Pascoe Vale charity fined for fundraising while unregistered
A charity that claimed to help elderly people was instead pocketing money it made from fundraisers, with less than a third of proceeds going to those in need. Now the organisation and its officers have faced court for their crimes.
North West
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A Pascoe Vale charity purporting to help disadvantaged elderly citizens was sprung hosting fundraising activities while unregistered.
Annual financial statements and fundraising applications also showed Elderly Citizens Help Organisation (ECHO) Inc donated less than 35 per cent of its proceeds to people in need.
In the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the charity’s officers Michael Nazzari and John O’Hanlon were fined $13,000 for the crimes that were committed between April 2016 and May 2017.
The court heard the organisation, which operated out of a Kent Rd office, did not bank money raised from fundraising appeals and did not keep “sufficient records”.
Mr Nazzari, 69, of Oakleigh, and Mr O’Hanlon, 69, of Pascoe Vale, knowingly authorised the charity to commit the offences, the court also heard.
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ECHO was convicted, fined $5000, and ordered to pay costs of $2750.
Mr Nazzari escaped a conviction, but was fined $5000 and ordered to pay costs of $2969.
Mr O’Hanlon was also not convicted, but slapped with a $3000 fine and must pay costs of $2750.
Consumer Affairs has refused ECHO’s application to renew its fundraiser registration.