David Pope
David Pope Betrayed His Own Family Foundation for $82 Million; Jude Wood Adds $52 Million in Punative Damages, $138 Million total Judgement Against David Pope
By Dan Murphy
For those of us who have lived in Westchester for decades, the Generoso Pope Foundation has been an important part of the charitable giving to many worthy local organizations.
On January 20, State Supreme Court Judge Charlie Wood issued a judgment and order in favor of the Generoso Pope Foundation for $138 Million against David Pope, a family member and President and CEO of the Pope Foundation, during a period of time when the foundation misused millions, lost $16 Million, and generously paid David Pope and his family.
Judge Wood’s $138 million total comes from: $82M from the foundation for improper uses, charities that benefited David Pope’s family, and his personal use.
Judge Wood increased the judgment by $55.4 Million for David Pope’s willful, wanton, and reckless nature of his conduct.
The suit was filed in 2023 by Marie-Therese and Ted Pope. Plaintiff Marie Thérèse Pope (“Ms. Pope”) is the great-granddaughter of Generoso Pope (the Foundation’s founder) and a member of the Foundation. Plaintiff Ted Pope (“Mr. Pope”) is the great-grandson of Generoso Pope (the Foundation’s founder)
The complaint reviews the history of the Pope Foundation and all it has done for Westchester over the years.
“Seventy-five years ago, Generoso Pope, an Italian immigrant who became a millionaire working in the New York sand and gravel business, and who owned Italian-American newspapers, including Il Progresso and a radio station, established the Generoso Pope Foundation, a charitable organization with the mission to respond to requests for funding from educational, health, cultural, human service, and civic institutions. Generoso – whose name fittingly means “generous” in Italian – served as President of the Foundation until his death in 1950. Following Generoso’s death, his wife, Catherine Pope, took over and served as President for the next 48 years. Subsequently, their son Anthony J. Pope became President and CEO in 1998 and remained so until his passing in 2005.”
Over the decades, recipients of funds from the Foundation included
• Lawrence Hospital
• White Plains Hospital
• Hospital for Special Surgery
• New York University Medical Center
• Blythedale Children’s Hospital
• Greenwich Hospital
• New York University
• Fordham University
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Guggenheim Museum – and –
• Free Arts NYC
In 2006, the Foundation had over $32 million in assets.
Following the passing of Anthony J. Pope, his wife, Edith Pope, became the President. However, her time as President was short-lived. Anthony’s and Edith’s grandson, David Anthony Pope (“Defendant Pope”), one of Generoso’s great-grandchildren – and the Plaintiffs’ brother – convinced Edith to step down and name him President and CEO of the Foundation. Unfortunately, the self-serving course he set for the Foundation would have outraged Generoso.
For starters, Defendant Pope began to consolidate his power with the goal of using the Foundation’s funds for his own, self-interested, and improper purposes. In 2007, he pushed Plaintiff Ted Pope out of the Foundation. Defendant Pope followed this action by marginalizing Plaintiff Marie Thérèse Pope and their very own mother (who also served as an officer and director), and eventually also improperly removed Plaintiff Marie Thérèse Pope as an officer and director of the Foundation in 2010.
Defendant Pope’s wrongdoing can be divided into no less than five categories:
• Diverting substantial Foundation funds to organizations in which Defendant Pope had a financial, personal, professional, and/or other interest;
• Funneling significant amounts to other non-profit organizations, including the Defendant Westchester Italian Cultural Center, from which Defendant Pope, in return, received significant payments and/or other benefits;
• Orchestrating and accepting excessive compensation for himself, far above the value of his services;
• Placing his wife and two sons on the Foundation’s payroll for little to no work; and
• Looting the Foundation and failing to properly manage the Foundation’s assets, contributing to a tremendous decline of assets from $32 million in 2006 to approximately $4 million in 2019 and, upon information and belief, even less today
In his role as a director, Defendant Pope had significant discretion and authority to run the Foundation and to make grants. However, Defendant Pope also has a fiduciary obligation to exercise his discretion and authority in the best interests of the Foundation, and not for his own personal interests. Instead, Defendant Pope has committed self-dealing and has allowed rampant self-dealing to occur; he has made false and/or misleading statements and/or omitted material information in the required tax disclosures to the federal government and New York State; he has not and is not inviting all Foundation Members to the required annual meetings; and he is flouting the mission of the Foundation.
As described below, Defendant Pope engaged in conduct inconsistent with the Foundation’s tax-exempt purpose and in violation of its Guidelines and the law. The Guidelines expressly forbid the Foundation from making grants to
“Disqualified Persons,” defined to include (i) Foundation officers, directors, and trustees, (ii) the spouses and children of the Foundation’s officers, directors, and trustees, and (iii) entities in which Foundation officers, directors, trustees, their spouses, and children own 35 percent of the total combined voting power, profits interest or beneficial interest.
After Defendant Pope became the Foundation’s President, the Foundation began phasing out grants to its traditional grant recipients and began (or substantially increased) funding to organizations in which Defendant Pope, his immediate family members, and his close friends had a significant financial or other interest.
For example, Defendant Pope and his wife have lived in the Village of Tuckahoe, New York, for many years, where his three children (the “Pope Children”) attended school.
Between 2009 and 2018, Defendant Pope caused the Foundation to grant nearly $780,000to the Tuckahoe Union Free School System, Middle School, and High School, including during the years the Pope Children attended those schools.
Defendant Pope also caused the Foundation to grant over $918,000 to the Tuckahoe Tigers Youth Football and Cheerleading squads, the very sports teams on which the Pope Children participated, including during the years that they participated. Defendant Pope served as the principal officer of the “Tuckahoe Tigers Youth Football and Cheerleading Inc.” organization.
In addition, Defendant Pope caused the Foundation to grant over $68,000 to the Lighthouse Youth Theater, where one of the Pope Children, “AJ,” obtained various acting roles.
The focus of the Foundation’s giving, in essence, followed the Pope children as their education progressed.
Defendant Pope caused the Foundation to grant over a million dollars to the Pope Children’s College at Fairfield University, including during the time that the Pope Children applied to and attended the college.
In 2001, two of the Foundation’s largest grants went to hospitals for medical research: $175,000 to Blythedale Children’s Hospital and $135,000 to Lawrence Hospital.
By contrast, in 2019, the largest grant from the Foundation went to the Pope’s Children’s football team: $199,811 to Tuckahoe Tigers Youth Football. Generoso would surely cringe if he knew that the Foundation was funding youth football.
The second largest grant in 2019? $98,250 to Fairfield University, the Pope Children’s College.
Historically, and prior to Defendant Pope’s becoming President, the Foundation paid its Presidents a fair and reasonable compensation for their services. For example, in each of the years 2001, 2002, and 2004, the Foundation paid Anthony Pope (its then CEO and President) an annual salary of $60,000 in exchange for his dedicated work advancing the Foundation’s mission.
Following Anthony Pope’s death on February 12, 2005, the Foundation paid its new President, Defendant Pope, an annual salary of $98,000.
This increase in 2005 was just the tip of the iceberg.
David Pope’s salary rose to $133,335 in 2006, $154,000 in 2010, $191,000 in 2014, $200,000 in 2015, and $224,750 in 2016.
In 2017, for the first time, the Foundation decreased Defendant Pope’s annual salary to $198,193. The Foundation decreased Defendant Pope’s salary after learning that the Foundation, Defendant Pope, and/or others connected with the Foundation were under criminal investigation by the government.
David Pope’s salary was reduced to $147,583 in 2018 and $ 58,833 in 2019 due to the ongoing government criminal investigation.
As shown above, between 2005 and 2019, the Foundation paid Defendant Pope over $2.36 million, most of which was unjustified and excessive.
In the early 2000s, the Foundation established the Westchester Italian Cultural Center (WICC) to promote Italian culture through classes, lectures, and other programs.
However, Defendant Pope used the WICC as another way to profit from his insider roles at the Foundation. Specifically, after assuming control of the Foundation, Defendant Pope caused the Foundation to grant significant sums of money to the WICC year after year, from which he continuously received additional compensation, payments, and/or other benefits to which he was not entitled.
In 2005, after Defendant Pope became President and CEO of the Foundation, the Foundation dramatically increased its contribution to the WICC from $15,000 to $205,000.
The next year, in 2006, the Foundation more than tripled its contribution to the WICC, granting it $705,000.
In 2007, the Foundation contributed $999,000 to the WICC.
In 2008, the Foundation contributed $1,192,000 to the WICC.
Between 2009 and 2019, the Foundation contributed approximately $3.4 million to the WICC, bringing the total known contributions from the Foundation to the WICC to approximately $6.5 million.
David Pope received $49,000 in compensation from the WICC for several years, reportedly for 20 hours per week as its “Director.”
David Pope also placed his wife and two sons on the Foundation’s Payroll for Little to No Work.
The Pope Foundation’s assets dropped from $32 million in 2006 to approximately $4 million in 2019. (the last year of financial/tax information reported by the Foundation) and are likely even less today.
For the years 2011-2019, the Foundation’s expenses exceeded its revenue by an average of nearly $1.8 million per year, and most of the Foundation’s revenue, year after year, came from its substantial sale of assets (i.e., a reduction in its endowment), rather than by other means, such as fundraising or board member contributions, both of which are typical in the non-profit world (including for foundations). The total losses incurred by the Pope Foundation during this time were $16 Million.
A Footnote to the Complaint reads, “ In addition to the misconduct set forth herein, Defendant Pope has also stolen millions of dollars from his grandparents’ trust, which is the subject of a separate, pending lawsuit styled Accounting of Theodore Pope as Successor Trustee of Anthony J. Pope Revocable Trust as Amended and Restated on February 4, 2003, File No. 56959/2022 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Westchester Cnty.).”
Now, the foundation appears to be close to bankruptcy, with its only asset being its legendary building in downtown Tuckahoe.
Some questions that we hope to answer in a future story.
1-What were the criminal investigations that resulted in the reduction of David Pope’s salary? What happened to those investigations? As far as we can deduce, no criminal charges were ever filed.
Also unclear is which law enforcement agency is responsible for the criminal investigation and prosecution.
2-Could the financial abuses by David Pope been stopped sooner? What monies, if any, could have been preserved?
3-Who was reviewing and approving the financial transactions of the Pope Foundation made under David Pope? A deposition was taken of the accountant for the foundation, and, as you can imagine, his answers do not satisfy the family members who want to save their great family foundation and their great-grandfather’s memory.
4-Will the accountant and David Pope face criminal prosecution for their actions now?
Anyone with information can email us as dmurphy@risingmediagroup.com
The Pope Foundation is located at One Generoso Pope Place in downtown Tuckahoe.
We asked Plaintiff’s attorneys Mark Lucarelli and Andrew Tomback about this decision. “From my understanding, this is the largest charity fraud judgment in New York History. And it’s warranted. This case shows David Pope to be a self-dealing and looting racketeer. The family members objected in 2010, but David Pope then kicked them out, leaving himself, his wife, and son as the only board members. Anyone who objected to his operations of the trust got booted,” said Lucarelli.
Andy Tomback said, “David caused irreparable damage to the Foundation and to Generoso Pope’s legacy. Judge Wood held him accountable, and his crimes are now fully exposed. Instead of helping those in need, he used the Foundation’s funds for selfish purposes and indulgences like expensive wines, jewelry, and foreign trips. We are moving forward to take back what he stole. And we are investigating the Foundation’s board, accountant, and lawyers. They were asleep at the switch.”
