Children's Leukemia Foundation Guilty Of $9.7 Million Fraud: N.Y. Attorney General

Another "fake" charity getting busted :)

From:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/childrens ... 4b0a9b94852fa82

Children's Leukemia Foundation Guilty Of $9.7 Million Fraud: N.Y. Attorney General

The charity allegedly spent less than 1 percent of donations on patients.

Dominique Mosbergen News Editor, The Huffington Post

The New York-based National Children's Leukemia Foundation made many promises to its donors over the years: it would use funds to conduct cancer research, locate bone marrow donors, and run a “Make a Dream Come True” program to help kids with cancer fulfill their bucket list.

Donors were evidently moved and impressed by the organization’s appeals for help. Between 2009 and 2013, $9.7 million was generously donated to the foundation.

It’s emerged this week, however, that this money may have been raised fraudulently. According to New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, the NCLF was basically “a one-man operation, run by founder Zvi Shor, 64, out of the basement of his Brooklyn home.” The organization allegedly kept almost none of its promises, knowingly misled donors and misused most of the funds it collected.

In a petition filed with the Kings County Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Monday, Schneiderman's office wrote that less than $58,000 (less than 1 percent) of the $9.7 million raised by the NCLF actually went to providing assistance to leukemia patients. More than 80 percent of the money is said to have gone to funding telemarketing and direct-mail fund-raising campaigns.

Of the remaining funds, about five percent was allegedly transferred to a shell organization in Israel run by Shor’s sister, purportedly for research purposes. Between 2009 and 2013, Shor is also said to have paid himself a salary of almost $600,000 and another $600,000 in deferred compensation.

The petition also alleges that despite what donors were told, the NCLF did not have a bone marrow registry or a cancer research center as it had claimed.

The foundation’s “Make a Dream Come True” program was allegedly also a big lie. The petition states that the NCLF has spent no money on the program since March 2009 and only $7,866 in the year prior, per The New York Times.

In a series of tweets Tuesday, Schneiderman's office shared news of the petition:

    We are suing @NCLF_Leukemia for allegedly using the majority of $10M in donations for non-charitable purposes: http://t.co/XZcAfffXkU
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

    We allege that most of the money raised from donors went to fundraisers & less than 1% was given to help children suffering from cancer
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

    The group promised to fulfill wishes of sick children & claimed to send them to Disney World, yet we charge they had not done this in years
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

    It is also alleged that the charity submitted false financial filings, and lied about the makeup and structure of the organization
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

    Nothing is more shameful than pocketing millions donated by individuals who wanted to help children afflicted with a terminal illness
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

    My office will continue to investigate & shutter so-called charities that use legitimate-sounding names to exploit the generosity of NY’ers
    — Eric Schneiderman (@AGSchneiderman) July 21, 2015

The attorney general’s office revoked NCLF’s registration in January 2014. The foundation, however, has not been legally dissolved. Schneiderman is now seeking to shutter the organization completely and recover the $9.7 million raised.

In a statement to CNN, Shor said that the attorney general’s accusations are unfounded.

“Our small organization helped many families over the past 20 years,” he wrote. “I launched NCLF after the death of my teenage son to leukemia. I personally took no salary for over 8 years. I wanted to help as many families as I could who had children suffering from cancer.”

“We feel we are being used as an 'example' due to the telemarketing fundraising laws and fundraising market over which we have no control. Our fundraising contracts were all filed with the attorney general who has long known their terms. We expect to be vindicated in court when the full story is explained,” Shor added.

CNN reports that the telephone numbers for the organization have been disconnected. The foundation's website also appears to be down.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will NEVER tire of seeing these!

Related number threads:
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-317-788-2600
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-866-202-8221
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-317-788-2605
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-619-819-7073
https://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-317-472-8016
...and many more.

I heard about this on the news.

This is probably just the tip of the iceberg. Once they find one deplorable charity that does not fulfill its promises, there will be more. Hope they are all shaking in their boots.

Way to go, Attorney General Schneiderman!!! Get the rest of them.

Saw this on the US Newscasts last night. Loved how they showed the CEO of this 'charity' in a grinning photo. Wonder why? As mentioned many times on 800notes- check out your charity FIRST! If you get a phone call & the high pressure starts, or they won't say how much goes to charity, or they won't say if they are paid fund-raisers. . . hang up. Give local.

I totally agree. I give locally (monetary donations) to only one charity and that is the local Alzheimers Disease Resource Center. My mom died of it in 2012 so it is a cause very close to my heart. I have met the director in person and spoken with her on the phone many times and her group is extremely dedicated to the cause. They are low key in soliciting donations, mailings are only twice a year but have constant fund raisers. Just received a brochure detailing the current walks for Alzheimers around the island. They serve the local families and communities who are dealing with this horrendous disease.

They don't do phone solicitations and one year I only received one mailing so I actually called and wanted to make sure I was still on the list. Turned out it was a small mailing that year and not all were included.

The best advice is to go with your gut feeling, if it doesn't feel right, don't donate, ask questions, if they are non-committal, don't waste your time and money. There are so many good organizations that need your support.

I was tempted to pay their Facebook page a visit to say how I feel and never did.

Last night ABC national news covered the same issue.  But they said 13 million dollars collected.  Most of it went to pay for telemarketing calls asking for donations.

That link says :

In 2010 reports surfaced that Shor had a felony conviction for bank fraud and being a convicted felon meant, in many states, that he wasn’t allowed to run a charity.

So he stepped down from the position and named long-time accountant Yehuda Gutwein as president. But Fuchs said Shor was the real mastermind behind it all.

The organization’s president and vice president are alleged to have breached their duties to the organization and to have aided and abetted Shor in running the organization; the auditor is accused of making false filings, the attorney general’s office said.