I want to make one thing clear concerning the questions of "where" the donated money went...
I think Tony had sincere and good intentions when he went about raising the money. I believe he felt for the refugees and wanted to help them. I don't doubt his passion in this matter.
I have questions about what happened when Tony actually got the money in his hands. What did he do with the money?
I don't think this is unreasonable considering Tony's shady history when it comes to making the "right" decisions about what to do with other peoples money, and frankly him claiming he's suddenly a "good guy" and spent it on charity does not cut it with me...
While I've known Tony he's been a funny guy, a witty guy and a guy I'd like to have a beer with now and then. But not ever a trustworthy guy IMO. Not a guy I'd ever want handling my money.
Tony and I have had our public battles in the past, and every "problem" I've had with Tony stemmed from my belief he was taking advantage of other people or significantly miss-representing the truth. The issue I have here stems from the same concern, and unfortunately those close to him don't have the guts to admit this situation has a stench to it.
He likes to intimidate, manipulate and when he's wrong - it's not his fault. He's always the "poor little victim".
Well to that I say BullShyte.
I have had many messages thanking me for standing up to Tony on this matter and many messages suggesting that questioning him on this issue is making me "unpopular", causing me to lose credibility.
To this second group of people - I want you to know, I have never been in this business to be popular, just to stand behind the truth. And no, I'm not a saint, I just refuse to stand silently when the facts in a matter are so different from the story someone is trying to feed me...
When a guy claims he's going to collect a bunch of money and help a charity with it I say great. When the guy has a history of taking advantage of people and ripping people off, I say "please prove what you did with the money"
When the answer to my request is aggressive personal attacks and "I don't have to prove anything". I say there's a problem till proven otherwise.
There should be a clear paper trail of what happened to the money. A trail showing what amount of money Tony gave out in Macedonia and what he spent helping people in San Diego.
Tony claims he's a newborn saint, IMO any ethical person who is questioned about what happened to charity donations would go the extra mile proving where every dime went.
Why won't Tony?
You may recall how eager Tony was to post a receipt showing he had "given" away thousands of dollars in Macedonia, but when it was proven the receipt was nothing more than Tony asking the Mother Thereza charity guy to sign a document - without having any evidence Tony really gave out the money.... I say, I've seen that con before.
I also say, if he was so eager to show us some "questionable", unconfirmable receipt, why not show us the REAL bank records and Travelers check records showing he took X money out of the bank just before the trip, or bought X amount of Travelers checks?
His silence is deafening and his "poor pitiful me" victim routine is getting old. |
