The Federal Trade Commission and 10 states are suing a "sham" charity and its operator for deceiving donors and funneling profits into its own pockets.
The complaint — filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, by the FTC and attorneys general and/or secretaries of state of California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, alleges that the charity Cancer Recovery Foundation International, also known as Women's Cancer Fund, and its operator Gregory Anderson only used 1.1% of donated funds to help cancer patients and families.
From 2017 to 2022, the Women's Cancer Fund collected more than $18 million from donors that was advertised to go toward helping cancer patients with basic needs. The suit alleges, however, that only $194,809 went to cancer patients, while the charity paid Mr. Anderson $775,139 as his salary. Donor funds were also used to pay for costly travel expenses. Additionally, about 85% of the funds went to for-profit fundraisers that Mr. Anderson hired to make "deceptive pitches on behalf of the sham charity," according to a March 11 FTC news release.
The lawsuit alleges that Women's Cancer Fund and Mr. Anderson violated the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and state consumer protection laws.