Angel Food Ministries sued; kickbacks, sweetheart deals alleged

A lawsuit filed in Walton County Superior Court alleges that the founders of Angel Food Ministries used the nonprofit to enrich themselves through sweetheart deals, kickbacks from food vendors and by rerouting money to themselves through their church.

The suit filed Wednesday afternoon by two board members of Angel Food Ministries, Craig Atnip of Texas and David Prather of Georgia, asks a judge to bar Joe and Linda Wingo and their sons, Andy and Wesley, from the premises of the nonprofit near Monroe and to protect the assets of the ministry.

The Wingo family runs the $100 million Angel Food Ministries, which they began in 1994 and whose purpose is to help feed the poor. More than 200 metro Atlanta area churches participate in the food program.

“We have taken this action in an effort to preserve and protect Angel Food Ministries, a national food charity,” Atnip said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.

The FBI raided the offices of the ministry earlier this month. The agency declined to say what it was looking for, but the suit said that Atnip and Prather talked to agents and a federal prosecutor from the Middle District of Georgia. The two testified before a federal grand jury about the Wingos, who have hired criminal defense attorneys with Angel Food money, the suit says.

The suit alleges the Wingo’s enriched themselves by at least $2.7 million. It includes $600,000 the Wingos directed from Angel Food to their church, which was given to the Wingos for a “housing allowance.”

The suit claims that Andy Wingo, who was the food buyer for Angel Food Ministries, took kickbacks from food buyers, and that other family members knew about it.

The suit also says that Joe Wingo set up a North Carolina corporation to buy a personal jet, then leased the jet to Angel Food Ministries for a profit of $10,000 a month.

The suit further alleges that the Wingos spent more than $850,000 for personal goods using Angel Food credit cards.

Juda Engelmayer, a spokesman for Angel Food, said “the allegations are false.” He said he wanted to review the suit and talk to others before making further comment.

The Wingos could not be reached for comment.

A security officer at Angel Food Ministries offices said the Wingos were not there.