INSIDE KHLOE K & LAMAR CHARITY SCANDAL

NationalEnquirer.com

KHLOE KARDASHIAN and hubby LAMAR ODOM’s charity EXPOSED as not have given one thin dime cent to donations to help cancer sufferers!  

Although they claimed to be a kid’s cancer charity, no dime has been forthcoming to aid the cause with the basketballing Odom responding, “It’s my money,”  an attorney says it’s NOT Lamar’s money, and the entire situation has proceeded in a “really stupid” way.

“Lamar made the comment that the money is his, and I believe it was just a statement out of ignorance because he doesn’t understand, sports and entertainment attorney Andrew Bondarowicz, who specializes in non-profits, told RadarOnline.

“Once money comes into the organization, regardless of who put it in there, it’s not yours anymore. It belongs to the public. That charity is now stepping into the shoes of the government doing public work,”

“At a minimum, someone was really stupid at how they handled this whole situation. His agent was involved and his agent should be telling him not to screw this up. Any good professional around him would remind him that his name is attached to that entity, and they wouldn’t want him to have any negative press.”

Lamar’s business manager and the treasurer of the athlete’s charity, Cathy’s Kids, Lester Knispel, said the Clippers’ star loaned millions to the charity, resulting in debt on the org’s 2011 tax returns but in a statement released by Khloe, she said, “The millions of dollars personally contributed by Lamar constituted more than 90% of the money raised by the foundation” — so it’s unclear whether Lamar’s money was a loan or a gift.

 “If you made a loan to a non-profit that in and of itself would probably not qualify for a tax deduction, because tax deductions are reserved for pure donations where the donor is not receiving anything in return,” Bondarowicz said.

“But a donation to a charity would definitely result in a tax break.”

Khloe’s camp at the accusations of shoddy charity conduct claiming Lamar was “the target of an attack on athletes’ charities” and revealing that they changed the focus of the charity from cancer to enriching the lives of inner-city youth through funding several AAU travel basketball teams.

However, they didn’t inform the public of their new focus, and the AAU has stepped forward to say they didn’t receive any charity donations from Lamar’s organization, Cathy’s Kids.

“When you look at where the money goes, under IRS rules, a non-profit can give to another non-profit, such as the AAU program. It might be unethical, but it’s not illegal,” Bondarowicz elaborated.

 “Generally when you set up a non-profit the IRS gives you the status which allows you to take donations and deductibility on those donations. Within a non-profit you have to specify the purpose of your charity and the charity work must fall into line with the purpose stated.”

And concerning Lamar and Khloe’s public image, Bondarowicz tells Radar this scandal will definitely be a stain on their reputations.  “People are going to think twice before they look to contribute to a cause that they’re associated with, although I’m sure they do some great public work otherwise,” he said.

“There will be backlash for other athlete charities in general. I can’t say something like this is rare because there are a lot of issues in this space. The charities thrive and do well when the athlete is making money and doing well in his career, but tend to disappear when the athlete’s career dissipates.”

Berger said, “Donors to charities are putting their trust in that celebrity and in general the most precious thing charities have in relation to their donors is trust, and once you violate that it’s all over.”

The charity’s only paid employee being Lamar’s high-school basketball coach and best man at his wedding to Khloe, Jerry DeGregorio, who earned a median annual salary of $72,000 — even though the charity has operated at a loss since its inception.

 “It’s not illegal to have staff for non-profit, however, just like any government job if someone has a no-show job it’s going to get scrutiny and reflect negatively. Was his salary justifiable? What were his duties and what is he actually doing to earn that money?” Bondarowicz asked.

“If Lamar Odom set up this charity just to employ his friends and family, then there’s trouble. You want the charities to be serving the public in some way. Not private individuals with NO public benefit.”