The leader of the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation has been accused of stealing $10 million from the far left activist group, according to court papers filed by another Black Lives Matter group late this week.
Leader Shalomyah Bowers is accused by his colleagues of being a “rogue administrator, a middle man turned usurper,” who used his position to steal millions from the far left nonprofit group, according to reporting by the Los Angeles Times. The lawsuit against Bowers was launched by another Black Lives Matter group – this one known as Black Lives Matter Grassroots – per the Times.
The Black Lives Matter activists allege that Bowers’ mismanagement provoked “multiple” IRS investigations and accuse the civil rights leader Bowers of betraying their cause in addition to defrauding the group.
“While BLM leaders and movement workers were on the street risking their lives,” the Black Lives Matter group, led by BLM Los Angeles founder Melina Abdullah, declares in its lawsuit that “Mr. Bowers remained in his cushy offices devising a scheme of fraud and misrepresentation to break the implied-in-fact contract between donors and BLM.”
Black Lives Matter leader accused of stealing $10 million from organization – Los Angeles Times https://t.co/hcxfa8pLqT
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) September 2, 2022
Attorney Walter Mosley, representing the plaintiffs, accuses Bowers of “self dealing, giving grants to his own consultant firm and charging exorbitant fees reaching eight figures,” the Times reports.
As the lawsuit unfolds, it was reported by Courthouse News that “Bowers has taken control of Black Lives Matter’s financial accounts and social media accounts, shutting out its founders and most prominent organizers, like Melina Abdullah,” who accuses the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation board members of “engaging in self dealing, enriching themselves off of the backs of people who put their blood, sweat and tears into this movement.”
The Black Lives Matter group raked in more than $90 million in donations in 2020 alone, according to Courthouse News. The eye popping cash haul led some to question how the money was spent, leading to the scrutiny of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and her collection of mansions worth millions.
While the number of separate Black Lives Matter nonprofits and activist groups may seem dizzying to the uninitiated, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is one of the most influential groups behind the Black Lives Matter movement.
Cullors hired Bowers in 2020 “to help raise and distribute money to groups within the foundation,” the Los Angeles Times explained.
Conservatives are likely acquainted from Cullors after the controversy surrounding her multi million dollar collection of homes – including one $6 million party house the nonprofit group paid for – and the many times Cullors has endorsed Marxism and disavowed capitalism. The Heritage Foundation reports that Cullors has confirmed publicly, “I do believe in Marxism.”
While it seemed for a time that Cullors’ public advocacy of Marxism may be over, she doubled down in 2020, and said that Black Lives Matter leadership consists of “trained Marxists.”
In May of this year, tax forms revealed that Cullors used funds from the nonprofit to pay her brother and child’s father nearly $2 million for “professional services.”
Black Enterprise reported that tax records reveal $970,000 went to Trap Heals LLC, a company founded by the father of Cullors’ son, and that her brother received $840,933 for “professional security services” to the company Cullors Protection LLC.
It was reported at the same time that Bowers received $2.1 million from the nonprofit between July 2020 and June 2021.
