Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada Pays $206K for Grant Fraud

Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada is paying $206,368.35 to resolve federal claims it orchestrated a years-long fraud scheme by falsifying volunteer hour records to illegally collect federal grant funds. From 2014 to 2015, employees overseeing the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion programs fabricated timesheets and directed volunteers to do the same, allowing the nonprofit to bill the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) for hours never worked.

The grants, part of CNCS’s Senior Corps program, were meant to fund small stipends for seniors serving youth with special needs or assisting elderly individuals with daily tasks. Instead, Catholic Charities employees inflated hours, submitted false documentation, and violated core program rules—diverting taxpayer dollars meant for community support. The fraud came to light only after executive management discovered the misconduct and voluntarily reported it through the CNCS-OIG hotline.

As part of the probe, the Department of Justice found that Catholic Charities not only allowed the falsification to occur but enabled a culture of non-compliance. Employees in charge of monitoring service hours were directly involved in the scheme—coaching volunteers to lie, altering records, and submitting false claims for reimbursement. The federal government flagged the fraud as a breach of public trust, especially given the charity’s role in feeding the hungry and sheltering the homeless.

In response, Catholic Charities fired the employees responsible, fully cooperated with federal investigators, and in 2018 terminated its participation in the CNCS grant programs altogether. U.S. Attorneys William M. McSwain of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Nicholas A. Trutanich of the District of Nevada credited the organization’s post-discovery actions as key to avoiding steeper penalties.

“Every dollar spent on an hour that was not actually served is one that is not available to support other community service efforts,” said McSwain. Trutanich added the settlement sends a clear message: “Everyone receiving federal grant funds must adhere to compliance requirements and self-report misuse.”

Deborah J. Jeffrey, CNCS’s Inspector General, emphasized that the swift self-reporting and cooperation spared Catholic Charities from massive fines. Still, the case stands as a stark warning: even revered nonprofits are accountable. The DOJ hopes this resolution pushes other federally funded organizations to police their programs—and come clean before the feds come knocking.