Tax filing helped reveal that presidential candidate Donald Trump spent $258,000 from his charitable Donald J. Trump Foundation. He used the money to settle lawsuits, an NFL helmet, a self-portrait and many other things that never benefited a reasonable cause.
The investigation was based on interviews and several documents, including Trump’s Charity tax filings which have to be public by law. Donald Trump’s tax filings could not be used because he refused to made them public. The truth behind the use of donations to the charity was revealed by the Washington Post. The newspaper is now exposing four newly documented expenditures in which Trump illegally used the non-profit organization’s money.
Donald Trump, who could be elected to be president of the United States in November, used $100 thousand to settle a dispute in Florida. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club faced $120 thousand in unpaid fines which became a $100 thousand donation to a particular charity for veterans. Trump used his charity’s money to donate to the other charity, which is illegal because his own business had to pay the donation. He technically did not donate to the veterans.
Trump also used other $158 thousand from Trump’s Charity to settle a lawsuit in New York and also spent another $10 thousand to buy a portrait of himself. And this is not the first time Trump uses the charitable money to satisfy his ego.
Back in 2007, Melania, Trump’s wife, bid $20 thousand for a six-foot-tall portrait of the Republican candidate. Trump paid for the picture with money from Trump’s Charity. Ironically, the portrait was being sold for a charity.
In 2012 Trump spent $12 thousand of his foundation to buy a football helmet signed by former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow.
The purchase of those goods would not have been an issue if Donald Trump had used them to help Trump’s Charity. But that was not the case, and he used his expensive portraits and helmet to his personal benefit, which is illegal.
Apparently, who needs the money from Trump’s Charity is Trump himself
In 2013, Trump used the foundation’s money to support Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. The gift was made when that office was investigating Trump’s University for fraud. And after the generous donation, Bondi’s office stop investigating the magnate’s education center.
What is more concerning about Trump’s embezzlement is that he is not donating to his own cause since 2009. Thus, he has been using his donors’ money to his personal benefit.
Donald Trump founded Trump’s Charity in 1987, and he was the only donor until 2006 when he gave away almost all the money he had collected. From that time Trump only gave small donations to its charity and after 2008, he stopped giving.
Since 2009, Trump’s Charity money has come from other donors while Trump remains the foundation’s president and still gives nothing to an important cause through his charity.
If Trump is found guilty, the Internal Revenue Service could require the candidate to pay penalty taxes or to reimburse the foundation all the money he spent in his businesses and personal whims. Donald Trump could also face charges for violating U.S. tax law and gone against the good convention of philanthropy, The Washington Post said.
Source: The Washington Post