A judge has issued an interim court order shutting down the United Homeless Organization and seizing its assets, including bank accounts and vehicles.
The court order follows a request by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who has sued the so-called charity, which has been under intense scrutiny by Fox 5′s Arnold Diaz.
In November, after a series of reports by the Fox 5 News investigative team, Cuomo’s office filed a lawsuit against UHO, its founder and president Stephen Riley, and its director Myra Walker, alleging that they used the group to dupe the public into donating cash to fund services for the homeless, when in reality the money was instead used for personal expenses.
Cuomo and UHO’s critics have called the group an organized panhandling network. Arnold Diaz’s investigation has showed that people pay the UHO a fee to the rent the table, jug, and UHO sign and then essentially pocket whatever money the public donates.
“Today’s court order prevents UHO from further exploiting the trust and good will of New Yorkers,”
Cool. Now if they could just get me back the money I kept donating to them (I don’t even want to think about how much) I’d feel even better.
I know. Not gonna happen.