Breast Cancer Charities Shut Down after Skimming $187 Million

After an extensive investigation into four different breast cancer charities, all of which were apparently run by the same family, the FTC has decided to file a civil complaint against The Breast Cancer Society, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, and the Cancer Fund of America. The owners are accused of stealing $187 million from these funds between 2008 and 2012, and using the money on personal expenses.

The charities were not well-known, but managed to amass these funds through name recognition. Their names are remarkably similar to larger charities with better reputations. Among the purchases made by their owners, James Reynolds Jr, James Reynolds Sr, and his ex-wife Rose Perkins, include “luxury cruises, dating site memberships, and Victoria’s Secret lingerie,” and “cars, college tuition, gym memberships, jetski outings, and tickets to sports events and concerts.” The rest of the money was spent paying employees and other fundraising efforts.

These organizations were able to operate for years without oversight, due to a large influx of new charities that were founded since the year 2000. Apparently, the government hasn’t been able to keep tabs on all of them, although the independent watchdog group known as “Charity Watch” led by Founder Daniel Borochoff, has long since given them an “F” grade on his website. “This is a significant action, but it’s the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other problems like this out there. . . . I hope they continue to go after some of these questionable operators.”