Nonprofit organization committing fraud how to report

[Sarahmartin96]

I Volunteer for an Nonprofit
501c3 Animal rescue. It’s come to my attention that the people husband and wife team that run the rescue are pocketing the majority of the money they are raising for the animals and spending it on themselves. The cats are kept in tiny cages for months at a time with minimum vet care. Many of them are adopted out sick. The woman who runs it is always saying she has no money for vet care But her and her husband eat out EVERY night with drinks. She posts this on Facebook so it’s a fact. She does Fundraisers for certain sick cats and get thousands of dollars Raised but the money never goes to help that certain sick cat. We never know what happens to the money raised. My question is who can I report her too? There needs to be An investigation into where all the money is going. There must be someone who can pull bank records pay pal record for the rescue and demand these Crooks provide proof where all this money went as it’s not going to the animals as it should. Does anyone know how I can get this rolling?

 

[Just Blue]

I Volunteer for an Nonprofit
501c3 Animal rescue. It’s come to my attention that the people husband and wife team that run the rescue are pocketing the majority of the money they are raising for the animals and spending it on themselves. The cats are kept in tiny cages for months at a time with minimum vet care. Many of them are adopted out sick. The woman who runs it is always saying she has no money for vet care But her and her husband eat out EVERY night with drinks. She posts this on Facebook so it’s a fact. She does Fundraisers for certain sick cats and get thousands of dollars Raised but the money never goes to help that certain sick cat. We never know what happens to the money raised. My question is who can I report her too? There needs to be An investigation into where all the money is going. There must be someone who can pull bank records pay pal record for the rescue and demand these Crooks provide proof where all this money went as it’s not going to the animals as it should. Does anyone know how I can get this rolling?

Have you called Animal Control/ASPCA and reported the animal abuse? What state is this in?

 

[Sarahmartin96]

It’s in New York State. They have been reported many times by other people but fly under the radar as far as how they treat the cats. They do just enough so they stay in Business without being shut down. The issue I want to get them on and I don’t believe anyone has tried is Fraud. If that’s the right word. Like I said they are taking money people donated to help the rescue to go treat themselves to a night out to dinner and drinks every night. They even tell people that they never eat at home anymore. I’m sure the new car they purchased a few years ago so if the rescue money went to. What I’m looking for is a Company maybe like the better business bureau to go in and audit them. Pull all their credit card statements see where they’re spending all their money. Look at their pay pal account for the rescue and demand to know where all that money went

 

[quincy]

Report them to the police then.

 

[Eekamouse]

It’s in New York State. They have been reported many times by other people but fly under the radar as far as how they treat the cats. They do just enough so they stay in Business without being shut down. The issue I want to get them on and I don’t believe anyone has tried is Fraud. If that’s the right word. Like I said they are taking money people donated to help the rescue to go treat themselves to a night out to dinner and drinks every night. They even tell people that they never eat at home anymore. I’m sure the new car they purchased a few years ago so if the rescue money went to. What I’m looking for is a Company maybe like the better business bureau to go in and audit them. Pull all their credit card statements see where they’re spending all their money. Look at their pay pal account for the rescue and demand to know where all that money went

You can report them to whomever you like but don't expect anyone to follow up with you to tell the results of their investigation, if they do one.

 

[bcr229]

If they are taking money donated to the 501c3 and using it for personal expenses you can make a complaint to the state at
https://www.charitiesnys.com/complaints_new.html

 

[quincy]

You can also file a complaint with the New York Bureau of Consumer Frauds & Protection:

https://ag.ny.gov/bureau/consumer-frauds-bureau

https://ag.ny.gov/animals

 

[Taxing Matters]

Like I said they are taking money people donated to help the rescue to go treat themselves to a night out to dinner and drinks every night.

Whoa, wait a minute. They may be eating and living well, but they may be doing that with money they get some place other than the tax exempt organization. What actual evidence do you have that they are using the organization's funds for personal benefit (beyond getting a reasonable compensation for the actual work they do for the organization)? If they are getting paid more out of the organization than reasonable compensation and you have something to show that indicates that then you can report that to the IRS TEGE division. Since what you allege they are doing may also violate the federal criminal tax laws, you could report it to the IRS criminal division too. If the IRS confirms that's what's been going on then the IRS will likely either fine the organization and/or them personally or revoke the tax exemption the organization has. There is also a chance they might be criminally prosecuted, too, though that is not very common. But the IRS will only act to investigate this if you provide something that clearly shows they are taking the money out of the organization for personal use. Just seeing them living well and the organization struggling does not support the conclusion that they are using organization money for personal use. The organization might not in fact have the money it needs and the founders just aren't willing to use their wealth to help support it, after all.

At the state level the NY Attorney General's (AG) Charities Bureau oversees charities in the state. You may complain there, too.

The links I provided for the IRS and the NY AG are to the contact pages for each organization. Hopefully that will aid you in making the reports to them if you wish to do that.

And just as a FYI for the future, an organization that is tax exempt under federal tax law is known as a section 501(c)(3) organization, not 501c3 (or any of the other ways I've seen people write it). That's because Internal Revenue Code (IRC) § 501(c)(3) is the part of the tax code that provides for this exemption.