When I first bought a house in Itzimna, I wanted to become involved in the greater Merida community. I live primarily in Long Island City in New York, with a winter home in Itzimna, in Merida. At a reception I was introduced to a retired Gucci shop girl, a woman of a certain age by now, with a gravelly voice, fashionably dressed, and smoking as if smoking were healthy, drink in hand. She talked up Brazos Abiertos, and I met an amusing, somewhat drunk “officer” of the group. They were as entertaining as they were inebriated, and I agreed toss a few pesos in their direction to get these sleazebags to move along.
But when I got home, I thought: Is it a good idea to support an organization run by apparently pathetic alcoholics?
So it was with alarm that I have closely followed this renegade group, in my opinion, of frauds.
What proof do I offer that Brazos Abiertos is a fraud? Their own tax returns.
Consider Evidence #1. In 2008 Brazos Abiertos hosted an event called “Dinner with Friends.” This was promoted as a fundraiser for the building they were going to refurbish and make into a clinic. According to the IRS, this event raised $37,493.
Consider Evidence #2. According to the IRS, $2,670 were spent remodeling the clinic.
That leaves $34,823 unaccounted for. Where did this money go? Where was it spent?
I am of the opinion that if you go out there and tell people you are raising money to refurbish a building to make it into a clinic, and you raised $37,493, then you had better spend $37,493 refurbishing that building! Anything else is, in my opinion, soliciting donations on false pretenses and defrauding the public.
And since as of the summer of 2010 that building on Calle 72 remains in shambles, and not in any way, form or manner a working “clinic,” then I have come to believe that Brazos Abiertos is a fraud, fraud, fraud of an organization!
I arrive in Merida around New Year’s and spend 9 to 12 weeks, depending on my schedule. I would be more than happy to discuss my investigative work examining Brazos Abiertos’ tax returns – which I have made available to others in Merida who live there full-time – but please, no hate mail and please stop the pro-Brazos propaganda graffiti on my property.
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