The Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) was a Southern Baptist charity, which executed an affinity fraud on unwitting worshippers in the Southern Baptist community in Arizona, leading to the largest collapse of a religious financial institution in U.S. history. The BFA was associated with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, which was affiliated with the national organization. When the BFA filed for bankruptcy in 1999, it had $530 million in liabilities as compared to a reported $70 million in assets. History The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1928. In 1948, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona was founded in 1948 and initially sought to provide a financial revenue for participants while supporting Baptist-motivated causes. In 1962, Pastor Glen Crotts became the organization's first president. Under his leadership, the organization held strict moral values, including its officers being forbidden to gamble or drink alcohol. Twenty years later, Glen Crotts' son, William Pierre "Bill" Crotts, became the organization's second president. The BFA consistently sold the concept that its main objective was to help its investors serve the work of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, while also providing them with favorable returns, as stated in a BFA investor brochure: 1999 Bankruptcy The Baptist Foundation of Arizona declared bankruptcy in 1999, citing $530 million in liabilities against $70 million in assets. The collapse of the BFA did not occur in a vacuum. In 1992, records indicated that the company had lost $3.2 million due to questionable transactions. The Reverend Ed Shaw suggested that the BFA "Explain the situation completely to investors; ask their forgiveness; let them know their gift of principal would help if they choose to give some or all of it." Instead the BFA decided to hide its debt and began a series of dubious activities. Under Bill Crotts, the organization diverted over $140 million to two former and one active (as of 1998) director. The organization did this through the use of over 63 different public and private organizations all directly affiliated with the BFA. Each of these related companies had Bill Crotts and the BFA's chief attorney, Tom Grabinski, on their board. Grabinski signed documents as an officer for both BFA and a subsidiary. When asked if a conflict of interest existed, the BFA indicated that both parties "had waived any conflicts of interest." Since he was working for both companies, Grabinski was able to authorize questionable transactions. For example,