Boston BLM activist and husband charged with fraud for mishandling donations

The founder of the Boston non-profit Violence in Boston and her husband were indicted on federal fraud charges on Tuesday for using grant money on personal expenses, like rent, shopping sprees and a vacation to Maryland, say authorities.

Monica Cannon-Grant, a prominent local community organizer, and her husband Clark Grant are accused of scamming at least $185,000 from donors to their non-profit, diverting grants and donations to “a wide range of personal expenses and to enrich themselves,” according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts.

One early victim was the Cambridge, MA, chapter of Black Lives Matter, who made a $3,000 donation to VIB in 2017 that Cannon-Grant allegedly transferred to a family member’s person bank accounts, reported the New York Post.

A more recent incident was from June 2019, when VIB was awarded a $6,000 grant by the Suffolk district attorney’s office to take a group of at-risk young men to a retreat in Philadelphia. According to the Boston Globe, the couple spent the money on nail salon visits and a vacation to Maryland, among other personal expenses.

The couple were charged with 18 counts in all  – two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of conspiracy, 13 counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to a mortgage lending business and one count of mail fraud, according to the D.A.’s statement.

Cannon-Grant found VIB in 2017 to combat urban violence but rose to prominence in 2020 after organizing a march in Franklin Park that drew thousands to protest the killing of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police.

The mother of six was honored as a Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe Magazine, which hailed her as the city’s “best social justice advocate.”

Prosecutors are also accusing the couple of two other schemes in the indictment – illegally collecting an estimated $100,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits while both were employed and lying on a mortgage application by claiming VIB’s assets as personal assets.

After her arrest and on Tuesday, Cannon-Grant’s lawyer, Robert Goldstein, said in a statement, “We are extremely disappointment  the government rushed to judgement here.” He said his client was fully cooperating with authorities and expressed confidence she would be “vindicated when a complete factual record emerges.”

Cannon-Grant was released without bail and told by the judge she may continue working at Violence in Boston but cannot handle its finances. She is due to be arraigned on the charges next week.