Judge orders Bondi to prove she appropriately directed companies to donate to charities
Posted By Monivette Cordeiro on Tue, May 2, 2017 at 4:58 pm
A Tallahassee judge is ordering Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to prove her office didn't act inappropriately when it allegedly directed companies to pay millions in restitution payments to unregistered charities.
Leon County Circuit Judge Charles Dodson gave Bondi 40 days to respond after the order was filed on April 10. The decision came after an Orlando businessman filed a petition for a "writ of quo warranto" against Bondi earlier this month.
John D. Smith, who owns the storm window protection company Storm Stoppers, alleges in his lawsuit that Bondi abused her authority when she forced 14 businesses her office was looking into unfair trade practices to settle by donating more than $5.5 million to 35 unregistered charities from 2011 to 2016. In the state of Florida, charities that raise money must be registered with the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The lawsuit alleges that in total, Bondi's office collected $20.2 million from 55 companies in "forced contributions" to registered and unregistered charities. The petition says the group of unregistered charities includes Bondi’s own "Florida Law Enforcement Officer of the Year," which was given four contributions totaling $40,000.
more
http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2017/05/02/judge-orders-bondi-to-prove-she-appropriately-directed-companies-to-donate-to-charities
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