NCED Suing Former CEO For $30 Million
EL PASO, TX. – The problems continue for the formerpresident and CEO of the National Center for the Employment of the Disabled(NCED), now known as Ready One Industries.
Former president andCEO Bob Jones is being sued by his former employer for upwards of $30 million.
The lawsuit was filed Monday morning at the El Paso County Courthouse. It alleges that Mr. Jones, who built the formerNCED from a small bankrupt company into a multi-million dollar operation, used millions of the not-for-profit corporation’s profits for personal use.
Jones resigned NCED, in March,just as the government investigated possible violations of the Javits, Wagner, O’Day program, which issues no-bid contracts to companies who employ severely disabled workers.
At that time, former Mayor Joe Wardy took over the company for Mr. Jones. Wardy, along with Ready One spokesman Marc Schwartz and the company’s attorney, E. Link Beck, declined comment Wednesday on the lawsuit.
ABC-7 obtained a copy of the lawsuit that allegesMr. Jones had the company pay all compensation to him to the Jones Family Trust.
Jones received 2% of the gross sales and an additional 5% of net equity growth — which came up to a half a million dollars a month or $6 million a year by 2005.
According to the documents, Mr. Jones is accused of having the company use funds that should have gone to charity or for educational purposes to acquire interest in various other companies.
Jones is also accused of not paying back a $1.5 million salary overpayment in October of 2004
Additionally, court documents show Ester Carrion Jones filed for divorce on May 10th. Mr. Jones was immediately restrained from selling any property by the court.
The injunction was an attempt by Ready One to stop divorce proceedings in order to ensure that the money that it seeks in its lawsuitagainst Mr.Jones remains in tact until it can be resolved.
However on May 11, Jones reportedly sold three downtown buildings; the Luther Building, the Blue Flame Building and the Mills Building, which he bought for three million dollars.
The selling prices were never disclosed.
