[seenbutnotheard]

I have a son who is doing a program for school called close-up. They must raise over $2000 per person. I have recently come suspicious that fraudulent activities are taking place in the group such as the group leaders pocketing money off the top and fund raisers being rigged to favor certain people. My son has raised about $500 thus far on top of a $200 starter fee to get things going. Now because of what has been going on I would like to pull my son out of the group and be done with it but only if we are entitled to the refund of the $200 and the money that we have raised.

Is there a law protecting people in fund raising groups I live in Montana so if there are any state specific laws please let me know. I really don't want the money we have raised to line the pockets of the people in charge.

[Fr_Chuck]

What sort of paper work or contract was signed when you paid the 200 dollars. And if you can prove fraud, you may be able to sue them

[seenbutnotheard]

Currently I am about 70% sure that fraud is taking place not enough to have a case against, a few dollars seem to be missing from here and there, I figure it ads up to about 70 to 80 dollars if my numbers are correct. I do know however that some of the fund rasing events are rigged but in a way that is impossible to prove without having have documented the whole situation.

One example is a duck race which takes place in a local river, a two mile long stretch is marked and the floating rubber ducks marked with numbers, float down stream, first three to make it receive a prize. The game is rigged by not letting a certain number of ducks go at the start, and having several ducks with the same number. There are about 300 ducks that start the race so I doubt anyone is going to count them and when they don't cross the line they say they got lost along the way. Last time I went to check in on the event there were supposed to be 287 ducks set out there was only 240. I told them to correct the mistake but they didn't seem to interested. They have rasied over $6000 for the event, my son contributed to $200 of that. The prizes are $300, $200 and $100. Now I know the event is iffy at best but there is a lot of money involved and I believe everyone should be able to know that at least the had their fair shot at the prize.

That's just one of them, there are other events such as raffles and such that are rigged and I can prove that if need be.

In the books some of the numbers don't seem to add up certain kids receiving way more money that they should be, and some of the money just seems to be missing all together. Maybe I am just paranoid but the lack of records and documentation just does it for me. It's not that I can prove that fraud is taking place what concerns me is that I can't prove that it doesn't, and neither can they.

The paper work I signed entitles me to the money I entered with but, it doesn't say that I can or can't receive the money we earned along the way.

[JudyKayTee]

Currently I am about 70% sure that fraud is taking place not enough to have a case against, a few dollars seem to be missing from here and there, i figure it ads up to about 70 to 80 dollars if my numbers are correct. I do know however that some of the fund rasing events are rigged but in a way that is impossible to prove without having have documented the whole situation.

One example is a duck race which takes place in a local river, a two mile long stretch is marked and the floating rubber ducks marked with numbers, float down stream, first three to make it receive a prize. The game is rigged by not letting a certain number of ducks go at the start, and having several ducks with the same number. There are about 300 ducks that start the race so i doubt anyone is going to count them and when they don't cross the line they say they got lost along the way. Last time I went to check in on the event there were supposed to be 287 ducks set out there was only 240. I told them to correct the mistake but they didn't seem to interested. They have rasied over $6000 for the event, my son contributed to $200 of that. The prizes are $300, $200 and $100. Now I know the event is iffy at best but there is a lot of money involved and I believe everyone should be able to know that at least the had their fair shot at the prize.

Thats just one of them, there are other events such as raffles and such that are rigged and I can prove that if need be.

In the books some of the numbers don't seem to add up certain kids receiving way more money that they should be, and some of the money just seems to be missing all together. Maybe I am just paranoid but the lack of records and documentation just does it for me. It's not that I can prove that fraud is taking place what concerns me is that I can't prove that it doesn't, and neither can they.

The paper work i signed entitles me to the money I entered with but, it doesn't say that I can or can't receive the money we earned along the way.

Without proof you have nothing more than suspicions, obviously, so there really isn't much else you can do. You can always call your State's Attorney General and complain. They will monitor a not-for-profit.

I don't quite understand what this organization is doing, the purpose, who receives the benefit of the money that is raised - ?

I can tell you (because I worked on it) that a woman complained that a Fire Department which had a drawing with some very large prizes was not awarding the prizes and saying that the winners wanted their names to remain confidential. She persisted, no one believed her, some background checking was done, the State AG got involved - and she was 100% right. No one won ANY of the prizes and the Fire Department pocketed the money. (When I got the file I thought it just wasn't possible - I was wrong and I freely admit it.)

I always recommend that you get your facts and proof together and go with that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach - if you have good instincts you may very well be right. You just need an unbiased party to take a closer look.