Connecticut’s attorney general filed suit last week against the former executive director of a Bridgeport charity, accusing Deborah Sims of using donations to pay for such things as a Caribbean cruise and beauty treatments.
Sims resigned last year as executive director of the Charles D. Smith Jr. Foundation Inc. after an investigation was launched into her use of a credit card issued to the charity, which was founded by former NBA player Charles Smith.
Smith told authorities he discovered $65,000 in improper expenses and another $200,000 in unexplained expenses at his charity, which provides after-school programs for children in his hometown, and has recently become involved in economic redevelopment projects.
According to the lawsuit, Sims used the money for cruise and airplane tickets, car repairs, beauty treatments, and payments to Spellman College in Atlanta, where her daughter attended school.
The lawsuit seeks restitution and civil penalties. It also seeks to have Sims barred from holding any position at a charity where she would have access to charitable funds.
Penalties Sought
“Treating charitable money like personal slush funds will be punished,” Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in a written statement. “My office will vigorously pursue this case to return money for its intended charitable purpose and send a strong message of intolerance for diverting charitable money.”
Max Medina, Sims’ attorney, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Blumenthal has referred the matter to the state’s attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution.
The charity is also facing state and federal investigations based on a report by the Connecticut Post that the charity was $1.2 million in debt, had failed to pay payroll taxes since 1999 and operated without required liability insurance for two years.
