Nonprofit Imperative

Thursday, February 13, 2014

$40 Million in Donations Lost

by Gary Snyder

In a country where 20% of people live on less than a dollar a day, documents obtained by CNN show that Charity Services International, a private South Carolina company, claimed to have shipped nearly $40 million in medicines and other donations on behalf of 15 small charities to Guatemala in 2010.

According to its tax filings, one of those American charities, The Breast Cancer Society of Mesa, Arizona, claimed to have shipped $22 million of donations by itself in 2010.

But a joint investigation by CNN, the Tampa Bay Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting could find no trace of even a fraction of those donations. (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)

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

NY Cemetery Drained By Almost $3 Million

by Gary Snyder

New York's attorney general has accused the former acting president of the nonprofit United Hebrew Cemetery on Staten Island of embezzling $2 million.

Authorities allege 54-year-old Timothy Griffin of Ridgefield, Conn., made six unauthorized wire transfers to his own attorney escrow account from October 2012 through last month.

Griffin pleaded not guilty to grand larceny charges in state court. Bail was set at $250,000 cash.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says Griffin, former outside counsel to the cemetery, was appointed acting president after its former administrator and president were accused of embezzling more than $850,000 in a prior investigation by his office.

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)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Family Fundraisers Left Only 2% For Agencies' Mission

By Gary Snyder

Three Long Island charities, their accountant, and the fundraising firm that got most of their donated revenue have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a case brought by state officials, Newsday reports.

Bi-County Helpline for Abuse Against Women and Children, Breast Cancer Funds for Research, and anti-hunger group Long Island Responds raised $2.2-million via for-profit solicitor Mure Associates from 2007 to 2012 but put only $53,000 toward their missions, authorities said.

Mure, which was co-founded by a late relative of two of the charities’ heads, received more than 80 percent of contributions. All three of the charities had their registrations revoked by the state last spring. “Operators of sham charities like these prey on the generosity of New Yorkers and must be held accountable,” said New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Unusual Alert By District Attorney

Gary Snyder

A Northampton County, Pennsylvania grand jury is calling on the state to review and possibly dissolve the nonprofit group behind the National Museum of Industrial History proposed for Bethlehem, saying it may be fatally plagued by negligence.

While the grand jury discovered no evidence of criminal activity, its members felt they needed to alert the public of the mismanagement within the organization, District Attorney John Morganelli said.

The museum has spent $2.4 million alone on benefits and salary for CEO Stephen Donches since 2002, according to the grand jury report. By comparison, the nonprofit has spent somewhere between $2.5 million and $3 million on exterior renovations. The grand jury recommends Donches possesses no qualifications or experience needed to oversee the start up of a nonprofit, the report states. The grand jury recommends in its report he resign immediately or that the board terminate him. In either case, the board should hire a more qualified chief executive and reconsider the museum's future, the report states.

The grand jury also recommends the board hire an attorney and consider suing Donches for negligence and breach of contract for mismanaging funds donated to the museum.

The museum's board of directors faces problems of its own, the report found.The board provided little oversight to Donches while placing blind faith in a man with little to no qualifications for the job, the grand jury found. "The museum was a resting place for soon-to-be unemployed officials of the (Bethlehem Steel) corporation who continued to benefit from high-paying salaries, retirement benefits and other benefits at the expense of the organization," the report states. Several members of the group presented conflicts of interest by bidding on paid contracts to complete work for the museum.

The Express-Times reported in 2010 the museum had spent $8 million on operating costs over a decade but still did not have a completed museum. The same article reported Donches' salary of $180,000 was more than double the earnings of the executive director of the similarly sized nearby America on Wheels museum.

An audit of the National Museum of Industrial History found that 80 percent of its budget -- about $15 million -- has covered operational costs.

A review of the books found much of that money was wasted by poor planning,

Some $257,000 was spent to move donated artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., between 1999 and 2010. However, the artifacts could not be stored in the unfinished building, forcing the museum to spend another $350,000 to lease climate-controlled storage space
The museum also spent about $1 million to hire four different businesses to bolster the organization's fundraising efforts between 1999 and 2011, the report states. For its investment, the consultants netted the museum just $75,000.

After 17 years of planning, the museum has only $770,000 left in its account, even though the museum's most generous donor, Priscilla Payne Hurd, died last year after giving a total of $9 million.

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)

Friday, January 31, 2014

More Deceit From Cancer Charity Fraudster

by Gary Snyder

A man who is accused of using bogus cancer charities, including Say No 2 Cancer and Boobies Rock!, to raise at least $2 million from June 2011 to June 2013 has been sentenced to 14 days in jail.

Denver District Court Judge Shelley Gilman ordered Adam Cole Shryock to report to jail after finding he violated court orders issued last summer prohibiting him from continuing to sell merchandise, collect money or promote events on behalf of any organization claiming to be a charity.

According to the Colorado Attorney General's office, Shryock tried to evade a court-ordered asset freeze by asking that money raised in the schemes be sent directly to his home.

Shryock, the founder of Boobies Rock!, The Se7ven Group and Say No 2 Cancer, allegedly held promotions all over the country, mostly in bars, and hired promotional models to "take donations" on behalf of Boobies Rock, saying the company was raising money for breast-cancer nonprofit groups.

"For us charity fraud is particularly pernicious. Whether it is cancer — which I think is really bad — or almost any charity, there are two victims in every charitable scam," deputy attorney general Jan Zavislan said. "There is the donor who thinks they are giving money to a legitimate charity and are going to help somebody. But it also dilutes money that otherwise would be available for legitimate charities. And in some ways, that is almost worse."

"In reality, the 'scholarship fund' was nothing more than a cash bonus for the promotional managers and the entire scheme ran afoul of the court's orders," Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement. (source)

Friday, January 24, 2014

Archdiocese Spent $11 million To Keep Secrets

by Gary Snyder

The Rev. Stanley Kozlak served nearly three decades in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. But then he fathered a child and the archdiocese needed him gone. Removing Kozlak quietly wouldn't be cheap, but church leaders knew how to move money discreetly. The archdiocese held two secret accounts, controlled by the archbishop, designed to make problems like Kozlak disappear. It cost over $11 million.

The efforts left the Archdiocese subject to embezzlement. The former head of accounting is accused of stealing more than $670,000 from the Archdiocese of St Paul and Minneapolis. He has pleaded guilty to theft and filing a false tax return. The perpetrator pleaded guilty to five felony counts of fraud. He is now serving a three-year prison sentence.

About 3 percent of overall archdiocese revenues in those years went for costs tied to clergy misconduct. The archdiocese is facing a slew of lawsuits over clergy misconduct that threatens to cripple it financially. The clergy misconduct budget was so well concealed that a trained eye wouldn't notice the spending.

Payments associated with clergy misconduct came from separate, secret accounts, depending on the type of behavior involved. One such account, numbered 1-515, paid costs connected to priests accused of sexually abusing children. Account 1-516, meanwhile, paid costs related to the abuse of adults, or to financial misconduct. Items with these codes included expenses for therapy costs for victims and priests.

Meanwhile, Charles Zech, director of Villanova University's Center for Church Management and Business Ethics did a study that concluded 85 percent of American dioceses had funds stolen between 2001 and 2006.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

January Edition-Nonprofit Imperative E-Newsletter

Nonprofit Imperative

…Your nonprofit browser

January 2014

The twice-monthly newsletter dedicated to:

exposing the crisis in nonprofit fraud leadership…a crisis of pervasive and monumental waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and malfeasance throughout the charitable sector which costs taxpayers and contributors tens of billions of dollars annually; and,
seeking reforms that will restore the public’s lost confidence in the sector.

What’s Included:

Skunk of the Month:

Merrimack Education Center; Newtown charity, again

Charity Check Up:

MA Charity Execs. Lavish Comps

A Thought or Two:

Annual Note

Nonprofit News-In Case You Missed It:

UK Charity Commission; WV Ver. Fraud; Komen, again…more

Political/Official Chicanery:

MO; CA; WI; TX; VT; WA; NM; FL…more

What Do You Think?

Tampa Bay Times: “Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam Is Proposing A Complete Rewrite of Florida's Charity Laws',” January 14, 2014, " aiming to increase state oversight and transparency in direct response to investigative reports published last year in the Tampa Bay Times [“America’s Worst Charities”]. “[Agriculture Commissioner] Putnam, whose duties include protecting Florida's consumers, said the changes will help Floridians make more informed choices about the charities they patronize. The legislation will also grant the state additional powers to regulate nonprofits and the professional solicitors who raise money for charities.”

----------------

New York Times: there is a new chief of the Charities Bureau, an agency of the New York attorney general's office that supervises charitable organizations. He will be “sensitive to cases of fraud and ensuring that his bureau's work separates out a mission and good people from bad things that happen.”

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"I didn't have any feelings about them one way or the other," Bernard Madoff's finance chief said after being asked if he was remorseful about taking millions of dollars from Holocaust survivor’s foundations, Wunderkinder Foundation and Elie Wiesel’s foundation.

Skunk of the Month…

Skunk of the Month is the twice-monthly designation made by Nonprofit Imperative, the organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement in nonprofits and government. The Skunk of the Month award is given to charities and government officials who show blatant disregard for the interests and trust of contributors and taxpayers. This month’s example is:

“They came to do good and they did very well indeed.”

It Took Years To Indict For A $37 Million Misuse of Charity Funds

A man, who formerly served as chief financial officer for the troubled Merrimack Education Center, was indicted on allegations he defrauded the state and misusing $37 million of MSEC funds. Prosecutors say the accused of "engaging in a scheme to defraud the state" by putting ineligible MEC employees on the state's pension plan by making it appear the employees worked for the state-run MSEC instead of MEC.

"The indictment alleges that the purpose of the scheme was for Nystrom and the others who were fraudulently enrolled in the pension to obtain pension payments that they were not entitled to receive," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in a prepared statement.
Some former employees have already collected nearly $300,000 in pension payments.
The Inspector General also accused one of misusing nearly $57,000 of MEC funds by charging shoes, dinners, furniture and a trip to the Kentucky Derby on MEC's American Express card.
The Merrimack Education Center is a private nonprofit company that provides educational and technological resources to schools, towns and other nonprofits.
Newtown Charity Missing 70% of Donations

A charity formed after the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School has been unable to account for more than $70,000 it raised through marathon running, one of its co-founders said. The 26.4.26 Foundation raised $103,000.
One co-founder was in charge of the organization's finances but has cut off any inquiries. The other co-founder said the foundation, registered as a nonprofit corporation in Tennessee, had virtually no overhead or other expenses that would justify not giving the vast majority of the proceeds to the people of Newtown. (source)

A Charity Check Up:

Finally, AG Takes On Her Friends

Nonprofit groups in Massachusetts are paying their chief executives huge amounts of money and giving them lavish perks unavailable to most workers, according to a new report from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office that calls for reform in the way groups disclose executive compensation.

The 92-page study, which covered 25 large charitable organizations in Massachusetts, mainly hospitals, insurers and colleges, found all of them paid their leaders at least a half-million dollars a year in total compensation. And many of the organizations offered their executives an assortment of other benefits, including bonuses, deferred compensation, auto allowances, financial planning, life insurance and other benefits that are more commonly associated with corporate leaders.

A Thought or Two:

My Annual Note: Charity Fraud-A Remarkable Year

Interest in charity fraud has swelled. The emphasis changed from the breath to the depth of the problem leaving the donor with a better understanding that there is an explosive problem.

First came the belated admission by the Internal Revenue Service that there was a significant amount of diversions of assets from charities. Despite promises that it would address the issue in a timely manner nothing has been done for over two years.

Then came the unveiling from several media sources that charity fraud had become a serious problem. (rest of article)

Does somebody keep forwarding you this newsletter? Get your own copy. It's free! Sign up here. Send tips/stories to Nonprofit Imperative. Follow us on our blog or on Twitter---Nonprofits News

Nonprofit News…

In Case You Missed It:

1. It is rampant: Fraud, financial abuse and financial mismanagement featured in nearly 80 per cent of the UK Charity Commission's investigations into charities last year, according to a new report published by the regulator. The UK Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. The Commission's Chief Executive Sam Younger said the new report showed that the Commission is getting tougher on dealing with non compliance and abuse in charities. “Those serious cases must be a top priority for us as regulator, as they are most damaging to the public trust and confidence on which all charities rely.”

2. Another Vet org. troubles: a telemarketer got $33,386 for fund raising $37,706 in one year while the organization spent only $506 on programs for veterans. This seems to be the norm. The West Virginia Vietnam Veterans Foundation, in 2007, raised $144,275, with approximately $10,000 going to charitable programs, the AP said. The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office, said the state does not mandate what percentage of the contributions a nonprofit organization receives must be spent on programs.

3. Contributions to Susan G. Komen dropped 22 percent in the 12 months after the controversy over the breast-cancer charity’s quickly rescinded plan to cut off grants to Planned Parenthood. The drop was most precipitous in the area of unrestricted “contributions, sponsorships and entry fees,” adding up to a full $100 million. The group also curtailed expenditures, primarily in the areas of research (approximately a $20 million reduction) and Public Health education (a $30 million reduction). Last year, after finding that participation and revenue had fallen off significantly, Komen cancelled seven fundraising walks. The affiliates have also taken losses, as can be seen here and here. Susan G. Komen for the Cure paid out almost $400,000 in severance last year to four executives who left the organizations, including nearly $270,000 to its former president, while contributions and other revenue dipped by 22 percent last year. The breast cancer charity also disclosed that its new president and CEO, Dr. Judith Salerno, will earn $475,000, about 40 percent more than her predecessor. Founder Nancy Brinker’s annual salary will be $390,000 as chair, almost 30 percent less than the $549,380 she earned last year as president and CEO. Brinker moved to that a position after stepping down as president and CEO when Salerno was hired. In 2012, Brinker earned $548,785, in addition to a bonus of nearly $125,000 that pushed total compensation to nearly $700,000. No bonuses or incentive compensation were reported for officers and directors on the most recent Form 990. She had been CEO since December 2009 after the positions of president and CEO were split. Komen announced in August 2012 that Brinker would step down as CEO but remain on the board of directors, serving as CEO until a permanent replacement was chosen.

4. Southern District United States Attorney Preet Bharara is taking the unusual step of going after the pensions of four lawmakers convicted on corruption charges. Some included are Manhattan Councilman Miguel Martinez, former Bronx Councilman Larry Seabrook who are tied to charity fraud.

5. Two additional former executives of one of the largest and most respected nonprofit social service agencies in the region were charged in connection with what prosecutors describe as a long-running scheme to defraud the organization of more than $7 million. The accusations first drew attention in August, when the board of the organization, the Metropolitan New York Council on Jewish Poverty, fired its executive director, William E. Rapfogel, because it believed he had been taking kickbacks from Met Council’s insurance broker. Mr. Rapfogel was later charged with skimming over $1 million for himself and more still to give contributions to the campaigns of politicians who approved funding for Met Council, which received tens of millions of dollars a year in government money.

6. With low morale, contributions to the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) of the National Capital Area have fallen by 35%.

7. Eighty greedy NYPD and FDNY retirees, whose departments suffered devastating losses on 9/11, collected millions of dollars in disability-pension benefits by pretending they were at Ground Zero and suffered emotional trauma, authorities said. They were among 106 alleged scammers arrested in a $400 million Social Security rip-off — one of the largest in history — that also included city Correction officers and a former Nassau County cop. Many of them claimed they couldn’t sleep, do simple arithmetic or even leave their own home — but investigators found that they’d been piloting helicopters, riding Jet Skis, teaching karate, deep-sea fishing and even running half-marathons. Four ringleaders, including an 81-year-old ex-FBI agent and an 89-year-old pension adviser, instructed retirees how to pocket $20,000 to $50,000 a year in bogus claims. Their kickback fee was 14 monthly Social Security checks. The group netted more than $21 million since 1988, and authorities said that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

8. Federal officials are investigating whether NJ Gov. Christie improperly used relief funds to produce tourism ads that starred him and his family…federal auditors will examine New Jersey’s use of $25 million in Sandy relief funds for a marketing campaign to promote tourism at the Jersey Shore after Sandy decimated the state’s coastline. More: U.S. Senator Chris Murphy is asking the IRS to investigate a charity set up in the aftermath of the tragedy at Sandy Hook. The Attorneys' General in two states are already investigating something called the "26-for-26 foundation" in Nashville because the majority of the money 'raised' is now missing and so is the man that started it.

9. Federal prosecutors filed a record number of health care fraud cases last fiscal year. Because such fraud is believed to cost the Medicare program between $60 billion and $90 billion each year, Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius partnered in 2009 to increase enforcement by allocating more money and staff and creating strike forces in fraud hot spots around the country. Medicare fraud has morphed into complex schemes over the years, moving from medical equipment and HIV infusion fraud to ambulance scams as crooks try to stay a step ahead of authorities. The scammers have also grown more sophisticated using recruiters who are paid kickbacks for finding patients, while doctors, nurses and company owners coordinate to appear to deliver medical services that they are not.

We flagged these few examples of nonprofit mischief

1. Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (CA) $370,000

2. ArtSplash (CA) unknown

3. Portland Kollel (OR) $15,000

4. United Way Of Allegheny County (PA) $800,000

5. Emmanuel Evangelical Congregational Church (PA) $81,000

6. Dunbarton Historical Society (NH) $15,000

7. Idaho County Food Bank $50,000

8. Plymouth Community Renewal Center (KY) $3500

9. Beaumont Intermediate School District (TX) $4 million

10. Readsboro Central School (VT) $4000

11. Carlsbad (NM) Soccer League $15000

12. Lake View High School (IL) $420,000

13. Swamp Boys and Fishing to Fight Cancer Foundation (NC) $10,300

14. Harambee Institute of Science Technology Charter School (PA) $79,000

15. Po’Ka Project (MT) $195,000

16. Imperial Volunteer Fire Department (PA) $5,779

17. Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D) (ID) Unknown

18. Orleans Community Health/Medina Memorial Hospital (NY) $500,000

19. Antioch Missionary Baptist Church of Brownsville (FL) $70,000-100,000

20. Bethlehem YMCA Affordable Housing (PA) $103,000

21. AcroSports (CA) $150,000

22. Watertown School District (SD) $100,000

23. Doc Hurley Scholarship Foundation (DHSF) (CT) $200,000

Political/public official chicanery (just a few):

1. A former top administrator for the St. Louis city parks department who pleaded guilty to embezzling 500 thousand dollars. He is set to be sentenced.

2. A former Flathead County Sheriff’s Office employee has pleaded guilty to felony theft after embezzling $90,000 from the employees association

3. A Los Angeles man who stole $7.2 million worth of computers from the government by creating fake nonprofit charter schools has pleaded guilty. Charged in June, Steven A. Bolden concocted a series of fake charter schools in a long-running scheme brought down following a federal Inspector General’s Office investigation.

4. Where was the Board?-A former Belleville school board member faces six counts of theft for allegedly stealing $850,000 from a New Glarus (WI) nonprofit organization. Joyce Ziehli worked full time for 31 years as the nonprofit’s administrative secretary, and over the last 10 years of her employment, from 2003-2013, she used her position to complete hundreds of fraudulent transactions. She was the only one that had access to the accounts.

5. A federal judge has accepted a guilty plea from the founder of a Sarasota nonprofit who admitted stealing more than $76,000 in grant money with the city's help. The founder of the youth employment program ManUp. Lyndon Jones, as executive director of ManUp, accepted more than $100,000 federal grants administered by the city from 2009 to 2011 and has admitted to fraudulently double-billing the government for tens of thousands of dollars in wages.

6. St. Louis County (MO) is looking to hire an independent audit firm to determine how a high-ranking health department official lined his company's pockets with more than $3 million for several years before anyone noticed.
Edward Mueth, who was the director of administration for the St. Louis County Health Department, killed himself in September after county officials discovered his company had overcharged the department for goods and services.

7. A former vice president at Fairmont State University will be sentenced later this year for using a state-issued purchasing card to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from Fairmont State for his personal use. It is estimated that he made $650,000 0n the scheme.

8. A Fairfax County schools employee was arrested on charges that he stole hundreds of school system computers and put them up for sale online. The arrest comes two months after a county middle school principal and a schools finance secretary were arrested on charges of stealing county funds and paying their own children for work they allegedly never performed.

9. Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who embezzled $2 million from her late husband’s nonprofit to feed her gambling habit, is closer to being able to pay restitution. A judge approved a $7 million settlement to go to O’Connor and her sister, resolving an unrelated legal battle over the family’s sale of a Mendocino coastal resort. O’Connor, who is entitled to half of the settlement amount, has been waiting for the funds so she can hold up her end of a deal made with federal authorities in the embezzlement case. She has until 2015 to repay the $2 million to the R.P. Foundation, started by her late husband, Robert O. Peterson, co-founder of Jack in the Box. If she does, then the criminal case against her will be dismissed.

10. A federal judge in Albuquerque sentenced the former executive director of the Taos County Housing Authority and her husband to prison terms of more than two years in connection with a long-running $700,000 embezzlement scheme.

11. More than $1 million over the course of a decade was stolen from the Cascade Metro and Arabian Acres Metro water districts in Teller County, Colorado.

12. Jefferson Community Health Care Center's former finance chief who investigators say transferred more than $207,000 in clinic funds to her personal bank account has been indicted on federal wire fraud and obstruction charges.

13. The former workers' compensation claims chief for the Texas Association of School Boards admits to stealing more than $500,000 from the group's insurance fund.

14. A former University of Vermont employee has agreed to plead guilty to stealing more than $185,000 from the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese by altering tuition checks from enrollees in the cheesemaking program to make herself a co-payee and then depositing the checks in her own bank account.

15. A former Washington College Dining Services employee to 15 years in prison for conducting a theft scheme of more than $100,000.

16. A former fire chief was arrested for allegedly embezzling $100,000 Ashford North Cove Volunteer Fire Department

17. The Marine Corps is tightening its travel and expense policies in response to an embezzlement scandal involving reservists. The Internal Revenue Service charged seven Marine reservists in November with conspiracy to defraud the Defense Department to the tune of more than $874,000.

Tell us what you think and continue the tips (they are very helpful) gary.r.snyder@gmail.com

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 there is money missing. On rare occasions, there may be duplicates.

Cites in various media:

Featured in print, broadcast, and online media outlets, including: Charity Navigator, Washington Post, The Patriot-News, 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, msnbc.com, Marie Claire, Ethics World, Tactical Philanthropy, Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter, Harvard Business Review, Current Affairs, 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, The Michigan Nonprofit Management Manual, 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, VPR News, National Enquirer,

Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (Xlibris, 2011)
Nonprofits: On the Brink (iUniverse, 2006)
The Michigan Nonprofit Management Manual, Governance Section

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Gary Snyder is the author of Silence: The Impending Threat to the Charitable Sector (Xlibris, June, 2011) and Nonprofits: On the Brink (iUniverse, February, 2006) and articles in numerous publications. The book can be bought at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, Barnes and Noble (store)

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