After George Floyd’s death in 2020, Monica Cannon-Grant became a well-known BLM activist in the Boston region. She and her husband, Clark Grant, created the non-profit Violence in Boston.
However, the BLM foundation has come under fire in recent months for its lack of financial visibility, with officials admitting that they had been unclear about the movement’s finances and administration for years.
The couple is then accused of defrauding at least $185,000 from donors through the nonprofit organization they formed, federal prosecutors stated Tuesday.
An 18-count federal indictment was returned against Cannon-Grant and her husband. In addition to scamming contributors, they’ve been accused of fabricating information on a mortgage application and fraudulently amassing unemployment benefits tied to the epidemic.
More than $1 million was allegedly gathered for individuals in need, but Cannon-Grant and Grant “took a large sum of money for themselves,” according to the Boston Globe.
The charges state that they were charged with concealing transactions while using charitable gifts to pay for everything from petrol to restaurants and hotel bookings to nail salon visits to car maintenance, the indictment states.
In reality, the defendants “exercised exclusive control over VIB financial accounts, used VIB funds to pay for personal expenditures from 2017 through early 2021,” and “diverted VIB funds to themselves through cash withdrawals, cashed checks, wire transfers to their personal bank accounts, and debit purchases, among other methods.”
Cannon-Grant is accused of requesting and receiving a grant of $10,400 from a Massachusetts department store on behalf of a Boston-based anti-violence group in 2017. This money will be used to “buy meals for disadvantaged students in the Boston Public School system,” she informed the department store. Authorities reported that she used more than $3,000 of the received money to pay her rent, which she didn’t tell the VIB board of directors about.
According to the indictment, Cannon-Grant allegedly even scammed the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.
Cannon-Grant will be chosen as the Bostonian of the Year in 2020 by the Boston Globe Magazine. By the year 2021, Boston Magazine has already designated Cannon-Grant as one of the city’s most influential citizens.
In the wake of her arrest on Tuesday, Cannon-Grant was freed on her own recognizance by a court. Her arraignment is scheduled for next week.
When asked about the government’s hasty conclusion, her lawyer, Robert Goldstein, told the Boston Globe that “we are really dissatisfied.”
VIB and Monica have been entirely cooperative, and their record production has persisted. Conclusions drawn from an insufficient factual record do not reflect the fair and informed process that a citizen, particularly someone like Monica who has worked diligently on behalf of her community, deserves from their government. We are convinced that Monica will be vindicated whenever a thorough record of the facts becomes available.
On the other hand, Cannon-Grant addressed the federal inquiry in a podcast episode earlier this month, blaming the probe on “white supremacy.”
She stated that a group of black activists had “partnered with white supremacy” to bring her down. Other people were allegedly envious of her achievement.
The moment funding started coming in and the world started seeing us doing the work, which prompted awards and accolades, it was, ‘I want what she got. She doesn’t deserve it, “” Cannon-Grant commented.
Violence in Boston’s mission is to improve the quality of life and outcomes for members of underserved communities by reducing the prevalence of violence and the impact of associated trauma while also addressing social injustices through advocacy and direct services, “the organization states on its website.”
Additionally, the organization supplied food during the coronavirus outbreak.
This is yet another ploy to bring the activist couple down, like last year’s incident. What is most upsetting is that even other fellow black activists are bringing her down instead of supporting her. The racial jealousy towards Cannon-Grant is evident.
