Search warrant executed at church
Published 12:16 am Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Investigators from the Andalusia Police Department served a search warrant at Open Heaven Ministry on Beasley Street in Andalusia Tuesday, according to a press release from the district attorney’s office.
The search warrant was executed as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the activities of one individual, who has contact with the church, the statement said.. At the present time, no comment will be made as to the nature of the investigation except that the investigation has nothing to do with Open Heaven Ministry or any of the church’s activities, its board members or this individual’s relationship with the church.
Last October, The Star-News reported that the APD was investigating the 2012 sale of the former Coca-Cola building by the local non-profit Acts of Kindness Inc.
At the time, Paul Dean, now interim assistant police chief said a report was filed in October by a member of the board of directors after questions arose after the property’s sale in 2012, specifically, disbursal of the proceeds of that sale.
The Star-News obtained a copy of a letter to AOK Inc. President Dr. Steven Dohoney, who also is the pastor of Open Heaven Ministry, from local attorney and AOK Inc. board member Allen Woodard, questioning the $110,000 profit from the building’s sale that August. The letter was written in September, and Dohoney has not responded. Woodard has since filed a civil suit in the matter, asking that the proceeds of the sale be distributed to local charities.
Probate records show Dohoney and his wife purchased a house in the Ashley Pointe subdivision on Aug. 18, 2012, for $187,900. Records then show that AOK sold the Coca Cola plant on Aug. 24, 2012 for $110,000. No mortgage was filed with the Ashley Pointe sale, “which suggests (Dohoney) paid cash for the house,” Woodard wrote.
The Andalusia Police Department is being assisted in the investigation by the office of the District Attorney, according to the statement from the office.