marshall, who inserted his office into the matter after the case had been filed by Manning, Carmack and Lindsey.
The plaintiffs make it clear in their recent filing, asking that Marshall be forced to recuse, that they believe the attorney general has several clear conflicts of interest. A source close to the lawsuit told APR that the plaintiffs believe Marshall’s actions – in which he first opposed the appointment of a special master by a Montgomery Circuit Court judge and then opposed the appointment of a certified accountant – were intended to prevent the discovery of certain facts and shield some defendants.
In the court filing, the plaintiffs note that Marshall has received thousands in campaign contributions from a Regions Bank political action committee. Additionally, it points out that the law firm representing Regions in the matter, the firm Maynard Nexsen, receives millions in fees from the AG’s office each year helping to defend the state’s department of corrections.
Additionally, the plaintiffs point out that Tom Albritton’s brother, Ben Albritton, is an AG’s office attorney working under Marshall.
In the court filing, the plaintiffs claim Marshall has behaved “suspiciously” in the case by pushing the court to adopt a settlement with the parties but has refused to provide the parties with the details of the agreement.
Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin, in the filing appointing the CPA to the case, makes clear that he believes some wrongdoing by the board has occurred. Griffin also hinted at other documents that might be available in the case that would expose a greater level of “self-dealing” by the trustees.
The Amos Trust held a relatively low balance when it was first founded, but the discovery of oil on one of the trust properties changed that significantly. The source who spoke with APR about the matter indicated that the plaintiffs believe the alleged self-dealing and even potential fraud is much more widespread and significant than what is currently known.
