Tag: charities

“The Height Of Hypocrisy”: Charity Founder Gets Eight Years For Embezzling Millions

The founder of a charity that helped low-income workers cover emergency bills has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for spending millions of dollars in donations on himself. Keith Taylor, 59, of New York, founded Modest Needs around 2002, and U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon sentenced him, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced Wednesday. He pleaded guilty in August 2025 to defrauding the charity and its donors and to evading more than $1 million in federal income taxes.

Modest Needs was a 501(c)(3) that used crowd-sourced funding to help people living paycheck to paycheck with unexpected costs such as medical bills or a broken appliance. Prosecutors say Taylor embezzled more than $2.5 million from the charity and its donors since at least 2015 and used it to fund his own lifestyle.

The list of what the money bought is the heart of the case. Taylor regularly ate at Per Se, Jean-Georges, Masa and Marea, sometimes twice a day, and spent more than $320,000 of charity funds at New York restaurants and steakhouses. Donations also paid over $300,000 of the rent on a 30th-floor apartment in a midtown Manhattan skyscraper, more than $100,000 to food delivery services, and bills for his electronics and his own medical care. Another $270,000 went straight into his personal brokerage account.

“Keith Taylor embezzled millions from a charity for low-income families to pay for his own lavish lifestyle,” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said. “This is the height of hypocrisy.” He added that Taylor “shattered the trust of those who believed in the mission of the charity, denying essential help to vulnerable individuals and families in genuine need.”

Taylor was arrested in June 2024, and prosecutors say the spending did not stop. He purportedly resigned and was barred from the charity’s bank accounts as a condition of pretrial release, yet he kept using its money for meals, medical expenses and the rent on the luxury apartment, in violation of those conditions.

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Racist? UK Charities Are Paying White People A Third Less Than Ethnics

Oxfam paid its white staff a median of 33% less than colleagues who described themselves as black or a person of colour last year, according to the charity’s own annual report. Cancer Research UK and the British Red Cross reported similar negative ethnicity pay gaps in favour of ethnic minority staff.

The figures, drawn from the organisations’ voluntary disclosures, have prompted questions about how “positive action” provisions in the Equality Act 2010 are being applied in practice. Critics argue the measures, intended to address under-representation, are producing outcomes that disadvantage white employees in recruitment, promotion and pay.

Oxfam’s ethnicity pay gap stood at -33.0% on the median and -12.9% on the mean, based on data from 69.2% of staff who shared their ethnicity. Black or people of colour (BPOC) staff made up 10.5% of the workforce. The median gap had been -10.4% the previous year.

The charity noted that a higher proportion of staff in the top two pay quartiles disclosed their ethnicity, and that lower overall numbers of BPOC colleagues “may be driving a skew in the pay gap.” It stated the figures “cannot be seen as conclusive” but were “suggestive of lower average pay at the charity for white workers.”

A spokesman for Oxfam said the organisation was “committed to fair, inclusive recruitment practices that value diversity and ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive. We do not operate a policy of positive discrimination,” adding that the “reported ethnicity pay gap is not evidence of unequal pay for the same work.”

Cancer Research UK reported that white staff were paid 7.6% less on average in 2025. The charity has recorded a negative gap in favour of ethnic minority employees since 2020, though it said the figure is now “the closest to being neutral it has ever been.”

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What Is The Hope Florida Scandal and What Does It Say About Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: A History Of Treachery

When it comes to corruption in the State of Florida, there is no criminal more guilty than Governor Ron DeSantis, and his wife Casey DeSantis, who stole $10 Million from the poorest of Floridians.

The Hope Florida scandal that has enveloped the DeSantis’ throughout the last year has reached a new fevered pitch as CBS News Miami has leaked the entire grand jury presentment against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis.

The leaks reveal damning evidence that the grand jury found evidence of severe, and even potentially criminal conduct by the First Family as it pertains to the Centene settlement, in which their appointed officials illegally steered $10 Million into Casey DeSantis’ Hope Florida charity.

Now the DeSantis’ are trying to cover up the information by suing those attempting to expose this information before the midterm elections.

We will examine the depth of the DeSantis’ treachery as it pertains to their theft of $10 Million later within the article, but first, let’s look at DeSantis’ own statements on the matter.

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So the FBI Did Another Big Raid You Might Have Missed…

Did you hear the one about the FBI investigation in the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners that caught one of them with his hand in the cookie jar of his own nonprofit?

It’s no joke, but it’s one of those stories of Democrat corruption that somehow [cough, cough] got lost in the shuffle. Let’s bring a little sunshine to it, shall we?

Three years ago, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott appointed longtime social worker and behavioral-health entrepreneur Mujahid Muhammad to the city’s Board of School Commissioners. His primary organization, KEYS — Keep Encouraging Youth to Succeed — since 2009 purportedly was involved it counseling, youth recreation, senior services, workforce training, and “culinary therapy”—using grocery deliveries and cooking lessons with families needing mental-health support.

KEYS took a kind of unconventional approach I’d usually think was noteworthy for all the right reasons.

Purportedly.

Project Baltimore reported last week that it “has been digging into KEYS Empowers financials and found that in federal filings, KEYS reports paying out over $400,000 in salaries to zero employees.”

Then there’s this from the Baltimore Banner: “A nonprofit called KEYS Empowers Inc. that lists the same address as its headquarters and Muhammad as the executive director reported receiving more than $4.7 million in government funds for the 2023 and 2024 tax years, tax filings show. That money made up the entirety of KEYS Empowers revenue for those years.”

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Report: Federal Govt Spent $26.5 Billion on NGOs for Illegal Migrants

A new report finds that the U.S. government doled out 1,272 awards to pay for programs costing $26.5 billion to encourage and welcome illegal migration.

The site DataRepublican.com has gotten down into the financial weeds with a review of spending on migrant resettlement and Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) awards through January of 2025.

The site also noted there are 217 contracts worth $5.2 billion that are still active.

The active contracts include $3.4 billion to care for unaccompanied children who are already in the system. An additional $544 million is going to aid states with migrants who are already here and in the system, and $1.2 billion is being spent on other ORR grants that have already been granted.

One other program costing five million dollars has been forced to remain active by a court order.

The Trump administration has also canceled 63 awards, worth a total of $186 million.

In September, the White House outlined nearly $1 billion in wasted tax dollars spent on migrants.

The White House recently launched a new initiative to eliminate wasteful and harmful spending and pledged to “cut wasteful and harmful government spending that does not benefit American citizens.”

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NGO’s Expose Mexico’s Political Elite Over Stolen Money Destined For Children’s Cancer Medication

A group of private organizations filed a series of complaints with Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office accusing key members of Mexico’s ruling party of receiving stolen federal funds destined for pediatric cancer treatments. The groups claim theft of the missing funds led to the deaths of more than 5,000 children with cancer.

Those named in the complaint include Andres Lopez Beltran, the son of former Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and his close business associates.

This week, the organizations Parents of Children with Cancer, De Corazon AC, and Fundacion Nicoatole went to the FGR where they filed a formal complaint against Lopez Beltran and Jorge Amilcar Olan, accusing them of genocide, murder, and organized crime.

In a prepared statement, the organizations point to a series of illegally obtained contracts by Amilcar Olan’s companies, which relied on Lopez Beltran’s connections and funneled millions in federal funding into ghost companies that allegedly embezzled the money. As a result of the scheme, thousands of children throughout Mexico went without cancer medicines, with over 5,000 of them dying, the statement alleges.

It remains unclear whether Mexican authorities will act on the complaint, since in recent months Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and her government have publicly defended Lopez Beltran and claimed he is not under investigation. This despite being publicly linked to large-scale cartel-fuel smuggling operations. As Breitbart Texas reported, the U.S. government revoked Lopez Beltran’s tourist visa and is reportedly investigating him over those allegations.

A series of news articles and statements from rival politicians in Mexico claim that Lopez Beltran relied on Amilcar Olan not only to move money from illegal fuel, but also to embezzle government funds through a series of government contracts moved into shell companies. Despite the allegations, Mexico’s government is also protecting Amilcar Olan, who has since fled the country and has been spotted living in Europe.

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Calif.: Feds raid L.A. nonprofit figures in sweep over multi-million dollar homeless fraud scheme

In a dramatic sweep on Wednesday, federal agents reportedly dismantled a multi-million-dollar corruption network embedded within Los Angeles’ homelessness services sector.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tactical units in Kevlar vests, armed with rifles and bullhorns, descended on multiple South Los Angeles residences to arrest figures accused of skimming taxpayer funds meant to shelter the city’s homeless residents.

The operation targeted figures linked to contracts administered by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), revealing a deep web of kickbacks, “ghost” participants and lavish personal spending — funded by public aid.

Among those taken into custody during the morning raids was 48-year-old Lakiya Malone, an employee at Special Service for Groups (SSG), a nonprofit operating under LAHSA-funded programs.

Federal prosecutors say that Malone accepted over $180,000 in bribes and kickbacks to approve priority referrals and fabricate ghost participants — which are individuals who never actually received or resided in subsidized housing — to funnel millions in public funds into corrupt hands.

Malone was escorted out of her Westmont residence in handcuffs as First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli and other law enforcement officers oversaw the arrest.

Simultaneously, federal agents also swarmed the Baldwin Hills residence of 46-year-old Michael Young, founder of the nonprofit Home At Last. Federal prosecutors charged Young with wire fraud, alleging that he misappropriated more than $7.5 million in public homelessness funds using a network of shell companies and fraudulent billing practices.

Rather than providing shelter, Young purportedly funneled the public cash into commercial real estate, a bingo hall, private vacations and over $1 million to build and operate a restaurant and nightclub called Six Seven Five Lounge in Inglewood.

The sweeps are tied to an expansive, ongoing federal probe into Southern California homeless service providers, which previously ensnared Alexander Soofer, the former executive director of the nonprofit Abundant Blessings.

Soofer, who was charged with orchestrating a $23 million fraud scheme to buy a $7 million Westwood home and finance luxury travel, agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud and money laundering while admitting to his role in paying kickbacks to Malone.

Meanwhile, authorities are also searching for a third defendant in the new indictment, Donye Mitchell, 55, who faces federal charges for allegedly fraudulent grant applications exceeding $1.2 million.

Federal officials noted that the exploitation of homeless aid exemplifies a major breach of public trust, promising further action as investigations into L.A.’s homeless aid system continue.


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The Truth About Non-Disclosure Agreements In Non-Profits

MORE NON-PROFITS START DEMANDING VOLUNTEER NDAS

We were recently asked a question about NDAs for non-profit organizations by someone who had been asked to sign one. In light of that discussion, THE EASTON GAZETTE did some research on NDAs.

Non-disclosure agreements seem to be more prevalent than ever. Most of the time, we hear about non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as they apply to high powered CEO’s leaving their positions or individuals involved in settlements of lawsuits. But now we are hearing about them in the context of local, small non-profit groups. What is an NDA?

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a binding contract that obligates one or both parties to keep specified information confidential and to refrain from disclosing or misusing it. An NDA protects trade secrets, client lists, financial data, product designs, and other proprietary information. Parties sign NDAs before sharing sensitive material during deals, employment, or negotiations. Are NDAs Legally Enforceable?

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The practice of getting people to sign non-disclosure agreements applies in many different situations. For example, an employee either is hired for or leaves their job, and they may get slapped with signing an NDA by their employer. Some employees may sign an NDA upon retirement. That NDA must specify a particular time period for which that NDA is in effect. It also cannot use retirement benefits as leverage for signing an NDA. In other words, an employee cannot be coerced to sign with a threat of losing or reducing retirement benefits or health care.

are non-disclosure agreements enforceable?

Mostly, yes. However, there are clear stipulations to when NDAs are enforceable and when they are not.

NDAs are enforceable when they identify clearly defined confidential information. In other words, the NDA must specify a reasonable scope of information that is protected. It cannot just be a general statement that makes everything protected.

The parties, disclosing and receiving, involved in the NDA must also be clearly defined and both parties must receive something for signing, employment, access to information, or a business relationship. Neither party may be coerced to sign the agreement.

NDA’s cannot cover illegal activity.

When NDA’s fail it is generally because of an unreasonable duration for the NDA, a vague designation of what is and isn’t covered, an application to an existing employee without giving them anything new for signing, or an attempt to hide fraud, safety violations or illegal activity.

So, for example, if a corporation attempts to get an employee to sign an NDA so that employee will not disclose fraud of any kind, the NDA is invalid.

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Tax-deductible ‘charities’ served as pipelines to Democrat voter registration: report

Leftist nonprofits are using pass-through organizations to boost voter registration for demographics most likely to vote for Democrats, a new report alleges.

The report, titled “The ‘Charities’ influencing elections: 2024 and beyond,” written by the Capital Research Center (CRC), found that multiple left-leaning 501(c)(3)s, which are prohibited from engaging in any political campaign for or against a candidate and whose donations are tax deductible, acted as conduits for 501(c)(4)s, which are permitted to engage in direct partisan politics. 

Those tax-exempt organizations spent $638 million during the 2024 election cycle, according to the report, to register voters most likely to vote for Democrats.

Three 501(c)(3)s – America Votes Education Fund (AVEF), Guarantee Our Votes Project (GOVP) and Democracy Matters Foundation – effectively routed their entire annual expenditure to affiliated 501(c)(4) organizations while conducting almost no independent program activity. 

America Votes Education Fund: AVEF reported on its most recent IRS Form 990s that it gave $20,748,002 in grants to its 501(c)(4) affiliate America Votes while spending just $532 in office expenses and $274 in fundraising expenses in 2024, and paid no employees. 

Further, three 501(c)(3) board members are also the president, chief operating officer, and treasurer of the 501(c)(4). America Votes, whose donations are not tax-deductible, says that its mission is to “create a fairer, more representative democracy by increasing voter participation across the country. Our coalition carries out non-partisan, education-focused programs to engage voters, particularly newly eligible and infrequent voters.”

Guarantee Our Votes Project: GOVP spent just 0.2% of its $13,919,873 expenditures in 2024 on legal and office expenses; the remainder went to grants, including $13.85 million to America Works USA and $30,0000 to the New Hampshire Youth Movement project. The amounts represent a massive increase in spending from the previous year, when GOVP gave out just $166,016 in grants.

America Works USA’s website is just one page, describing its mission as finding “unique and creative ways to promote progressive policy, strengthen our democracy, and build powerful infrastructure in states.”

Democracy Matters Foundation: DMF provided 96% of its 2024 expenditures to grants, according to its 990s, giving $31.38 million to its affiliated 501(c)(4), Democracy Matters, which says it exists to “connect and build a community of pro-democracy donors.”

None of the nonprofits listed above responded to a Just the News inquiry prior to press time.

Scott Walter, president of CRC, who was recently interviewed on “Just the News, No Noise,” detailed two other organizations that follow the same pattern.

“If you want to win elections, what do you need to do? You have to register voters, and then you have to get them to vote,” he said. 

“Well, that’s what this machinery is focused on. And you have groups like the Voter Participation Center and the Voter Registration Project that claim they just are help – you know they’re helping people do their civic duty.

“But they micro-target their efforts to where they will turn out the most Democratic votes, and they claim that this is still charitable. But you know, you look at Voter Participation Center in an election year. They may spend two-thirds of their money that year on for-profit Democratic Party micro-targeting firms. Now, do you think: ‘Does that sound like nonpartisan charity work to you?'”

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Bessent’s War On Left-Wing NGOs May Strip Soros Network, SPLC, And CAIR Of Tax-Exempt Status: Report

A new report from the New York Post maps out a multi-agency Treasury task force that could soon pursue a broad review that could strip tax-exempt status from George Soros’ far-left Open Society Foundations, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Treasury officials are drafting a framework to audit NGOs suspected of exploiting their 501(c)(3) status for political activity, illegal conduct or support of radical groups, the Post reported, citing three people familiar with the internal deliberations.

One source said Treasury Department officials were “like a dog with a bone” and reckoned that many NGOs and their donor bases could be “on borrowed time.”

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