Minnesota Attorney General Settles with St. Cloud Nonprofit Over Governance Issues

(KNSI) — The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office announced a settlement Thursday with the Central Minnesota Community Empowerment Organization.

The CMCEO is a nonprofit organization that supports immigrant and refugee communities in St. Cloud. Incorporated in 2015, its programs include after-school activities, job training, housing support, advocacy, and business development.

An investigation uncovered governance issues, including transactions involving the nonprofit’s leaders and family members without proper board approval. Investigators also identified areas requiring improvement, such as financial controls, board procedures, contractor designations, and compliance with registration requirements.

The organization has received over $1.4 million in contributions and grants as of 2022.

As part of the settlement, CMCEO has agreed to an Assurance of Discontinuance, which acknowledges CMCEO’s cooperation and voluntary steps to address the issues.

According to the Assurance of Discontinuance, operators of CMCEO agreed to stop payments to those who are not qualified to receive them, evaluate and potentially restrict financial responsibilities currently assigned to contractors, employees, and officers, and have the board review and approve all officer and director compensation and contracts involving conflicts of interest. The board must have full access to accounting and asset information to make better financial decisions, clearly define officers responsible for the president and treasurer roles and require directors and officers to complete training on their legal duties.

A compliance report must be submitted to the Attorney General’s office one year after the court approves the discontinuance.

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