Patricia Driscoll, the former girlfriend of Kurt Busch, is alleged to have embezzled from the Armed Forces Foundation and used funds to pay for personnel expenses, according to an ESPN Outside the Lines investigation.
Kurt Busch’s ex-girlfriend allegedly embezzled from charity, per ESPN
The ex-girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch is alleged to have used charitable contributions to pay personal expenses, according to an ESPN report.
Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
The report cites many misuses of donations given to the Armed Forces Foundation, of which Driscoll serves as president, along with discrepancies on federal tax filings. Among the examples:
- The Armed Forces Foundation paid for Driscoll’s young son to fly around the country, though he was not acting in an official capacity for the non-profit organization.
- Federal tax filings failed to reconcile with audits, which showed numerous discrepancies exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars. Driscoll also didn’t properly disclose “substantial” bonuses she received for fundraising. A former foundation employee has provided information and documents to the FBI and is planning to file a federal whistleblower complaint with the Internal Revenue Service against Driscoll.
- ESPN said 72 cents of every dollar raised by the Armed Forces Foundation goes to supporting military members and their families instead of 95 cents, as claimed by the non-profit.
- In documents obtained by ESPN, Driscoll used a credit card from her own company, Frontline Defense Systems, to pay for herself and Busch to travel to Paris and Morocco. Driscoll later paid off the bill using an Armed Forces Foundation credit card. The Armed Forces Foundation also paid off another set of transactions totaling more than $130,000, which included expenses for massage treatments, personal medical expenses, toy store purchases and grocery bills.
- Overall, 17 times in a 19-month span the Armed Forces Foundation paid expenses Driscoll accrued through Frontline Defense System.
Driscoll declined comment to ESPN though a spokesperson.
Driscoll and Busch ended their multi-year relationship last September, and a week later were involved in a highly publicized incident at Dover International Speedway. Driscoll alleges Busch grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head against a wall inside his motorhome.
A Family Court Commissioner granted Driscoll an order of protection against Busch in February, just days before the season-opening Daytona 500. The 2004 Cup Series champion was suspended indefinitely. He returned after missing three races, a week after Delaware authorities declined to pursue charges of domestic abuse, citing lack of evidence.
The Armed Forces Foundation released a statement to SB Nation Friday refuting ESPN’s investigation.
“The Armed Forces Foundation (AFF) is extremely proud of its work and achievements on behalf of this nation’s veterans. The one-sided reporting of ESPN makes accusations that are blatantly and demonstrably false. Representatives from our organization asked ESPN for additional information and for a reasonable time period before publication to investigate its claims, but those requests were denied. In order to publish its pre-conceived story line, ESPN demonstrated no interest in a fair, balanced and factually accurate account, electing instead to rush a sensational and erroneous story to publication. If ESPN had followed proper journalistic practices and afforded AFF a reasonable opportunity to respond to the accusations, AFF would have been able to discredit them; as AFF was able to do with respect to the few allegations mentioned by ESPN prior to publication. The baseless reporting by Mike Fish and ESPN is an unfair and unjustified assault on the great work AFF and its volunteers undertake on a daily basis in an effort to serve our men and women in uniform. AFF does not intend to allow its reputation to become a victim of reckless and irresponsible journalism. AFF and its executive director, Patricia Driscoll, have retained Attorney L. Lin Wood of Atlanta, Georgia to thoroughly evaluate and potentially pursue legal claims for libel arising from the false and defamatory ESPN article.”
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