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Attorney General Dan Rayfield filed a lawsuit today against Marcus Brooks, the founder and executive director of Cascade Relief Team (CRT). Brooks is accused of stealing nearly $837,000 in charitable funds meant to help fire, flood, and tornado victims in Oregon and Kentucky.

The lawsuit alleges that Brooks used his position as the sole person in control of CRT to divert charitable donations and government grants to himself — spending the money on casino visits, strip clubs, personal travel including trips to Disneyland and vacation rentals in Florida, alcohol, vehicles, and personal bills. The complaint seeks a court order requiring Brooks to repay the stolen funds, banning him from ever serving in a leadership role at a charitable organization, and dissolving CRT.

“Oregonians donated to this organization because they wanted to help their neighbors recover from wildfires and floods,” said Attorney General Rayfield. “Instead, that money went into one man’s pocket, spent on casino trips and personal bills while flood and fire victims waited for assistance. We will be sure he is held accountable for every dollar he took.”

Brooks founded CRT in September 2020, during one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in Oregon history, positioning the organization as a resource for natural disaster survivors. CRT obtained 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status and accepted donations from the public, as well as government contracts and grants.

According to the complaint, CRT was never legitimately governed. Brooks listed board members on government filings who had never attended a meeting or seen a financial record. He kept no meaningful financial records, opened and drained bank accounts at multiple institutions — running funds through 26 different accounts — and accepted loans on behalf of CRT that he never deposited into CRT’s accounts but repaid using CRT’s charitable funds.

The complaint details how Brooks used CRT funds for his personal benefit, including:

$74,260 in unauthorized compensation and reimbursements
$270,861 in payments on personal credit cards, loans, and bills
$116,133 in travel with no connection to disaster relief
$63,336 on personal vehicles and related expenses
$11,589 in cash withdrawals, more than half at casinos
$67,885 in personal expenses including rent, child support, liquor, strip clubs, and jewelry
$4,412 in streaming content and subscriptions
$155,000 in loans solicited and accepted but never deposited into CRT’s accounts but were repaid from CRT’s funds
$64,436 in purchases of heavy equipment that are now missing
$8,865 in avoidable bank fees

In one particularly egregious example, the Red Cross granted CRT $326,000 to help tornado victims in Kentucky, facilitated through the Community Foundation of Western Kentucky. The funds landed in an overdrawn CRT account, immediately losing nearly $17,000 to overdraft fees Brooks had incurred through his own mismanagement. Brooks then used the remaining $309,000 — meant for tornado victims — to start his own business, later falsely telling the foundation the money had been used to “restructure” CRT.

CRT also received a $100,000 grant from the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s office for debris cleanup tied to several major Oregon wildfires, including the Echo Mountain, Riverside, Beachie Creek, Almeda, Bootleg, and Holiday Farm fires. After submitting a single work plan, Brooks went silent — missing every required progress report. The state has been unable to confirm whether any of the cleanup work was ever performed.

CRT ran out of money in fall 2023. Brooks abruptly fired staff, citing an inability to meet payroll, without disclosing that he had been draining the organization’s accounts for personal use. He made no effort to notify donors, beneficiaries, or the communities CRT had pledged to serve. CRT’s website remained active even after the organization collapsed and its tax-exempt status was revoked by the IRS.

The lawsuit asks the court to:

Order Brooks to repay all charitable assets he diverted or wasted
Permanently bar Brooks from serving as a fiduciary of any charitable organization
Judicially dissolve CRT and direct any remaining assets to legitimate charitable purposes
Award the state its attorney fees and investigative costs

Source: Oregon Attorney General's Office

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