The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs has settled its investigation into the finances, record-keeping and fundraising of the Arabian Rescue Mission, in Wantage. All fines and civil penalties against them will be waived if they fulfill the terms of a consent order to which the parties have agreed.
Horse rescue to follow rules
All fines and civil penalties against Arabian Rescue Mission will be waived if they fulfill the terms of a consent order.
During its investigation, the division determined that Therese Figueroa and Cynthia Millar, both of Branchville, had kept incomplete records of the Arabian Rescue Mission's expenses and of the donations it received.
The Consumer Affairs Division also found that they commingled charitable donations with personal funds and payments made to a for-profit stable for horses that they operated on the same Wantage Township property as their horse rescue mission.
"Potential donors did not receive, and could not get, the financial transparency from this organization that they are entitled to. The Arabian Rescue Mission now is registered and it will annually report finanical information required under state law," state Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said in a press release.
A $25,000 civil penalty assessed against the trustees of the Arabian Rescue Mission, which was profiled Thursday in the New Jersey Herald's "Saddle Up" special section, has since been suspended and will be waived in 13 months provided the record-keeping and other requirements of the consent order are met.
Under the settlement, Figueroa and Millar have agreed to secure the proper registration for the Arabian Rescue Mission and to reimburse the charity in the amount of $3,000 each for money that had been transferred to their personal bank accounts.
The division acknowledged that at least some of the funds in their personal accounts had indeed gone toward payment of the charity's expenses but found that the trustees had failed to keep proper documentation of the transactions.
Figueroa said the division had since been satisfied that the restitution requirement was fulfilled after she and Millar provided evidence showing that they personally had given the charity funds totaling more than four times the amounts that were transferred at various times to their personal accounts.
Though she has been rescuing horses since 2003, Figueroa said she did not begin soliciting donations until 2007. Before that, she said, the charity's expenses had been paid from her personal funds and from the proceeds of a small boarding and training facility she ran. She added that Millar no longer was affiliated with the charity.
The investigation found that the Arabian Rescue Mission had permitted its federal tax ID number to be used by two other horse rescue missions even though the organizations had not been consolidated with the Arabian Horse Mission for tax purposes, as required by law.