In a rare departure from the typically-deferential court treatment of AG investigations, a New York appeals court allowed in part a motion to quash a document subpoena from the New York Attorney General, citing constitutional concerns, in Matter of Evergreen Assn., Inc. v. Schneiderman, 54 N.Y.S.3d 135 (2017).
The subpoena, issued in 2013, arose from investigations by the NY AG begun in 2010 of “crisis pregnancy centers.” Evergreen,… More
Several attorneys from the Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division of the Office of the Attorney General (the Division) participated in an engaging panel discussion at the Boston Bar Association last week. The discussion covered a number of topics of interest to nonprofit organizations in the Commonwealth, including required and requested reporting related to “fundamental transactions,” probate issues, governance challenges faced by nonprofits, and an update regarding charitable fundraising in the Commonwealth.… More
The Non-Profit Organizations/ Public Charities Division of the Office of the Attorney General (the “Division”) recently released helpful guidance regarding (i) good governance of charitable organization and (ii) the rules that apply to significant gifts between charities.
Governance Guidance
On May 25, 2016, the Division released a letter to the Board of Trustees of Suffolk University and its then-president Margaret McKenna. … More
In many states, attorneys general play an important role in monitoring the activities of charities, as well as the interactions between private firms and charities.
For example, in October, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson issued a compliance report regarding the nation’s largest car donation charity – Car Donation Foundation – raising questions about CDF’s relationships with for-profit companies, the percentage of donations to CDF that went to charitable causes,… More
In April 2015, the New York Attorney General entered into a $1.025 million settlement with the trustees of the Victor E. Perley Fund, a nonprofit that serves underprivileged children in New York City. A two-year probe revealed that the Fund’s chairman, along with a fellow trustee, had used its multi-million dollar portfolio as a private slush fund. The duo’s self-dealing and conflict-ridden, high risk investments would have been discovered had their fellow trustees exercised even a modicum of oversight.… More