The Farrah Fawcett Foundation is trying to get ahead of reports that a fraud investigation is under way by posting denials on its Facebook page. According to the posting, attributed to Alana Stewart, president of the foundation, the State of California is conducting a “correspondence audit.”
According to the Facebook post: “Let me state emphatically, everything has been followed to the letter of the law by myself and the employees of The Farrah Fawcett Foundation. The foundation was formed by Ms. Fawcett herself with Jane Peebles, one of the most knowledgeable and respected foundation attorneys in the state.”
According to Lynda Gledhill, a spokesperson for The California Attorney General’s office, “We cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation in the Farrah Fawcett Foundation.” A former associate of Fawcett allegedly told news outlets that the organization is being investigated for fraud. Fawcett died of cancer in June 2009 at age 62.
According to the Facebook post, “It has always been my goal to follow the implicit wishes of Farrah and run the foundation professionally and to the letter of the law. I am convinced that the correspondence audit will prove once and for all the absence of any impropriety whatsoever and the complete and utter integrity of the Farrah Fawcett Foundation. It is my hope, that people will continue to support the tremendous and numerous charitable works of the foundation and will not pay attention to false, unsubstantiated statements spread by malicious individuals with personal agendas.”
The foundation was started after Fawcett’s death and is mostly funded by a trust. There was a Sept. 13 fundraising event but financial results were not available.
Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006. She was declared cancer-free in February 2007 but three-months later it was discovered again and had metastasized to her liver. She sought alternative treatments outside the United States but ultimately died at a Santa Monica, Calif., hospital. NPT
