[News] Oilers Charity scam?

[SutterBrother]

Originally Posted by Icon

I don't understand how this isn't already national news...

The PM is part of the hippo tank.

This goes WAAAAAYYYY deep.

[Groot]

I posted this months ago as the topic came up when Emily Cave released a statement about the Colby Cave Fund/Oilers. That news.....

https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/widow...ublicity-money

Emily Cave Boit, the widow of Colby Cave, is not happy with the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation.

“I have fought and still fight for Colby to be respected and not forgotten. This has nothing to do with me. I never wanted the attention. I didn’t even ask for the memorial fund. But when it was presented to me, I accepted and did it for Colby’s legacy, and trusted others to have the same intention.

“I remember the first red flag went up, then the second, then the third… Now I have lost count,” she wrote. “Whether it was money missing (over $1 million to be exact)..."

So in the Reddit post on the topic, someone commented on the Oilers 50/50, and it appears to be fairly known amongst Oilers fans. One even did a breakdown since all funds for year ending June 2024.

You can search all registered charities through CRA. They have their financials disclosed. It’s crazy what they are doing.

For June 2024, $104,943,769 non tax receipted income (only $471k receipted); $28,351,379 expensed on licenses, memberships and dues, $54,070,921 on “other expenditures”. There was $86,536,009 in total expenditures. Of that, only $1,716,715 was on charitable activities; $83,497,321 was spent on fundraising. I don’t know how CRA allows these to operate.

So out of $104M income they spend $1.7M on charitable activities. The rest goes to other sources. Confirmed via CRA financial statements.

[browna]

Originally Posted by d as in david

they should honestly rename it to a 50/20 draw.

97/3.

[Sofa GM]

Literally no one touches the Oilers or Katz on scams. It’s embarrassing… basically stealing charity money, the buying out of his pedo case….. is there a bigger piece of #### around than this guy. He’s a ####ing criminal.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Groot

I posted this months ago as the topic came up when Emily Cave released a statement about the Colby Cave Fund/Oilers. That news.....

https://dailyhive.com/edmonton/widow...ublicity-money





So in the Reddit post on the topic, someone commented on the Oilers 50/50, and it appears to be fairly known amongst Oilers fans. One even did a breakdown since all funds for year ending June 2024.





So out of $104M income they spend $1.7M on charitable activities. The rest goes to other sources. Confirmed via CRA financial statements.

So the info on the Reddit post is a little misleading. They actually made $8.9 million of gifts to qualified donees in their year ended June 30, 2024. The $1.7 million is expenses related to charitable activities, not giving. They raised $104 million in 2024.

In 2023, they gave $13.6 million to qualified donees, on about $58 million of funds raised.

The donations are all listed out in their financial information on file with the CRA, and all appear to be legitimate charities.

So in short, they gave away about 23% of funds raised in 2023 and about 8.5% of funds raised in 2024. They paid far more than that in license fees to related parties. They are also building up a huge war chest of cash.

So not as bad as that reddit post makes it out, but still looks incredibly suspicious.

One reddit poster claims they are redirecting funds to player expenses, Board payments and even mascot payments. Same poster that raised the flag on their foundation months ago.

[taxbuster]

Once more: they can do more or less what they want (within some AGLC limitations) with non-receipted income (ie sales of 50/50 tix). THEY CANNOT DO THIS WITH TAX-RECEIPTED INCOME (ie actual donations).


I'm not sure why everyone is so worked up about this...there is neither anything illegal (at least on the surface) nor incorrect (again, on the surface) and there is nothing that puts them offside with CRA as long as, from the "Registered Charity" perspective, they abide by the rather strict rules in the Income Tax Act...which it would appear they do.


You might not like it (I don't) but other than being a tempest in a teapot...it just ain't much to get worked up about IMO. Two decades in the Charity business and four in the tax business tells me that.


The term "scam" in the thread title is misleading and factually incorrect. They're using fan-supported lotteries to pay operating expenses. Nothing wrong with that, as odious as I wish it were. If Edmonton fans are stupid enough to do this, well.....that's THEIR issue.

[White Out 403]

So the Edmonton Oilers themselves are greasy, immoral, unethical, and just plain gross, the most gross organization in the NHL. Are they so greasy that it's illegal? No. We like to discuss how gross the team is and how incompetent and borderline evil they can be. Is what they're doing with the charity legal or illegal? I don't know. We don't have access to the books, and yes, you seem to be quick to defend them and say that everything is above board, and maybe it is. But not everything that is legal is moral or right. That's the whole point here.

It's weird that you're not understanding that, to the point where I'm wondering: are you an employee of the Oilers? Do you get paid by the Oilers? Why are you so quick to defend this reprehensible behavior?

[Rutuu]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Once more: they can do more or less what they want (within some AGLC limitations) with non-receipted income (ie sales of 50/50 tix). THEY CANNOT DO THIS WITH TAX-RECEIPTED INCOME (ie actual donations).


I'm not sure why everyone is so worked up about this...there is neither anything illegal (at least on the surface) nor incorrect (again, on the surface) and there is nothing that puts them offside with CRA as long as, from the "Registered Charity" perspective, they abide by the rather strict rules in the Income Tax Act...which it would appear they do.


You might not like it (I don't) but other than being a tempest in a teapot...it just ain't much to get worked up about IMO. Two decades in the Charity business and four in the tax business tells me that.


The term "scam" in the thread title is misleading and factually incorrect. They're using fan-supported lotteries to pay operating expenses. Nothing wrong with that, as odious as I wish it were. If Edmonton fans are stupid enough to do this, well.....that's THEIR issue.

Even when one of the largest expenditures is for Oilers imagery...paid to the oilers?

I mean "legal" is the lowest form of being right, so I won't argue too much and let the tax experts hash it out.

... and if this is the norm... why donate ever?

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

So the Edmonton Oilers themselves are greasy, immoral, unethical, and just plain gross, the most gross organization in the NHL. Are they so greasy that it's illegal? No. We like to discuss how gross the team is and how incompetent and borderline evil they can be. Is what they're doing with the charity legal or illegal? I don't know. We don't have access to the books, and yes, you seem to be quick to defend them and say that everything is above board, and maybe it is. But not everything that is legal is moral or right. That's the whole point here.

It's weird that you're not understanding that, to the point where I'm wondering: are you an employee of the Oilers? Do you get paid by the Oilers? Why are you so quick to defend this reprehensible behavior?

I understand perfectly and I definitely do NOT work or like the boneheaded group up north. But, as a tax pro, I DO care about people understanding the difference between a “scam” and an actual scam. Apparently you don’t and are happy to believe that everyone should just follow your lead. Thanks. I won’t do that.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Rutuu

Even when one of the largest expenditures is for Oilers imagery...paid to the oilers?

I mean "legal" is the lowest form of being right, so I won't argue too much and let the tax experts hash it out.

... and if this is the norm... why donate ever?

Please do NOT conflate “charitable donations” with whatever is going on up there. They are using the proceeds of lottery purchases, NOT “donations”. I don’t want to see REAL Charities and Foundations - of which there are many - sullied with this inaccurate distinction.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Once more: they can do more or less what they want (within some AGLC limitations) with non-receipted income (ie sales of 50/50 tix). THEY CANNOT DO THIS WITH TAX-RECEIPTED INCOME (ie actual donations).


I'm not sure why everyone is so worked up about this...there is neither anything illegal (at least on the surface) nor incorrect (again, on the surface) and there is nothing that puts them offside with CRA as long as, from the "Registered Charity" perspective, they abide by the rather strict rules in the Income Tax Act...which it would appear they do.


You might not like it (I don't) but other than being a tempest in a teapot...it just ain't much to get worked up about IMO. Two decades in the Charity business and four in the tax business tells me that.


The term "scam" in the thread title is misleading and factually incorrect. They're using fan-supported lotteries to pay operating expenses. Nothing wrong with that, as odious as I wish it were. If Edmonton fans are stupid enough to do this, well.....that's THEIR issue.

No one is complaining it's illegal. Maybe that it should be.

There's no way that their actual expenses are that high so the point is that way more of the dupes' money could be going to the charities and other community groups than what they are donating.

It's a scam because it's clearly a scheme to make Katz a lot of money for very little effort under the guise of public service.

[Strange Brew]

Well to be very clear, the Oilers foundation is a registered charity. Taxbuster is stating that they are using these funds for their own operating expenses and that is very much in doubt. They are funneling tens of millions back to a related party and it is murky at best what those monies are being used for.

This isn't really a tax issue. First and foremost, this is question of ethics and whether the Oilers and their Foundation are misleading the public about what the money is used for. Using it to line the pockets of a related party inconsistent with the mission of the charity would meet my definition of a scam. And depending on the real facts, there could be legal issues with what they are doing.

[fotze2]

Aside from the legality semantics. It’s evil.

Isn’t this part of income the team would be required to share with the players for salary cap calculations? The NHLPA should be on this.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

I understand perfectly and I definitely do NOT work or like the boneheaded group up north. But, as a tax pro, I DO care about people understanding the difference between a “scam” and an actual scam. Apparently you don’t and are happy to believe that everyone should just follow your lead. Thanks. I won’t do that.

Colloquially, people who use the word scam aren't always talking about illegalities. Have you not been at a Sobeys or a convenience store, looked at the price of eggs, and thought, what a ####ing scam, and walked away? Do you literally think at that point that the RCMP should be bursting in and arresting people? No. The word scam means an illegal scam like fraud, or sometimes a scam is simply a really bad deal or something that's unethical or immoral.

Now, in this case I do have genuine questions about it being legal. I also wonder about what the legal implications are of advertising 50% goes to charity when in fact something like a fraction of that actually goes to charity. It's all very scummy

[fotze2]

It is a bizarre phenomena that the Edmonton 50/50’s are so much higher than Calgary. Is it we know inherently it’s greasy, or something related to their general Sisterfcukery.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by fotze2

It is a bizarre phenomena that the Edmonton 50/50’s are so much higher than Calgary. Is it we know inherently it’s greasy, or something related to their general Sisterfcukery.

the only thing taxbuster/katzlover is right about is edmontonians are dumb

[Sofa GM]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Well to be very clear, the Oilers foundation is a registered charity. Taxbuster is stating that they are using these funds for their own operating expenses and that is very much in doubt. They are funneling tens of millions back to a related party and it is murky at best what those monies are being used for.

This isn't really a tax issue. First and foremost, this is question of ethics and whether the Oilers and their Foundation are misleading the public about what the money is used for. Using it to line the pockets of a related party inconsistent with the mission of the charity would meet my definition of a scam. And depending on the real facts, there could be legal issues with what they are doing.

There are two things here,

1. Obviously, the amount that is being taken here for "fees" etc. is absolutely disgusting. It is a blatant skimming of money by a related party when the understanding, and the narrative being communicated, is that a very large share of the proceeds of the 50/50 go to charitable donations.

2. The part that really should be investigated is what is the related party is doing with the funds that are being acquired from the 50/50. The term "operating expenses" is vague at best. Is McDavid's wife's restaurant an operating expense? Is paying Mike Smith to retire an operating expense? Is paying Duncan Keith to retire and become a "development consultant" an operating expense? The use of these funds for some things could be very akin to the Kawhi Leonard allegations that are ongoing.

But no one will ever look into any of it, Katz likely used funds from the 50/50 to "make it go away" like he does with every other issue that arises.

[Reggie Dunlop]

[Robbob]

I could see the NHL taking a look once McDavid leaves. I think they want to separate him from the Oilers so the face of the league doesn't wear the jersey of the team being audited.