AS FEDS HURT THE HURTING:
How Fraud Is Crippling
Non-Profits
If you don’t read any further, read this: As much as one-third of the $2.1 trillion Americans pay in taxes goes into the pockets of fraudsters. That’s $700 billion that could actually be feeding people, supporting mental health facilities, caring for the elderly, and yes, reintegrating justice-impacted people into their homes, their jobs, their families, and their communities, and their futures.
In Minnesota alone, narcissists have bilked more than $9 billion on schemes that helped no one. “Feeding Our Future,” for example, claimed to distribute many thousands of meals to schoolchildren. Instead, they stole $250 million while providing "very few or no meals" to children, as they paid off politicians who looked the other way. The “mastermind," Aimee Brock (PICTURED), lived in "lavish style," as she headed the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”
California may top the list with more than $250 billion in fraudulent activity. But, don't kid yourself, Indiana has had its problems too. One year ago, state and federal prosecutors uncovered nearly $15 billion in false Medicaid claims. Law enforcement seized more than $245 million in cash, luxury vehicles, cryptocurrency, and other assets from perpetrators inside and outside of the U.S., who had purchased pricey automobiles and ocean-side mansions here and across the Atlantic with your money.
Face it: Our taxes are not only subsidizing criminals in every state, they are taking the hard-earned money out of the pockets of Americans who seem to be constantly asked to pay more. Meanwhile, huge cutbacks of federal grants due to fears of fraud have half of Indiana's non-profits wondering if they can continue, as they scrape by month to month.
Indiana's Real Non-Profits are easy to spot. The Real ones are the ones that are audited, whose workers are underpaid, but constantly caring, as they find ways to continue to serve their communities of need. They provide actual food, actual training, actual transportation, and actual care to those who need it. The Real Non-Profits assist others and go begging for support because the work—for them—is all that matters.
The federal knee-jerk reaction of broad-axing non-profit grants due to the fraudulent actions of others has resulted in increased hurt and suffering by those in need. While we must eradicate misuse of our tax dollars, we have to remember that the Real Non-Profits are there for a reason. They do the work that no one else does, as they make our families healthier, our communities safer, and our state stronger every day.
I had to get that off my chest.
Thanks,
Nancy
