Hey, there! Log in / Register
Woman charged with defrauding non-profit she started can keep working for it, but without access to its bank accounts
By adamg on Tue, 03/15/2022 - 2:36pm
Monica Cannon-Grant was released on personal recognizance today on charges she defrauded Violence in Boston, and was allowed to keep working for the group, but was ordered to stay away from its funds.
At her initial hearing in US District Court in Boston this afternoon, Magistrate Judge Judith Dein also ordered Cannon-Grant not to apply for any sort of unemployment payments or to apply for any loans or grants for the group, which she started in 2017.
Cannon-Grant was arrested this morning on an 18-count indictment charging two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of conspiracy, 13 counts of wire fraud, count of making false statements to a mortgage lending business and one count of mail fraud. Her husband, who was initially charged with some of the counts in October, was named in the new indictment, but did not have to appear in court today. Broadly speakings, the couple was charged with treating Violence in Boston funds as their own, using money meant for charity work to pay for rent, trips and other personal expenses - even as Cannon-Grant said she was working for free.
At her hearing today, assistant US Attorney Adam Deitch initially asked that Cannon-Grant be prohibited from any involvement in Violence in Boston pending the outcome of her case, saying that other board directors and administrators at the group could take on her responsibilities. Her attorney, William Connolly, however, asked that she be allowed to continue her work there running its twice-weekly food pantry in Hyde Park and some other tasks, just not with the ability to access funds. Dein agreed.
Innocent, etc.
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Can someone else take over the food pantry?
Keeping this organization in charge of it doesn't seem like a good idea for any more time than absolutely necessary.
because she going to take
because she going to take some peanut butter and applesauce?
have you seen
peanut butter prices?!?!
The MCG apologists disgust me.
She’s a grifter and a cheat. She took money for a cause and used it to enrich herself. You should be ashamed of yourself for defending her.
How have I defended her?
How have I defended her?
She has helped people.
it's true
how does what I said defend her against these allegations?
It reads to me
as a character defense, not a criminal defense. But that is still some sort of defense of her, nonetheless.
What is character defense?
What is character defense? Do you agree that anyone saying anything that isn't an attack is shameful?
Apologist dissertation
You may need to expound on the definition of apologists with some of the folks here. Holy smokes. It goes deep.
They have a really good food
They have a really good food pantry.
Ha
I’ll pack you the best food pantry you’ve ever seen for a million dollars.
Why not you, Ron?
Or are you busy?
Gee, if only MCG was white
and worked for Marty Walsh and her name was either Ken Brisette or Tim Sullivan.
Then she'd walk.
Apples and oranges
Or do you have proof that Brisette and Sullivan embezzled funds?
Gee, maybe you missed the part
where they were convicted and then had it overturned, something at the time legal analysts said never happens.
Of course it had nothing to do with keeping shit like that out of Walsh’s confirmation hearings, but we all saw how the unions made sure his nomination sailed through on a bi-partisan level.
Sound about white to you, homebwah?
don't forget the corporate scumbag promotion company
That broke labor laws by getting "volunteers" to pay hundreds in deposit fees for the privilege of working for them. The AG knew all about it and decided it would be too negative politically to prosecute.
Damn...
I just want to remind anyone who wants to jump to huge moral judgments that plenty of small community charities have it set up to pay themselves sizable salaries. Sounds like the only error in judgment here was not having it set up transparently on the books.
No eeka.
Did you read the indictment?
She defrauded the government when applying and receiving unemployment funds and her husband told her to make up other stuff to cover for it.
To your point though, she is good at what she does and if she did it the right way and hired someone to handle these issues she could probably earn a very good living helping others. Community organizers like her are in tough spots because if they make too much, they look like grifters. If you look at her numbers though, I bet she would still end up looking good if she did things the right way. (Lets say she raised 30 million and wanted to take a 30% cut versus someone who isn't good at raising money raising 500K and taking a 2% cut. The person making a 30% cut is better at their job and doing more for good for everyone, including herself)
Here's a novel defense
From WCVB:
"She's innocent until proven guilty," said Supreme Richardson, who spoke with NewsCenter 5's Todd Kazakiewich at VIB's social impact center in Hyde Park. "She has me working with the gangs in the streets to make sure that, you know, we kind of stem down violence. You can't be mad at a person like that.
"I mean, yeah, we make mistakes. Yeah, we may have messed up. But again, we're not educated on what a 501(c)(3) is supposed to do all the time," Richardson added.
so ya mean like um
control the steam?
Sizable? or did you mean a
Sizable? or did you mean a livable wage? I'm pretty tired of people knocking EDs making $75k/year for their "sizable" salaries. That is just barely enough to afford to live in the communities they serve. Even at $100k, many are just making ends meet if they have to support a family. It's not the same as outright fraud, which is what happened here; it's totally different, morally, ethically, and legally.
Are you serious?
This is not a bookkeeping error. It’s fraud! Putting aside the charity fraud, she and her husband committed mortgage fraud and unemployment fraud.
Gaffin has refused to post my comments on this issue, so I presume this one will never see the light of day, but we can’t sweep this under the rug or whataboutit into oblivion. It’s a huge scandal.
Huge scandal indeed
It’s amazing how many people on here are trying to explain it away like it’s no big deal or these things happen or don’t be too negative because it will impact other non-profits. Really amazing stuff. She’s a criminal folks. See reality for what it is. Some people you thought were good are not and that’s okay. It’s okay to be wrong and admit it sometimes.
Something the Boston Globe and Boston Magazine should try doing after propping up this known racist.
She spent money on herself that were from targeted grants.
Monies that were given to her to spend on specific things she used for herself. Honestly, I don't know how you can try to justify this with "everybody does it". Do you image buying a used car for a relative for close to $10g was somehow in her contract?
One bright spot
Take this with as many grains of salt as you like, but according to a Daily Mail article, the media company that paid Conman-Grift 75K for a diversity program was none other than The Phantom Gourmet.
As Oscar Wilde said of fox hunting - "the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible".
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10617379/BLM-leader-founder-ant...
O. M. F. G.
If true, perfect.
Dailymail has a more colorful
Dailymail has a more colorful writeup of the story. Their coverage contains these literary gems: