Charity linked to indicted Lower Southampton deputy constable ordered to cease and desist

Posted: Oct. 1, 2017

Bernard Rafferty

A charity connected with a suspended Lower Southampton deputy constable and a former Lower Southampton public safety director who were indicted on money laundering charges has been ordered to stop accepting donations after the state determined that it was improperly registered. 

The order issued on Aug. 30 bars the H.O.P.E. for Single Parents and Families -- an organization that lists Bernard Rafferty, 62, the suspended deputy constable from Lower Southampton, as a co-founder -- from soliciting contributions in the state until it provides the Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations with “all previously requested information and duly registers” or provides proof that it is exempt from registration because its income is less than $25,000 a year.

The order did not state what information was previously requested. 

Department of State spokeswoman Wanda Murren declined to comment further on either H.O.P.E. or another Rafferty-founded charity, Your Giving Hands, which merged with H.O.P.E. in 2012. She said the charities may not have to register if they provide proof that they meet certain criteria for exemption, but that department officials had not received this proof by Aug. 30, when they issued the cease-and-desist order. The order is still in place as of Monday afternoon, Murren confirmed.

The cease and desist order was mailed to Tullytown and Feasterville addresses associated with co-founder, CEO and President Kelly Harold. The nonprofit’s website lists the former Doylestown Township law office of Robert Hoopes, the former Lower Southampton public safety director, as its headquarters and the location where donations could be mailed or dropped off. 

H.O.P.E.-Your Giving Hands, as it is identified in the order, was one of 14 organizations the state charities bureau took action against in August, according to a news release. It is one of three organizations that received a cease and desist order and could face civil fines and fees if it continues fundraising. 

Bernard Rafferty and HOPE co=founder Kelly Harold

Murren added that before the state issues a cease and desist order it would attempt to assist an unregistered organization to bring it into compliance with the registration law.

Hoopes, Rafferty and then-Lower Southampton District Judge John Waltman were indicted in December 2016 on federal charges of conspiracy and money laundering. The trial for the men is scheduled to take place this month in U.S. District Court. This news organization was unsuccessful in reaching Hoopes; Hoopes’ attorney, Megan Scheib; Rafferty; or Rafferty’s attorney, Brian Puricelli for comment. 

The cease and desist order was issued three months after this news organization published an investigation into the charities following the arrests. The investigation found that neither organization or the merged charity has been designated as a federally recognized nonprofit, which allows donors to make tax-deductible donations and frees organizations from paying state and federal taxes on any money collected or anything they buy, nor have they filed state or federal financial disclosure documents showing how much money was collected and distributed annually. 

But the charities did collect money. Your Giving Hands received at least one $500 donation and H.O.P.E. received at least $1,500 in donations -- including $1,100 in “community grants” from the Feasterville Business Association -- in 2012 and 2013, according to H.O.P.E.’s website, Lower Southampton supervisor meeting minutes and interviews with donors and others familiar with the organization.

The findings brought the charities to the attention of Bucks County Consumer Protection Director Michael Bannon, who filed a complaint with the state Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations. Bannon said last week that he was pleased the state looked into the groups’ practices and took action.

In response to Facebook messages sent Thursday and Friday seeking comment, Harold said she filed forms with the state confirming the nonprofit had not been active since August 2013.

Harold has described H.O.P.E. as a transitional housing program for middle and working-class families, but said it “never received any donations.” A planned 2013 fundraiser to raffle off a car was canceled and the money collected returned to ticket-buyers, she said. 

“We were not active long at all,” she said.

Harold also said that she has not spoken to Rafferty in years and his involvement with the nonprofit took place “way before he got into any trouble.” 

Rafferty was named executive vice president of H.O.P.E. in July 2012, according to the H.O.P.E. website. Previously, Harold said that Rafferty became part of the organization because he had “connections.”

Before he joined H.O.P.E., Rafferty registered Your Giving Hands as a nonprofit corporation with the Pennsylvania Department of State on Dec. 31, 2009; the nonprofit is still listed as active, according to the state agency’s website. Its headquarters is listed as a Lower Southampton gas station, according to copies of the filing documents.

Your Giving Hands had a website that was active in September 2011, according to the internet archive the Way Back Machine. It described nonprofit as providing a “helping hand to people in need within our community,” and listed Rafferty as its contact.

It is unknown exactly how much either charity raised since neither filed financial disclosure statements required by the Internal Revenue Service for charities. At least nine events billed as fundraisers to benefit H.O.P.E. were held in 2012 and 2013 and multiple Facebook posts -- before the page was removed -- also solicited client applications and business affiliates and sponsors for its program through 2014.

The former treasurer for H.O.P.E., Tim Doyle, declined to answer questions, saying he had not been with the organization “for years.”

Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@calkins.com; Twitter: @JoCiavaglia