As you may know, I’ve reported extensively on Rep Gregory Meeks who is currently under instigation for the whereabouts of missing money he raised through a non-profit group he started that was supposed to aide Hurricane Katrina victims.The 30K that was collected never made it to Louisiana and the U.S. Attorney has been looking into what happened to the dough for the past 6 months.
The scandal should have made national news and Gregory Meeks a household word. Had Meeks been a white Republican from the south instead of an African American from New York , the updates on the news would be coming every 24 hours.
However, more important than the double standard of news coverage, is the fact that politicians rob the taxpayers blind through phony “non-profits” they create and money always seems to be unaccounted for.
If you see any politico involved with a non-profit, there’s some stealing going on and they’re hardly ever brought to justice, especially if they’re of the Democrat persuasion.
The New York Post reports that State Sen. Eric Adams funneled $30,000 in taxpayer money to a nonprofit he founded, 100 Blacks Who Care, but doesn't know how, or if, the money was spent.
The Brooklyn group, which got $15,000 in 2008, didn't record the money, as required on its federal tax returns, or document any expenses.
"Once the money is turned over to an organization, we, as elected officials, can't get involved in how they use it. I don't know how it's used," Adams told The Post last week.
The Brooklyn Democrat said he couldn't remember, without checking his records, why he gave the organization the "member item" grants in the first place.
Noel Leader, the group's treasurer, who, like Adams, is a former cop and co-founder of 100 Blacks, told The Post that the organization hadn't received any funding in years and that he did not recall receiving the state funds.
He later said a $5,000 allocation from the state Education Department was probably used for supplies.
"I vaguely remember the $5,000 being used for the workshops, to buy equipment we utilize during the workshops. We have a lot of props, sound equipment, things of that nature," he said.
Adams, Leader and Vernon Wells founded 100 Blacks in the mid-1990s as a nonprofit to give grants of $1,000 a month "to a worthy cause in the African-American community."
They also started 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, a for-profit advocacy group.
Several state lawmakers have gotten in trouble for running nonprofits, including state Sen. Pedro Espada, who was charged this month with embezzling money from his Bronx health-care centers, and State Sen. Vincent Leibell of Putnam County, who pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme involving a nonprofit he created.
Earlier this year, the US attorney opened an investigation into state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Rep. Gregory Meeks after The Post revealed the questionable spending practices of the nonprofit they helped to form, the New Direction Local Development Corp.
State Assemblywoman Sandra Galef, a Westchester Democrat, said she has drafted legislation that would prohibit lawmakers from giving member-item cash to nonprofits over which they have control.
"That's not what state dollars are to be used for," she said.
More details here
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