Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi's office reports that it filed a complaint Monday seeking to shut down a Florida charity falsely claiming to use charitable donations to provide financial support to families of firefighters lost in the line of duty.
According to a release from Bondi's office, Community Charity Advancement, Inc. also allegedly falsely claims to use donations to provide assistance to breast cancer research organizations and breast cancer patients, but in some instances uses donations for different purposes.
According to the complaint, CCAI's acts and practices mislead generous donors into contributing to CCAI instead of the many legitimate charitable organizations operating bona fide programs that support breast cancer research, breast cancer and fire victims, as well as firefighters.
The complaint further alleges that CCAI falsely represents having a partnership with bona fide cancer research and support organizations to deceptively lend legitimacy to the company’s activities.
Pam Bondi's office says some of these organizations who are not in partnership with CCAI, despite the company’s claims, include the University of Florida, Johns Hopkins and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
The complaint alleges violations of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Consumers who donated to CCAI can file a complaint with Attorney General Bondi’s Office.