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An organization claiming to be opening a safe house for abused women in St. Louis may be a scam. The Better Business Bureau of St. Louis issued a warning Wednesday about "I Am My Sister's Keeper."
A document filed with the Secretary of State shows that a B. Beaudreux registered "I Am My Sister's Keeper" as the name of a Missouri business on February 13. But the document is not accompanied by registration for a non-profit corporation. It's not listed as a non-profit with the state or with the I-R-S.According to Better Business Bureau investigator Bill Smith, Beaudreux told the bureau on February 12 that she was working extensively with an unnamed state agency to start the shelter. The next day her business was filed with the state, but the usual documents accompanying the start of a non-profit have not been filed.
Smith also said Beaudreux claimed to have purchased a building to use for the safe house. But a call to the land owner proved otherwise.
Smith said the bureau began looking into the organization about a month ago, after being contacted by prospective employees of the safe house.
The prospective employees were "given a lot of promises but they weren't seeing anything come to fruition," Smith said. "We started doing some research and a lot of things we found out just didn't make a lot of sense."
Erica Tompkins was one of the people who contacted the BBB. She said she was hired in December to be a program coordinator for "I Am My Sister's Keeper" after attending a job fair. She later attended an orientation at a local church, where she filled out tax paperwork listing her social security number.
But when her January 22nd start date came and went without word, Tompkins called the Better Business Bureau and found out "I Am My Sister's Keeper" was not listed as a charity with United Way or with the state of Missouri.
"Where I thought was a great opportunity at first has been nothing but a horrible experience. And I don't know from here what to do," Tompkins said. "I am definitely afraid of fraud, (of people) opening different accounts in my name."
Smith said the biggest concern right now is what "I Am My Sister's Keeper" will do with the personal information they have collected. So far the organization appears to have collected little to no funds through donations. A crowdfunding account on
http://Fundly.com has been set up, but no money has been raised.
St. Louis Public Radio reached out to "I Am My Sister's Keeper," but requests for comment were not returned. |
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