Yet one more Black Lives Matter activist has been convicted of defrauding donors out of a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars}.
In a press release on Thursday, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Northern District of Ohio confirmed that Sir Maejor Web page, 35, of Toledo, was convicted wire fraud and three counts of cash laundering following a six-day trial.
The discharge acknowledged:
In response to court docket paperwork and testimony, in 2016, Web page created a Fb web page for “Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta” (“BLMGA”) and registered this group as a home non-profit with the Georgia Secretary of State Company’s Division. In 2017, the IRS accredited Web page’s request granting BLMGA tax-exempt standing underneath Part 503(c)(3) of the tax code, however dissolved this standing in 2019.
Web page nonetheless accepted donations after falsely portraying BLMGA to the general public as a reputable charity engaged in social justice work, when the truth is, it was not. As a substitute, Web page used the cash that particular person donors gave to BLMGA not for social justice causes, however quite to purchase objects for his personal private use, akin to a home and furnishings. Web page additionally dedicated money-laundering crimes when he purchased these things with the donations that he fraudulently obtained.
United States Legal professional Rebecca C. Lutzko, for the Northern District of Ohio additionally weighed in on the decision:
America Legal professional’s Workplace prioritizes the prosecution of white-collar prison conduct, notably conduct involving misleading schemes that selfishly exploit a charitable donor’s goodwill for private acquire.
The donors to BLMGA thought they had been giving their hard-earned cash to a trigger they believed in. However as a substitute of utilizing it to assist that trigger, Web page used it for himself. The jury’s verdict is a warning to each fraudster that if you misrepresent how donations or different cash given to you in belief will likely be used, you may be prosecuted and punished.
In response to The New York Times, Web page stole round $450,000.
The conviction is merely the newest in a litany of comparable instances the place people invovled with the far-left Black Lives Matter group have been caught skimming a whole bunch of 1000’s and even hundreds of thousands of {dollars} for their very own private acquire.
Final yr, even mainstream media organizations acknowledged that solely a 3rd of donations really went in direction of charitable causes, whereas these on the highest ranks of the motion financed luxurious existence with donor funds.
