Posted on 02/05/2022 3:13:37 PM PST by Impala64ssa
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced Saturday morning that he will work with the state’s attorney general to investigate GoFundMe after the company shut down a fundraiser for the Canadian truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy.
“The fundraising effort had raised C$10 million—around $7.9 million—and C$1 million had already been distributed to the organizers of the so-called Freedom Convoy before GoFundMe took the decision to stop the fundraiser,” Newsweek reported. “GoFundMe initially announced on Friday it would refund contributions to anyone who applied and the remaining funds would be distributed to charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy organizers and verified by the crowdfunding site.”
GoFundMe later reversed course, citing “donor feedback.”
The left-wing company said in a statement:
To simplify the process for our users, we will be refunding all donations to the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser. This refund will happen automatically—you do not need to submit a request. Donors can expect to see refunds within 7-10 business days.
The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.
DeSantis responded to the news with a tweet, writing: “It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing.”
“I will work with @AGAshleyMoody to investigate these deceptive practices — these donors should be given a refund,” the governor added.
GoFundMe’s initial statement announcing that it was taking down the fundraiser stated:
GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was the intention of the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser when it was first created.
We now have evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity.
To ensure GoFundMe remains a trusted platform, we work with local authorities to ensure we have a detailed, factual understanding of events taking place on the ground. Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.
Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest. Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers — we will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe.
All donors may submit a request for a full refund until February 19th, 2022 using this dedicated refund form.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey urged residents in his state to contact his office to let him know if they had “been victimized by a deceptive act or practice” by GoFundMe.
“#GoFundMe now won’t honor #FreedomConvoy donations and will instead redirect to other charities? In WV, organizations must not deceive donors and engage in deceptive advertising practices. If you’ve been victimized by a deceptive act or practice, let us know!” Morrisey wrote. “According to their website, #GoFundMe is not automatically refunding the donations. Individuals interested in a refund can submit the form below if they do so by Feb 19, 2022. This will avoid the ‘redirecting’ of the donation.”
E!on needs to put his money where his mouth is.
Jonathan Turley was on FOX to discuss the situation, and the Trudeau connection didn’t come up. As usual, the interview was way too short. The thing that gets me is GFM’s (or the Canadian government’s) first idea of giving the $$ to charities of whose(?) choice. That is some kind of blatant misappropriation. They since are returning it, but that doesn’t seem like enough to make things right.
AWESOME !
Go after these leftist Aholes .
Have never used GFM. I don’t trust anyone with my money. I’ve only had halfway trust my local bank.
I would say the GoF*ndme just F*cked themselves and will shortly go out of business.
I’m not sure how Gofundme, located in California, falls under the legal purview of the state of Florida.
BTW, I’m not a lawyer. I’ll wait for an explanation.
What is to Investigate?
They Very Publicly told the World the Criminal Acts they were committing, they were Proud of the Bank Fraud, Wire Fraud and Money Laundering.
A grand Jury would indict in 10 seconds with what is in the Public Record.
What do they need to Investigate??
States need to bar them from operating there.
One would think so, at a minimum.
Enjoy your ride on the slippery slope.
DeSantis is awesome. Big Tech needs to be knocked off their high horse yesterday.
It’s funny, the LW has become the party of authoritarians and dictators, who will overrule you, and attempt to control all your moves, and your speeches and soon your thoughts sand desires. So, will the LW come out soon and admit they are really RW fascists? And will the RW come out and admit they are being left leaning centrists?
Amazing case - didn’t the GFM board consult their own legal team as to the definition of wire fraud before they made the decision? Direct refunds don’t address what happened to the interest they made from holding onto what amounted to $10 million Canadian for the time that they had it. Their best scenario at the moment is defending lawsuits from multiple states, and that won’t be cheap even if they win them, which isn’t anywhere near a sure thing. The damage to their reputation is already huge. For what?
The bigger problem GFM faces is that this could be a major wire fraud case which also exposes them to potential racketeering charges.
The company’s offices will probably be inundated on Monday with “preserve all records” notices from state prosecutors and private lawyers all over North America. Even if no criminal charges come out of it, GFM may end up spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees just to deal with the mess.
DeSantis is the man (ducks)!
This is the kind of political opportunity every elected official dreams about.
Thanks! Watch him close, I think you’ll like more of what you see. Have a great night.
Yep — thanks! You too!
A majority of the members of Parliament have to call for a vote of no confidence.
Are there enough, who are not in the pay of the Chinese, to do it?
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