Federal Prosecutions of Alleged Charity Fraud: Casa Ruby, Feeding Our Future, and Modest Needs

The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they do tend to catch up with those who allegedly steal from charities, particularly when government funds are involved. Three recent examples, the first two of which have been covered in this space previously, are the founder of D.C.'s Casa Ruby, various people associated with Minnesota's Feeding Our Future, and the founder of New York's Modest Needs.

The Washington Post reports that Casa Ruby's founder is set to plead guilty on July 17th to federal wire fraud arising from an allegation that she stole $150,000 of pandemic relief funds. As detailed by the Washingtonian last year, the organization closed in 2022 after the D.C. government ended its support. The DC Superior Court also appointed a receiver to sort out the organization's finances.

The N.Y. Times has the latest on the Feeding Our Future scandal, which involves allegations of tens of millions of dollars in pandemic relief being stolen. The most recent development is that federal prosecutors have charged five people with conspiring to bribe a juror in a recently completed criminal trial of several people associated with Feeding Our Future; those five include three of the defendants (two of whom were convicted and one of whom was acquitted). For more comprehensive coverage, see the numerous stories in the (Minnesota) Star Tribune.

Finally, the N.Y. Times also recently reported on federal prosecutors charging the founder of Modest Needs, a charity that used crowdfunding to raise donations to help working families. According to prosecutors, he diverted $2.5 million of the charity's funds over eight years to cover personal expenses, including rent, cosmetic surgery, and expensive meals out. 

Lloyd Mayer