Deal to end suit against Angel Food Ministries falls apart

Two sides battling for control of Georgia’s $140-million Angel Food Ministries are blaming each other for the collapse of an agreement that would have ended the controversy at the troubled nonprofit.

Once more, money is at the heart of the issue.

The two break-away board members at odds with the nonprofit, Craig Atnip of Texas and David “Tony” Prather of Monroe, alleged in a lawsuit March 5 that Joe Wingo and his family, enriched themselves at Angel Food’s expense.

The two men agreed to drop their suit after a court-supervised verbal agreement was negotiated. They agreed to leave the nonprofit, and financial controls were put in place on the Wingo family, founders of Angel Food Ministries. The judge asked the two parties to put their agreement in writing.

Juda Engelmayer, spokesman for Angel Food, said there was no discussion in court about severance payments for Atnip and Prather, or payment of their legal fees. Those issues came up in subsequent meetings between attorneys.

“They were asking for things that were not in the agreement,” Englemayer said.

The amounts they asked for are not confirmed.

Angel Food wants to bring the issue back before Walton County Superior Court, Engelmayer said.

Atnip said in a written statement issued Friday: “We are saddened to see that Joe Wingo and Angel Food have withdrawn their agreement.”

Neither Atnip nor his lawyer could be reached Monday morning to confirm details of why the agreement fell apart.

His statement said they might seek to move forward with their suit.

Atnip and Prather sued Angel Food, which sells food at heavy discount, alleging that founder Joe Wingo, his wife and two sons paid themselves millions in salaries over several years, bought personal items on company credit cards, took personal loans from Angel Food and that Andy Wingo took kickbacks from food vendors.

They asked a judge to appoint overseers for the nonprofit until the suit was settled. In court, the two sides agreed to put the suit on hold while a forensic audit and other controls were put in place, such as taking away the Wingos’ credit cards.

The suit was the latest in a string of bad news for Angel Food. The FBI launched an investigation of financial wrong-doing in February, but has not named suspects.

Angel Food is also facing three federal lawsuits, alleging Andy Wingo sexually harassed a former employee, that Angel Food fired employees for not attending a church the Wingos pastor, and for firing an employee for reporting sexual harassment of at least four women.