Fraud increases in capitalist U.S.A.

The story was reported today prominently in the top half of the the first page of the digital edition of the New York Times under the byline of Manny Fernandez.

Here is how the scam went according to New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo: a “non-profit” organization named United Homeless Organization (UHO) was incorporated in the Democratic Party controlled state. They placed tables on the streets of New York City asking for “donations” to help the homeless. The president of UHO, “a formerly homeless Bronx man named Stephen Riley, and its director, Myra Walker, used tens of thousands of dollars from the group for personal expenses while failing to provide any services for the homeless.”

The expenses, the lawsuit of the Attorney General of New York State said, “included premium cable television service at Mr. Riley’s apartment; restaurant meals; trips to Cleveland, Mr. Riley’s hometown; and shopping purchases from Game Stop, the Home Shopping Network and the Website for Weight Watchers.”

“The table workers would pay Mr. Riley and Ms. Walker a $15-per-shift fee to use the group’s tables and materials, and keep the rest, according to the Cuomo lawsuit. It said that Mr. Riley and Ms. Walker used the fees as “their personal kitty,” routinely flouted nonprofit and charitable solicitation laws and failed to maintain accurate records of revenue and expenses.”

“Mr. Riley and Ms. Walker admitted in testimony to Mr. Cuomo’s office that the group has no program for providing food or clothing to the homeless. The organization does not run a shelter, soup kitchen or detox center, and does not give any of its money to other homeless charities, according to the Cuomo lawsuit. Mr. Riley and Ms. Walker are the only directors on the group’s board.”

There are thousand of so-called non-profit organizations operating in the United States. It is very obvious that many of them are nothing but plain vanilla capitalist scams and frauds.

If a so-called non-profit capitalist organization asks you for a donation or a contribution, you better investigate first. The money could very well end up in the pockets of criminal capitalist hucksters.