California Threatens To Bring Legal Hammer Down on Black Lives Matter Grassroots Over Sketchy FinancesCalifornia is demanding embattled charity produce missing tax return that could resolve an $8.7 million discrepancyAndrew Kerr
October 7, 2024The Black Lives Matter movement is once again facing legal scrutiny, with California attorney general Rob Bonta threatening to bring the hammer down on Black Lives Matter Grassroots if it doesn’t soon disclose what it did with millions of dollars in unreported charitable donations in 2022.
Bonta, a Democrat, notified Black Lives Matter Grassroots in late August that he would have no choice but to strip the group of its charity status, levy massive taxes upon the organization, and fine its leader, activist and professor Melina Abdullah, if it doesn’t file a copy of its 2022 Form 990 tax return with his office by Oct. 27.
But producing that tax form will likely be easier said than done for Black Lives Matter Grassroots. The group has had the privilege of operating as a tax-exempt charity since May 2022 but falsely claimed 2023 was its first year in business in its IRS tax return for that year. Several experts told the Washington Free Beacon it should have filed its 2022 tax return by last November at the latest. But it’s nowhere to be found. The group's 2023 tax return, meanwhile, is laden with errors.
The missing 2022 tax return that Bonta now seeks could help resolve an $8.7 million mystery first reported by the Free Beacon in May. From 2020 through 2022, the Tides Foundation transferred $8.7 million in charitable funds for the benefit of Black Lives Matter Grassroots, but those donations seemingly disappeared on paper as movement insiders alleged Abdullah pilfered the organization’s finances to pay for personal expenses, including a vacation to Jamaica. Abdullah denied the allegations in a 2022 interview.
<..snip..>
https://freebeacon.com/democrats/california-threatens-to-bring-legal-hammer-down-on-black-lives-matter-grassroots-over-sketchy-finances/
