By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLD SPRING - A longtime trustee of First Baptist Church and staunch defender of its embattled pastor has resigned and hired an attorney.

Rob Moore declined to say why he resigned only days after the majority of the church voted to keep him as one of its seven trustees, a group of church elders who are generally responsible for business operations.

His attorney, Harry Hellings of Covington, said Moore didn't want to be associated with allegations of criminal wrongdoing at the church.

Kentucky State Police began investigating whether church money from accounts controlled by the Rev. Larry Davis, the church's pastor, was spent on nonchurch expenses, such as gambling. In January, former church Treasurer Darryl Neltner said he had identified $500,000 in questionable transactions.

Davis said he couldn't confirm Moore's resignation as a trustee but wasn't surprised.

"I haven't seen a letter of resignation," Davis said Friday afternoon. "But I know that some of it was a timing problem. He's a self-employed businessman, and he indicated he was having trouble balancing the demands of trustee business and his job."

Moore is a Cold Spring council member and owns a garage.

Recently, the church's trustees have been meeting daily as part of their negotiations with Fifth Third Bank, Davis said.

Fifth Third Bank had threatened to foreclose on the church's $4 million construction loan when the criminal investigation was launched. Bank attorneys said the church misled them by not spending all the loan money on construction and improvements at its campus on Alexandria Pike.

The bank also said conditions had changed at the church that could adversely affect its ability to pay off the loan.

An agreement brokered by the trustees and passed by the church's congregation Wednesday put up virtually all church property as collateral. That included a rental property; the church's parsonage; and its buses, furniture and office equipment.

Church member Ron Christian, a Cincinnati lawyer, was one of the only members to vote against the agreement with the bank. He said during a special business meeting that the church's former attorneys had advised the congregation not to give up any prior claims they may have against the bank.

Former church attorneys Chris Mehling and Phil Taliaferro had advised in a letter dated March 16 not to sign anything releasing the bank from a claim.

"I can't imagine the congregation is willing to agree to provide the bank with a carte blanche release at this point," the letter states, "for any actions taken by the bank up to date regarding this matter."

The two Covington lawyers also wrote that they are surprised there is a waiver of a right to a jury trial contained in the agreement.

Bank attorney Alan Statman said it is standard practice to get a borrower to agree not to pursue legal claims against the bank in any loan restructuring agreement.

Cindy Schroeder contributed to this report. E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com