Another $11 Million Charity Fraud

by Gary Snyder

Federal prosecutors say the former chief financial officer of two nonprofit health clinics for the poor and homeless—Birmingham (AL) Health Care and the Central Alabama Comprehensive Health Inc.-- has been indicted in a scheme to defraud the agencies and the government, which provided most of their funding. 

She and her co-conspirators helped steal roughly $11 million in federal grant money and other property from the agencies. (source). She illegally received $1.7 million for herself, the indictment said. 

The indictment seeks more than $900,000 seized from accounts in her name as well as money and other assets totaling the $11 million estimate of the fraud. 

This is serious with these maximum penalties: 1. mail and wire fraud, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; 2. money laundering (counts 56-68), 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, or twice the value of the property involved; 3. money laundering (counts 69-74) involving criminally derived property valued at more than $10,000, 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; 4. aggravated identity theft, mandatory two years in prison added to any sentence imposed for the underlying felony and a $250,000 fine; 5. filing a false tax return, three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

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)