Malden non-profit files bankruptcy after receiving millions in taxpayer dollars

MALDEN, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A shuttered non-profit we first told you about in March has now filed bankruptcy. Now, FOX25 is asking what happened to the millions of tax payer dollars they received.

FOX25 first began investigating complaints the Malden non-profit wasn't fulfilling its commitment to low income families earlier this year. On Wednesday, Investigative Reporter Kerry Kavanaugh did some digging into what happened to all that tax payer cash now that the agency has claimed bankruptcy.

It's a dilemma that Bronwyn Murray faces every winter. But the single mother says fortunately, there's help.

"I wouldn't have any heat if it wasn't for fuel assistance," she said.

Murray says she was grateful that when Tri-CAP folded, ABCD stepped in. She says the ABCD staff worked into her lunch hour to get her family the helped they need.

She says this past winter, after she signed up with ABCD, the oil company was at her home first thing in the morning.

Murray's like the hundreds of families who needed some extra help paying their heating bills this winter. But as we first told you in March, when they turned to the non-profit, Tri-CAP, they learned this organization had some financial troubles of their own.

Tri-CAP served 18,000 families in Malden, Medford and Everett. After getting millions in tax payer dollars earmarked to help low income families, the agency filed bankruptcy.

John Drew, president of ABCD, said the community action agency stepped in when Tri-CAP went under. He's run his agency for 43 years and says with tax payer money comes scrutiny, which he welcomes.

"We're scrutinized by everybody. We have reports we have to send out regularly on what we do. People have to come in," he said.

Drew says any agency has to closely monitor how it spends every penny, but so do the government agencies that dole the money out.

In the Tri-CAP case that includes the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community development. DHCD said they can't comment on what went wrong with Tri-CAP because of the ongoing legal proceedings.

The state attorney general's office is now investigating how this non-profit fell apart, who knew it was unraveling and, when. The question remains, what happened to the millions of dollars that never reached those in need.

Kavanaugh contacted John Morrier, Tri-CAP's bankruptcy attorney, late Wednesday afternoon and he emailed the following statement:

“As a community action program, Tri-CAP operated a number of programs, including Head Start early education, LIHEAP fuel assistance, and residential weatherization programs. The grant funds Tri-CAP received were used to support these programs, although in some instances funds designated for one program may have been used to provide services in another program. Tri-CAP has transferred operation of these important community programs to other agencies, which are now running them. It filed a chapter 11 bankruptcy case to facilitate the remaining wind-down of its operations in an open, court-supervised process.”

Cox Media Group