BOSTON – The founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the local nonprofit Violence in Boston pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to making misrepresentations in order to obtain thousands of dollars in donations to non-profit Violence in Boston that she then diverted to pay for personal expenses, defrauding the City of Boston out of COVID-19 relief funds and rental assistance money, defrauding the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office out of Community Reinvestment Grant funds, filing false tax return for two years, and failing to file tax returns for two years.
According to a release by the Massachusetts Department of Justice, “Monica Cannon-Grant, 44, of Taunton, pleaded guilty to 18 counts: three counts of wire fraud conspiracy; 10 counts of wire fraud; one count of mail fraud, and two counts each of filing false tax returns and failing to file tax returns. U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley scheduled sentencing for Jan. 29, 2026. In March 2023, Cannon-Grant was charged along with her co-conspirator and husband Clark Grant in a 27-count superseding indictment. Clark Grant’s charges were dismissed in May 2023 due to his death. Cannon-Grant and Clark Grant had previously been charged in an 18-count indictment in March 2022.
“Cannon-Grant was the founder and CEO of VIB, an anti-violence nonprofit formally established in 2017, the stated purpose of which was to reduce violence, raise social awareness and aid community causes in Greater Boston, among other purposes…