Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that he reached a settlement with Pelican Rapids-based nonprofit organization, Dan Ottoson Ministries, Inc., after uncovering evidence that the organization engaged in conflicted transactions and self-interested lending. The settlement requires Dan Ottoson Ministries to repay $238,000 in self-dealing loans and change governance deficiencies that allowed the improper loans to occur.
“Charities are supposed to benefit the public—not their leaders and family members,” Attorney General Ellison said. “Every charity should have a functional, independent board to make sure assets are used for the greater good and to prevent conduct like this from happening in the first place. While I am disappointed to see charitable assets misused in such a way, I am pleased to have secured a settlement that recovers those misused assets and strengthens governance and oversight at Dan Ottoson Ministries.”