ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A businessman who sprinkled the nation with gum and candy machines that raised money for the March of Dimes was allowed to keep $2 million that should have gone to the charity after he ran into financial problems in 1991.
Michael L. Curtis agreed to repay the money - due from 1991 candy and gumball sales - over 20 years but has made only one payment so far, the charity says. In 1995, the agency revoked his license to use the March of Dimes name and symbol.
Because Curtis also served on the charity's board of trustees while still owing the money, a watchdog group said Monday it is taking a close look at the arrangement. He has since resigned.
``It appears to us to be an interest-free loan,'' said Dan Langan, a spokesman for the National Charities Information Bureau in New York.
Federal law requires charities to disclose any loans or extensions of credit to trustees or their businesses, but the charity's 1994 and 1995 federal tax returns list the money due from Curtis as a pledge or receivable contribution, The New York Times reported Monday.
The March of Dimes said Monday from its headquarters in White Plains, N.Y., that it ``is very serious about recouping all sums due to it'' from Curtis' company, Curtis Products of suburban Alpharetta, Ga.
Spokeswoman Sheila Jack said the charity has ``repeatedly communicated'' with Georgia state officials and ``we will continue to pursue whatever reasonable courses of action are available.''
Some of the details of the charity's dealings with Curtis have emerged from a lawsuit Curtis filed two years ago against a business associate he claims sought to undermine his credibility with the March of Dimes.
From 1980 to 1995, Curtis operated gum and candy machines bearing a sticker declaring that a portion of the money would go to the March of Dimes.
The charity got 10 percent of the take, or $15 million over the 15-year period, for its work to prevent birth defects and infant mortality.
The charity is the nation's 38th-largest, and Curtis quickly became its biggest single source of funds.
But in 1991, March of Dimes President Jennifer Howse said in a deposition, Curtis asked for her permission to keep $1.7 million due the charity from that year's sales so he could expand the candy program and cover pressing business expenses.
``He asked for an extension of time and said very clearly, looking me right in the eye, `I will pay you every dime that is owed from the Curtis contract, and you have my word of honor,''' she said in the deposition.
Curtis could not be reached for comment Monday.
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