FBI Launches Probe Of Cancer Center

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation search motor coaches at Situs Cancer Research Center Thursday on Poplar Street in Rogers. They removed office and medical equipment from the vehicles.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation search motor coaches at Situs Cancer Research Center Thursday on Poplar Street in Rogers. They removed office and medical equipment from the vehicles.

Friday, June 28, 2013

ROGERS — Ted Van Sickle said Thursday he expected federal agents at his southwest Rogers home after he learned the Federal Bureau of Investigation was searching facilities owned by a company he once helped fund.

Agents searched three buildings connected to Situs Oncology on Thursday at 1204 and 1222 W. Poplar St. and 303 Rife Drive, said Special Agent Kim Brunell, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Little Rock office.

At A Glance

About Situs

Three divisions of Situs Oncology are listed on its website: Situs Cancer Research, the Integrative Care Center and Situs Veterinary Oncology.

• Situs Cancer Research focuses on unconventional therapies that haven’t been reviewed by the Federal Drug Administration.

• The Integrative Care Center provides service to those who have are uninsured or “medically underserved.”

• Situs Veterinary Oncology states a 3,000-square-foot research facility was to have been converted in 2010 to an animal research facility for wild raccoons, dogs and cats. Two proposed studies are listed. The first would study vitamin C as a cancer cure taken either intravenously or injected into tumors. The second study would be of cationic magnetite hyperthermia, defined by the website as an injection of iron oxide into a tumor followed by a magnetic treatment. There is no indication either of the studies were pursued by the clinic.

Source: situsoncology.org1

The Poplar Street properties are listed in Benton County records as owned by Situs Cancer Research Center. The Rife Drive property is owned by the David James Bolt Irrevocable Trust, Jimm Bolt and Annette Gore, trustees, according to county records. J.W. Bolt is listed as executive director of Situs. Jim Bolt lives at the Rife Drive address, Van Sickle said.

Situs Oncology is a holistic clinic and was doing good work, said Van Sickle, who’s listed as incorporator and a director on incorporation paperwork for Situs filed with the Arkansas Secretary of State.

At A Glance

Charitable Status

Situs Cancer Research Center is shown as a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization, according to several websites that track information about nonprofit groups. A 501(c)3 organization can be corporations, funds or foundations operating for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes, according to Investopedia. They are tax-exempt. Situs doesn’t have a required Internal Revenue Service form commonly known as a 990 listed on Guidestar or Charity Navigator, two groups who track that information on nonprofit organizations across the country.

Source: Staff Report

The clinic was helping people with no insurance, Van Sickle said. When he saw the search on television Thursday, he said he was shocked.

“No good deed goes unpunished,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on. I have no idea.”

Agents searched through several vehicles at 1222 W. Poplar St., on Thursday, removing the contents. They seized two mobile medical units, a box truck, an Airstream recreational vehicle, two Volvo sport utility vehicles, a Suburban-style vehicle and a pickup.

Brunell said she couldn’t confirm a report three airplanes were seized by FBI agents at the Rogers Municipal Airport.

David Krutsch, airport manager, referred all questions to law enforcement officials. In response to a Freedom on Information Act request for hangar lease information, city officials said the documents were both on computer and in paper files. When asked for electronic copies, Jim Clark, deputy city attorney, said Krutsch was busy with the FBI and might not be able to comply with the request Thursday.

Situs has two or three planes, Van Sickle said, with the idea of transporting personnel as services expanded to southern Arkansas. He said mobile units, such as those seized, would be set up in south Arkansas to treat residents diagnosed with cancer. The company’s airplanes would transport additional personnel to the site. He said the plan, however, was never instituted.

“The investigation is ongoing. If arrests are made or charges are filed we will have more information,” Brunell said.

A website for Situs Oncology says it is “a nonprofit community health resource serving any cancer, hematology or chronic viral disease patient in Northwest Arkansas who has been denied medical treatment as a result of inability to pay for primary oncology, hematology or chronic viral disease care.”

The clinic offers lab tests at a discounted rate, operating on a donation basis, Van Sickle said. Intravenous vitamin C and frequency specific microcurrent therapy are used to treat patients, he said. Frequency specific microcurrent uses electrical frequencies below the level of sensation as an alternative medical treatment, according to various websites promoting the treatment.

A website for Situs Oncology lists its address as 504 N. 13th St. The group moved years ago, Van Sickle said. He took out a loan to help with the down payment on the group’s first building on 13th Street, and the group paid him back, he said.

Benton County property records show the 13th Street address purchased by Shimoda-Atlantic in 2006 for $285,000. Records show it was sold in 2010.

Van Sickle said Bolt is a good man with a second chance to do good for others. He serves as research oncologist for Situs Oncology because he holds a post-doctoral degree, not a medical degree, Van Sickle said.

“I know of his past,” Van Sickle said. “To me he’s a very honest person.”

Brunell said the subject of the FBI’s investigation isn’t a pubic threat.

“It’s a white collar matter,” she said, but declined to elaborate.

White collar crime, according to the FBI website, encompasses a wide variety of fraud, identity and intellectual property theft and scams.

Ron Wood and John Gore contributed to this report.