The Corporate Network — LARA Entity Analysis

How to Read This Page

Every entity listed below is a public record in the Michigan LARA Business Entity Search. Entity IDs are provided so anyone can verify. Officer names, addresses, and filing dates come directly from LARA annual reports and formation documents — all public records under Michigan law.

We focus on business addresses and registered agent addresses (which are legally required to be public for service of process). We do not publish residential addresses for peripheral individuals.

Source notation: “LARA [Entity ID]” means the data comes from Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs business entity filings. You can verify any entity by searching mibusinessregistry.lara.state.mi.us with the Entity ID number.

The Purpose Empire — Three Entities, One Man

Brian Banks controls three “Purpose”-branded entities. Together they form the corporate infrastructure for his charter school operation.

Purpose Charter Academy is registered at 10101 E. Canfield, Detroit MI 48214 — the school address. The Purpose Group LLC is registered at the same address. Purpose Foundation is registered at Banks’s personal address.

The PCA Board of Directors (LARA Filing)

This is the board that governs a charter school serving Detroit’s children:

Banks is the registered agent but does not appear as a named officer. He controls the entity through agent status while the board provides institutional cover.

Banks’s Full Entity Portfolio — Twelve Entities

A search of LARA records by registered agent reveals Banks controls or has controlled twelve business entities across Michigan:

* Active but not in good standing due to annual report failures.

Banks uses multiple email addresses across filings: BanksStrategy@gmail.com, BrianBanksJD@gmail.com, BBesq06@aol.com, and brian@anchorrockservices.com.

The initials “JD” and “esq” appear in two of these emails despite Banks never being admitted to any state bar. His felony convictions prevented bar admission after earning his J.D. from Michigan State University.

The Three-Named Dark Money Vehicle

Save Detroit Jobs is a single nonprofit corporation operating under three different names:

LARA Entity ID: 802002459. All three names are registered on the same entity.

Who formed it: The registered agent is The Corporation Company (a professional formation service). The mailing address is 201 Townsend Street, Suite 900, Lansing MI 48933 — the office of Dykema Gossett PLLC, Michigan’s largest law firm. The entity email is compliance@dykema.com.

Michigan’s largest law firm set up the dark money vehicle that was used to fight journalists reporting on Banks’s network.

Officers — All at One Address

All three officers list the same address. Kenneth Daniels is separately the agent on 15 other business entities, primarily in real estate and construction (Daniels Realty Group, KANDICO Construction, DANCOM Properties, and others).

What Save Detroit Jobs / Detroit Leaders Did

In 2021, operating as “Detroit Leaders,” this entity funded the campaign of Latisha Johnson against incumbent Steve Elrick — the journalist who had reported extensively on Banks’s network. Johnson won. She is now Secretary on the PCA board (see above).

The 12-step suppression loop: Banks’s network → funds dark money vehicle → dark money vehicle fights journalist → journalist loses election → replacement (Johnson) joins Banks’s school board.

Right Turn Project — The Dissolved Charity and the Money Loop

The Right Turn Project Inc (LARA 800936257) was a nonprofit corporation filed May 7, 2013. It was dissolved by operation of law on December 1, 2021 — meaning LARA dissolved it for failure to file annual reports.

The entity email was BBesq06@aol.com — which is Banks’s personal email, not Holland’s. Banks controlled the entity through Holland.

The Ross Catering Money Loop

Carlton Ross was simultaneously:

1. Treasurer of the Right Turn Project (a charity receiving PAC transfers)
2. Connected to Ross Catering — the vendor paid $35,000+ by Banks’s political campaigns

LARA records show two Ross Catering entities: Ross Catering Company Inc (800646584, agent: Louis Ross, dissolved 2024) and Ross Catering Events of Excellence LLC (801351679, agent: Gwendolyn Lewis, active). The relationship between Carlton Ross, Louis Ross, and Gwendolyn Lewis requires further investigation, but the structural pattern is clear: money flows from PAC → charity (where Ross is treasurer) → catering company (where Ross has connections).

The 16500 North Park Address

Carlton Ross and Terrence Tarver both list 16500 North Park Drive, Southfield MI 48075 as their address on the Right Turn Project filing.

Banks’s dissolved entity B. Roderick’s Salon & Spa (LARA 800591240, filed 2001) was registered at 16500 Northpark Dr #1715, Southfield MI 48075 — the same building. Banks used this address a decade before Ross and Tarver appeared there.

Inner Link Graphics — The $98,000 Print Vendor

The Inner Link LLC (LARA 801470477) received $98,291 from Banks-connected political committees. LARA records reveal:

Thomas also owns The Larry Thomas Group LLC (LARA 801763084, filed 2014), a separate entity at a different Southfield address.

The political print vendor also runs an obituary printing website. $98,291 for one vendor across six committees.

Custom Promotions — The Dissolve-and-Reform Attorney

Custom Promotions appears in two LARA incarnations:

The Inc was dissolved in February 2022. The LLC was filed three months later in May 2022 with the same name. Officers of the original entity: Jason Gordon (President), Sara Gordon (Treasurer), Eric Gordon (Secretary). A family business passed from father to son via dissolve-and-reform.

Jason Samuel Gordon is an attorney. He owns Deen Legal Services PLLC (LARA 801895172, filed 2009) at the same address as Custom Promotions LLC: 14326 East 9 Mile Road, Warren MI 48089. His email: JGordon@DeenLegal.com.

Gordon was investigated by the FBI, IRS, and Department of Labor in connection with the UAW bribery case — over $3 million in payments from the UAW. Custom Promotions also received payments from Latisha Johnson’s campaign.

Gordon is agent on 20+ entities including real estate LLCs, marketing companies, and his law firm — all while under federal investigation.

The Endorsement Machine — Four Eastside Slates

The “Eastside Slate” endorsement operation has been filed as a LARA entity four separate times:

Carol Banks — Brian Banks’s sister, a former Chief of Staff to Council Member Benson, and an FBI investigation target — currently controls the only active version.

Spencer Leach — The Political Machine Builder

W. Spencer Leach filed 13 political and nonprofit entities, many batch-filed on the same day with consecutive LARA Entity IDs:

Filed 04/28/2008 (consecutive IDs):

• Eastside Slate (800916317)
• Eastside Community Slate (800916318)
• Michigan Black Democrats (800916316)

Filed 05/15/2015 (near-consecutive IDs):

• Detroit Democratic Club (800938179)
• Detroit Democrat Club (800938180)
• Democratic Progressive Alliance (800938181)

Filing three to four political organizations on the same day with consecutive Entity IDs is the hallmark of manufactured political infrastructure — organizations created not to represent constituencies but to control endorsement pipelines.

Parallel Pan-African Naming

Carol Banks and Spencer Leach use matching entity naming conventions drawn from Pan-African geography:

Same officers appear across both operators’ entities. Beverly Nakenge serves as Treasurer on both Carol Banks’s Original Eastside Slate and Niger Group. Kiambu Elcock serves as Director/Secretary on both.

The Law Firms — A Family Connection?

Great Lakes Legal Group PLLC (LARA 802112914)

Crump-Gibson is also a Hearing Panelist for the Michigan Attorney Discipline Board — the body that processes attorney grievance complaints.

Crump Hall of Justice Law Firm PLLC

Verkeydia Hall — the attorney who filed a PPO petition against Kevin Mok — owns a separate law firm called Crump Hall of Justice Law Firm (website: mychoj.com, email: vhall@chojlf.com). The firm name contains “Crump” — Hall’s maiden name.

Her MSU email is crumpver@msu.edu. Crump-Gibson attended MSU for undergrad.

Both Crump-Gibson and Crump Hall share the surname Crump. Both attended Michigan State University. Both represent Brian Banks. If they are related, Banks’s legal representation has been a family operation.

WhitlowBanks LLC (LARA 802085022)

Filed 04/20/2017 during Banks’s political career. Agent: Tameka Ramsey (Pontiac, MI). The entity name literally combines “Whitlow” and “Banks.” TransparencyUSA records show “Carles Whitlow” received $8,500 as a payee from Banks’s Senate campaign — the 5th largest individual payee.

LARA Compliance Issues

The following are potential compliance issues under Michigan’s business entity statutes, identified from public LARA filings. These are questions — not accusations. The appropriate bodies to investigate are LARA, the Attorney General’s Charitable Trust Section, and the IRS.

1. Annual Report Failures (MCL 450.2911 / MCL 450.4207)

Multiple entities in the network have “Not Good” standing for failure to file annual reports, including entities that received or disbursed political funds:

2. Nonprofit Self-Dealing (MCL 450.2545a)

The Right Turn Project’s Treasurer (Carlton Ross) is connected to the vendor (Ross Catering) that received campaign payments. Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act § 545a requires that transactions involving a director’s or officer’s financial interest be disclosed and approved by disinterested directors. There is no indication this occurred.

3. Dissolved Entity Operations

The Right Turn Project was dissolved December 1, 2021. Under MCL 450.2831, dissolved corporations may only wind up affairs and liquidate assets — they may not conduct new business. Any transactions after dissolution raise compliance questions.

4. Convicted Felon as Nonprofit Officer

Joseph Holland (MDOC #443789, convicted cocaine dealer) served as President and Registered Agent of the Right Turn Project and currently serves as Treasurer and Secretary of Purpose Foundation. While Michigan law does not categorically prohibit convicted felons from serving as nonprofit officers, organizations receiving public funds or serving vulnerable populations (children) face additional scrutiny.

5. Unauthorized Practice of Law Concerns

Banks operated Serenity Guardianship Services Inc (LARA 802290962) as a for-profit corporation from 2019-2023, serving as sole officer. Guardianship work in Michigan involves petitioning courts, managing wards’ legal rights, and filing accountings — activities that constitute the practice of law under MCL 450.681. Banks was never admitted to any bar.

6. Entity Formation Patterns

The dissolve-and-reform pattern (Custom Promotions Inc dissolved February 2022 → Custom Promotions LLC filed May 2022) may be used to shed liabilities while maintaining brand continuity. The three-name dark money vehicle (Save Detroit Jobs → Impact Detroit → Detroit Leaders) allows the same entity to operate under different public identities for different audiences.

How to Verify

Every entity on this page can be verified at Michigan LARA Business Entity Search:

1. Go to the search page
2. Enter the Entity ID number in the search field
3. Select “Entity ID” as the search type
4. All officer names, addresses, filing dates, and assumed names are publicly displayed

This is not a dossier. It is an index of public records with analysis of what those records reveal when connected.

All data sourced from Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) public business entity filings. Entity IDs provided for independent verification. Analysis reflects patterns observable in public records as of October 4, 2026.