Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Louisiana hospital foundation's former fundraising chief is accused of stealing about $550,000 in donations and using some of it to send family and friends to LSU and New Orleans Saints football games.
The Advocate reports court documents filed Tuesday say 49-year-old John Paul Funes is charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
They say the fired CEO of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation defrauded the charity for years by falsifying records, such as labeling charter flights as "outbound patient transports." It says he also used foundation funds to buy cancer patients gift cards that he then used himself.
The newspaper says Funes wouldn't comment, but his lawyer expects him to "accept responsibly by entering a plea." Attorney Walt Green says Funes is working to reimburse the foundation.
___
Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
