Breast cancer "charity" defrauded donors of nearly $10 million

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who recently secured a total of $167,850 in fines from 25 gas stations for price gouging customers in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, obtained a court order to shut down a fraudulent breast cancer charity he says defrauded donors of nearly $10 million and only paid for 40 mammograms in a span of seven years.

Campaign Center, Inc., one of New York's largest professional fundraising firms and owner Garret Morgan, according to a press release from the Attorney General's office, is required "to pay restitution for the fraud" — a decision issued by New York Supreme Court Justice Emily Pines in Suffolk County. A hearing for determining how much Campaign Center Inc. and Garrett Morgan will pay is set for May 20.

Prior to the recent court decision, Schneiderman reached a settlement with the directors of an affiliated organization Coalition Against Breast Cancer, Andrew Smith, Debra Koppelman and Patricia Smith, requiring them to pay $1.55 million in restitution and prohibiting them from "ever again" running a New York charity. "Sham charities and professional fundraisers who line their pockets by tricking New Yorkers into thinking they are donating their hard earned money to fund breast cancer research and other charitable causes have no business operating in our state, and we will take action to shut them down," Schneiderman said.

Campaign Center Inc. and Morgan are charged with deceiving thousands of donors into making charitable contributions to the breast cancer "charity" on false pretenses that the organization helped women fight and survive breast cancer. Donors were mislead into believing that their money would used to fund breast cancer research, mammogram screenings through a mobile van, and seminars and forums for survivors and their families, Schneiderman's office said.

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