VFW nonprofit required to improve oversight after former leader stole charitable funds

A St. Paul veterans' charity has been ordered to strengthen its internal training and governing procedures after a former leader stole tens of thousands of dollars in charitable assets.

The Minnesota Attorney General's Office announced a settlement Thursday with the Department of Minnesota Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Charitable Association, an arm of the Minnesota VFW. According to documents filed in Ramsey County District Court, Tate Doom, a former director and treasurer, wrote checks amounting to nearly $48,000 to himself and his creditors from the nonprofit's funds in 2017 and 2018.

The organization's board of directors had approved Doom's financial reports but didn't discover the misuse of funds until an internal audit was conducted by a new treasurer and president in 2018. Doom pleaded guilty and was convicted in Ramsey County District Court of misdemeanor theft. He was ordered to pay restitution of $72,000.

As of 2021, the VFW charitable association had collected about $4,000 from Doom, who declared bankruptcy, and "no further collection [is] expected," according to court documents. The charity lost nearly $40,000 in the theft.

Doom is serving a 4¹⁄_2-year sentence at Lino Lakes prison for criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular operation in connection with a 2018 crash in Rogers that killed a highway worker. Authorities said Doom, then a semitrailer truck driver, was watching pornographic videos when he sped through a construction zone on Interstate 94 and rear-ended a pickup truck, setting off a chain reaction that killed the worker.

Messages left with the Minnesota VFW weren't returned Thursday. The charitable association had a $66,000 annual budget and drew about $140,000 in revenue, according to 2020 financial information.

The Attorney General's Office, which regulates nonprofits in Minnesota, took action after the nonprofit failed to reform its policies or file required annual reports. It said in court documents that the VFW charitable association "has engaged in little meaningful review or reform of its organizational policies, governance structures, or internal controls to determine how Mr. Doom was able to misuse such a large share of Association funds and to prevent a future such occurrence," and added that none of the directors or officers there when the theft occurred faced any consequences.

The settlement requires the association to review its policies and procedures, retain auditors with nonprofit expertise and adopt a conflict of interest policy, among other changes. Its directors and officers are also required to complete training to prevent future misuse of money.

"Let this be a reminder for all Minnesota charities: Proper governance and oversight are the chief responsibilities of nonprofit directors," Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement, "and they should always have a watchful eye over their people, operations, and assets."