More than $400K recovered from nonprofit meant to help vets

Veteran Services
Photo credit Department of Veterans Affairs

HANOVER, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire attorney general's office says it has recovered more than $400,000 from a nonprofit that misappropriated funds meant to help military veterans.

Danielle Goodwin, co-founder and former director of Project VetCare, pleaded guilty in 2018 to diverting money from the Hanover charity for her personal use. She was sentenced to 3½ to seven years in state prison and required to pay back nearly $100,000. She was released from prison last month.

The Valley News reports the Charitable Trust Division of the attorney general's office said in a report Tuesday that funds recovered from Project VetCare included $20,000 for a van for the Disabled American Veterans, and $196,000 to the Veterans County program of the Easter Seals of New Hampshire and Vermont.

Goodwin was to pay $90,000 when she sold her home, but when it was put on the market, the Charitable Trusts Unit reopened the agreement. The home sold in September for nearly $600,000, and the Easter Seals Veterans Count program will get another $200,000. The trusts unit also will get a $10,000 civil penalty payment.

The report concludes that Project VetCare's board had no knowledge of Goodwin’s actions until early 2016, and that Project VetCare lacked proper internal financial controls.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Department of Veterans Affairs