When Bad Things Happened to a Good Foundation

by Martin Davis, Jr. and Bob Weiss
Foundation News and Commentary

"Once upon a time, there were two men—Carl L. Yeckel and Thomas W. Vett—who had jobs for which they made an almost unlimited amount of money and didn't have to answer to anyone. They didn't have to sell anything, produce a product or raise any money," said Jan Soifer in her opening remarks as attorney for the plaintiffs in the trial against Yeckel, Vett and others. "As the years went by, they took home bigger and bigger paychecks, plus great benefits, including the free, unlimited use of credit cards that someone else paid for, no questions asked.

It was charity that motivated Yeckel's grandparents, Carl and Florence King, to estaba charity bearing their names—the Carl B. and Florence E. King Foundation—to support nonprofit organizations and provide scholarships to underprivileged students. But it was greed and arrogance that motivated their grandson and his colleague to divert the foundation's money from charitable purposes to their personal bank accounts. While Carl and Florence King planned to use their money to help others, their grandson schemed to use it to help himself.

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