Greater Carolina Nonprofit Faces Financial, Ethical Crisis

0:00It's April 24th. This is Durham News Today, driven by AI. Greater Carolina, that Moore's Bill non-profit pushing big on state issues, just file tax is showing its cash flow hit rock bottom. They pulled in only $26,500 in 2025, weighed down from $568,000 a year before, and $834,000 in 2023. Now they are sitting on $91,000 in credit card debt, and the group's website is even expired. Earlier this week, a grand jury hit four rally lobbyists with misdemeanor charges for funneling client money, including from booze companies, to cover a 2024 Kentucky bourbon tour for lawmakers. That move allegedly broke the state's gif ban. The lobbyists, Kevin Wilkinson, David Farrell, Douglass Bowen Heath, and Douglass Miskew all denied doing anything wrong. Workers on that trip, like former budget chief Jason Sain and Senator David Craven, did

1:00not report it on their economic interest forms. Greater Carolina skipped telling the Secretary of State's office about the tours in 2022 and 2024 too. These social welfare groups stayed mum on donors, letting interest bank role perks without names attached. The probe kicked off last year after a complaint from left-leaning Carolina Ford, accusing violations of lobbying and ethics rules. Ray County DA Lauren Freeman tapped the State Bureau of Investigation, and while the indictment dropped Tuesday, the full look into Greater Carolina rolls on. Tied tight to ex-legislators Sain, now a lobbyist himself, the group is fading fast amid all this heat, raising questions on how these outfits influence policy from the shadows.