Thursday, March 28, 2013

Poor Background Check Cost Schools $200,000+

by Gary Snyder

The chief financial officer of the Brighter Choice Foundation (NY) pleaded guilty to ripping off close to $203,000 from the organization, which funds 10 Albany public charter schools. 

He is an old hand at embezzlement having pleaded guilty to swindling  $202,837 from KeyBank in Albany, where he was employed as a manager in the Community Development Lending Group

At the time of his January arrest, Ronald Racela was still on probation for the KeyBank conviction. Racela, who earned $120,000 a year, made false payroll entries at the Brighter Choice Foundation that allowed him to get extra payroll checks over a roughly 15-month period. 

Brighter Choice officials said they were unaware of Racela's felonious background when they hired him as financial director of Brighter Choice Foundation. The reason was that the agency failed to check. It was only after some 18 months when the state Education Department sent written notice of Racela's criminal history to Brighter Choice did they find out. The department denied the school's request to clear Racela for employment. The Education Department conducts criminal background checks on public and charter school employees. 




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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Careful Who You Hang Out With In The Charity World

by Gary Snyder

Former president of the Jacksonville Bar Association is reflecting upon his relationship with a charity. He was the attorney accused of masterminding a $300 million gambling ring disguised as a veterans charity. He is one of about 60 people charged in Seminole County, Fla., with running the now-shuttered Allied Veterans of the World, which operated 49 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style games. 

Prosecutors say that only 2 percent of the nearly $300 million earned by Allied went to charity.

Kelly Mathis  became the registered agent for several Internet cafes owned by the organization. Under Florida law, a company must have a registered agent to be responsible for receiving important legal and tax documents; many companies use lawyers.

Mathis is also a registered lobbyist and said he met with Jennifer Carroll several years ago while she was a member of the Florida House of Representatives.  Now former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigned a day after she was questioned by investigators – though she isn't among those charged.
Mathis said he didn't know anything about the public relations firm she co-owned or work that it did for Allied.

Mathis said he is being targeted by Seminole County officials because he sued the county over its stance on Internet cafes.

Some believe that it is an uphill fight for Mathis with the case turning on .."a key for both the state attorney and for ultimately, the Florida Bar, is whether an objectively reasonable and prudent lawyer should have known better and that's the case he's going to have to make." (here)

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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Charity Bribery Just Did Not Work

by Gary Snyder


According to an indictment, attorney Ronald Zajac raised more than $70,000 for the Kilpatrick Civic Fund, a nonprofit that was raided by Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick for personal adventures. He raised the money to curry favor with the Mayor.

It worked until he got caught.

Zajac was charged with overseeing Detroit's billion-dollar pension funds. He had a $400,000 salary. That was not enough. He also became a thief accepting perks galore from businessmen seeking favors, including a $5,000 casino chip, a Christmas basket stuffed with cash and trips for him and his mistress. His bribes and kickbacks schemes cost two pension funds $84 million in losses.

Zajac forced people with business before the pension funds to spend thousands of dollars to entertain trustees, and once forced one trustee to pay more than $10,000 for limousines for other trustees during a trip to New York City, the indictment said.

He bribed three trustees with thousands of dollars in cash at birthday parties in return for the trustees to vote to give Zajac a substantial raise, bringing his salary to more than $400,000. 

The board is reviewing the appropriateness of Mr. Zajac continuing to serve as the General Retirement System’s attorney. The Board of Trustees of the Police and Fire Retirement System fired Zajac as general counsel. (Free Press)


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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Disgusting and Disillusioning Veterans Charities

by Gary Snyder

Nonprofit Imperative has highlighted the fraud that has taken place on the backs of our Vets. (see a few: here, here, here). We probably have uncovered 50-100 questionable veteran organizations

We have advised that at a minimum, check with charity watchdogs (Charity Navigator, BBB, GuideStar) to find out if the charity is legit.

Here is a story that I commend to you on that very topic:

Vet Your Veterans Charities - The Allied Veterans of the World Scam



As the founder of a nonprofit for veterans, I'm a little more disheartened each time I hear about another veteran charity misleading the public. The latest scam, which rightly has the entire Sunshine State up in arms, is yet another example of why we need to vet our veterans charities.
In case you haven't heard about the scandal yet, here's a quick debriefing: Allied Veterans of the World, a nonprofit founded in 1979, claims to contribute "time, money and support services to veterans and first-responder organizations across the country." Visit its website, and you'll see a furling American flag with the words "Veterans Helping Veterans" scrawled in patriotic red and white. Read the text on its home page, and you'll learn that the organization has donated major bucks to Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics. Or so they say.
How does the Allied Veterans of the World raise its money? Through 49 gambling parlors across Florida, where customers can play computerized slot-machine type games. Drop in some change, and even if you lose, it's a win-win, because the money you lose goes to our veterans in need. Except that in reality, it doesn't. This week, investigators arrested more than 50 people tied to the gambling scam after developments allegedly show the organization has given veterans less than 2 percent of the $300 million it has made in the last 5 years. Instead of helping our veterans get health care, it helped Allied Veterans of the World execs get boats, real estate, and shiny toys by the name of Maseratis, Ferraris and Porsches. The parlors are shutting down, and Florida's Lieutenant Governor, although not tied to any wrongdoing, has resigned simply because she was backed by the organization.
If this was the first time a veterans charity had failed us, it would still be sad, but not so tragic. But a quick tour de news over the last few years shows that the Allied Veterans of the World scandal is a symptom of a larger trend. Just last spring, the Disabled Veterans National Foundation was accused of spending most of its $56 million raised to pay for consultants and advertising. Few dollars actually went to veterans, though donors were told otherwise. And then there's the case of the U.S. Naval Veterans Association, which raised more than $100 million in seven years. None of the organization's members actually existed, and its address was a post office box at a UPS store in Washington DC. The "nonprofit" gained credibility by listing thousands of fake donors and ensuring the public its "members" were veterans. Needless to say, they weren't. The guy running the organization, John Donald Cody, a former military intelligence officer, had been on the FBI's most wanted list for decades for alleged espionage and fraud. He now sits in jail in Ohio facing charges of fraud, theft and money laundering, all tied to the U.S. Naval Veterans Association.
And if that isn't disheartening enough, there's this news: Nearly half of the 39 veterans charities that the American Institute of Philanthropy rated in April/May 2011 were given big fat Fs. Why did they fail? In most cases, the money backed fundraising campaigns and executives, not veterans.
Fraud among veterans charities has gotten so bad that it was the subject of congressional hearings in 2007, and it's been a source of public outrage ever since. Rightly so. The public has every right to be leery, skeptical, disgusted and disillusioned by veterans charities that use their generous donations for everything but veterans aid.
As the founder of the nonprofit Harvesting Happiness 4 Heroes, I'm just as outraged by these scams as you are. It is morally wrong and ethically bankrupt for these organizations to literally capitalize on our desire to help deployed and returning veterans. And even more frustrating is that of all the times in recent history, our veterans need us most right now, just as these scams are making veterans donations dwindle. Amid soaring rates of suicide, PTSD, unemployment and multiple deployments, our veterans are returning home to a stark, unfortunate reality that keeps them from transitioning into civilian life.
Although though there are many bad eggs in the dozen, veterans charities still serve an important purpose. Our Veterans Administration doesn't have the funds to adequately support our troops, plain and simple, and when operating in good faith, nonprofits are a good way to close this funding gap. The problem is, with each scam that hits the news, legitimate charities that are truly set on doing good see fewer fundraising dollars trickle in.
Don't let the scams and lies deter you from supporting our Warriors; instead, use them as motivation to truly vet a veterans charity before making your contribution. One easy way to do so is to visit Guidestar, the Gold Star of nonprofit vetting and an invaluable database for finding trustworthy charities that have their hearts in the right place. It's what we subscribe to at Harvesting Happiness 4 Heroes, and it's what has vetted us so that the public knows what we're doing with the money we collect through our programming.
Yes, it's sad that we have to do a little investigating to find the veteran charities that do what they say they do. But once you find a charity that you trust, your tie to the cause will be that much stronger. Giving is always best when you have no inhibitions about it, and when you're confident that it is supporting a good cause. It may take a bit of vetting to support our veterans, but it's a cause well worth the effort.


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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Monday, March 18, 2013

Charities Loss In Promise To Repay


By Gary Snyder

Restitution is bogus. Estimates from studies suggest that less than 95% of  restitutions are ever fully discharged. Moreover less than 50% of the agreements ever see one penny paid. They are seldom monitored by the court system.

Here is just one example from North Carolina where $3 million is still being sought for victims:

Embezzlement victims yet to be paid back in Neill case
By EMILY WEAVER
Times-News Staff Writer
Sam Neill pleaded guilty. He promised to pay. But more than a year later, victims of the disbarred Hendersonville attorney who embezzled nearly $3 million from estates and trusts have yet to see a dime.
The fate of what they will receive is tied up in deeds to land yet to be sold, or in at least one case, even put on the market. Depending on their purchase price and payments to others also tied to the properties, Neill’s victims may not see the full amount they were once promised … amounts they say would have helped hundreds.
“It’s really been heartbreaking. It’s sad for our community. It’s sad for our donor. It’s sad for the law profession. It’s sad for a lot of folks all around,” said McCray Benson, executive director of the Community Foundation of Henderson County.
The foundation, along with Four Seasons, a local hospice organization, lost a total of $884,000 that was intended for the charities from the Barry E. Clemo trust fund.
Clemo, who volunteered at Four Seasons many years before his death, established the trust in 2007 with the desire for his gift to be split between the organizations.
“The most sadness I feel is for Barry Clemo. He actually had a hope and dreamed what this legacy gift would be doing,” Benson said, adding that Clemo had a passion for hospice and health care. “That amount of money could have been giving health care to 60 people a year in this community.”
He said the money could have been used to detect cancer at an early stage through breast screenings, or provided mental health treatment for 30 people in need, or helped struggling patients keep their diabetes in check at the Free Clinics.
Chris Comeaux, president and CEO of Four Seasons, estimates that 1,000 patients would have been helped at Hospice with Clemo’s gift “over the course of time.” The organization lost 2 percent of its funding in the recent sequestration, which will result in the loss of $10 million over the next 10 years, he said.
Neill plans to repay $1.15 million at 8 percent annual interest through a civil settlement agreement, according to Andrew Pappas, special agent with the financial crimes unit of the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.
The foundation and Four Seasons are not holding their breath. “We’re not counting it out, but we can’t count on it either,” Benson said.
Their restitution hinges on the sale of the old Joy drive-in theater property, now a strip mall, at 814 S. Grove St. The property is shared by Neill and his brother, and therefore any proceeds raised from the liquidation will be split before the trust will have a shot at recuperating its loss. The property has yet to be staked with a “For sale” sign.
Neill is out of jail on a $10,000 unsecured bond. He faces up to three years in prison, a $250,000 fine and no more than three years of supervised release for a federal crime he confessed to in a plea deal with attorneys last April.
He pleaded guilty to one count of federal tax fraud after prosecutors say he “understated” his income for 2008 and 2009 by $1.5 million. He owes the government $511,136 in taxes, according to court records. No date has been set for his sentencing in federal court.
The court has guaranteed the federal government a full reimbursement, ordering Neill to pay “full restitution regardless of resulting loss.”
On Sept. 17, Neill pleaded guilty to five state counts of felony embezzlement in Henderson County Superior Court.
Pending his efforts with restitution payments, Neill faces up to 84 years in prison for stealing more than $2.5 million from estates and trusts under his care. Superior Court Judge Lindsay Davis said sentencing on the state matter will occur after the former attorney’s federal case is complete.
So far, Neill has paid restitution to one of his victims, according to Pappas. He was accused of taking $55,000 in 2000 and 2001 from the Harold R. Tallmadge Trust and has paid that off, according to Papas, through a surety bond that guaranteed his legal work.
Neill was also accused of taking $247,682 from the Edna A. Davis revocable living trust fund in 2010 and has promised to repay that amount.
Neill owes the Irene F. Meinke estate $442,000 after taking from the fund in 2008, Pappas said. Initially, the indictment showed Neill took $100,000, but the successor added $342,000 to that. Although no indictment was filed because of lack of evidence for the latter amount, Neill promised to pay off the entire amount, Pappas told the court.
That restitution is tied up with the stalled sale of the old Flight Wood Grill property on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Main Street.
Neill was executor of the Ruth D. Danis estate and improperly disbursed $850,000 in 2008 to himself, Pappas said, adding that, as part of restitution, Neill filed a deed of trust and promissory note including 5 percent annual interest.



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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Friday, March 15, 2013

This Is How Nonprofit Fraud Happens When No One Is Watching

by Gary Snyder

As a part-time employee she end up facing charges that she bilked a civic nonprofit group out of huge chunks of its budget. Aisha Little, formerly the executive director of Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro, was arrested on 46 felony counts of embezzlement, two felony counts of forgery of an endorsement and four misdemeanor counts of accessing a computer to defraud or obtain property. 

Arrest warrants list 274 improper transactions totaling $46,115.48, the majority of which came from 168 unauthorized ATM withdrawals for $38,385. Police say forged checks and bank statements and documentation from multiple accounting firms show a range of improper expenses, from five payments totaling $613.63 to television provider Dish Network to a $7.11 purchase at a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant. 

Little, 32, abruptly resigned from the nonprofit in late January. She has no previous criminal record. 

Historic Downtown North Wilkesboro has an annual budget of around $60,000.

As executive director, she was entrusted with the group’s checking account. Checks from the account required two signatures, one of which she would forge. Little also got a debit card that allowed her to retrieve cash directly. She was also creating false bank statements from Suntrust Bank to inflate the amount of money in the organization’s account and to indicate that the funds were going to appropriate places.

Little had two different accounting firms at her disposal — one for the group’s taxes, another for payroll. She is accused of telling one firm she was waiting for information from the other. And bounced checks didn’t get back to the organization’s volunteer board because banks would call Little.

“When you’re dealing with volunteer boards, as that one is, it’s so easy to build trust in folks,” North Wilkesboro Town Manager Larry Smith said. “You’re relying on your paid employees, and it’s easy to not pay real close attention to them. Everything seems to be going OK and the bills, you assume, are getting paid.” (WSJ)



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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

This $300 Million Charity Fraud Has Almost Everything. No Sex Yet!


by Gary Snyder

The head of the local Fraternal Order of Police union and the commander of a St. Augustine-based veterans organization were among those caught up in a national racketeering investigation.

Allegations against Allied Veterans include money laundering, using money from a nonprofit for personal gain and misrepresenting the amount donated to charities. 

Investigators applied to search 51 locations in Florida, from Yulee to Naples, according to the warrant application filed in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Oklahoma. Most of the locations were current or former sites of sweepstakes centers operated by Allied Veterans.

Allied Veterans operates dozens of First Coast sweepstakes centers, which have long been at the center of controversy about their legality, both locally and in Tallahassee.

The warrant application said Allied Veterans claimed it was a member of the Veterans Administration and that 70 percent to 100 percent of the profits were used for charitable purposes. However, authorities said, the centers are actually gambling operations, with charitable purposes getting just 2 percent of the $290 million earned from 2007 to January 2012. Charities are considered to be operating effectively when they spend at least 60 percent on programs.

Instead of raising funds to benefit charities, investigators said, the primary purpose of the sweepstakes centers was to make a profit of at least $250 million for Allied, International Internet Technologies and other for-profit companies and their owners.

Investigators said the centers transferred money to Allied Management, a wholly owned subsidiary of Allied Veterans. The subsidiary then moved the money through other entities and used it for improper purchases, including buying property for former president Johnny Duncan.

Although federal law prohibits individuals from unreasonably benefiting from charities, the warrant application says Duncan received more than $1.5 million and Bass more than $250,000 from the organization. Both men also used money to purchase condos, commercial buildings and homes, including two parcels in St. Augustine. One of those properties houses Allied’s headquarters.

Update: The national probe of a Florida-based non-profit that operates a chain of internet cafes has led to the arrest of several of the organization's leaders and the heads of Jacksonville's police union. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll owned a firm that once handled public relations for the company, Allied Veterans of the World. Now, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned Tuesday after law enforcement officials questioned her about ties to a purported veterans charity at the center of a $300 million illegal gambling investigation.
Florida law enforcement officials would not say whether Carroll is facing possible criminal charges in connection with the case. 




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 (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)