A Forever Recovery and (Narconon?) Freedom Center Sued in MI

I had found this case when researching Per Wickstrom last week, and I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else.
https://mcc.co.calhoun.mi.us/details.php?c=2012 0000001483&se=party#parties

Party NameParty TypeAttorney of Record
NARCONON FREEDOM CENTER IN DEFENDANT COOPER,JOHN N.,IIA
FOREVER RECOVERY INC DEFENDANT SLOT,PHILLIP B.,
TIA CORPORATION DEFENDANTS LOT,PHILLIP B.,
TEAGUE,RICHARD, PLAINTIFF RAY,JEFFREY P.,
I know Per has used many aliases for his rehabs, but I'm pretty sure Narconon Freedom Center is a Narconon facility/corp. still. Anyone know anything else about this case? Thanks.

TEAGUE,RICHARD (plaintiff) not shown is TAS

I think he's probably just a wog and former "student." Looks like they dropped the suit against TIA--Per's holding corp--but included dox on Narconon and A Forever Recovery.

How did I miss this?
http://www.ourmidland.com/prweb/article_38c10316-dca5-579b-aa3d-0829cd159116.html

I was always confused as to whether they were still in operation. There were no recent 990s, and there were multiple assumed names, staff and even two EIN numbers. Now, I guess we know they are still in operation as Narconon Freedom Center. This is why the lawsuit above has Narconon Freedom Center and A Forever Recovery listed as defendants. The incident they are being sued over probably took place during the transition from Stone Hawk>Narconon Freedom Center>A Forever Recovery>Narconon Freedom Center.

What are the EIN numbers you've got? When I search for "Freedom Center" in MI, all I get are a couple of food banks.

BigBeard

Something can be done about it. Scientology can clear the nutritious engrams out of those banks to help Michigan's IQ go up and prevent Michigan from getting sick any more.

Hip hip, HOORAY!

EIN 26-2990691 and EIN 38-364607

I think they were 38-364607 when they were Stone Hawk, then, after the transition to Freedom Center, were given the EIN 26-2990691.
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/262/262990691/262990691_200812_990EZ.pdf
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/383/383646037/383646037_200812_990.pdf

I had also posted this earlier, which I think ties in:

I just googled "drug rehab" and one of the first results is a link to Narconon Freedom Center in MI. Has this always been the case or are they now promoting this facility as their flagship? That makes sense since I posted that "Grand Opening" PR piece on Narconon Freedom Center earlier. I think they are trying to play down Arrowhead and promote the Freedom Center now.

Google result (SCILON):

The Most Successful Treatment Center in the Nation. - Drug Rehab

www.freedomdrugrehab.com/

Ourdrug rehabcenter is nestled in a quiet, semi-residential area. The 58,000 square foot building rests on 10 acres, and is surrounded by large oak trees

The above links to (SCILON): http://www.freedomdrugrehab.com

Ok, I've been focusing on NN Int related 990's and missed this earlier. The 2008 Fm 990 for Stonehawk has the "Termination" type checked over on the top left side of the 1st page. Which means, from an IRS perspective, NN Stonehawk ceased to exist at that point and the EIN would have been archived. If they wanted to keep using the same EIN for 'A Forever Recovery' the 'Name Change' box would have been checked. So if they kept using that EIN after this 990 was submitted, it wasn't legal.

The 2008 Fm 990 for 26-2990691 indicates it's an "Initial" report with an "Application Pending" for exempt status. When I run a check against that EIN, both as 26-2990691 and 262990691, at the IRS exempt org check page http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ I get nothing at all from any of the three searches available. And as I said earlier, text searches on 'Freedom Center' just returns food banks and a church. Which makes me wonder if their exempt status was ever approved, or legally they are using a different name, or are they using an EIN that's not valid for what they claim to be??

In fact, I just ran an 'Eligible' search just using key word 'Narconon' for the state of 'MI', with no other qualifiers, and got a

response.

BigBeard

Ok. I need to check my notes, but I'm somewhat sure that Narconon int'l granted NFC over $60k in 2010--using the new EIN--that we can't find used anywhere.
Page 26:
http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/952/952769582/952769582_201012_990.pdf

Why would NN Int give NFC anything when, according to that 2008 Fm 990, NFC is "Independent", and not subordinate to NN Int like a bunch of the others under Group Exemption: 2595??

And the business entity search in the MI LARA system is showing some interesting stuff, but doesn't appear to include a businesses EIN anywhere!

BigBeard

I think there's some confusion someplace. The NN Int 990 is showing the address for NFC as:

809 W. Erie St
Albion, MI 49224

But the Michigan LARA system shows 809 W. Erie St as being the registered agents
address in Battle Creek. NFC is also registered with the state as a nonprofit. Note the lack of an EIN:

NARCONON FREEDOM CENTER, INC.
ID Num: 70407Y
Entity Name: NARCONON FREEDOM CENTER, INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Nonprofit Corporation
Resident Agent: JOHN WALSER
Registered Office Address: 809 W. ERIE ST BATTLE CREEK MI 49017
Mailing Address: 809 W. ERIE ST BATTLE CREEK MI 49017
Formed Under Act Number(s): 162-1982
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 7-16-2008
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 0
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 10
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 10
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present

BigBeard

You might also want to note there are two active incarnations of 'A Forever Recovery', both of which are 'For Profit'.

There is 'A Forever Recovery, Inc.', Business ID: 02058Q, DBA 'A Forever Recovery'. Which on it's face appears to be seperate from Wickstrom's 'A Forever Recovery', but underneath?

A FOREVER RECOVERY, INC. Corporation
ID Num: 02058Q
Assumed Names: A FOREVER RECOVERY 02058Q Expires 12-31-2013
Entity Name: A FOREVER RECOVERY, INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Profit Corporation
Resident Agent: PAMELA ANDERSON
Registered Office Address: 8255 BASELILNE ROAD BATTLE CREEK MI 49017
Mailing Address: 8255 BASELINE ROAD BATTLE CREEK MI 49017
Formed Under Act Number(s): 284-1972
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 10-14-2008
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 60,000
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 12
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 12
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present

Then there's Wickstrom Chevrolet, Inc.', Business ID: 25440C, DBA 'A Forever Recovery'.

WICKSTROM CHEVROLET, INC. Corporation
ID Num: 25440C
Assumed Names: A FOREVER RECOVERY 25440C Expires 10-14-2008
Entity Name: WICKSTROM CHEVROLET, INC.
Type of Entity: Domestic Profit Corporation
Resident Agent: DOUGLAS E WICKSTROM SR
Registered Office Address: 117 S GENESEE ST BELLAIRE MI 49615
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 460 KALKASKA MI 49646
Formed Under Act Number(s): 284-1972
Incorporation/Qualification Date: 1-16-2002
Jurisdiction of Origin: MICHIGAN
Number of Shares: 29
Year of Most Recent Annual Report: 11
Year of Most Recent Annual Report With Officers & Directors: 11
Status: ACTIVE Date: Present

I really, really, wish they would require and include the businesses EIN in these listings. Anyone a MI resident that feels like stirring the pot on this??

BigBeard

Here are my previous notes:



YouSeeNothing
Member
The only thing that stands out on the 2010 990 is a grant to Narconon Freedom Center in MI. Now that whole thing is a clusterfuck. Here's my notes from yesterday. Curious to hear from anyone else as to whether or not they know if StoneHawk/Freedom Center is still operational:

In researching the history and current status of Narconon Stone Hawk of Michigan I made some interesting discoveries. Founded in 2003, as non-profit drug rehab, Stone Hawk had some internal financial issues which led to Narconon Intl pulling their license and granting them a temporary license in 2008. At the time it closed, SH was working under the IRS-given EIN number 38-3646037. as of today, the NCCS database does not list any Narconon non-profit organizations in Michigan.
I believe they reopened their doors under an assumed name, The Freedom Center of Albion, AKA Narconon Freedom Center of Albion in April 2008 until December 2008. http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/results.asp?ID=770372&page_name=corp
Narconon Freedom Center was incorporated 7-16-2008 and as of 2011, it is still a viable corp., John Walsher, President, Brian Kuehne, Secretary and Treasurer. I believe this was done to remove the Wickstroms from the Narconon-licensed corporation. EIN 26-2990691
Stone Hawk, in January 2009, registered agent was changed to Per Wickstrom and still operated under the name Narconon Stone Hawk rehab. The Freedom Center was an interim identity.
On October 14, 2008 A Forever Recovery, Inc. was incorporated as a For-Profit corporation under an assumed name, A Forever Recovery,. http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/results.asp?ID=02058Q&page_name=corp
Narconon Stone Hawk dissolution date 10-1-2010
As of 2012, Per Wickstrom was still president of A Forever Recovery, Inc. No EIN number found. NPI records: NPI#: 1992957542, Business and Practice location: 216 St. Marys Lake Rd., Battle Creek/Calhoun MI
IRS has address of Narconon Stone Hawk as 218 St. Marys Lake Rd., Battle Creek, MI EIN 38-364607
Appears that Per Wickstrom is operating A Forever Recovery out of the old Narconon Stone Hawk.

As far as I can tell, NN Stone Hawk is dead. According to their last 990 in 2008 they terminated their Federal nonprofit exempt status in 2008. The Michigan LARA system says it was 'Disolved' in 2010. Whether they were operating between 2008 - 2010 is unknown to me. If they were, it better have been as a registered with Michigan 'For Profit'.

NN Freedom Center, with EIN 26-2990691, is still active as a nonprofit according to LARA. But, except for the initial 990 back in 2008, and the NN Int grant in their 2010 990, there is nothing anywhere about this EIN I can find, not even that it was revoked. Which makes me think their initial application was never approved for some reason. If not, how were they operating, and how did NN Int get away with the grant??

And, as noted above, according to LARA there are actually two, supposedly different "A Forever Recovery"s in operation. Both are listed as "For Profit", but no EIN's are given.

Business ID 02058Q "A Forever Recovery, Inc." dba "A Forever Recovery"
and
Business ID 25440C "Wickstrom Cheverolet, Inc." dba "A Forever Recovery"

The list of officers for AFR 02058Q is different than AFR 25440C, which may or may not mean anything. My suspicion is having the same dba for two supposedly different corporations lets them play the, "Not us, it's them other guys." game when PR flaps happen.

BigBeard

The Chevy AFR was temporary, and dissolved when Wickstrom incorporated AFR. I believe they were all interim entities and now we have Narconon Freedom Center which has been AWOL for three years and Wickstrom's A Forever Recovery--the for-profit. What I believe happened is that when everything went south they created the Forever Recovery as a place to send the students--actually at the same facility at Stone Hawk. Freedom Center was just a shell and now they are starting it back up and promoting it as the Narconon flagship with the downfall of Arrowhead. I could be wrong, but I don't think Wickstrom has anything to do with the "new" Narconon Freedom Center.

I posted all of the assumed-name dox in another thread which support this theory (in the notes above). If you look at the lawsuit the defendants include both the freedom center and a forever recovery which leads me to believe that they were both the same place at one point and have now separated into two facilities under different management, different ownership and different locations.
As you noted above, Narconon put a whole new board in after Wickstrom was ousted or left.

How much do you want to bet, that if Dave called one of those Narconon refferal services, they are now routing raw meat to Narconon Freedom Center.

We have some interesting leads...missing 990s and grants to non-operational facilities. If they didn't file a 990 in 2010 they didn't report that grant from Narconon intl. and if they did file it, when we find it we should check to see that they reported that grant as revenue.

Btw, IIRC if you look at the agent offices between Stone Hawk and the old Forever Recovery the street numbers differed by one digit. Since it's a compound, I'm thinkng they ran them out of different buildings on the same property. I can pull those dox again if need be.

I know the MI lawsuit is important, but I've actually been more focused on the ABLE/NN Int/NN Int DBA's than Michigan, which you seem to have a better handle on than I do.

I'm slowly loading the NN Int related numbers from the 990's into a spreadsheet by facility and year to see where the money's going. Just getting started, and I'm already seeing some weird things I need more data loaded to try and figure out. I've added that NN Int grant to NN FC you pointed out to the 'weird, look at this harder' list. One things for sure, even for being nonprofit too many of these facilities I've looked at are reporting negative, or barely break even, end of year balances. Which is strange, because nonprofits are allowed to have a positive balance, as long as it's earmarked for their exempt activities.

BigBeard

I'm focusing on MI only because I think they are trying to position it as their premier facility now. In regards to the 990s, you da man...I'm just visiting. It's frustrating looking through them at times only due to the lack of additional information. They are not required to detail their itemization and I don't want to assume too much. I still think graphically detailing the money trail for a complete year (say 2010 as I think we have all of the 990s for that year) might be of value. In particular, documenting all of the grants back and forth and the large unexplained write-offs, like massive ad budgets for small facilities.

Anyway, I'll follow your lead. I'm here to help, just let me know what you need me to do and I'll dig in.

I think this may be very important since they are in operation and expanding. Why can't we find a current EIN or eligibility with the IRS?

http://3.hidemyass.com/ip-9/encoded/Oi8vbmFyY29ub25taWNoaWdhbi5jb20v
Proxied Scilon link

Here's another website, this one is for "Michigan Narconon." I'm guessing this will just refer people to the Freedom Center?

I can't find any CARF certification for this facility in Albion, MI. I checked Battle Creek and did find Per's "A Forever Recovery" but nothing for Narcon, Freedom Center or anything in Albion.

http://www.carf.org/providerProfile.aspx?cid=226727

Nothing for them in Guidestar's database either. They do have the old Stone Hawk in there, but nothing for Narconon Freedom Center.
http://www.guidestar.org/SearchResults.aspx

I'm beginning to think Freedom Center may have gone "For Profit", so no 990's, and 'forgot' to update their status in the LARA system. Except that would screw up any relationship with NN Int.

BigBeard

An odd site. It's missing the usual 800 number, and their contact page is broken. Under Recent Stories, there are two Narconon Freedom Center success stories with contact info.

Nice neighborhood:


(It doesn't prove anything other than they all use Rackspace hosting. Also, there are thousands of non-Scientology sites also hosted at those IP addresses. http://whois.webhosting.info/184.106.55.41 )

More Calhoun County court cases:
https://mcc.co.calhoun.mi.us/search...tyType=&Attorney=&CaseType=&recs_i=10&submit=

These cases are pretty recent, not sure if these verify that they have been in operation.

I seriously doubt they'd still be using the Narconon name if this were a for-profit.

According to the press release this weekend:

There are three Narconon corps in MI--Stone Hawk and Narc. MI are dissolved--why are they now promoting Narconon Michigan?
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_cor...&v_search=narconon&hiddenField=&search=Search

Listed as a non-profit in their 2010 annual report:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/image.asp?FILE_TYPE=WEB&FILE_NAME=D201105\2011144\E0954157.tif

The State of Michigan says that Narconon Freedom Center is licensed:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bhs_car/dt_sal.asp?BHS_LIC_NBR=130110

I just can't find those licenses.

I think there are two facilities, one, the old Stone Hawk compound and the second, the former Trillium Hospital in Battle Creek. Is it just a coincidence that both facilities have the same street address in two different towns? Everything about this place is suspicious.

Can't believe I've been researching this place for a couple of weeks now and still have no clue as to how the organization has evolved and switched hands.

Per's A Forever Recovery running out of old Narconon Stone Hawk Facility
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bhs_car/dt_sal.asp?BHS_LIC_NBR=130102

Old Stone Hawk address 1
http://www.faqs.org/tax-exempt/MI/Narconon-Stone-Hawk-Rehabilitation-Par-Wickstrom.html#b
OLD Stone Hawk address 2
http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/Battle Creek-MI/Narconon Stone Hawk Rehabilitation Center/15325

I feel like we need a US government web site that maintains accurate information about corporation filings and current corporate officers. It drives me crazy, trying to figure out if Joe Smith in Florida is the same Joe Smith in California running a company with the same name.

If we had access to a web site where all corporate info was maintained, people could do some reasonable due diligence on their own before going into business with someone.

Maybe a central registry of corporate information would have a down side. The only one I can think of right now, if someone got in trouble but then cleaned up their act, it might not be fair to have their old transgressions follow them forever. I think, however, people could still rebuild their reputations over time.

A lot of the corporate info is readily available through federal, state and local sites...at least in the case of most legit businesses.

In this particular case, the 990 tax forms they are required to file just end in 2008, there's no record of CARF certification unless they are using the old Stone Hawk one, the addresses, owners, officers, business names and facilities have flip-flopped numerous times over the last four years, and there is basically nothing current on The Narconon Freedom center other than that PR piece boasting of expansion.

If the subterfuge was intentional, it's working. In regards to the 990s, I'm not sure if the most current 990 form is require to be available to view by the general public by law. If it is, we are missing at least three of them now. The complaints we find online about this facility are numerous and to me, indicate that they are operating in full swing.

1. Where are their 990 tax forms?
2. Which facility are they running out of and who owns the property?
3. Where is the proof of certification to be able to operate a rehab and has it been maintained since 2008?
4. Is Narconon Int'l positioning this facility as their new flagship?
5. What role does Per Wickstrom play in Narconon and is his Best Drug Rehab affiliated with Narconon?
6. Why was the ending of Lost so stupid?!

All of those Narconons, except 70407Y NN Freedom Center, show as "Automatically Disolved" in their detail listing.

I did a search in NCCS just using search criteria 'Michigan' and NTEE code 'F20' (Substance abuse treatment, which is the NTEE code for most of the NN Int's) and got 55 results back. None of them were Narconon anything.

Also, there are only two West Erie Streets in MI, the one in Albion, the other in Rogers City. There is no West Erie St in Battle Creek. Interestingly enough, while researching that what did pop up was the "Freedom Center of Albion", with address 163 North Ave, Battle Creek MI. LARA's acting up at the moment, so can't see if there's any connection, e.g., officers, etc.

And I still really, really, wish LARA included EIN info.

BigBeard

On another thread, I'll search for it, I believe I had posted that Narconon Stone Hawk was still a viable corporation. Even more confusion with the similar names and different corporations. But through it all, I think they started with the EIN 38-XXX , switched to EIN 26-299061 and have used that one since. We just can't find anything new with that EIN:

• I believe they reopened their doors under an assumed name, The Freedom Center of Albion, AKA Narconon Freedom Center of Albion in April 2008 until December 2008. http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/results.asp?ID=770372&page_name=corp
• Narconon Freedom Center was incorporated 7-16-2008 and as of 2011, it is still a viable corp., John Walsher, President, Brian Kuehne, Secretary and Treasurer. I believe this was done to remove the Wickstroms from the Narconon-licensed corporation. EIN 26-2990691
• Stone Hawk, in January 2009, registered agent was changed to Per Wickstrom and still operated under the name Narconon Stone Hawk rehab. The Freedom Center (of Albion) was an interim identity.

LARA still acting up...

Narconon Stone Hawk dissolved in 2010, Narconon Freedom Center is still a viable corporation:
http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_cor...407Y&name_entity=NARCONON FREEDOM CENTER, INC.

HIPAA Dox, no EIN number, just NPI number 1790920809

http://www.hipaaspace.com/Medical_B..._Provider_Identifier/Codes/NPI_1790920809.pdf

Waiting for another link to load that lists "EIN Temporarily Suppressed"...

If they are not using the old EIN, haven't been given a new one (that we know of) can they be operating legally?
I don't think they are required to submit for a new EIN as they don't seem to fit the needs under:

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Do-You-Need-a-New-EIN?

Skipper, you've been a very, very busy little penguin! Your efforts are deeply appreciated!

Temporarily suppressed may have been the clue I needed. They may be operating under someone's Social Security number!
http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-...NationalProvIdentStand/DataDissemination.html

CMS must temporarily suppress the Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) of organization providers. CMS has discovered that some providers reported SSNs in the EIN field. We expect that this reporting was done primarily by incorporated individuals and sole proprietors who applied for NPIs as organizations. CMS does not want to risk the disclosure of any provider's SSN. CMS will undertake efforts to have this problem resolved.

Just smile and wave boys...smile and wave.

Not legal if they're operating as an IRS approved 'Exempt' organization. To file a 1023 for exempt status you MUST have an EIN. From the IRS web site:

BigBeard