His $670K fake charity scam ends in prison

Kai Brockington must repay all he stole in guise of an Austell nonprofit.

Before sentencing him to 3½ years in prison last week, a federal judge received a letter from Kai Brockington.

“Every iota of what I’ve done was awful,” the 36-year-old Dallas man wrote in June. “I was dishonest to lie to companies. I betrayed the implied trust in employer-employee relations. I misled people who were kind to me. I manipulated systems. I committed crimes.”

Brockington pleaded guilty in May to his charges of mail fraud and filing a false tax return, federal documents show. He was sentenced Wednesday.

He has agreed to pay back the $668,000 he stole from major U.S. corporations between 2013 and 2017 under the guise of running a nonprofit in Austell that provides health care to low-income people.

According to federal court documents, he bilked money from the GE Foundation, the Bank of America Foundation and United Health Group,

The charity was called “Our Genesis Project,” and it registered with the state in 2010.

Brockington exploited corporate donation-matching programs. Basically, companies offer to match any donation by one of its employees as long as paperwork confirmed it was a legitimate charity.

The IRS deemed the nonprofit tax-exempt in 2012, prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

What Brockington would do is either pay people thousands of dollars to make donations to Our Genesis Project that would then be matched by the companies, or he would work at the companies himself and run the scam that way.

Prosecutors found he spent more than $25,000 on jewelry, $54,000 on trips to places like Italy and Disney World, $57,000 on restaurants and food, $116,000 on clothing and shoes. He and his family spent the rest on updates to their home, vehicles and to pay bills.

The mail fraud charge has a maximum sentence of 20 years, according to plea documents.

The charge of filing a false tax return comes with a maximum term of three years in prison. That count comes from Brockington not disclosing all the money he was making from the charity on his personal tax returns.

“Brockington stole funds that could have gone to legitimate charities that helped those in need,” U. S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in a news release. “His prison sentence is a just punishment for his greed.”

Brockington ended his letter to federal Judge Michael L. Brown asking for grace.

“Judge Brown, may I have your grace? Grace. I do not know whether it is deserved. Grace is hoped for.

So Help me God, Kai Brockington.”

Following the sentence of three years and five months in prison, Brown ordered that Brockington live with three years of supervised release.

Kai Brockington pleaded guilty in May to his charges of mail fraud and filing a false tax return, federal documents show.