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Michigan has joined a federal lawsuit against four phony cancer charities and their operators who allegedly scammed more than $187 million from consumers throughout the country.
The joint complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, the other 49 states and the District of Columbia alleges that Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, Children’s Cancer Fund of America, and the Breast Cancer Society spent more money on salaries than on the goods and services they provided to cancer patients.
The charities, all led by James Reynolds Senior, allegedly solicited donations via phone and mail and used the money for gym memberships, college tuition, dating website subscriptions and more.
Michigan and 35 other states also charged the bogus groups with making false and misleading filings with state charities regulators.
In addition, the FTC and 36 states charged Cancer Fund, Children’s Cancer Fund, and the Breast Cancer Society with providing their professional fundraisers with deceptive fundraising materials and thus the means and instrumentalities of deception.
