Child Leukemia Charity Closed After Millions Lost

by Gary Snyder

New York State attorney general reached a settlement to permanently close a child leukemia charity accused of fraud.

The attorney general will also recover $380,000 dollars from the foundation, most of which will be directed to charities helping children with leukemia. The founder forfeited claims to an additional $612,844 in back pay, in addition to a claim to a lifetime pension and other benefits.

The foundation collected $9.7 million from 2009 to 2013. Some 80 percent of the money went to telemarketing and direct-mail fundraising campaigns, and only $57,451 was paid out in direct cash assistance to leukemia patients.

The foundation also fraudulently claimed to have a bone marrow registry and cancer research building in Israel.

The president of the foundation, until his resignation in 2010, had been convicted of bank fraud in 1999. The foundation’s accountant took over as president, but the original founder and president continued to run things. He established the foundation in 1991 after losing a son to leukemia. He paid himself $595,000 in salary and $600,000 in deferred compensation from 2009 to 2013, and a lifetime pension of more than $100,000 a year.

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