Violence in Boston nonprofit shuts down amid fraud charges

Violence in Boston, the nonprofit whose founders allegedly defrauded donors and dedicated unemployment fraud, has shut down. 

The choice was introduced in an announcement posted to the charity’s web site. 

“I remorse to tell you that Violence in Boston Inc will likely be suspending all applications and shutting down, efficient instantly. I can’t communicate on whether or not the choice to dissolve the group was a straightforward one to make, as this choice was made by the Violence in Boston board of administrators,” the assertion learn. It was not signed by any specific particular person. 

Activist Monica Cannon-Grant and her husband, Clark Grant, pleaded not responsible to their costs in March. That they had been charged in an 18-count indictment earlier within the spring. The 2 allegedly spent donations to Violence in Boston on lodge reservations, fuel, restaurant meals, meals deliveries, nail salon providers, and private journey. Additionally they allegedly collected about $100,000 in unlawful unemployment advantages.

Each Grant and Cannon-Grant had been charged with two counts of wire fraud conspiracy; one depend of conspiracy; 13 counts of wire fraud; and one depend of creating false statements to a mortgage lending enterprise. Cannon-Grant was additionally charged with one depend of mail fraud.

Grant was first arrested in October. He was charged with one depend of wire fraud and one depend of false statements on a mortgage and credit score software. 

Violence in Boston was formally established in 2017 with a mission of lowering violence, elevating social consciousness, and aiding group causes in Boston. Cannon-Grant served as CEO, whereas her husband was a founding director and likewise working full-time for a commuter providers firm, in accordance with Massachusetts U.S. Lawyer Rachael Rollins’s workplace.

The pair allegedly conspired to make use of their nonprofit “as a car to solicit and obtain charitable contributions from institutional and particular person donors.” The usage of these funds for private acquire was allegedly hid from Violence in Boston’s administrators, amongst others. 

Rollins’s workplace stated that Cannon-Grant and Grant had unique management over Violence in Boston’s monetary accounts from 2017 by means of at the very least 2020. They diverted cash from the charity to themselves by means of money withdrawals, cashed checks, debit purchases, and transfers to their private financial institution accounts, officers allege. 

Between 2017 and 2021, Cannon-Grant allegedly utilized for each publicly and privately funded grants and donations quite a few instances, telling others that the cash was for use for charitable functions. 

As well as, they allegedly conspired to defraud the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Help by gathering pandemic-related advantages whereas concurrently gathering revenue from a number of different sources. These sources included Violence in Boston funds utilized for the pair’s private bills, consulting charges paid to Cannon-Grant, compensation paid immediately by Violence in Boston to Cannon-Grant, and the annual wage paid to Grant by his full-time employer, in accordance with Rollins’s workplace. 

From Might 2020 by means of 2021 the couple fraudulently utilized for pandemic advantages that they knew they weren’t eligible to obtain, officers allege. To do that, they allegedly submitted false on-line purposes and certifications for pandemic aid funds, hid their revenue, and created and submitted faux documentation to be able to proceed receiving weekly advantages. This cash was allegedly used to pay for joint family bills and different private expenditures, Rollins’s workplace stated. 

Lastly, officers allege that Cannon-Grant and Grant conspired to defraud an Illinois-based mortgage lender when making use of for a mortgage mortgage in July 2021. 

After the killing of George Floyd in 2020, Cannon-Grant rose to prominence, main among the metropolis’s largest social justice rallies and offering meals to the general public. That 12 months, Violence in Boston raised greater than $50,000 simply in April, WBUR reported.

The town of Boston and the Suffolk County district lawyer’s workplace donated to Violence in Boston, in accordance with WBUR. This features a $53,000 grant from the Boston Resiliency Fund in 2020. Moreover, a $6,000 grant from the Suffolk County district lawyer’s workplace meant for a 2019 violence prevention program as a substitute funded a private trip to Maryland, officers allege.