# Can any dopers tell me what the probable scam is here?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 13, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551 "2006-08-13T15:02:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551/1 "2006-08-13T15:02:40Z")
A local (supposedly) non-profit charitable organization has apparently been caught claiming that it made massive food disbursements and donations to local charities and organizations that have no basis in fact. Most of the charities and organizations referenced as recipients have disavowed any relationship with it.
My only question is why this (purportedly) charitable, non-profit organization would be filing false claims with the IRS if it is tax free? I’m not quite understanding the need to do this.
Can any accounting or non-profit savvy dopers tell me what the probable scam is here? Is it just that he’s angling for grants?
[Charity group under fire
Pantries dispute donations claimed to have been made by Delmarva Food Foundation](http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/NEWS01/608130303/1002)
[Edward Tinus (in green shirt)](http://www.co.worcester.md.us/Volunteer/2005mmb.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> WHALEYVILLE – Ten charities that the Delmarva Food Foundation reportedly donated large quantities of food and hygiene products to are disputing the contributions and some deny having any relationship with the nonprofit, according to an investigation by The Daily Times.
>
> Public tax records obtained from the IRS through a Free-dom of Information request show the Whaleyville-based Del-marva Food Foundation, the Lower Shore’s largest charity based on reported donations, received more than $13.44 million worth of food and related products in 2003 and distributed a nearly identical amount to 17 churches or charities across Delmarva.
>
> Top officials with 10 of these organizations, however, denied knowledge of receiving contributions ranging from $42,156 to $1.68 million in food donations. Several administrators said they don’t have a storage capacity for that much food. Some denied having a working relationship with the nonprofit. One official with the Berlin-based Agape Project said it hasn’t had any supplier give them that much product in years.
---
### Author:  [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551/2 "2006-08-13T15:15:06Z")
I don’t know anything about nonprofit status or tax laws, but it seems to me that 1) nonprofits still need to submit information to the IRS, to prove their nonprofit-ness, and 2) the reason for submitting false claims would be to hide profits. If an organization that claims to be nonprofit actually _is_ making a profit (and a tidy one, apparently), that sounds like fraud/a scam to me.
---
### Author:  [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551/3 "2006-08-13T15:23:44Z")
> [@astro](#):
>
> …
>
> My only question is why this (purportedly) charitable, non-profit organization would be filing false claims with the IRS if it is tax free? I’m not quite understanding the need to do this.
> …
It is the “purportedly” part. If the supposed non-profit is soliciting donations from people claiming to use them to help people who really need help but is really using them to keep the founder in hookers, blow, and Porsches, they are perpetuating fraud and are in violation of federal law.
---
### Author:  [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2006, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551/4 "2006-08-13T18:52:16Z")
Many non-profits do, in fact, make a profit. It’s just called an “increase in assets.” Sometimes this is from fees for services and sometimes it’s because donations exceed demand for services. Nothing shady in that in and of itself.
My guess is the goods that didn’t make it to the charities were sold somewhere and somebody pocketed the cash. Maybe they never existed and fraudulent invoices were cooked up between the supplier and the non-profit, and they split the money between them.
---
### Author:  [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)
#### Post date: [August 13, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-any-dopers-tell-me-what-the-probable-scam-is-here/368551/5 "2006-08-13T18:55:13Z")
Yeah, it sounds to me like they are trying to hide either A) a big bank balance (there are limits to how much money you can have as a non-profit) or B) lost money that wasn’t spent according to their mission statement or even C) they wrote receipts for donations that never happened for individuals or corporations that needed a tax deduction and then needed to make the money they never had go away on paper. Either way, the IRS is probably very interested in where the money really went, if it ever really existed.