The Black Lives Matter leader and her husband were arrested on fraud charges after they allegedly engaged in a variety of illicit activities involving the non-profit organization.
The activists Monica Cannon-Grant and her husband, Clark Grant, were arrested on Tuesday and were charged in an “18-count indictment with three separate schemes: defrauding donors; illegally collecting an estimated $100,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits, and lying on a mortgage application.”
According to the authorities, the couple allegedly lied about taking the children on the trip. According to Cannon-Grant’s proposal, the retreat was meant for the children’s exposure to communities outside of the violence riddled neighborhoods that they navigate daily.”
“In a June 2019 ceremony at the Suffolk district attorney’s office, Monica Cannon-Grant was handed a check for $6,000, a grant awarded to her nonprofit, Violence in Boston Inc., to take a group of at-risk young men to a retreat in Philadelphia.” The Boston Globe reported.
The prosecutors also revealed that the couple allegedly used a “significant chunk of the $1 million” worth of donations and spent the money to “buy a vehicle for a relative and to rent cars, to vacation in Maryland, eat at various restaurants, buy groceries, and get services at a nail salon.”
In October, Cannon-Grant’s husband was arrested by the Federal Agents and was “charged with illegally collecting pandemic unemployment benefits and making false statements on a mortgage application.”
Cannon-Grant was also accused of lying on her report after she claimed that the general’s charity division did not pay her a salary but paid herself $2,788 from the non-profit’s fund per week.
However, the suspect kept denying the allegations against her, claiming that the white supremacists are attacking her while the black people are jealous of the praise that she has been receiving from the community.
“VIB [Violence in Boston] and Monica have been fully cooperating and their production of records remains ongoing. Drawing conclusions from an incomplete factual record does not represent the fair and fully informed process a citizen deserves from its government, especially someone like Monica who has worked tirelessly on behalf of her community. We remain fully confident Monica will be vindicated when a complete factual record emerges.” Cannon-Grant’s lawyer, Robert Goldstein, said.
The Black Lives Matter rose to fame has been receiving a huge amount of donations after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 attracted thousands of participants.