The regional executive director of a Colorado nonprofit that sticks up for foster kids in court pocketed $99,000 through a scheme that used one of the organization’s top donors and the University of Denver, the attorney general said Wednesday.
The former head of Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASA, in Adams and Broomfield counties took advantage of one of the nonprofit’s top donors after the donor agreed to fund her graduate degree from DU, court records show.
Lindsay Salas created false tuition invoices, which CASA then paid to the university. But because the invoices were overpayments, DU was reimbursing Salas for the overpaid amounts — totaling $99,000, according to court records.
The whole scheme started off with a mistake.
Salas, who began working for CASA in 2013, started working toward a master’s degree in business administration in 2022 after one of the organization’s most generous donors offered to pay her tuition. The idea was that the education would help Salas’ work developing relationships with donors and elevate the organization’s charitable giving program, which it uses to help abused and neglected children who need independent advocates as their cases wind through the court process.
Under the arrangement, Salas submitted her tuition invoices to CASA, then CASA would pay the University of Denver, and the donor would reimburse CASA.
But in 2023, Salas received a $5,000 scholarship, which was credited to her student account at DU as a surplus. She said she first tried asking the university to use the funds toward future tuition costs, but when that didn’t work, she spent the money for “personal purposes,” according to court records.
“Now aware that the University of Denver would refund any surplus in her student account,” the court complaint states, Salas began altering the tuition invoices she submitted to the nonprofit she directed. Each time, she increased the amount.
“Eventually, Defendant stopped altering invoices and started creating invoices out of thin air,” the complaint states. Four invoices were doctored and three, each for $19,900, were “completely fraudulent,” authorities said.
In all, Salas received $99,000, paid to her directly from DU, according to Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office, which investigated the case and found violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act and the Colorado Charitable Solicitations Act.
Under a consent judgment, Salas must pay $66,000 over six years to the state, which will return the money to CASA. The judgment resolves a civil case but does not preclude any other potential legal action against Salas.
“This case is a clear example of the harm that occurs when someone abuses the public’s trust in charitable giving,” Weiser said in a news release. “Coloradans who donate to nonprofits deserve to know their contributions are used honestly and as intended, and nonprofit organizations should be able to trust that their employees do not misuse charitable funds.”
CASA volunteers work across the state, though there is a shortage of volunteers and not every county has a local CASA agency. They are the one person in a foster child’s case who is not paid to be there and receive training to help children who are involved in child welfare cases.