Monica Cannon-Grant, founder and CEO, pleaded guilty to 18 federal counts including wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax crimes for diverting nonprofit funds to personal use and defrauding the City of Boston's COVID-19 relief fund.

Violence in Boston, Inc. — Executive Self-Dealing and COVID Fund Fraud (2017–2020)

Outcome: Monica Cannon-Grant, founder and CEO of Violence in Boston, pleaded guilty to 18 federal counts including wire fraud, mail fraud, and tax crimes; she was ordered to forfeit more than $224,000 and sentencing was scheduled for January 29, 2026.

Violence in Boston (VIB) was a Greater Boston anti-violence nonprofit formally established in 2017, with the stated purpose of reducing violence, raising social awareness, and aiding community causes. From 2017 through at least 2020, Cannon-Grant represented herself as an uncompensated director to donors and charitable institutions. In reality, she and her late husband systematically diverted VIB funds to themselves through cash withdrawals, cashed checks, wire transfers to personal bank accounts, and personal debit card purchases.

Cannon-Grant conspired to use VIB to defraud the Boston Resiliency Fund — a charitable fund established by the City of Boston to provide COVID-19 pandemic aid — by misrepresenting the nature and purpose of the funding request. The organization also defrauded City of Boston rental assistance programs.

In addition to the fraud charges, Cannon-Grant admitted to filing false tax returns and failing to file required tax returns, concealing the personal income she had improperly received from VIB. The total forfeiture order of $224,000 represented the funds obtained through the offenses.

U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley oversaw the case in the District of Massachusetts. The prosecution was a joint effort by the DOJ U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts and IRS Criminal Investigation.

Primary Source: Former Director of Boston Nonprofit Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges