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A special fiduciary was appointed by a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge on August 8 to oversee and audit the Mabel Amos Memorial Trust Fund.

Circuit Judge Greg Griffin appointed James C. White Sr., an accountant from Birmingham, to oversee the trust fund while the court decides if Regions Financial will be allowed to stay on as the trust’s manager.

The order restarts an investigation of the trust that was halted in June by the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled that the lower court ‘exceeded its discretion’ by sending the case to a special master.

In the latest court order, White is given 90 days to review trust records and conduct an audit, ultimately deciding whether trustee fees collected by Regions constitute a ‘breach of trust.’

The action is the result of litigation filed by members of the Amos family. Mabel Amos, Alabama’s first female secretary of state, died in 1999 leaving a trust fund to be used for scholarships.

Among the claims in the lawsuit is that Regions charged exorbitant fees and steered scholarship money to trust board members. The plaintiffs in the case claim Regions’ fees greatly increased after oil was found on Amos’s Conecuh County property. Prior to that, only natural gas was known to be on the property. The suit claims that in 2010, Regions charged about $7,000 for five hours of work each week. The next year, the same five hours cost $92,736.

The lawsuit also claims that trustees benefitted personally by awarding scholarships to children of trust board members, including those attending ‘expensive, out-of-state’ schools. The scholarship fund is said to require that recipients be in financial need and that they attend Alabama colleges or universities.

According to Judge Griffin’s order, tax filings show that Alabama Ethics Commission Executive Director Tom Albritton allegedly received $135,000 from the trust while he was a trustee, which the judge said “violated the Trust’s prohibition on private inurement and self-dealing on the part of the trustees.” Griffin’s order also stated that children and grandchildren of staff of the trustees’ law firm, the child of a former partner and judge, and children of wealthy clients of the law firm, received scholarship money.

Judge Griffin also stated in the order that the amount of money received by those associated with the trustees is “not currently ascertainable.”

The lawsuit seeks to remove Regions Bank as the trustee and current board members, as well as restore “misappropriated” funds.

In July, Deputy Alabama Attorney General Allen Dodd told the Montgomery County Circuit Court that a settlement had been reached in the case. That settlement would have to be approved by Judge Griffin to end the litigation. In his order, Griffin said he would decide on whether to approve the settlement upon the completion of the special fiduciary’s 90-day review.

— Editor’s Note: To see Judge Griffin’s order, click here.