Veterans Are Once Again Subjected To Big Time Charity Fraud

by Gary Snyder

The Disabled National Veterans Foundation’s tax filings show that it has collected $55.9-million in contributions since its founding five years ago has paid more than that to the firm that handles its fundraising. Quadriga Art LLC, which owns two direct-mail companies, and a Quadriga subsidiary, Brickmill Marketing Services is winning over the veterans that are suppose to gain. 

According to CharityWatch president Daniel Borochoff, “up to $2 billion is raised in the name of veterans in this country while hundreds of millions of dollars of our charitable dollars intended to help veterans is being squandered and wasted by opportunists and by individuals and companies who see it as a profit-making opportunity." 

Followers of Nonprofit Imperative know that this is just the tip of a much larger problem. Last month, NI noted one example of Bobby Thompson running a fake charity from Tampa (FL) known as the U.S. Navy Veterans Association. He eluded prosecution for years and stole upwards of $100 million from donors who thought they were helping needy veterans. He did it over an eight-year period, ending in 2010. (CNN)

Nearly half of the 39 veterans charities rated by the American Institute of Philanthropy in its April/May 2011 report received F grades.

Nonprofit Imperative gathers its information principally from public documents...some of which are directly quoted. Virtually all cited are in some phase of criminal proceedings; some have not been charged, however. Cites in various media: Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio, Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, B, USA Today Topics, , Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times...and many more • Nonprofits: On the Brink (iUniverse, 2006)