XPost: ucb.politics.progressive, alt.religion.scientology, alt.p   
   litics.democrats.d   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc   
   From: groselles@outlook   
      
   Ten days after former U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach Don Peters   
   was banned from the sport for life amid allegations of sexual   
   abuse in November 2011, he ran up a $133.50 tab at the Titlow   
   Tavern & Grille in Uniontown, Pa., 12 miles from his new home   
   southeast of Pittsburgh.   
      
   Peters paid the bill at the 125-year-old establishment with a   
   credit card on an account for SCATS, the nonprofit Huntington   
   Beach gymnastics academy he first made world famous 30 years   
   earlier.   
      
   Under the terms of the ban by USA Gymnastics that rocked the   
   gymnastics world and the Olympic movement, SCATS and all other   
   USA Gymnastics member clubs are prohibited from being involved   
   with Peters.   
      
   Yet despite the ban, Peters has continued to oversee SCATS   
   investments, has been listed as SCATS president and a “key   
   employee” on financial documents, has made appearances at the   
   SCATS facility and has charged meals on SCATS credit cards, an   
   Orange County Register investigation has found.   
      
   Peters, 67, also is listed as the "sole shareholder" of a second   
   Orange County gym, the for-profit Olympica Gymnastics Academy   
   (OGA) in Laguna Hills, according to SCATS’ three most recent   
   filings with the Internal Revenue Service. The filings were   
   approved by Phyllis “Jean” Peters, Don’s wife and chairwoman of   
   SCATS’ board of directors.   
      
   The Titlow Tavern bill follows a pattern that Peters, for three   
   decades one of the most famous and successful coaches in   
   international gymnastics, began when he was the top coach and   
   chief executive at SCATS. Both before and after his expulsion,   
   Peters routinely used SCATS credit cards and checking accounts   
   for his personal benefit, according to documents obtained by the   
   Register that included IRS and California Department of Justice   
   filings; credit card, bank and online trading statements;   
   billing invoices; and memos from former employees.   
      
   Financial documents raise similar questions about charges to   
   SCATS credit cards and checking accounts by Peters’ family   
   members, who have continued to operate and control SCATS after   
   Don Peters' banishment.   
      
   Peters denied any association with SCATS in an email to the   
   Register and said he does not own any part of OGA. That position   
   was echoed by SCATS’ executive director, David N. Peters, who is   
   Don Peters’ son.   
      
   “Don Peters is not employed by nor involved in any capacity with   
   SCATS Gymnastics or OGA Gymnastics and has not been since his   
   banning in 2011,” David N. Peters, wrote in an email. “I take   
   his banning from the sport very seriously and will relieve fully   
   any concerns that may be held in this regard.”   
      
   However, an examination of SCATS’ financial documents presented   
   a different picture. Among the Register’s findings:   
      
   • Peters continued to use SCATS credit cards after the ban,   
   sometimes running up monthly expenses of more than $800.   
      
   • Until at least August 2014, SCATS continued to pay Peters’   
   phone bill, the organization paying Verizon for four phone   
   numbers in Don Peters’ name – two in California, two in   
   Pennsylvania.   
      
   • Until at least February 2015, Peters continued to be   
   responsible for SCATS’ stock portfolio. SCATS reported $614,589   
   in publicly traded securities at the end of the 2015 fiscal   
   year, according to IRS records. SCATS began that fiscal year   
   with $736,560 in securities.   
      
   • Family members regularly continued to charge restaurant and   
   bar bills to SCATS credit cards. A SCATS CitiBusiness credit   
   card in David N. Peters’ name charged a $5,000 payment to a   
   luxury car dealer.   
      
   “Those are all red flags,” said Lindsay J.K. Nichols, vice-   
   president at America’s Charities and former senior director for   
   GuideStar, which bills itself as the world’s largest source of   
   information on nonprofits.   
      
   Peters’ links to SCATS and the Olympica Gymnastics Academy   
   appear to violate USA Gymnastics’ lifetime ban, which was   
   prompted by a 2011 Register investigation into allegations that   
   Peters had sex with teenage gymnasts in the 1980s. Under USA   
   Gymnastics rules, member clubs and registered businesses agree   
   “not to employ, or use as a volunteer, anyone who is on the   
   ‘permanently ineligible list.’”   
      
   USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body, began   
   looking into Peters’ involvement with the two Orange County gyms   
   after being contacted by the Register for comment last week.   
      
   “USA Gymnastics has banned Don Peters permanently from   
   membership,” USA Gymnastics spokesperson Leslie King said in an   
   email to the Register. “Its Member Club requirements mandate   
   that a club cannot hire or be associated in any way with any   
   person who is permanently ineligible for membership in the   
   organization. USA Gymnastics is reviewing the matter.”   
      
   NONPROFIT STATUS   
      
   The Southern California Acro Team (SCATS) was founded in 1963   
   and obtained nonprofit status in 1974. For decades the club was   
   run by a board of directors largely made up of parents. Peters   
   was hired in 1979 and within a year had coached two gymnasts   
   onto the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. He was named U.S. national team   
   coach in 1981, a position he held until 1987 while running SCATS   
   at the same time.   
      
   Four of the six members on the record-setting 1984 U.S. Olympic   
   team trained under Peters at SCATS. Team USA won the team all-   
   around silver medal at the Los Angeles Games and won eight   
   medals overall, a total that was not surpassed by a U.S. Olympic   
   women’s gymnastics team until the Simone Biles-led squad won   
   nine medals last summer in Rio de Janeiro.   
      
   SCATS has produced more than 40 U.S. national team members and   
   14 U.S. Olympians, including 2014 Olympian Sam Mikulak, the U.S.   
   all-around champion and and World Championships medalist. The   
   gym currently has 1,300 students.   
      
   But the organization has had financial difficulties in recent   
   years.   
      
   In October 2015, the California Department of Justice’s Registry   
   of Charitable Trusts rejected SCATS’ application to renew its   
   nonprofit status for failing to have independent audits   
   conducted for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 fiscal years. In a Nov. 4,   
   2015 response to the registry, David N. Peters asked to be   
   relieved of having to perform the three audits, maintaining the   
   cost would “place a tremendous financial burden on our small   
   school.”   
      
   “SCATS will inevitably need to lay off employees to free up   
   funds to pay for the older three years of audits,” David N.   
   Peters said in a letter to the Department of Justice.   
      
   Brenda Gonzalez, a spokesman for the California Attorney   
   General’s office, said in an email Friday that SCATS’ nonprofit   
   status is now current.   
      
   David N. Peters’ plea came at a time when SCATS was reporting a   
   $65,459 deficit, yet his annual salary had tripled over the   
   previous three fiscal years. David N. Peters was paid $214,731   
   for a 35-hour-per-week SCATS management position for the 2015   
   fiscal year, the most recent period available, according to   
   financial records.   
      
   David N. Peters’ salary, Nichols said, “seems excessive to me.”   
      
      
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