Philanthropy Bankruptcy Extends to O.C.

Philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller, $11.3 million; potato chip entrepreneur Jim Herr, $10.8 million; Orange County builder Peter Ochs, $3.2 million.

Who’s who in the business world turned into who’s missing millions Thursday in the wake of a bankruptcy declaration by the Foundation of New Era Philanthropy, which is accused of running a Ponzi scheme with a philanthropic appeal.

The organization filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, claiming $80 million in assets and $551 million in liabilities.

State Atty. Gen. Ernie Preate accuses New Era of paying yesterday’s creditors with today’s donations.

New Era solicited money from museums, universities and other charities by promising to double their money in six months with matching contributions from anonymous donors. New Era would keep only the interest earned during the search.

Founder John G. Bennett Jr. also used the lure of anonymous donors to get philanthropists to deposit money with New Era with the promise it would double and then be passed on to the charity of their choice. Lawyers for the foundation say Bennett admits that there are no anonymous donors.

The court released two lists: one of the 20 charities and the 20 individuals who lost the most money; the other of all 315 creditors. Only the short list included loss estimates: $136.9 million for the charities and $136.2 million for the individuals.

Orange County philanthropists on the list are Ochs, artist Dave Chapple of Irvine and Don Modglin of Huntington Beach. How much they donated wasn’t immediately known, and they could not be reached Thursday for comment.

The top individual loser was the Rev. Glenn Blossom of the Chelten Baptist Church in Dresher, Pa., at $27.5 million; the top loser among charities was Lancaster Bible College in Pennsylvania at $16.9 million.

Foundation lawyer Neal Colton argued that the books and records were disorganized and may be incomplete or inaccurate. A lawyer representing Rockefeller joined Colton on the losing side.

At least seven individuals or representatives of charities told the Associated Press that the amount cited in the documents was grossly exaggerated.

The judge froze $20 million in foundation assets at the request of Prudential Securities, which sued May 12 to recover a $44-million unpaid loan.

The state on Wednesday won a court order freezing all New Era’s assets in Pennsylvania.