Ventura-Based Cars 4 Causes Sued For Allegedly Defrauding Donors

A Ventura-based vehicle donation organization with commercials and other advertisements across multiple media platforms, including here on KEYT, is facing civil charges.

The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced that along with the Environmental Protection Unit and the California Attorney General’s Office, it filed a civil law enforcement action against Cars 4 Causes.

The organization attracts donors by promising to donate the majority of a donated vehicle’s sales proceeds to the donor’s charity of choice, something that the DA says is false advertisement.

According to the complaint, Cars 4 Causes often “failed to forward any proceeds to charity at all, instead spending the proceeds on its own advertising campaigns, operating expenses, and salaries.”

The District Attorney’s Office said the following in a released statement:

“Cars 4 Causes’ last tax return reported that, despite raising over $5 million in donated vehicles, less than 10 percent of the proceeds were paid to any charity. In addition, Cars 4 Causes failed to pay $2 million of sale proceeds to thousands of charitable organization around the country, including over $600,000 that should have been given to charities serving the sick and providing medical research; $250,000 to children’s and education charities; and $200,000 to charities serving the poor.”

The Associated Press reported that Cars 4 Causes raised nearly $16 million in donations from 2009 through 2014, but only about $5.4 million went to charity.

The DA is asking that the court order Cars 4 Causes to cease making misrepresentations, and to pay all money owned to the donors’ charity of choice.

NewsChannel 3 has reached out to Cars 4 Causes for comment on this lawsuit. We will post that response here when it becomes available.

In a separate lawsuit, Attorney General Kamala Harris alleges that 97 percent of donations to another southern California donation organization, People’s Choice Charities, based out of Los Angeles, went to towing, car repairs, advertising and other costs. She said that the organization only donated a quarter of what they claimed from 2007 to 2012, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors warn consumers to check charities before they donate, particularly this holiday season.