Taunton Couple Charged With 18 Counts of Fraud

BOSTON — A Taunton couple who founded a Boston-based nonprofit has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly defrauding the organization and its donors, along with the state unemployment office and a mortgage lender in Chicago.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that Taunton residents Monica Cannon-Grant, 41, and her husband Clark Grant, 38, are being charged with a variety of fraud-related offenses in an 18-count indictment.

Cannon-Grant is the founder and CEO of Violence in Boston, a nonprofit established in 2017 that aims to reduce violence for people in disenfranchised communities.

Grant is Cannon-Grant’s husband and a founding director of the organization. He was charged in October 2021 by criminal complaint with one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements on a loan and credit application.

The pair are accused of 13 counts of wire fraud as well as wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy, and one count of making false statements to a mortgage lending business.

Cannon-Grant is also charged with one count of mail fraud.

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The indictment alleges that the couple solicited donations for the nonprofit but used them for "a wide range of personal expenses and to enrich themselves," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

From 2017 through at least 2020, Cannon-Grant and Grant allegedly diverted organization money to their personal bank accounts, hiding the payments from other nonprofit learders, bookkeepers, and financial auditors.

They allegedly used donation funds for personal expenses including hotel reservations, groceries, gas, auto repairs, Uber rides, restaurants, nail salons, and personal travel, among others.

The defendants also allegedly collected pandemic unemployment benefits while concealing their income, including Grant's salary from a full-time job at a commuter services company.

The indictment also alleges that from around May 2020 through 2021, Grant and Cannon-Grant applied for and collected pandemic assistance despite knowing they were ineligible.

The pair also allegedly submitted false information to a Chicago-based mortgage lender when applying for a home loan in July 2021, the office stated.

Cannon-Grant was arrested Tuesday morning and is set to appear in federal court in Boston later in the day.

Grant's arraignment date has not yet been scheduled.

They each face up to 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million.