In settlement, Angel Food agrees to make changes

A lawsuit by two dissident board members against Angel Food Ministries concluded Friday with an exchange of money and promises to correct the corporate behaviors that got the board members' attention.

Both sides seemed pleased with the resolution.

"I'm glad it's over. Now we can move ahead," said Juda Engelmayer, an Angel Food spokesman.

David "Tony" Prather of Walton County, a former company executive and one of the suing board members, said he thinks the suit accomplished what it set out to do, to expose and correct bad behaviors at the nonprofit, which sells $140 million of cut-rate food through churches a year.

As part of the agreement to drop the suit, Prather will walk away from his position with $142,500 in salary, and the other board member and former CEO Craig Atnip of Texas will get $350,000.

Their suit, filed in February, alleged Angel Food founder Joe Wingo, his wife, Linda, and sons Andy and Wes enriched themselves through their deals with the company, such as buying more than $800,000 worth of personal items on company credit cards.

Company officials said the suit was a power and money grab.

The agreement should answer questions about management practices.

The nonprofit must complete a forensic audit; company credit cards used by the Wingos must be canceled; a jet owned by Joe Wingo and leased to Angel Food at a $10,000 a month profit mus be turned over to the company; Wingo's son Andy is barred from ever doing business with the nonprofit again, and Angel Food must pay $45,000 in Atnip's and Prather's legal fees.

An FBI investigation into the company continues. Prather and Atnip talked to authorities about the problems they perceived at the company. The FBI seized documents from Angel Food in February.

Engelmayer said he has heard nothing from the FBI recently.

The organizational changes proposed by the agreement were under