James Reynolds Sr., president of two “sham” cancer charities, has to give up certain artwork, two guns and sell a pontoon boat as part of a settlement announced Wednesday.
Cancer Fund of America and Cancer Support Services had claimed to help cancer patients but millions of dollars in donations were instead spent on trips, luxury cruises, Jet Ski outings, college tuition, sporting events and dating site memberships for their operators, families and friends, according to a news release Wednesday from the Hawaii Attorney General’s office.
The Federal Trade Commission and agencies from all 50 states obtained a permanent injunction to dissolve the two nationwide charities and ban Reynolds from profiting from any charity fundraising in the future, the release says.

“The FTC and our state enforcement partners have ended an egregious charity fraud that siphoned hundreds of millions of dollars away from well-meaning consumers, legitimate charities, and people with cancer who needed the services the defendants falsely promised,” said Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Today’s settlement, along with those announced earlier, shut down the sham charities once and for all and banned the individual perpetrators for life.”
The agencies’ filed the complaint in May, targeting four charities run by Reynolds and his family members that allegedly bilked more than $187 million from donors, the release says. CFA and CSS were responsible for more than $75 million of that amount. The other two sham charities settled in May.
The settlement announced Wednesday concludes the largest joint enforcement action ever undertaken by the FTC and state charity regulators, the release says.
“The FTC and New Mexico and Missouri state attorneys provided extraordinary vision and leadership to coordinate this historic settlement,” Chin said. “If you get a telephone call from a charity, don’t give them money until you check them out on our official website first.”
The order imposes a judgment against CFA, CSS, and Reynolds of $75.8 million, which is how much people donated to the two charities between 2008 and 2012. The judgment against CFA and CSS will be partially satisfied via liquidation of their assets, and the judgment against Reynolds will be suspended upon surrender of certain artwork, two pistols, and sale of a pontoon boat. The full judgment will become due immediately if he is found to have misrepresented his financial condition, the release says.
The other defendants in the case were CFA’s and CSS’s chief financial officer and CSS’s former president, Kyle Effler; Children’s Cancer Fund of America and its president and executive director, Rose Perkins; and The Breast Cancer Society and its executive director and former president, James Reynolds II. Under settlement orders, Effler, Perkins and Reynolds II were banned from fundraising, charity management, and oversight of charitable assets, and CCFOA and BCS are in receivership and will be dissolved after their assets are liquidated, the release says.
The Hawaii AG’s office recommends people search for the charity’s registration and information at the Department of the Attorney General’s website and report any issues or concerns here.
Learn more about charity scams here.
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About the Author
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Nathan Eagle is the assistant managing editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at neagle@civilbeat.org or follow him on Twitter at @nathaneagle, Facebook here and Instagram here.