Curtis Sliwa, the mayoral contender of the Republican party, presides over a crime curb ensemble, known as the Guardian Angels. This group is currently engaging in the procurement of funds, indicating itself to be a tax-free charity, despite the fact that it lost this status in the past due to tax irregularities and legal complications. These problems primarily revolve around the entity’s longstanding treasurer, as indicated by a comprehensive examination of federal and state documents.
The Guardian Angels was established under Sliwa’s leadership in 1979, and he continues to exert influence on the outfit in his capacity as CEO. The organization has not submitted a Form 990 to the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) post 2019. In this database, the entity is officially registered as Alliance of Guardian Angels, Inc.
The Form 990 operates as the tax declaration for a non-profit organization. The IRS had to proclaim the revocation of the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity status of Guardian Angels in November 2022 due to them not submitting the required Form 990 for three consecutive years. This decision occurred within a year from when the Guardian Angels’ ex-treasurer encountered legal difficulties.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) instigated legal proceedings against the group’s former treasurer leading to the final shuttering of his accounting firm in 2021. The issue of concern was that the firm was suspected of submitting false returns on behalf of clients. This case led to him admitting culpability to criminal charges.
In spite of no longer having the charity status, the Guardian Angels still represents itself as a 501(c)(3) institution on its website, encouraging donations. Legal professionals indicate that falsely disclosing a body as a 501(c)(3) could lead to penalty fines and even criminal allegations, notably if the untrue representation is about soliciting contributions.
Those taxpayers who offer donations to non-profit organizations that had their 501(c)(3) status annulled could potentially face difficulties with the IRS. This scenario would materialize if they assign their donations as tax deductions. The issue of delinquent tax filings with the IRS extends to the state level as well.
Adding to its tax issues at the federal level, the organization also failed to provide tax documents to the attorney general’s office in New York state as stipulated, after 2019. These fiscal shortcomings associated with the Guardian Angels, a group reputed for conducting ‘safety patrols’ on subways and streets, are coming to light as Sliwa passionately pursues his mayoral campaign ahead of the elections in November.
The facts about the Guardian Angels failing to fulfill their tax obligations spur queries around Sliwa’s potential ability to govern a city with an annual budget ticking at around $116 billion, should he be elected mayor.
The Guardian Angels’ treasurer was in the role from 2010 to 2024. Before the organization halted the submission of Form 990s, the former treasurer and his firm used to manage and submit all tax declarations at federal and state levels for the group.
Subsequently, the DOJ launched an investigation into the former treasurer under suspicion of assisting clients in filing false declarations with IRS. These declarations allegedly contained fraudulent deductions ranging from invented charitable contributions to spurious medical costs, among other expenses, aimed at reducing the clients’ tax liabilities.
The former treasurer was ultimately sentenced to a four-year prison term. In addition to this, he was commanded to surrender an excess of $11 million and, along with those clients who were detected to have been involved in the fraudulent activities, pay a restitution to the U.S. Government amounting to $145 million.
As a 501(c)(3) entity, the Guardian Angels were mostly exempt from state and federal taxes, although certain exceptions did exist. Notably, the indictment did not include any reference to the group, implying that, thus far, the organization has not been officially implicated in any illegitimate activities.
The post Guardian Angels: Fading Charity Status Amidst Legal Complexities appeared first on Real News Now.
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