A bookkeeper for a Connecticut veterans group that was named one of America’s worst charities has been accused of embezzling more than $830,000 from the organization over the past five years.
Author Archives: Kris Hundley
Kris Hundley joined the Tampa Bay Times 17 years ago as a business reporter. She is now a member of the Times’ investigative team.
Posted inUncategorized
Telemarketing consultant for questionable charities fined $50,000
New York attorney general finds that consultant to some of America’s worst charities violated his lifetime ban on raising money in that state.
Posted inUncategorized
Telemarketer profiled in worst charities series files for bankruptcy
The Chapter 11 filing is unlikely to end phone calls from Associated Community Services, one of the nation’s largest charity telemarketing firms.
Posted inMoney and Politics
No accounting for what charities ship overseas
In Guatemala, 20 percent of the population lives on less than a day. CNN GUATEMALA CITY – In 2010, one of Central America’s poorest countries received huge shipments of humanitarian aid from an unlikely source. That year, Guatemala, where 20 percent of the population lives on less than $1 a day, got $40 million worth […]
Posted inUncategorized
Charity Investigator: Healing Heroes Network
Healing Heroes Network Location: Palm Harbor, Fla. Total cash raised: .7 million Cash raised by professional solicitors: .3 million Total retained by professional solicitors: .1 million Total spent on programs: 8,725* Source: 2012 IRS 990 filing * Includes a portion of fundraising costs allocated to education and awareness Healing Heroes Network has a mission that tugs at the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Fla. loophole protects telemarketers that hire felons to call you for money
Handicapped by a law that looks tough on paper but is unenforceable in practice, prosecutors dropped charges against four men in charge of Police Protective Fund’s telemarketing operations.
Posted inAmerica's Worst Charities, Health Care
How we followed a telemarketer’s tracks in Iowa
To track how telemarketing companies target donors, the Tampa Bay Times and The Center for Investigative Reporting focused on one company, Associated Community Services, and examined how it did business in one state, Iowa. Associated Community Services is one of the largest charity fundraisers in the country, according to data compiled by GuideStar, an organization […]
Posted inAmerica's Worst Charities, Health Care
When it comes to fundraising, she’s a machine
Hear what happens when a potential donor realizes that a computer is calling, asking for a donation. Credit: Courtesy of the South Carolina Secretary of State’s office UPDATE, Nov. 15, 2013: This story updates to include information about a fine against Corporations for Character. Amanda Thomas is the perfect telemarketer. She’s always perky and pleasant. […]
Posted inAmerica's Worst Charities
One donation to charity telemarketer spawns more solicitation calls
Judith Johnson of Stacyville, Iowa, doesn’t get out much anymore. Legally blind and living on a small Social Security pension, the 72-year-old used to go to church once a week. She stopped out of fear that her new walker would snag on the railroad tracks she had to cross to get there. But Johnson, whose […]
Posted inHealth Care
Fla. investigators say police charity hired felons to raise donations
Regulators with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services raid a call center operated by Police Protective Fund, No. 20 on the Times/CIR list of worst charities.Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times Police Protective Fund raises millions of dollars each year in the name of fallen officers. On Tuesday, four men in charge of the […]