New York State announced Thursday that it is filing a complaint against the pro-gun lobby NRA and its influential boss Wayne LaPierre for financial fraud, with the goal of disbanding this powerful conservative group.
“The influence of the NRA is such that the organization has gone unchecked for decades, while its top executives put millions of dollars in their pockets,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.
She also claimed that Mr. LaPierre and three other senior lobby officials had used members’ contributions and donations for years as “their own piggy bank,” spending tens of millions of dollars in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations. lucrative.
Bahamas
The four leaders “basically looted the assets” of the group, Ms. James said, so much so that the lobby that has pumped millions of dollars into Republican election campaigns over the years is now virtually insolvent.
According to the prosecutor, Mr. LaPierre among other things illegally used funds from the NRA to regularly take his family to the Bahamas for a luxury vacation. The boss also, Ms.James said, accepted onerous gifts and travel from NRA suppliers, and gave himself $ 17 million for his retirement without the approval of the NRA’s board of directors. organization.
“The NRA is full of fraud and abuse and that is why we are now seeking to dissolve it, because no organization is above the law,” she added.
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