White House party crasher Tareq Salahi and a now-defunct fundraising organization he headed have reached a settlement with the Virginia concerning alleged violations of a law regulating charitable organizations — including making false statements and submitting inaccurate financial information.
Tareq Salahi — who appeared on “The Real Housewives of D.C.” — and the Journey for the Cure Foundation allegedly violated the Virginia Solicitation of Contributions law, according to court documents.
Under the consent judgment filed in the civil division of Fauquier County Circuit Court, Salahi has to pay $2,500 in civil penalties and the Journey for the Cure Foundation has to pay $25,000 in civil penalties and $7,500 for Virginia’s attorney’s fees and costs.
As part of the settlement, the Commonwealth is also granted an injunction that forbids the organization and Salahi from further violating the solicitations of contributions law, a court document stated.
Journey for the Cure was a tax-exempt organization that conducted fundraisers to support people suffering from diseases including multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, leukemia and lymphoma, court documents said.
According to the attorney general’s complaint filed with the settlement, Journey for the Cure advertised on its website that “100 percent of our financing goes directly to find the cure and we have no paid staff or employees.”
However, an investigation by the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs found that in 2007, only about 33 percent of the money the foundation spent went directly to charitable cause and only about 22 percent went directly to disease prevention-oriented charities, the complaint said. In 2008, only 0.6 percent of the money went directly to disease prevention-oriented charities, the complaint said.
Journey for the Cure was also accused of soliciting contributions from 2004 to 2009 without first being registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs, submitting inaccurate financial information in registration statements to that office, failing to maintain true fiscal records and failing to provide Virginia with required financial information when it stopped soliciting contributions there in 2010, according to the complaint.
Salahi was accused of personally violating the solicitation of contributions law by signing a notice that said the foundation was registered with the Office of Consumer Affairs when it wasn’t, signing a registration statement that falsely said the foundation had no financial history and signing a registration statement that contained inaccurate financial information, the complaint said.
Salahi’s attorney, Georgia Rossiter, said Tuesday that there was no admission of guilt in the settlement and that it is her client’s position that all the profits from the events Journey for the Cure held went to nonprofits.
