Trust (Without Verification) Costs: $3.3 Million To Phony Charity

By Gary Snyder

Keith Aaron Vann used a phony entity known as Global Missions and said it was a non-profit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); that it provided humanitarian aid worldwide, including in Africa; and that donations to Global Missions would be tax deductible. 

Evidence showed that Vann participated in a scheme to defraud the victims, two of whom were Arizona elementary school teachers, of over $3.3 million from their father’s estate by making false representations. 

Vann and others used donations to Global Missions to pay for personal trips, jewelry, a down payment on a luxury car, and a $1.25 million home. 

Vann was sentenced in mid-May to 121 months in prison and ordered to pay $3,377,089.64 in restitution for his role in a conspiracy to defraud three Arizona residents into donating millions of dollars to a phony charitable organization, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

The prosecution is the result of a three-year investigation by the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (source)

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