DOJ CHARGES FORMER T.J. MARTELL EXEC WITH FRAUD

Former T.J. Martell Foundation EVP Melissa Goodwin has been charged by the Department of Justice in the Middle District of Tennessee in a scheme to defraud the cancer-research organization, alleging she embezzled nearly $4m.

Goodwin, who'd been employed by the foundation since 2005, rose to EVP/GM in 2018. The DOJ filing alleges that starting that year, she began making ticket purchases to high-profile events (concerts, sporting events, etc.) with a foundation credit card in her name. The tickets were not for any legitimate T.J. Martell purpose; she provided them to a New York charity-auction service as if they were donations. She then used the foundation’s bank accounts to pay the credit-card charges. According to press reports, further intricacies of the alleged fraud have yet to be made clear.

The allegations also claim that Goodwin would create falsified credit-card statements and expense reports to conceal the purchases and purportedly altered the organization's financial records, inflating its assets and reducing its liabilities to make the nonprofit appear more liquid than it was.

The government seeks the forfeiture of at least $3,765,606.77, which represents the proceeds of the alleged scheme. Read the DOJ filing here.

Eric Trump could not be reached for comment.