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Rosado Vs. Sanchez, Resolved
posted (February 27, 2015)
Viewers may remember that back in July of 2014, the founding Directors of the Ariel Rosado Memorial Foundation ended up in litigation and an ugly public fight where one pair was accusing the other pair of financial mismanagement. That's an especially serious allegation since the foundation goes around soliciting funds in the form of donations, and to properly run their social programs, they have to keep the confidence of their donors that the money is being used for the purposes it was given.

That's what Bruce Sanchez Sr. and son, Bruce Jr., were accusing Dr. Alvaro Rosado and his wife of doing, and they sought to prove it by disclosing certain cheques which they found questionable. Dr. Rosado, his wife, and other board members held a press conference the next day in which they carefully explained every single money transaction that the Sanchez men were complaining about.

But, it has left a taint on the objective behind the formation of the foundation. It was created in memory of the Late Ariel Rosado, a prominent cyclist who was killed in a traffic accident in 2011. Its business is to provide worthy candidates an opportunity to finish their education.

Since then, the case has been making its way through the courts, and during that time, in order to keep the foundation's work going, the Board members were using another registered organization, the Ariel Rosado Education Foundation. That's another point of contention for the Sanchez's who say that Dr. Rosado was trying to circumvent the democracy of the board to make unilateral decisions. Dr. Rosado and the remaining board members say that because Bruce Jr and Sr. stopped giving their written approval for the disbursal of funds, the programs were in danger of failing, so they had to do something to keep the scholarships going.

Well, the litigation concluded today via a mediation session, and we spoke with the attorney for Dr. Rosado, who is also one of the board members. He explained the resolutions arrived at today:

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"The parties came to an agreement. Essentially what they agreed is that the money that is in the bank account that had been frozen for the past two years will be released to the institutions where the students are currently attending, so basically the high schools will be pre-paid for the next two years."

Reporter
"Can you tell us the amount of that money?"

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"I believe somewhere in the vicinity of $23,000."

Reporter
"Is this fair rule for you party?"

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"At the end of the day, the money is for the benefit of the students. It was never the position of the client, that the money would have been for their use. So, whether its paid in advance, or its paid as its due, it makes no difference to us."

Reporter
"How much damage has this litigation has done to the foundation?"

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"In terms of damage, I would not say that there has been much. I think a lot of people know the parties involved and know the situation well enough, to know exactly where fault lies."

Reporter
"What happens now?"

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"It's back to business for the foundation. The ride is set for April and we are in the planning stage right now to get that moving."

Reporter
"What happens to Mr. Sanchez and his son?"

Dean Molina - Attorney for Alvaro Rosado
"As a part of the settlement, the foundation name is still in the name of the Sanchez's and the Rosado's. The Rosado's have gone ahead and form a new foundation. So, the Sanchez's have access or they are able to use the foundation name. However, not without approval from the Rosado's, so I don't think that they can continue any way. The two names will exist."

The 2015 Ariel Rosado Ride to raise funds for the scholarship programs takes place next month.

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