Curtis Sliwa, a Republican candidate for mayoral office, upholds a crime vigilance organization, known as the Guardian Angels. This organization, which has been soliciting public assistance funds, is presented as a tax-exempt charity, an assertion that is rather dubious. Scrutiny of both federal and state documents reveals that this group lost its tax-exempt status a few years ago due to tax complications and legal disputes toward their longstanding treasurer.
The Guardian Angels, led by CEO Sliwa since its inception in 1979, has not presented a Form 990 to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as required since 2019. As recorded in the national database, the formal business identity of the organization is Alliance of Guardian Angels, Inc. Non-profit organizations are required to complete a 990 Form in place of a tax return.
From 2017 to 2019, the Guardian Angels failed to submit these forms, leading the IRS to withdraw its tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity validation in November 2022. This revocation occurred following legal complications involving the group’s treasurer at the time.
A year before the cancellation of the charity’s tax-exempt status, the then treasurer of Guardian Angels ran into serious legal qualms with the U.S. Department of Justice. This lead to the eventual closing of his accounting company in 2021 due to alleged fraudulent activities in customer tax return preparation. The former treasurer eventually admitted guilt in regard to these criminal accusations.
Despite the loss of charitable designation by the IRS, the Guardian Angels maintains an assertion of being a 501(c)(3) entity. Moreover, it continues to solicit funds on this false premise. As outlined by legal analysts, fraudulent presentation of an organization as a 501(c)(3) could lead to severe financial sanctions and might even attract criminal charges, particularly if such pretension involves appealing for public donations.
People who give financial aid to said non-profit charities that have lost their 501(c)(3) status could also be penalized by the IRS. This happens primarily in instances where they record such contributions in their tax returns as tax deductions. Along with the lag in IRS fulfilments, the Guardian Angels has overlooked the required tax filings submissions with the attorney general’s office in New York state since 2019.
The fiscal inconsistencies linked with the Guardian Angels, whose members are recognized for their street and subway safety watches, comes to light as Sliwa readies his mayoral campaign for the upcoming elections in November. These inadequacies in tax filing are provoking inquiries about Sliwa’s ability to control a city with an annual budget of $116 billion, should he emerge victorious in the elections.
The erstwhile treasurer of the Guardian Angels, who took over the role in 2010 and vacated it in 2024, and his accounting firm were responsible for the transfer and administration of all the federal and state tax filings relating to the group. This ceased abruptly when the Guardian Angels opted to stop submitting their 990 Forms. Not long after, the DOJ commenced an investigation into the former treasurer.
He was suspected of aiding his clients in filing fraudulent tax returns with the IRS by claiming fallacious deductions for non-existent charity donations, medial expenses, among other presumptive charges. This was ostensibly an attempt to decrease their federation tax accountability.
Upon the conclusion of the inquiry, the former treasurer received a sentence of four years in correctional custody. Furthermore, he was commissioned to relinquish more than $11 million along with his clients implicated in the dubious scheme. They were required to repay $145 million to the U.S. government as restitution for their misconduct.
Throughout its tenure as a 501(c)(3), the Guardian Angels enjoyed exemption from some, albeit not all, federal and state taxes. Despite the indictment of the former treasurer and his consequential legal fallout, no accusations of ill conduct have been made against the Guardian Angels.
The post Republican Mayoral Candidate’s Charity Faces Serious Tax Questions appeared first on Real News Now.
About Author
