State shuts down Warren Tae Kwan Do charity

State shuts down Warren Tae Kwan Do charity

Staff report

WARREN Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced an agreement with Dynamite TKD Kids Foundation and Abbie M. Taylor of Warren to cease charitable solicitations in Ohio and to pay $5,000 to the Attorney General’s Office.

The organization provided scholarships for students to attend Tae Kwan Do classes at Taylor’s husband’s Tae Kwan Do school.

“Taking advantage of charitable donors’ good faith for personal gain is unacceptable,” DeWine said. “It is our ongoing mission to make sure these organizations are shut down.”

Dynamite TKD Kids Foundation was founded in 2009 “to operate a Tae Kwan Do school for underprivileged children within the state of Ohio and surrounding states.”

The Attorney General’s Charitable Law Section began an investigation in August 2012 after receiving a complaint alleging that Taylor and her husband were using the organization’s debit card to pay for vacations, groceries, and personal expenses. The investigation revealed that the foundation rewarded very few scholarships in over three years of operation and all of the students attended Taylor’s husband’s Tae Kwan Do school. Taylor also failed to manage the foundations’ accounts by not keeping appropriate financial records.

Under the agreement, an Assurance of Discontinuance, Taylor agrees to pay $5,000 to the Attorney General’s Office. She also agrees to dissolve Dynamite TKD Kids Foundation and not to hold any position in or participate in soliciting donations for any charitable organizations in Ohio.

For information about a charity or to file a complaint against a questionable organization, individuals should contact the Attorney General’s Office at 800-282-0515 or www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.