Charity Asked to Help Community During Minnesota Immigration Crackdown Was Broke Because of Directors’ Alleged Luxury Lifestyle

A Minnesota nonprofit tasked with dealing with the ramifications of the federal crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis could not answer the call because its directors had allegedly squandered $6.5 million in charitable funds to bankroll their lavish lifestyle and operate a private liquor store.

According to a lawsuit filed against “We Push for Peace” and announced by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the litigation also named its former CEO and founder Trahern Pollard and former treasurer and chair Jaclyn McGuigan as defendants.

The nonprofit, which held lucrative contracts for community outreach and violence prevention, was driven into the ground by “rampant abuse of assets” as well as “lying” to the attorney general during its investigation, and ultimately causing the demise of the nonprofit “to steal its business for personal gain,” according to a statement by the office Friday.

Word of the lawsuit went viral on social media as an example of the “nonprofit industrial complex.”

Prosecutors noted that when the City of Minneapolis requested “the formerly multimillion-dollar” nonprofit’s assistance during Operation Metro Surge, which was the controversial Department of Homeland Security crackdown earlier this year to apprehend and deport criminal illegal aliens, the organization “lacked any capacity to serve its basic function.”

“In fact, when the City of Minneapolis reached out to We Push for Peace during Operation Metro Surge for community support, the formerly multimillion-dollar organization lacked any capacity to serve its basic function to assist the community,” the statement said.

Attorney General’s Office (AGO) prosecutors allege in the statement:

Pollard and McGuigan improperly used nonprofit assets for their personal benefit, diverting more than $6.5 million from We Push for Peace. Over $6 million benefitted Pollard personally, who used charitable assets on items like luxury cars, trips to Vegas, child support payments, and funding his for-profit liquor store and car dealership businesses.

Pollard and McGuigan also attempted to hide their misuse of nonprofit assets from the AGO and other regulators, including from taxing authorities. Pollard provided numerous false statements to AGO investigators under penalty of perjury, including stating that a child support payment was actually for nonprofit overhead expenses and that a $35,000 payment to Pollard’s friends was for “Chicago Payroll.”

McGuigan, who held several titles with the nonprofit, allegedly transferred a recurring $1,000 per week of nonprofit funds into her own personal account and “stole thousands more in government grant funds” that she claimed were for “administrative” expenses, according to Fox News.

“Instead of helping the community, they helped themselves to millions of dollars that should have gone into the community,” Ellison said in his statement.