Shop

A year-long Washington Post investigation discovered more than 1,000 “significant diversions” of assets from the nation's nonprofits, documenting for the first time a pervasive pattern of unreported financial crime at some of America's most prominent institutions. The organizations victimized ranged from international aid organizations and leading charities to a litany of grassroots groups -feeding centers for hungry families, women's shelters, even a home for abused children. The size of the losses was often stunning: $43 million at an AIDS organization, $60 million at a charity for Holocaust survivors, $106 million at a major university. Just 10 of the largest diversions totaled more than a half-billion dollars, indicating that the universe of thefts was many billions. Even more disturbing was what was missing from financial disclosure reports. In violation of IRS reporting rules, most of the organizations kept the details of the crimes to themselves. Most failed to disclose the amount stolen on their reports, and many more gave no hint who took the money or what the organization had done in response. Federal and state authorities had done nothing to find out or hold those groups accountable.