What's Really Going On With Madonna's Charities?

Another nonprofit investigated as the Daily Beast takes a closer look
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 4, 2011 2:06 PM CDT
Another Madonna Charity Investigated Amid Raising Malawi Scandal: Is Kabbalah to Blame?
In this March 30, 2009 file photo, U.S. singer Madonna with adopted son David Banda visiting the Mphandula Day Care Centre for orphans near Lilongwe, Malawi.   (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, file)

Not a good couple of weeks for Madonna: After a scandal late last month involving her Raising Malawi charity, another one of the Material Girl's nonprofits is under fire. The FBI is looking into "irregularities and suspicious activity" involving Success for Kids, an educational charity, the Daily reports. The organization has raised $33 million in contributions since 2001, and claims to have helped 60,000 kids in seven countries. Raising Malawi split from Success for Kids in 2008.

Meanwhile, the Daily Beast takes a closer look at the Raising Malawi scandal after reports came out that Madonna's plans to build a school in Malawi had been scrapped after millions were squandered. Turns out Madonna's partner in the foundation, the Kabbalah Centre International, is now also a focus of federal investigators. The Beast looks at some of its questionable practices. Among them: Its founders, despite claiming to have taken "a vow of poverty," live large in Beverly Hills mansions owned by the center. Of the $3.8 million spent—and lost—on the Malawi academy, only $850,000 was paid out in Malawi—the rest was spent by the center's LA office. Click for the full piece. (More Madonna Malawi stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X