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Janice Wolfe has “unlawfully raised millions of dollars since 2008 without registering Merlin’s Kids as a charitable organization,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday.
Wolfe’s fundraising included “false and misleading claims” about the services provided by both Merlin’s Kids and an affiliated for-profit company, United K9 Professional Inc., he said.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of dollars characterized as donations went to hair styling, skincare products and artwork, along with a $10,000 purchase from a Lexus dealer, a lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Hackensack against Wolfe and the two organizations alleges.
There were also large cash withdrawals, as well as transfers to Wolfe’s personal accounts, among a host of suspicious payments that she was unable to explain to investigators from the state Division of Consumer Affairs, Grewal said.
Wolfe, who describes herself as a "natural canine behavior rehabilitation specialist," has been featured on "The TODAY Show" and in USA TODAY, the New York Daily News, The New York Post, The Bergen Record and elsewhere.
She bills Merlin’s KIDS online as a "a non-profit organization that transforms the lives of dogs by rescuing them from shelters, training them and giving them a very meaningful purpose to their lives" and says that United K9 Professionals "encompass multiple companies and programs [that] have been featured in media outlets nationwide."
The hype belies what's been really going on, state authorities charged.
Wolfe lied, Grewal said, when she claimed that:
- “disease detection” dogs annually screened thousands of people for cancer;
- the disease detection program included analysis of blood samples:
- Merlin’s Kids maintained a partnership with a cancer charity – when, in fact, the relationship had been terminated.
Merlin’s Kids also charged consumers for dog training services and certification programs but failed to fulfill those commitments, the attorney general said.
Wolfe also “improperly instructed consumers that their payments would be fully tax deductible if they paid through Merlin’s Kids, regardless of whether Merlin’s Kids or United K9 was to provide the services,” Grewal added.
She also “failed to properly monitor, segregate, and account for Merlin’s Kids’ funds, large sums of which were spent on transactions with no apparent charitable purpose,” the attorney general said.
Grewal and the DCA are asking a judge for “the return of money unlawfully obtained from members of the public,” along with civil penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs and an order “stopping the defendants’ unlawful practices.”
They’re also asking the judge to dissolve Merlin’s Kids, shut down its website, appoint a receiver, and permanently bar Wolfe from registering or operating any charity in New Jersey.
“We want New Jersey residents to be able to give generously to charity without having to worry about whether they are being duped and whether their donations will be well spent,” Grewal said Friday. “Unfortunately, as this case demonstrates, not every charity delivers what it promises.”
“Charitable funds do not belong to those who run organizations but to the causes they serve,” DCA Director Paul R. Rodriguez added. “Officers and employees of a charity have a legal responsibility to ensure the assets they are entrusted with are put to use in accordance with their mission and the promises they make to their donors."
The complaint alleges violations of the Charitable Registration & Investigation Act, the charities regulations, the New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation Act and the Consumer Fraud Act.
Deputy Attorneys General Stephanie Asous and Isabella Pitt of the Consumer Fraud Prosecution Section within the Division of Law’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group are handing the case for the state.
The investigation was conducted by Investigator Brian M. Penn of the DCA’s Office of Consumer Protection.
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