A Black Lives Matter charity alleged ‘fraudster’ hurled vile slurs when asked about her plan to plead guilty to scamming donors to pay for her lavish lifestyle.
Monica Cannon-Grant was charged alongside her husband, Clark Grant, in 2022 for 27 counts of 18 fraud-related crimes, including conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, making false statements on a mortgage application and tax violations.
She responded with anger and f-bombs when asked about allegedly spending charity funds on vacations, fancy restaurants, trips to a nail salon, a car and even rent on the family’s apartment.
‘Respectfully F**k You!’ she wrote in an email.
‘You wasn’t reaching out or interested in my side of the story when I caught this case 4 1/2 years ago and you wasn’t reaching out when my deceased husband was murdered so yeah f**k you.’
Cannon-Grant’s husband was killed in a motorcycle crash in Easton, Massachusetts in March 2023.
She swore again at the Daily Mail when contacted for further comment but did not answer our questions.
It is unclear if Cannon-Grant, who was named a Bostonian of the year by the Boston Globe Magazine in 2020, plans to plead guilty to all or some of the charges she faces in an apparent plea deal with prosecutors, as first reported by the Boston Herald.
Monica Cannon-Grant was indicted for defrauding the non-profit she founded and spending much of the money she was given on herself and her family
Cannon-Grant responded with anger and f-bombs when the Daily Mail contacted her for comment about her case and her plan to plead guilty
Cannon-Grant’s husband, Clark Grant, was accused of fraud alongside his wife but died in a motorcycle crash in 2023
Her case has been moving slowly as she has had five defense attorneys, with each new one setting back the trial date as they have to get up to speed and process mountains of information.
Two of the attorneys appointed to represent Cannon-Grant were added to the case after her former retained attorney, Christopher Malcolm, was suspended from practicing law in Massachusetts.
Her current lawyers, George Vien and Emma Notis-McConarty, had the case files passed off to them by Malcolm in June. US District Court Judge Angel Kelley set a jury trial start date of October 14.
Cannon-Grant and her husband were accused of paying personal expenses with a portion of the more than $1million they raised for their non-profit charity, Violence in Boston Inc., and the $54,000 in pandemic relief funds they received which were meant to provide meals for those in need.
Cannon-Grant has also been accused of paying herself $2,788 a week from her charity starting in October 2020, contradicting public statements and her report to the IRS that she received no salary.
‘Unemployment caught my ass. Asked me to provide documents by June, unless I’ll have to pay it all back,’ Cannon-Grant texted her husband on March 26, 2021, according to authorities.
She was also accused of directing co-conspirators to apply for public and private grants for her charity and spending that money on living expenses. Authorities say a $10,400 grant from an unnamed department store meant to feed hungry children was actually laundered through a church to pay back rent.
Cannon-Grant rose to prominence in 2020 after organizing a march in protest of the killing of George Floyd which thousands of people attended
Cannon-Grant was fired from the non-profit she founded by its board of directors in 2022 and the charity was shuttered
Cannon-Grant was fired from Violence in Boston, the non-profit she founded, in 2022 by its board of directors, and the charity was closed.
A short filing from a court docket in Cannon-Grant’s case read, ‘The defendant, Monica Cannon-Grant, respectfully requests that the Court schedule a change of plea hearing, pursuant to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.’
A Rule 11 hearing takes place when a defendant who previously pled not guilty intends to change their plea to guilty or no contest to the charges.
Cannon-Grant became a prominent activist in 2020 after she organized a march to protest the killing of George Floyd that was attended by thousands in Boston. Around the same time, she also formed a partnership with a restaurant to provide more than 1,000 free meals a day to people struggling during the pandemic.
Her efforts earned her the honor of Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe Magazine, and she was hailed as the city’s ‘best social justice advocate’ by Boston Magazine.
Cannon-Grant started her non-profit in 2017, operating out of her home in Boston. By 2020, the operation had moved into a large headquarters in Hyde Park in southern Boston.
According to prosecutors, the charity was receiving huge amounts of donations around this time, receiving more than $50,000 in April 2020 alone.
