Vets' Charity a Scam... says... Charity Head

The latest in an ugly series of "charities" that's been exposed as a scam run to benefit its insiders at the expense of the people it's supposedly helping is... the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation. And it's been exposed by none other than the national head of the Order, retired SF officer Henry Cook. With key assists from his deputy Joe Palagyi and ABC's Brian Ross.

Cook found, once elected to the Order's board, he had no ability to control the separate Foundation, which parasites on the good name of the Order in order to provide cash and perks for insiders. He not only couldn't stop it, he couldn't even watch it happening -- Richard H. Esau Jr., the head of the MOPH Service Foundation, a separate corporation from the MOPH itself, banished Cook from its financial meetings.

The MOPH Foundation routinely gets F marks from watchdogs like the American Institute of Philanthropy (see also the .pdf statement to Congress here) and isn't rated by Charity Navigator which doesn't even consider it a charity. Why? Because of the tens of millions raised by the Foundation, most of it sticks to Esau's, his cronies', and his fundraisers' fingers and hardly anything gets spent on wounded vets. 

Not all veterans' charities are a rip-off. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation for instance, is... well, read the link to see how a good charity's numbers should look. The SOWF also does something many vets' charities don't, it also provides educational benefits for the children of SOF warriors who die in training accidents like this one. Accidental death is always waiting in the wings when you're an operator... the slightest error by anyone and your ticket gets punched, and most charities neglect these victims in favor of the higher-profile war KIAs. But when Carlo Meth's kid is old enough, the SOWF will be able to help with college if needed. Unfortunately, for every SOWF there's a couple of MOPH Foundations, so I return you to the jeremiad in progress. 

The MOPH Foundation squanders almost 90% of the money it raises, kicking most of it back to fundraisers who have a cozy relationship with Esau and his cronies on the board. While it's raising more money than ever, it's cut its services budget, in order to keep expanding the lavish perks that Esau enjoys. 

What set Cook off was an almost unbelievable bit of Esau's hubris -- he let Cook invite two wounded soldiers to a football game, but would not allow them to join the "quality" in the MOPH's lavish corporate box. "It's Tommy this, and Tommy that, and chuck 'im out, the brute," as Kipling wrote. But even Kipling's acid pen never recorded a profiteering scumbag like Esau. Oh, by the way -- the Redskins game where the MOPH honcho gave the wounded vets the bum's rush was on... wait for it... Veterans' Day.

Unfortunately MOPH is not the only bent "Charity" disserving veterans. Some are nothing but a website and a false promise. Many charities that ostensibly exist to serve veterans actually rip them off and funnel the money to shady telemarketing moguls and high-living non-profit staff, but stay within the left and right limits of laws that were written to enable legitimate charities, not to control corrupt ones. Brian Ross of ABC News has been hot on the trail of these scoundrels, to the point where one went into hiding like a cockroach exposed to light. Well done, Mr Ross. 

Now keep shining the light on Esau and his pocket-ninety-cents-on-the-dollar fundraising cronies.