Scam Mystery Revealed
by Joshua Malbin on Nov.24, 2009, under New York
I saw yet another guy on the subway collecting change for the United Homeless Organization and for the umpteenth time wondered if it was all a scam. This time, though, I Googled it when I came home, and what do you know, news!
[A]n investigation by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo appears to have confirmed what many New Yorkers secretly (if somewhat guiltily) suspected all along: The United Homeless Organization, supposedly a nonprofit group set up to help feed and house the homeless, was actually an elaborate fraud.
According to a complaint filed by Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday morning, U.H.O. does not operate a single shelter, soup kitchen or food pantry. It does not provide food or clothing to the homeless. It does not even donate money to other charities that do.
Most of those coins and bills, Mr. Cuomo contended, end up in the pockets of those working the donation tables, who pay a daily fee to the group’s founder and president, Stephen Riley, and its director, Myra Walker, for the right to use the U.H.O. tables, jugs and aprons. The rest of the money, Mr. Cuomo charged, is kept by Mr. Riley and Ms. Walker, and has been used for a variety of expenses not related to U.H.O. business, including expenditures at Weightwatchers.com, Toys “R” Us, P. C. Richard, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and premium cable and electricity bills at their homes.
In case you ever wondered.