US Cancer Charities Misuse $187M For Luxury Cars And Cruises

In one of the largest charity fraud accusations in US history, four cancer charities allegedly used $187m of donations to buy concert tickets, cars, luxury cruises and even dating website memberships (it’s easy to see how they would struggle to settle down when they’re that morally bankrupt).

In a press release from the Federal Trade Commission, they explained the money was used on:

Cars, trips, luxury cruises, college tuition, gym memberships, jet ski outings, sporting event and concert tickets, and dating site memberships. They hired professional fundraisers who often received 85 percent or more of every donation

As a result three culprits — Rose Perkins, James Reynolds II and Kyle Effler – have agreed a settlement that prohibits them from participating in any future fundraising activity. Children’s Cancer Fund of America and the Breast Cancer Society will also be dissolved as part of the agreement. Cancer Fund of America and Cancer Support Services, are yet to reach a settlement.

Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said:

The defendants took in millions of dollars in donations meant to help cancer patients, but spent it on themselves and their fundraisers. I’m pleased that the FTC and our state partners are acting to end this appalling scheme

Surely there should be harsher punishments than just dissolving the company and banning the culprits from fundraising. They are effectively getting away with murder. Lives could have been saved with that money and they will walk away scot-free.

http://www.unilad.co.uk/articles/us-cancer-charities-misuse-187m-for-concerts-and-dating-sites-ftc/

Seriously wtf ...

This is one of those cases where I try really hard to feel shocked and can't.

This is shameful behaviour and here I thought that stealing, losing their job but keeping the money was reserved to politicians...

It's just heart-breaking for me ... pathetic !

@mjorh: I agree...there's stealing and there's stealing...if this is not as low as you can get, it's close enough. Not to mention that cancer is one of the few charities that people still trust and participate in...not only was this a blow for all the people who could have been helped with this money but it's also a blow for future legitimate charities...

Right now all that's left is to hear that St. Jude Children's Hospital has been doing the same...

I bet republicans defend this.

Quiet time now gergs

Yeah , I'm afraid this will persuade ppl from doing anything related to charity ... this is my biggest concern.

LMAO!

these people should be skinned alive.

all of the good that much money could have potentially done...

don't these charities have to show ( on tax forms or whatever ) a record of their incomes / donations / expenses?

I can reasonably predict that the remaining cancer charities shall be scrutinized, greatly, because of this.

I don't understand how this isn't fraud punishable by jail/fines.

Nice find, this is appalling

Well at least they didn't launder the money to ISIS.

only a small amount of money raised for charity actually has to go to the cause, and that's for many that aren't doing anything "illegal" in the eyes of those that are supposed to be keeping an eye on them, like 90-95% can go toward administrative costs, so like paying the salaries of those in charge, hiring their wives and children to work on board, funneling money into costs of running business to other businesses run by the charity heads themselves as well, so many ways to get rich by pretending to be philanthropic

charities also hire services of people who go fundraise, who themselves are only involved with the causes as much as they're just raising money and collecting a commission, which ends up being a huge lions share of the money as well, so while those people on the streets carrying folders might get you to donate $10, they're taking home $4 of that, their charity pimp gets $4, the starving kids in Africa you paid $10 to get fed only get $2 if they're lucky

for these reasons, I don't donate to charities, I'd rather give a few bucks to homeless people I see on the street

Scum

These is why I don't donate. Billions of dollars and nothing ever seems to get done. I mean, i'll donate to individuals, but not huge entities.

These fuckers deserve the worst kind of cancer.

We already know how fucked the justice system is.

That's what i wonder...

Shouldn't this tell us that there are something wrong with how the whole system works for charity? I would expect 80-90% of the money I give to actually reach and help the cause for which I gave it for.

The worst part about this is that they get away with it scot free. They should be in prison.

Oh, Korvus. You need to read the news more. Just saying.

@mattbbpl: You're definitely right. I'm aware that I'm probably one of the least knowledgeable people in OT in regards to current events.

This will make you guys hurl even more.. Over 10 billion dollars in "aid" misused..

The world is rotten to the core ... sigh....

Yeah well said.

@mjorh: I hope they go after Susan G. Komen next.

in the long run who will ever care or know?

gandhi killed his wife and and nobody gave a shit so what is little embezzlement compared to that.

And this is why I never donate, see I knew these fundraisers were a scam, my instincts were right.

And I agree the Justice System seems much too flawed, hey here's an idea, send these scumbags to prison, and let many prisoners that have done petty or not that bad for crimes, (and have possibly faced unfair trials) free.

That's pretty despicable and puts a bad image on legit charities. Though I am not suprised I've heard of care workers abusing elderly, disabled and mentally handicapped people.

same deal with all the major charities, even in denmark

one of our charity organizations here (Kræftens Bekæmpelse/Fighting Cancer) is one of the most powerful companies in our country (equalling fucking LEGO), but the general public is utterly ignorant of this fact

Not really sure why people are surprised. There are tons of charities that are scams. Hell most charities don't even have half the funds they take in actually go to 'charitable' services. They're freaking businesses for the most part.

Shame on them. Fucking greedy little bastards deserve prison and all their fun toys taken away from them.

I can't think of finer candidates to enjoy an all expenses paid trip straight to hell.

Actually I can, but shit like this is just despicable. People place their trust in these organizations to get the job done and actually help make a difference to a disease that frankly should be curable by now, instead we have these worthless bags of meat ruining it for the rest of mankind.

We need a great cleansing on the many blights that infect this world.

How magnanimous of them. Also, what kind of a farcical punishment is that?

As sordid as this affair is, one aspect that particularly caught my attention is the part about professional fundraisers receiving 85% of whatever they raise. Ethical argument aside, how is this legal? they're practically raising money for themselves.

@mjorh: When will you post about fun news for once :(

We've got enough fun topics :D But i will think of sth funny ...

And such news need to be discussed , it's a critical issue.

I'm wondering why there's no investigation on such organizations , i mean who's monitoring them ?

As far as the penalties being too light, they reached a settlement and settlements usually involve lighter penalties.

Charities do have to meet their operating expenses: they have to pay their employees and provide them with benefits (charities should provide their employees with a decent income and benefits, but the employees shouldn't get rich off of it), pay for utilities, maintenance/repairs (physical facilities, and online presence), supplies (food, medicine), rent. They should also save up some money for lean years or emergencies, from what I've read about 3 years worth of operating expenses at maximum should be saved, groups that save up more than that aren't using their money to do as much good as they should. Cruises and concert tickets may be ways for charities to raise funds but it seems like this is not the case in the story. People in charitable groups should use that money to perform good works in line with the purpose of the group, not to get rich or to live the high life off of the donors' money.

Another issue is that sometimes charities may be involved in activities that some donors may have moral/ethical issues with and not be very forthright about it, or they may partner with or fund other groups. For example last summer the Ice Bucket Challenge was a pretty big thing that raised money for the ALS society of America (ALSA), but there were some concerns with whether ALSA funded research involving human embryonic stem cells. ALSA said that the Ice Bucket money did not fund embryonic stem cell research, they only had one program which funded that and that was done at donor request. However some people still had concerns about donating to ALSA, so - at least in the case of one Catholic high school - they did an Ice Bucket challenge and sent the donations to the John Paul II medical research institute (JP2MRI) which funds medical research without using embryonic cells. During that period JP2MRI said that donors could earmark money specifically towards ALS research.

Komen is actually a decent example of one organization that donates to other groups. There has been some controversy over Komen because it donates money to Planned Parenthood, which PP is supposed to use to provide breast screenings but PP by and large only performs manual breast screenings while many other places perform mammograms which can detect tumors much earlier. Of course because of Planned Parenthood's involvement in abortion, Komen's involvement with PP has alienated many potential Komen donors and has caused some Komen employees to quit upon finding this out (specifically I saw on tv a woman who was Komen's Latino outreach coordinator who quit after finding out that the Komen organization had donated to PP).

Takes a special kind of dirtbag to embezzle from a cancer charity. Seriously.

And this is why I never and will never believe in charities.