The California Department of Justice has ordered Black Lives Matter to disclose details of the $60 million war chest it accumulated from donations.
The stateโs DOJ warned BLMโs leaders that they will be personally liable if they fail to disclose details of how the donations are spent, as required by California law.
In a letter obtained by The Washington Examiner, the CA DOJ wrote:
โThe organization BLACK LIVES MATTER GLOBAL NETWORK FOUNDATION, INC. is delinquent with The Registry of Charitable Trusts for failing to submit required annual report(s).
โCharitable assets cannot be used to pay these avoidable costs.
โAccordingly, directors, trustees, officers and return preparers responsible for failure to timely file the above-described report(s) are personally liable for payment of all penalties, interest and other costs incurred to restore exempt status.โ
BLM is prohibited from โsoliciting or disbursing charitable fundsโ in California until it submits the required forms and the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the legal entity that represents the national BLM movement.
If the organization fails to comply, it faces fines for โeach month or partial month for which the report(s) are delinquent.โ
From The Washington Examiner:
BLM reported in February 2021 that it closed out 2020 with $60 million in its bank accounts, but the charity wonโt say who has been in control of the funds for the past eight months, and the address listed on the charityโs 2019 tax forms is wrong.
BLMโs co-founder, Patrisse Cullors, appointed two activists to lead the organization after she resigned in May 2021 amid criticism of her personal finances, but her replacements quietly announced in September that they never took the job because of disagreements with BLM.
Local black activists publicly criticized the national BLM organization in late 2020 for its lack of financial transparency and for providing little to no funding to local BLM chapters across the country.
CharityWatch Executive Director Laurie Styron previously said BLM was โlike a giant ghost ship full of treasure drifting in the night with no captain, no discernible crew, and no clear direction.โ
From The Daily Mail:
The notice comes just days after it was revealed that BLM has not had anyone in charge of its finances since co-founder Patrisse Cullors resigned last May.
It is not clear who is currently in charge of the activist group after all three of its founding members โ Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometiย โ left the organization.
Cullors, 38, stepped down as executive director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network (BLMGN) last year amid scrutiny of her $3.2 million property empire.
The scrutiny into BLMGNโs also finances comes after it was reported that the group transferred $6.3 million to Cullors spouse, Janaya Khan, and other Canadian activists to purchase a mansion in Toronto in 2001.
Californiaโs warning follows an order from Washington state instructing BLM to โimmediately ceaseโ fundraising in the state due to its โlack of financial transparencyโ.
California threatens to hold BLMโs leaders personally liable for missing financial records over $60M in donationshttps://t.co/Ot6myKKf7Y
โ Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) February 2, 2022
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