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Former Executive Director of Military Charity Indicted for Fraud and Tax Evasion
Patricia Pauline Driscoll, 38, of Ellicott City, Maryland, has been accused of stealing from the non-profit charity, defrauding donors, and lying to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the public about her salary and benefits.
The indictment was announced by U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director Paul M. Abbate in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Thomas Jankowski of the Washington Field Office of the IRS-Criminal Investigation.
Driscoll will be arraigned at a later date in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She was named in an indictment charging her with two counts each of wire fraud, mail fraud and tax evasion and one count of attempts to interfere with administration of Internal Revenue laws, all federal offenses. Additionally, she was charged with first-degree fraud, a District of Columbia offense. The indictment also includes a forfeiture allegation seeking all proceeds that can be traced to the alleged fraud scheme.
According to the indictment, until July 2015, Driscoll was the executive director of the Armed Forces Foundation, a tax-exempt non-profit charity based in Washington, D.C. The foundation’s stated mission is to protect and promote the physical, mental and emotional wellness of military service members, veterans and their families.
While Driscoll was the executive director, in its promotions and requests for money, the Armed Forces Foundation claimed that 94 – 96 percent of all donations went directly to military members and their families through the charity’s programs. As a “highly compensated individual,” Driscoll’s salary and benefits were required to be disclosed on forms (Form 990) to be filed each year with the IRS.
The indictment alleges that Driscoll caused false reports to be filed on the Form 990s in a number of ways. She is accused, for example, of failing to include the fact that she received commissions from fundraising, the amounts of commissions that she received from fundraising and the other benefits that she received. Driscoll also is accused of falsely categorizing and causing others to falsely categorize expenses in the Armed Forces Foundation’s books and records as being for the benefit of the veterans, troops and their families, when, in fact, they were for her own private benefit.
The indictment further alleges that Driscoll sent false and fraudulent Form 990s to members of the foundation’s Board of Directors and to the IRS and caused to be published Form 990s, containing false and fraudulent information, on the foundation’s website, knowing that they would be available and viewed by charity watch groups, potential donors and others.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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