The Charity's Money Greased Many Politicians

by Gary Snyder

The Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine wants to keep it a secret. So do former state Attorneys General Jim Petro and Betty Montgomery.

  

So do the Virginia AG, Ken Cuccinelli, and the former attorneys general in Florida and Washington. Cuccinelli recently reached a settlement with a fundraising company employed by Thompson's fraudulent charity for $65,000. DeWine said he never returned his contribution.

The Ohio attorney generals multi-state case against a man accused of fraud after collecting as much as $100 million in the name of Navy veterans doesn't address the man's donations to a who's who of mostly Republican politicians, including the attorney general himself.

DeWine's latest annual report dubs it "one of the highest-profile cases in the history of the Ohio Attorney General's Office." Nowhere does DeWine mention that hundreds of thousands of dollars in United States Navy Veterans Association cash was donated to more than 50 mostly Republican candidates in 16 states.

"It's almost a Hall of Fame of politicians in the news today," said Jeff Testerman, a retired Tampa Bay Times reporter who broke stories on Thompson that led to Ohio's pursuit of the case.

Among the beneficiaries, campaign finance filings show, were President George Bush; presidential contenders Romney, Bachmann, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani; former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman and former North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole; former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist; and New York Assemblyman James Tedisco.

The founder of the Navy Vet charity even got himself a well-connected Ohio-based lawyer, former Ohio AG Montgomery's law partner Helen Mac Murray. Records show Navy Vets paid their firm more than $277,000 in legal fees.

  

Bobby Thompson disappeared for almost two years after his 2010 indictment on theft, money laundering and other charges. He was tracked and dramatically arrested last year in Portland, Ore., where agents and deputy marshals found him with fake IDs and a suitcase containing $980,000 in cash.

Thompson — whom authorities have identified as Harvard-trained lawyer and former military intelligence officer John Donald Cody — sits in a Cleveland jail awaiting trial this month. (source)

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: Charity Navigator, Vermont Public Radio, Miami Herald, National Public Radio (NPR), Huffington Post, The Sun News, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Wall Street Journal (Profile, News and Photos), “Betrayal”, (a movie), NBC (on Charity Fraud…TBD), FOX2, ABC Spotlight on the News, WWJ Radio, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, Charity Navigator, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, St. Petersburg Times, Board Room Insider, USA Today Topics, Accountants News, Newsweek.com, Responsive Philanthropy Magazine, New York Times, Portfolio Magazine, The Virgin Islands Daily News, NANKAI (China) BUSINESS REVIEW, National Religious Broadcasters newsletter, The Charity Governance Blog, American Chronicle, Palm Beach Post, Detroit Free Press, Oakland Press, Nonprofit World, Socially Responsible Business Forum, PNNOnline, Ohio Nonprofit Resources, Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, Nonprofit Startup Guide, Nonprofit Blog, National Coalition of Homeless Newsletter, Finance and Administration Roundtable Newsletter, MichiganNonprofit.com, CORP! Magazine, Crain’s Michigan Nonprofit, ncrp.org, PhilanTopic, Nashville Free Press, Nonprofit Law Blog, Seniors World Chronicle, Carnegie Reporter, Assoc. of Certified Fraud Examiners Examiner, msnbc.com, Worchester (MA) Telegram and Gazette, Carnegie Corporation of America, EO Tax Journal, Wikipedia: Non-profit Organizations; Parent: Wise Austin, Accountants News, Veterans Today, Answers.com, Far-roundtable, #Nonprofit Report, nonprofithelpnews, nonprofit news; National Enquirer, Northwest Herald, The HelpWise Daily, The #Nonprofit Report, Wikipedia (Nonprofit Organization), Answers.com, Nonprofits: On the Brink (2006) Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (2011)