A Black Lives Matter charity accused ‘fraudster’ launched into a tirade of offensive remarks when questioned about her intention to admit guilt in swindling donors to fund her extravagant lifestyle.
Monica Cannon-Grant faced charges alongside her spouse, Clark Grant, in 2022 with 27 counts related to 18 fraudulent activities, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, false mortgage applications, and tax violations.
In response to allegations about using charity money for vacations, expensive dining, nail salon visits, a vehicle, and even rent for her family’s apartment, she reacted with anger and expletives.
‘Respectfully F**k You!’ she wrote in an email.
‘You weren’t trying to hear my side of the story when I first caught this case 4 1/2 years ago, and you didn’t reach out when my late husband was killed. So yeah, f**k you.’
Cannon-Grant’s husband was killed in a motorcycle crash in Easton, Massachusetts in March 2023.
She swore again at the Daily Mail when contacted for further comment but did not answer our questions.
It remains uncertain whether Cannon-Grant will plead guilty to all or only some of the charges in a potential plea agreement with prosecutors, initially reported by the Boston Herald.
Monica Cannon-Grant was indicted for defrauding the non-profit she founded and spending much of the money she was given on herself and her family
Cannon-Grant responded with anger and f-bombs when the Daily Mail contacted her for comment about her case and her plan to plead guilty
Cannon-Grant’s husband, Clark Grant, was accused of fraud alongside his wife but died in a motorcycle crash in 2023
The progression of her case has been sluggish, attributed to her having five different defense lawyers, each requiring time to acclimate and manage vast amounts of case information.
Two of the attorneys appointed to represent Cannon-Grant were added to the case after her former retained attorney, Christopher Malcolm, was suspended from practicing law in Massachusetts.
Her current lawyers, George Vien and Emma Notis-McConarty, had the case files passed off to them by Malcolm in June. US District Court Judge Angel Kelley set a jury trial start date of Oct. 14.
Cannon-Grant and her husband were accused of paying personal expenses with a portion of the more than $1 million they raised for their non-profit charity, Violence in Boston Inc., and the $54,000 in pandemic relief funds they received which were meant to provide meals for those in need.
Cannon-Grant has also been accused of paying herself $2,788 a week from her charity starting in October 2020, contradicting public statements and her report to the IRS that she received no salary.
‘Unemployment caught my ass. Asked me to provide documents by June, unless I’ll have to pay it all back,’ Cannon-Grant texted her husband on March 26, 2021, according to authorities.
She was also accused of directing co-conspirators to apply for public and private grants for her charity and spending that money on living expenses. Authorities say a $10,400 grant from an unnamed department store meant to feed hungry children was actually laundered through a church to pay back rent.
Cannon-Grant rose to prominence in 2020 after organizing a march in protest of the killing of George Floyd which thousands of people attended
Cannon-Grant was fired from the non-profit she founded by its board of directors in 2022 and the charity was shuttered
Cannon-Grant was fired from Violence in Boston, the non-profit she founded, in 2022 by its board of directors, and the charity was closed.
A short filing from a court docket in Cannon-Grant’s case read, ‘The defendant, Monica Cannon-Grant, respectfully requests that the Court schedule a change of plea hearing, pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.’
A Rule 11 hearing takes place when a defendant who previously pled not guilty intends to change their plea to guilty or no contest to the charges.
Cannon-Grant became a prominent activist in 2020 after she organized a march to protest the killing of George Floyd that was attended by thousands in Boston. Around the same time, she also formed a partnership with a restaurant to provide more than 1,000 free meals a day to people struggling during the pandemic.
She started her non-profit in 2017, operating out of her home in Boston. By 2020, the operation had moved into a large headquarters in Hyde Park in southern Boston.
According to prosecutors, the charity was receiving huge amounts of donation around this time, receiving more than $50,000 in April 2020 alone.
