CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The treasurer of the Little Miss Premont Pageant, Deandra Garcia claimed the president of the pageant spent all the money from the account over the last two years on personal expenses.
That money was raised by Little Miss Premont pageant contestants through fundraising.
Deandra said she and the president of the pageant were the only authorized users on the account.
“They were like no there is no money in here, the account is closed and I said no that can’t be there should be well over $10,000 in that account,” Deandra said.
Chief of Police Ricardo Garcia said the situation is unfortunate.
“People in the community have good intentions they give money to organizations that really do good things of the kids and the community,” Ricardo said.
The account , however, was a personal bank account and not the type of account usually used by non-profits, and the Little Miss Premont Pageant is not a registered 501-C3.
“These organizations are not set up completely correctly as 501-C3’s not profit organization and as a result they do not have the protections , the legal protections, that other organizations would have had they been set up complete,” Ricardo said.
Deandra said a police report was not filed since the account had both names on them and, from a legal standpoint, no law was broken.
“There is nothing that anyone else can do because legally it is my money, legally yes because it is not like an organization account but like this is not her money she did not work for her money this is the girls money the pageants girls money,” Deandra said.
The president of the pageant declined an interview, and did not wish to speak on the record regarding these funds.
The best way to confirm if the money donated to a non-profit is legitimate is to do research ahead of time. To search for a legitimate non-profit, go on the Guide Star website, get the EIN number and then paste it in the IRS website to confirm it is a tax exempt organization.
“Unfortunately when you have situations like this there is a lot of stuff in good faith and it is just a terrible tragedy and betrayal when these things happen,” Ricardo said.
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Read More: Questions raised about missing Little Miss Premont Pageant funds