Sham cancer charities settle for $76 million in 50-state lawsuit

By David Migoya
The Denver Post
POSTED: 03/30/2016 08:00:12 AM MDT2 COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 4 HOURS AGO

Two sham charities that nationally raised tens of millions of dollars for cancer victims but instead used much of it to fuel the lifestyles of their founders have settled a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general.

The Cancer Fund of America and Cancer Support Services, and founder James Reynolds Sr. and his son James Reynolds II, agreed to pay $76 million and turn their businesses over to court-appointed receivers, according to a joint announcement made early Tuesday by secretaries of state across the country.

The groups were based in Tennessee but raised money across the country.

The money is a small portion of the $187 million the Reynolds and the groups allegedly collected from unsuspecting consumers between 2008 and 2012, according to the lawsuit filed in May 2015 in U.S. District Court in Arizona.

Before that complaint was filed, two other Reynolds-associated charities — the Children's Cancer Fund of America and the Breast Cancer Society — agreed to settle. The Breast Cancer Society agreed to pay more than $65.5 million and a receiver was appointed to liquidate their assets and remunerate victims.

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