Month: December 2013

How much money did John Paschall steal, and why won’t Greg Abbott do anything about it?

For more than two years now, I have urged Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to intervene in a lawsuit against a district attorney (now former district attorney) who allegedly stole a small fortune from an elderly lady and her estate. John Paschall was the colorful (i.e., racist, alcoholic, obnoxious, and derelict) district attorney of Robertson County until he was defeated in 2012, and he still serves as executor of the estate of Marium Oscar, who was the last survivor of the Jewish community in Calvert when she died in 2004. You may recall that Paschall asked a judge for a restraining order to keep me blogging about the Oscar estate during his reelection campaign (the judge refused the request).

John C. Paschall

John C. Paschall

A lot has happened since then, including a recent decision by the Texas Rangers to open a criminal investigation of Paschall’s handling of the Oscar estate. But none of that is any thanks to Abbott. According to the Texas Supreme Court, “it is the certain duty of the Attorney General to invoke the powers inherent in our courts to prevent an abuse of a charitable trust…” Lokey v. Texas Methodist Foundation, 479 S.W.2d 260, 265 (Tex. 1972), but for two years Abbott has done nothing.

Ms. Oscar’s will bequeathed her entire estate to a trust, and in a July 5, 2011 letter to Abbott, I warned of my suspicion that Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. I could not confirm that at the time, however, because Paschall refused to release a copy of the trust agreement.

My clients and I fought Paschall all the way to the Court of Appeals, and a February 7, 2013 opinion from that court finally forced him to release a copy of the trust agreement. Sure enough, Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. According to the trust agreement, Ms. Oscar’s money and property were to be used to create a museum in a building that Ms. Oscar owned in downtown Calvert. One problem was immediately obvious: Paschall had already sold the building, and he did not (and does not) want to explain what he did with the money.  … Read more

Is George P. Bush padding his resume?

In his campaign for Texas Land Commissioner, George P. Bush (son of Jeb, nephew of George W., and grandson of George H.W.) claims that he is a businessman, touting the fact that he is a founder of St. Augustine Partners in Fort Worth. But what, exactly, is St. Augustine Partners?

Bush business addressAccording to the certificate of formation filed with the Texas Secretary of State, St. Augustine Partners is a limited liability company that was formed in 2007. As of a May 13, 2013 change-of-address report filed with the secretary of state, its business address is East 4th Street, Suite 201, Fort Worth, Texas. On the left is a photograph of the office directory posted in the lobby of 604 East 4th Street. As you can see, Penrose Group and Rosenthal Investments are located in Suite 201, but the directory says nothing about St. Augustine Partners.

Prior to May 13, 2013, company filings listed 4062 Bunting Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas as the “business” address. I found a picture (right) of that address on Zillow.com, and it appears to be someone’s home, perhaps Bush’s 4062 Bunting Avenuehome. [UPDATE@4:30p.m. on 12/2/13: My cousin and fellow muckraker Don Mullins got on the Tarrant Appraisal District website and found this appraisal record confirming that it is George P. Bush’s home]. Better yet is the company website, which basically says nothing: name, address, phone number, and e-mail. That’s it. I’ve attached a frozen copy of it here, lest someone rush to change it. Based on the publicly available evidence, St. Augustine Partners looks like a shell company created on paper to make it appear that Bush (1) has a job and (2) has business experience.

After the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a puff piece on June 26, 2013 about George P., I sent the reporter and an editor a copy of the lobby photograph (above), but I never got a response. (I don’t know the reporter, Anna Tinsley, but her story reads like a campaign press release.) I’ve since sent the photograph to several journalists, but thus far nobody is asking any questions. Why not? Would it really be that hard for a reporter to call the number on the website and ask what St. Augustine does, how many employees it has, who its customers are, or how much business it does annually? Is it a real business, or is it just a holding company for the Bush family’s assets? … Read more