FTC, D.C. and all 50 States Take Action Against F Rated Cancer Charities

Four charities which have consistently earned "F" ratings from CharityWatch, Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services (an affiliate of Cancer Fund of America), Children’s Cancer Fund of America, and Breast Cancer Society, have been charged with bilking $187 million from donors in four years. Charges are being pressed by the Federal Trade Commission and 58 law enforcement partners from every state and the District of Columbia, in one of the largest legal actions to date against charity fraud.

The defendants are accused of using donations intended to help cancer patients "on cars, trips, luxury cruises, college tuition, gym memberships, jet ski outings, sporting event and concert tickets, and dating site memberships." Click here for more information on the egregious actions of these groups and the action being taken against them by the FTC and the multistate group of law enforcement partners.

The CharityWatch Hall of Shame now features defendant James Reynolds, Sr. and 24 of his family members for their web of deceitful charities. Our article Long Running Family Charity Scheme Exposed goes into more detail.

 

March 30, 2016 Update:  Cancer Fund of America Shut Down & Leader Banned for Life

Cancer Fund of America (CFA), Cancer Support Services (CSS), and their leader, James Reynolds, Sr., have agreed to settle charges related to the claims made in the May 2015 action alleging that CFA, CSS and two other cancer charities run by Reynolds family members bilked donors out of more than $187 million. CFA and CSS allegedly were responsible for more than $75 million of the claimed amount. Under the settlement orders, CFA and CSS will be permanently dissolved, and Reynolds is permanently banned from managing, operating, fundraising, or otherwise working for a nonprofit organization.

The settlement was announced March 30, 2016 and concludes the largest joint enforcement action ever undertaken by the FTC and state charity regulators. The other two alleged sham charities that were part of the action, Children’s Cancer Fund of America and Breast Cancer Society, settled in May 2015 and are in the process of being dissolved. Their respective leaders, Rose Perkins and James Reynolds, Jr., also were banned from fundraising, charity management, and oversight of charitable assets, as was Kyle Effler, CSS’s chief financial officer & former president.   

See the FTC’s March 30, 2016 press release for more on the settlement agreement.

 

As far back as 1993 CharityWatch has warned the public about serious problems at Cancer Fund of America and has also been alerting the public to problems at the newer charities cited in the FTC complaint. For some of our past reporting on these four organizations, check out these articles:

The Connected World of Charitable Fundraising

All-in-the-Family Charities Receive F's

Cancer Charities Need Dose of Organizational Chemotherapy