100 Huntley Street Mainse hosts not going back on-air anytime soon

ChristianWeek has an interview with Reynold Mainse, who along with brother Ron were removed from the show 100 Huntley Street earlier this year. 100 Huntley Street hosts still lying low:

“I think the board is very very cautious,” Reynold Mainse said when ChristianWeek asked him if he expects to be back on the show anytime soon. “I don’t know and I’m not that anxious about it.”

Crossroads Christian Communications pulled the Mainse brothers—sons of founder David Mainse—from the show in May after the Hamilton Spectatorbroke the news that Gordon Driver and his company Axcess Automation were accused in a California court of running a $16 million dollar Ponzi scheme. Driver told the court that the Mainse brothers had invested money with him and brought him new investors.

Driver and his company are facing a criminal investigation by California state attorney’s office and accusations of investor fraud from the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission.

Crossroads CEO Doug McKenzie told Marantha News in June that the management and board became aware of OSC investigation into the Mainse involvement in April. 
This is the second time Reynold Mainse has spoken publicly about being a victim of the alleged ponzi scheme.  There has been no indication if his wife Kathy will resume her position as a 100 Huntley Street host.

Mainse says his first inkling that something was awry came on May 15. He says he was “shocked” when he read a report from the SEC and in the newspaper that Driver was facing charges.

“Even when we met with the Ontario Securities Commission, we still believed in our heart that somehow this is all good, that the questions will be answered, Gord will be cleared and we can move on with something that we thought was good,” says Mainse.

The Mainse brothers are not facing charges, and Crossroads says no ministry funds were invested with Driver.

Ron Mainse says he won’t comment at present, but that he’s preparing to release his own public statement.

Reynold Mainse has admitted he drew in 15 of the 100+ investors in Axcess Automation/Funds. The majority of  Axcess investors are Canadian, (SEC/CRTC investigators believe approximately 15 were from the US), many have experienced significant loss, and many because of their trust of the show hosts.

There is no word on how many investors became involved because of Ron Mainse recommendations.
Mainse cousin David Rutledge left his position as Director of Ministries for Crossroads (2007?) to work for Gordon Driver/Axcess and has been named in the OSC order released in May. Rutledge was not licenced in the financial industry. His profile was not pulled from the Crossroads webpages until this summer.
It appears the Canadian Council of Christian Charities has no issue with Crossroads employees being named as finders for Axcess Automation/Funds. The Canadian Council of Christian Charities have released their statement (August 24/09) which is now on the corporate page of Crossroads Christian Communications.

“They’ve gone through a good process,” says John Pellowe, CEO of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities, of which Crossroads is a member. “We had full access to everything we wanted to see. It was quite extensive. They have not acted in an arbitrary manner, they have done their due diligence, they have looked at it very carefully, they have consulted externally.”

Crossroads Christian Communications Inc. is reaching it’s financial year end.  Father David Mainse and Ron Mainse wife Ann have been hosting the donor drive, indicating on-air that the show needed to make up a 20% shortfall for it’s planned requirements. The board of Crossroads has not said if Ron, who is president of Crossroads, and Reynold, who is VP of Missions, have been receiving their salaries from the charity while they have been off-air.

 

David Mainse, who came out of retirement to host 100 Huntley during some of the summer months accused media of gossip. According to Canadian Christianity, Lorne Jackson, President of  Canadian National Christian Foundation says both Ron and Reynold Mainse had previously taken a course designed to help ministry leaders make wise financial decision.  Crossroads CEO Doug McKenzie does not explain to ChristianWeek what is involved in the restorative process the hosts of 100 Huntley are said to be going though.

 

But Crossroads CEO Doug Mckenzie says the Mainse brothers won’t be back on the show until they’ve completed a “restorative” process outlined by the Crossroads board.

“Obviously we’re praying about this, we’re looking for restoration, we’re anticipating that,” says Mckenzie. “We don’t have anything else we can say about it at this time—they’re working through those issues.”

Though the organization’s day-to-day operations are “secure” and there are “no prospects of going under,” according to Mckenzie, this issue has contributed to a financially difficult year.

ChristianWeek also confirms earlier information here at BDBO that Gordon Driver, a former short time employee with Crossroads, moved into the Mainse brothers neighbourhood. That time frame is when the SEC says the alleged  Driver/Axcess ponzi scheme expanded.

Last week a motion to release seized funds was denied in the US civil case, no date has been set for a re-appearance. This is the second time Driver has requested funds believed to belong to investors be released for his defense.  Rumours are Mr. Driver has 45 days to comply with court orders. His current lawyer in the civil case indicated he will not continue defending Mr. Driver/Axcess unless the court released the money.
Mr. Driver has been assigned a public defender for the current criminal investigation.

According to the complaint, Mr. Driver initially solicited friends, neighbours and business acquaintances to invest in Axcess. The SEC alleges that his scheme flourished in mid-2007 when he recruited leaders of an Ontario Christian television ministry where he had worked in the 1970s. “Close relatives of the television ministry’s founder invested in Axcess and became finders or ‘point persons’ for Axcess,” the complaint states. The SEC says these finders solicited new investors, mostly friends and family, to participate in the scheme. For their efforts, the finders were allegedly offered a 5-per-cent commission.

Prior coverage of 100 Huntley Street, The Mainse Brothers, David Rutledge, the Crossroads Board, the Gordon Driver case, media and blog coverage can be found by typing your search in the sidebar to the right.
The timeline I’ve put together provides documents, events and statements.
There are also posts for investors, who as this ministry makes it’s decisions and the US civil case and criminal investigation unfolds; are the silent victims.