A fraudulent activist associated with Black Lives Matter, who had earned the title of Bostonian of the Year, has been mandated to repay $224,000 that she misappropriated for personal use, including shopping and vacations.
Monica Cannon-Grant received this sizable repayment order this week after previously being sentenced in January to four years of probation, six months of house arrest, and 100 hours of community service for various instances of wire and tax fraud.
Cannon-Grant and her late husband are accused of deceiving donors and charitable organizations—reportedly taking $3,000 from a Black Lives Matter group—for their nonprofit, Violence in Boston (VIB). They claimed the funds were intended to feed children and organize protests against police brutality.
However, the money was actually spent on her rent, car payments, shopping, meals delivered to her home, visits to nail salons, and even a summer getaway to Maryland.
In September, she pleaded guilty to 18 charges that included wire fraud and falsifying tax documents.
Judge Angel Kelly determined that out of the $224,000, roughly $180,000 was redirected from her nonprofit, while the rest was tied to rent assistance and federal pandemic unemployment benefits.
This ruling marks a dramatic decline for Cannon-Grant, who gained recognition during the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s death in 2020. Her efforts led to several accolades, such as the Boston Globe Magazine’s Bostonian of the Year Award and the Boston Celtics Heroes Among Us Award.
Prosecutor Leah B. Foley characterized her actions as a betrayal: “Cannon-Grant used donations to satisfy his own desires while pretending to be the organizer of a legitimate nonprofit organization. She betrayed the trust of all her donors and the public who supported her fraudulent charity work.”
She and her husband, Clark Grant, were indicted in 2022; tragically, he passed away in a motorcycle accident the following year.
