Are the suppliers for all WT materials, kingdomhall materials, etc, possibly owned by those in the organization?

by EndofMysteries 13 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  EndofMysteries

  I wonder if the supplying companies for kingdomhall chairs, materials, etc, happen to be owned by ones with ties to the JWs? They'd be making millions!

  Like the US government, politicans can't just take tax money, but if they own companies that tax money goes to, then that's how you discover the true motives.

  So the real question is for the most purchased things, paper for printing WT's, etc, the identical chairs used in all kingdomhalls, etc, those who the WT write out checks for that are not part of the organization, what companies are those and who owns them? Has this ever been checked out?

  I bet somewhere there is a money trail.
• 

  solomon

  I've often wondered that too. The ones on the RBC that own equipment that they rent to the congregations to do the overpriced renovations
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  I have wondered also.

  WatchTower has to own businesses for profit that we little fish, are not even aware of.

  Paper. Who do they buy it from? Themselves? lol

  The chairs? Somebodies Brother-in-law? lol

  Not everyone down the food chain, from Crooklyn, signed a poverty document.

  To diversify and have lawyers and accountants and successful business men handle the "non-religious" side of business ,

  makes good business sense to them.

  Crooklyn skims off, say 20 -30 % profit for them, and they are happy and have made loyal brother's rich in the process.

  Crooklyn is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY...

  They use Christianity and the Religious card, to run their tax free BUSINESS. lol

  LoisLane
• 

  konceptual99

  In the UK there are several suppliers to RBC run projects that are Witness owned. I know of no open procurement policy where tenders are issued, responses evaluated and contacts awarded, let alone having contracts reviewed, deliverables benchmarked and assessed or other types of standard practice applied. I am happy to be corrected by those closer to the decision making process but I've worked on many projects and seen no evidence of any kind of transparency.

  There is of course an economy of scale that can be applied by using a small pool of suppliers but top priority has to be value for money for those in the congregation that have donated their money. Unless the procurement is properly organised and performance reviewed then how can the RBC be sure that they are getting the best products at the best price?
• 

  LoisLane looking for Superman

  Who makes the "Rolly Carts" to supply to WatchTower to sell?

  Has anyone been up close enough to them to see a manufacture's sticker?

  LoisLane
• 

  EndofMysteries

  Thanks for the comments so far.

  I think getting this line of thought investigated would expose the 'money/greed' aspect of the organization and if there is more to this then merely a power trip/delusional GB.

  The push for renovations, building new kingdomhalls, etc. The organization doesn't help it's own financially in any way. But they do do relief work, which equals to supplies and things built, which can be paid to companies.

  Each year, the hundreds of millions of dollars, if any had access to a database of who gets paid what, which companies, etc, then we could look in to who owns the companies. I wouldn't be surprised to see quite a few millionaires being made.
• 

  hoser

  I've been involved in several sound system upgrades and I know that we are pretty much forced to go though some brothers in central canada for the mixing boards and the williams transmitters/receivers even though it would be cheaper sourcing them elsewhere

  hoser
• 

  Tech49

  I know that in the area where I live on the West Coast, most, if not all of the "vendors" for the RBC items are "brothers". Not directly WT owned companies, mind you.

  For example: Chairs (if needed) are usually outsourced, but specifically upholstery work done by a JW owned company. Decorations, done by a JW firm. Woodwork (podium/lecturn, bulletin board), JW oufit. Bathroom fittings (toilets, urinals, sinks, dividers, water fountains, towel and soap dispensers, etc etc) provided by a JW business. Catering/food service, JW firm.

  I worked for the RBC in accounting, and have seen the invoices from the JW firms for these products and supplies. Obviously installation labor is provided free of charge, but the JW Firms that provide the items still get paid handsomely to either provide them, or make them (like the podiums, info boards, cabinets, etc). The prices they are charging back to the RBC, and ultimately the congregation, are NOT bargain prices. Typically, they are equal to or greater than normal everyday pricing points. I was a little flabbergasted at what some of the "brothers" were charging for stupid stuff like "wall decor", and "bathroom cabinets". NONE OF THEM do it for cost. ALL OF THEM tack on a nice tidy percentage for profit.

  There is no "bidding" process, or contracts issued, like a typical, normal commercial entity. It goes purely off the Good-Ole-Boy system. Its all in who you know.

  Kind of like the used/turned in Circuit Oveers auto sales business that charges above KBB prices. Nice way to take advantage of one another.

  Reminds me of government spending... Other People's Money.
• 

  EndofMysteries

  Thank you all for confirming what some of us didn't know for sure. Keep it coming for others reading who know as well.

  I'm sure the GB, and those who can't have their names tied to anything are probably silent partners in many of these companies as well.

  I think all those who are part of the skimming off the top and financially benefitting are probably the biggest defenders of the FDS, and if most of them are the ones in higher positions, they won't be waking up anytime soon. The whole "don't bite the hand that feeds you".
• 

  NeverKnew

  Why not? Charles Taze Russell owned the printing company that printed the materials he wrote and then stated that the WTS itself made no money...

  According to page 42 of the 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, all materials were printed and bound by Russell's privately owned Tower Publishing Company for an agreed price, then distributed by "colporteurs" (persons who travel to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.).

  In the January 1891 edition of Zion's Watchtower, Russell stated,

  "The Society owns nothing, has nothing, pays no salaries, no rent, or other expenses. Its policy is to use in the work every dollar received, to the best advantage, and as speedily as possible. Its success in publishing and circulating among the right kind of readers, tons of the Old Theology Tracts, is phenomenal alike to its friends and its enemies. The latter imagine that there must be great wealth connected with the concern, whereas really there is very little.--Few of the friends of this cause do, or are able to do, much financially; but what money there is, under economy and the divine blessing, is like the widow's cruse of oil: it accomplishes about a hundred times as much as other Tract Societies, which spend most of their receipts upon salaries."