A Broward County charity dedicated to rescuing and adopting out abandoned dogs is fighting state charity regulators who claim the group misspent charitable contributions.
The group, 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida, is seeking a formal hearing to contest the investigative findings of the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It's the state agency that oversees charitable organizations.
The state last month found 10 violations, ranging from the group using a mail drop instead of a physical address in state records, up to the alleged use of $98,758 in charity money for what the state said “appears to be … for personal use.”
But the group’s attorney, Jeffrey Neiman, is disputing all of the allegations.
The items flagged as “personal use” – expenses at such places as Bed Bath & Beyond, TJ Maxx, Best Buy and payoffs to a personal credit card account – were all for charity business, the attorney told the NBC 6 Investigators in a statement.
“The monies in question were not used for personal expenses, but rather to pay for dog beds, blankets, leashes, collars, towels, sheets, car washes, cleaning products and dog toys,” Neiman wrote.
The state also questioned what it said was $30,000 in loans provided to the group’s president, Amy Roman, to help her purchase a vehicle. Roman did put $30,000 down on a 2011 BMW X5 luxury SUV in July 2013, according to records subpoenaed by the state. The charity also paid nearly $6,900 in payments for an auto loan on the vehicle, which was titled in Roman’s name and not the charity’s, according to the state allegations.
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In a response to the state, the group’s attorney said the loans for the car from the charity totaled $20,000 – money repaid by Roman by April 2014 – and that the other $10,000 referenced by the state was the amount of a bonus Roman received from the group in 2013, though it was not ratified by the board until February 2014.
“The organization felt that purchasing a vehicle to use in rescuing animals and conducting adoption and promotional events was essential to the work of the organization,” Neiman wrote to the state, challenging the investigative findings and requesting a formal hearing to resolve the dispute.
The state also questioned money it said was spent on a Key West vacation for Roman, but the group’s attorney denies it was indeed a vacation.
“The Key West trip was a failed rescue,” Neiman said in a statement to NBC 6. “The dog in question ended up being a street dog who was unable to be rescued. While down there, some scouting for fundraising and networking was also done. Incidentals that were personal in nature were paid for independent of the charity.”
The state’s proposed settlement – that the group pay a $10,000 fine and relinquish its charitable registration – would be “a death sentence for a charity that has done so much good and that has taken extraordinary efforts to comply with all applicable laws,” Neiman wrote to the state.
While it seeks further review, the charity is allowed to continue soliciting donations – as it was Saturday at a fundraiser and dog adoption event in Coconut Creek.
Three, board member Tiffany Nesbit told NBC 6 that the state finding are “a complaint. They are accusations. That’s all it is. We are in the middle of an investigation we are cooperating with.”
