Did Trump Steal Money From St Jude

Eric Trump funneled cancer charity money to his businesses, associates: Report

A spokesman for the president's son said such claims are "shameful."

— -- Eric Trump is slamming a Forbes report that alleges his charity, the Eric Trump Foundation, has been funneling donations -- from donors who believed the money was going to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital -- to the Trump Organization past paying high sums for use of Trump properties during fundraisers and redonating some funds to charities friendly with Trump interests.

Forbes reported Tuesday that the Eric Trump Foundation paid the Trump family business hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last seven years for apply of 1 of the organization's golf game courses, funds which he claimed were being donated nearly in total to the children's cancer charity.

"We were able to come up up with this concept of raising a lot of coin with really no expense and it'southward because we were incurring the expenses at the assets we were taking on the expenses as Trump. We were using our own facilities," Eric told donors in a promotional video.

Co-ordinate to IRS filings, the Eric Trump Foundation in 2012 spent $59,085 on its annual Golf Invitational fundraiser held at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York -- money that skimmed from donations to St. Jude's Children's Inquiry Hospital. Those expenses ballooned to $230,080 in 2013 and to $242,294 in 2014, co-ordinate to the filings. Information technology is unclear from these tax forms how much of those payments went to the Trump Arrangement.

Forbes reported that in 2011, costs for Eric Trump's golf tournament fundraiser tripled because his male parent realized that the organization had not been charging for the event and there were no bills to evidence it. The Foundation declined to provide Forbes with an itemized list of expenses for the tournament.

Charity experts told Forbes that the corporeality paid to the Trump Organization for a golf tournament fundraiser for St. Jude'south "defy whatever reasonable price."

The increased costs for the tournament coincided with changes to the Foundation's board in 2010, when it changed from being made up of more often than not Eric'south personal friends to those closely connected with the financial interests of the Trump Organisation, co-ordinate to Forbes.

The revenue enhancement filings also testify that the Eric Trump Foundation made a 2014 payment of $87,665 to another Trump property, the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., for fundraising events.

In improver, the Forbes report claims that Eric Trump'due south charity redirected some donations. More than $500,000 was given by the Eric Trump Foundation to other charities, "many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests," according to Forbes.

In a statement released Tuesday, a spokesman for the president'due south son defended the Eric Trump Foundation.

"During the by decade, the Eric Trump Foundation has raised over $16.3 million for St. Jude Children's Research hospital while maintaining an expense ratio of just 12.3 percentage," the statement reads. "The Eric Trump Foundation was as well responsible for building a $xx million dollar ICU which treats the sickest children anywhere in the world suffering from the most catastrophic terminal illnesses."

The statement continues, "Contrary to contempo reports, at no fourth dimension did the Trump Organisation profit in whatsoever style from the foundation or any of its activities. While people tin can disagree on political bug, to infer malicious intent on a charity that has changed so many lives, is non only shameful but is truly disgusting. At the finish of the day the only people who lose are the children of St. Jude and other incredibly worthy causes."

And every bit Forbes points out in its written report, "Altruism as a business-development strategy isn't necessarily illegal. But a situation in which outside donor money is redeployed away from the core mission in means that seem to ultimately do good the family unit that pays the majority of the board is -- at best -- an advent trouble."