logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

CNBC’s “American Greed” Will Feature Reynolds Cancer Charities Scam

Ruth McCambridge
June 23, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

June 21, 2017; TV Guide

As a big fan of the CNBC show American Greed, I have noted over the years that an uncomfortable portion of their true crime episodes feature philanthropy in either a central or supporting role to some of this nation’s most egregious scam artists. Thus, it was no surprise to hear that the show would focus next on the Reynolds family, who specialized in charitable solicitations focused on cancer.

The episode is aptly entitled “Junk in a Box” because, although the cancer charities in question raised approximately $187 million over the course of a decade, only three percent of that ever made its way to patients and too often in the form of, yes, junk in a box. From that episode’s promo material:

The Cancer Fund of America promises to provide treatment to cancer patients—but in reality, the charity just sends patients boxes full of seemingly random items like snack cakes and sample-sized toiletries.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ had been covering the Reynolds story for a few years when, in 2015, the attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia aided by the Federal Trade Commission collaborated to stop what had become a multi-state charity scam empire. At the time, Rick Cohen wrote about how frustrating it was to have the journey to justice take so long, and he placed some responsibility on nonprofits themselves:

Nonprofits don’t like to call for governmental oversight and investigations, but there are nonprofits out there that know other charities that operate much like those of the Reynolds family. The damage caused by Reynolds-like scam charities hurts all charities. The damage is not avoided by nonprofit leaders’ adopting ostrich strategies.

Cohen actually participated in one American Greed episode, entitled “Dealing in Deceit,” about the involvement of the Vanguard Foundation with the fraud of Sammy “Mouli” Cohen. But, there were so many more episodes on philanthropy, like “When Greed and Giving Collide,” “A Most Generous Criminal,” and “Charity Begins at Home,” featuring Bobby Thompson (aka John Donald Cody) who scammed millions over years through the use of shell veteran’s charities. You could binge watch just the shows focused on or featuring philanthropy and come away wondering how these guys make so much money even as legitimate nonprofits struggle for every penny.

We digress; what we really want to do is to encourage you to take a half-hour and watch “Junk in a Box” to get familiar with what the scam looked like, because it is important to notice and report the scams that taint legitimate charity and make skeptics of the public. The show will run at 10P ET/PT on Monday on CNBC.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: charity scamsFundraisingNonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Lightning in a Bottle
Jeanne Bell
Sometimes a Lender or a Borrower Be: The Dos and Don’ts of PRIs
Peter Goldberg and John MacIntosh
Funding the Impossible Dream: The Movement for Japanese American Redress
Rona Fernandez and Stan Yogi
Asking the Right Person for the Right Amount
Kim Klein
Fundraising Like a Community: Peoria’s Great Idea
Ruth McCambridge
Did Giving Tuesday’s High Results Miss You or Include You?
Ruth McCambridge

Popular Webinars

Remaking the Economy

Black Food Sovereignty, Community Stories

Register Now

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now

Remaking the Economy

Closing the Racial Wealth Gap

Register Now
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.