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New Jersey Youth Club, Inc. (NJYC) and a related organization, “New Jersey Youth Club of America A NJ Nonprofit Corporation” (NJYC of America), sent youngsters door-to-door to sell cookies and other merchandise for contributions that they said would be used for “mentoring programs and positive recreational activities for at-risk youth,” acting state Attorney General John J. Hoffman said.
They then transferred the donations to Big Apple Confectionary, Inc., a New York-based for-profit business that made the items, Hoffman said.
That includes most of $191,171.38 that he said donated the organizations collected in 2012 and 2013, he said.
A consent agreement resolves a complaint filed by the state Division of Consumer Affairs that both “violated New Jersey law by soliciting charitable contributions – purportedly for underprivileged youth – without being registered as charitable organizations, and without applying the vast majority of the funds to their stated charitable purpose,” Hoffman said.
NJYC and NJYC of America agreed to, among other things, “dissolve their operations, stop dispatching youth members to conduct door-to-door solicitations in New Jersey, and turn over to the [DCA] all available contributions collected on the organizations’ behalf – including $1,111.85 in check contributions,” the attorney general said.
The division “will return these check contributions to the consumers,” he said.
The judgment also includes a settlement payment of $52,620.31 to reimburse the state’s investigative and legal costs.
“Given the defendants’ representations as to their financial status and inability to pay, this amount will be suspended and vacated after two years so long as the defendants comply with the settlement terms,” Hoffman said.
DCA Investigator Brian Morgenstern conducted the investigation, with assistance from Nutley police and valuable information provided by police in Bogota, Closter, Franklin Lakes, Hackensack, Lyndhurst, Maywood, Oakland, Oradell, Ramsey, River Edge, Teaneck and Wyckoff.
Deputy Attorney General Natalie Serock of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section within the Division of Law is representing the state.
“New Jerseyans believe in helping those in need,” Division of Consumer Affairs Acting Director Steve Lee said. “However, before making a donation, be sure to investigate whether a charity is legitimate and registered with the Division of Consumer Affairs, and isn’t yet another scam preying on your good intentions and generosity.”
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