Part 3SHOW US THE MONEYGreg Sirb has indicated that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been taken in by his

Part 3
SHOW US THE MONEY
Greg Sirb has let it be known that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been taken in by his "foundation", the PBAF. If that's the case, then where is all that money, and why hasn't he ever accounted for it?

Posted August 28, 2003

In the days leading up to an April 4, 2001 press conference in Pittsburgh, the Professional Boxers Assistance Foundation had a series of major announcements to make.

At the center of it all was the PBAF's sponsorship of a fund-raiser. Proceeds from a May 8 IBF lightweight title fight between Paul Spadafora and Joel Perez were to be earmarked for the fund Greg Sirb, the executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, had established, and was running out of his offices.

Apparently Kevin Gorman, writing for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, didn't get the facts completely straight from Sirb, because in the same April 5 story he referred to Sirb's organization as both the "Retired Boxers Pension Fund" and the "Pension Plan for Retired Boxers".

But Chuck Finder, writing for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, appeared to have much more of an opportunity to speak with Sirb about it, both on the phone and in person.

In his own April 5 piece, Finder called the Spadafora-Perez fight "the first charity event for a newly-formed boxers' retirement fund". Sirb chimed in. "This is for the down and needy boxer, the club fighter," he said.

The announcement carried with it more than its share of pomp and circumstance; in fact, Finder was informed that perhaps even Senator John McCain himself would attend the event in a show of support for PBAF.

"It's about time," said Sirb. "I hope in five or six years after this, it leads to an official pension system."

Mike Acri, the promoter of the fight, told Finder, "We raised money from other promoters who are contributing to the fund, individuals, TV networks, casinos." Acri says that was the case, as far as the information Sirb had relayed to him.

Finder's May 7, 2001 story, which ran in the Post-Gazette the day before the "benefit" show, contained the implication of a strong endorsement from Andy DePaul (a/k/a Andrew DePaolo), a member of the Pennsylvania commission, for Sirb to be named by McCain as head of a governmental body to regulate boxing.

It also told the brief tale of an ex-boxer named Art Swiden, who once fought Joe Louis in an exhibition, and who was living on $700 a month in Social Security income.

The story went on to say, "Tomorrow night, he (Swiden) figures to be watching a fight that raised some $375,000 - before ticket sales - to benefit retired boxers. The Spadafora-Joel Perez bout for the International Boxing Federation lightweight title and the rest of the I.C. Light Auditorium card has been fashioned as a televised fund-raiser for a new Professional Boxers' Assistance Foundation. Maybe somebody like Swiden could ultimately gain from such charitable fight nights."

Wait a minute. $375,000? What in the world was this writer talking about?

Well, Finder's story was specific in pointing out the tremendous progress Sirb's PBAF was making. And a remarkable revelation was contained therein. "Because there exists no boxers' union," Finder wrote, "Sirb said a retired boxers' fund seemed like the best solution. Promoters such as Bob Arum and various casinos have combined thus far to make $125,000 in tax-deductible contributions to the fund, which Prudential Securities manages at a reduced 1-percent fee. An anonymous businessman from Connecticut donated $250,000."

That money, along with receipts from the Spadafora-Perez fight, would surely have Sirb's fund, just four months removed from its incorporation, off to a flying start. And enough people would no doubt sufficiently impressed with the PBAF's striking success to jump on board with donations.

But none of this charitable income has ever been accounted for by Sirb.

In a report he made available to members of the ABC on October 24, 2002, Sirb listed a total of just $6700 in donations to the PBAF, including the $5000 he was given by Lou DiBella on May 7, 2001 - the day before the "benefit" fight. And in a recent story he "placed" on a website called "Fightnews", shortly after we commenced this investigation, Sirb claimed the fund has "around $6000".

All of this begs the obvious question - where is the $375,000, and what did Sirb do with it?

Finder, who has a reputation as a capable reporter, certainly didn't pull the figure of $375,000 out of thin air.

We were unable to reach Bob Arum directly, though in response to our inquiry, Top Rank spokesman Lee Samuels told us, "Bob said he didn't give any money to that fund, and isn't even familiar with it."

Acri says he doesn't specifically recall mentioning Arum's name to Finder, and most definitely did not discuss any money figures. "I didn't know any figures," he said. "Why would I tell him (Finder) about it?"

Asked whether Sirb had given him the information about the "anonymous businessman" from Connecticut who gave $250,000, Finder indicated that was his recollection.

"Let's put it this way," said Finder, who had, in his words, 'several' conversations with Sirb, "There weren't too many sources on that story."

If there were indeed any inaccuracies in Finder's piece, Sirb never made the effort to contact Finder in order to correct them, not even on-site at the Spadafora-Perez fight, the day after the PBAF's "monster donations" were revealed.

So once again, where is the $375,000?

Our attempts to interview Sirb on the record, not to mention our efforts to obtain any documentation whatsoever regarding the PBAF, have gone ignored. But then, you knew that already.

Inasmuch as Sirb now claims that his PBAF is a legitimate 501(c)3 non-profit corporation, exempt from filing for a Letter of Determination on the basis that he hadn't taken in enough money, the non-disclosure of $375,000 in contributions is significant, because if these funds do exist, he'd be disqualified from any exceptions, and such a disqualification would be retroactive.

The Internal Revenue Service is known to keep an eye out for organizations who make exorbitant claims or previously undisclosed revelations about their income through the media, especially those claiming exceptions from various IRS regulations.

"I think it's safe to say that's a red flag," said one IRS spokesperson.

With more than $375,000 in receipts, Sirb's PBAF would also have been required to register itself as a certified charitable organization with the state of Pennsylvania. As of the start of this investigation, no such status had been attained.

And certainly the "anonymous businessman" from Connecticut who gave Sirb the $250,000, not to mention the casinos alleged to have contributed to the fund, would be nonplussed to discover that those donations were not tax-deductible, since, as it turned out, Sirb would not have filed the Form 1023 to establish 501(c)3 status in a timely fashion.

How about the potential recipients, who would see that the PBAF will have given .18% of its proceeds to actually helping fighters? That's not EIGHTEEN percent, ladies and gentlemen. That's less than ONE-FIFTH of ONE PERCENT.

Yes, Greg Sirb has a whole lot of explaining to do.

And thus far he has refused to make that explanation available to us.

Perhaps the IRS and the Fraud Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, not to mention his own state's Attorney General, Auditor General, Secretary of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations, and Ethics Commission will have better luck getting answers out of him.

So what exactly happened with Sirb's big "fund-raiser"?

Stay tuned. You simply won't believe it.

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