An anti-police protestor apparently “misused charitable donations to fund lavish vacations and shopping sprees” after starting a not-for-profit targeted at boosting “transparency and accountability” in police, according to district attorneys.
The Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia is currently filing a claim against Brandon Anderson– the executive supervisor of Raheem AI– declaring that, considering that 2021, he “diverted $75,000 of nonprofit funds for his own personal use.”
The funds apparently consisted of “spending over $40,000 on a luxury vacation rental service that allows members to stay in high-end mansions and penthouse apartments, $10,000 on hotels and Airbnb’s for personal travel – including to a Cancun resort, $10,000 on designer clothing brands, and $5,000 on emergency veterinary services.”
“Brandon Anderson misused charitable donations to fund lavish vacations and shopping sprees, and the Raheem AI Board of Directors let him get away with it,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement. “Not only did their financial abuses violate fundamental principles of nonprofit governance, but Anderson and Raheem AI failed to pay their [sole District-based] employee the wages they had earned.
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Brandon Anderson is pictured in December 2019 in Oakland, California. (Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
“My office will not allow people to masquerade behind noble causes while violating the law, cheating taxpayers, or stealing from their workers,” he added.
Raheem AI was founded in 2017 with a goal to build a service that would allow people to file complaints against police, according to The New York Times.
“When you report police on Raheem.org, we connect you to a free lawyer, file a complaint against the officer and use your story to lobby for policies that defund police and invest in your community,” Anderson told BET Networks.
The nonprofit then focused in 2021 on building an app that would dispatch alternative first responders – instead of police – to people in times of need, The New York Times reported.
The D.C. Attorney General’s Office says Raheem AI does business as Community Response Works and is a tax-exempt D.C. nonprofit corporation.
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Brandon Anderson is accused of diverting funds intended for Raheem AI for his own personal use. (Liz Hafalia/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
“It target =‘equip black, brown, and indigenous community crisis responders with the tools, training, connections, and funding they need to provide care,'” the AG’s office added.
“Brandon Anderson… served as a board member and as its Executive Director until April 2024. While Raheem AI’ rel=” nofollow noopenerAnderson you report cops on” the office said.
Prosecutors also allege that Anderson and Raheem AI forced their D.C.-based employee to sign an ” org, we attach you to a totally free attorney, submit a problem versus the police officer and utilize your tale to lobby for plans that defund cops and buy your neighborhood,”
The Attorney General’s Office says the alleged actions violate D.C.’s Nonprofit Corporation Act, Wage Payment and Collection Law (WCPL), and Ban on Noncompete Agreements Act.
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