The legitimacy of former LA Lakers player Lamar Odom's charity, "Cathy's Kids," already took the headlines in 2013, after reports showed that the money that was funneled through it had not reached the intended beneficiaries.
While the media has quieted down on the issue since, a new investigation by RadarOnline has revived the matter and revealed that ex-wife and reality TV star Khloe Kardashian may have actually donated thousands of dollars to the "cause" while it was "dormant."
The Hollywood-focused online newswire revealed that despite the inactive status of "Cathy's Kids," Khloe has injected over $5,000 to it in 2013, and had also funneled over two times this amount in 2012.
RadarOnline cites tax records it managed to obtain, which showed that the celebrity's eBay auctions account had sent $5,342 to the charity in 2013 despite the fact that the company's representatives had openly announced it was inactive.
In the year earlier, Khloe was said to have brought in almost $12,000 from her eBay auctions. The report continues with information that this amount was actually the only money that "Cathy's Kids" received for that entire year.
"Cathy's Kids" was founded in 2004, or shortly after Lamar's mother succumbed to stomach cancer. According to the Huffington Post, the couple's joint eBay page (which is now non-existent), said "Cathy's Kids was developed as a means for Lamar to streamline all his charitable efforts and focus on making a positive impact on the lives of under-privileged children, as well as targeting a disease that has played a significant role in his life, cancer."
In the same report, it was said that despite having raised around $2.2 million, the charity has not given anything to the cancer research or any related cause. On the upside, it appears that the former NBA star had given around $1.3 million to two elite youth basketball teams in New York and Los Angeles.
ESPN.com managed to get an interview with Odom in the locker room in 2013 to ask him questions about the charity. In the article, ESPN said that Odom was not able to give any specific details about "Cathy's Kids" and was also unable to explain why the entity has been declared dormant.
He had also reportedly appeared to turn upset and ended the interview. Over a month later, Lamar's agent arranged a sit-down with ESPN, but still, he remained vague about the issue, noting that they only called for the face-to-face because he wanted to apologize for his behavior in the locker room.
Meanwhile, Khloe had been speaking in defense of Lamar, saying that not one penny from the charity had benefited Lamar or his family personally, writes RadarOnline. She also added that the IRS had been giving the program a "clean bill of health," which confirms that it is not engaging in anything illegal. The website has confirmed that "Cathy's Kids" maintains at 5013(c) status.
The same ESPN article noted that charities are often a way for celebrities and very wealthy people to avoid being taxed significantly -- a method which is often abused.
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