United States - FTC and Law Enforcement Partners Charge Four Sham Cancer Charities with Defrauding Over $187 Million from Consumers

In one of the largest coordinated enforcement actions against charity fraud, the FTC and 58 law state law enforcers charged four sham cancer charities and their officials with bilking more than $187 million from consumers.The so-called charities told potential donors that contributions would go to direct support for cancer patients  medicine, cash help, groceries, transportation for chemotherapy, counseling, and hospice care.In truth, as the joint federal complaint alleges, these claims were deceptive.The sham charities spent most of the donated funds supporting themselves, their families and friends, and their paid fundraisers, who often received 85 percent or or more of donations. As the complaint states, the four charities “operated as personal fiefdoms characterized by rampant nepotism, flagrant conflicts of interest, and excessive insider compensation, with none of the financial and governance controls that any bona fide charity would have adopted.” Two of the organizations and their officials agreed to settle the charges against them.  Litigation continues against the others.

Additional details about these scams and the proposed final orders are available here.