I just read a story featured in the NBC San Diego website (http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/13649020/detail.html? Dl=mainclick) regarding the death of one of San Diego's Lost Boys of Sudan, Anyoun Anyoun.
Towards the end of the NBC San Diego article I noticed the mentioning of an organization that is taking donations under the name of San Diego Lost Boys of Sudan Charitable Corporation which is run by a Karen Richards.
I learned that Richards had somewhat of a questionable reputation. She has never rendered financial statements of her organization (s). I was really surprised to see her "organization" mentioned in the article and even worse, the promoting of it.
I've always considered NBC a reputable source of information and was very surprised to see that the research made for this story is meager. I am not an expert and by simply doing searches on the internet I found that this so-called organization doesn't even have a website.
I also found out that Richards has had two or three other organizations in the last year and that this one mentioned in the article is only about one year old. After placing some calls I have also found out that many of the Lost Boys don't even like working with Richards due to her questionable ways. It is said by many that she takes the donations accrued and then somehow splits the money and "helps" two or three Lost Boys at the most; we believe these Lost Boys live in Coronado, but they might have moved. They, however, have no clue how she divides the money or what the total amount was. Of course, this is by word of mouth only, but I figured that it's enough to at the very least begin an investigation.
I have a good source that is willing to talk to you, as long as he/she remains anonymous... You'll see why once you talk to him/her. This source has revealed to me that Richards works or worked under a national umbrella non-profit organization. Records were found online and it was discovered that over 200 people have used this so called national non-profit organization for their own personal gain. A deeper look revealed that 65% of the accrued finances was used for overhead charges and such and that some employees even made $50-100k salaries! A CPA name was found in NY and once this person was called, he even fessed out to the "BS"... His words by the way.
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