MISSOURI, USA — A Missouri woman who founded a nonprofit after her daughter died from cancer pleaded guilty to stealing from the organization and will now spend five years in prison.
As part of the plea agreement, Dana Manley, 53, will also have to pay a family $5,000 that was promised to them from the organization Sydney’s Soldiers Always that they never received.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit investigated the case because the victims spanned three different counties.
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The nonprofit disbanded in 2021 due to Manley’s embezzlement. Manley and several other mothers whose children died from cancer founded the organization to provide “bucket list” trips to children with terminal cancer.
The investigation began after some of the board members were alerted to an overdrawn account and began an internal investigation. Manley then admitted to stealing the money, and the Wentzville police notified Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office.
Investigators discovered several more accounts that board members did not know about that Manley used to conceal her embezzlement. During a plea hearing this month, Manley admitted that she used at least $25,000 of donations earmarked for children with terminal cancer for her own personal use.
Attorney General Bailey encourages Missourians who believe they have been a victim of a charity fraud to file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office by calling the Consumer Protection hotline at (800) 392-8222 or by submitting a complaint online at ago.mo.gov.
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