'Epileptic Foundation' ED found guilty of fraud and theft 

The Maui News reports that Glenn Mabson, executive director of the nonprofit Epileptic Foundation of Maui was found guilty Monday of welfare fraud and theft for failing to report a $32,539 settlement from a personal injury lawsuit he received while collecting public assistance benefits.

The Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii has posted a statement on its website disassociating itself from Mabson: "We would like to make it clear that the Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii and our parent organization, the Epilepsy Foundation of America, (are) in no way affiliated with the Epileptic Foundation of Maui.  For many years, we have asked Mr. Mabson to change the name of his organization because it is too easily confused with the trademarked name 'Epilepsy Foundation' which is reserved for affiliates of the Epilepsy Foundation of America. The Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii is the ONLY official affiliate of the Epilepsy Foundation of America in the State of Hawaii."

Mabson, 68, who runs the Maui foundation from his apartment in Kihei, said he donated the settlement to the foundation and asked his lawyer to deposit the money into a foundation bank account. "I never actually saw the check," he said last week, according to the newspaper. "This money was strictly to be used for the Epileptic Foundation of Maui."

Deputy Prosecutor Mark Simonds, however, questioned whether Mabson really donated the money. "It seems like a generous gesture, but what is it really?" Simonds said. He said evidence showed after the settlement money was deposited in April 2005 much of the cash went to Mabson and his mother, Ozella Mabson.

The newspaper reported: "Nine days after the deposit, Glenn Mabson wrote a $20,032 check on the American Savings Bank account, using the money to buy four cashier's checks for $5,000 each that were made payable to himself, Simonds said. He said Mabson also wrote two other checks totaling $6,000 to his mother that were drawn on the account. Other checks paid for auto repairs and for electric, telephone and VISA bills, Simonds said. Bank records showed Mabson cashed one $5,000 cashier's check on May 31, 2005, and another nearly a year later on May 1, 2006."

Mabson and his mother founded the nonprofit in 1996 and, as executive director, he was authorized to write checks on the account. An epileptic himself, Mabson told the court he started the organization to provide education about the condition. He said he receives no salary and runs a 24-hour help hot line from the apartment he shares with his mother. Click here to view the organization's most recent Form 900-EZ.

Testimony revealed Mabson had received public assistance since 1988 and reapplied for benefits in March 2005 and April 2006, both times acknowledging the requirement to report any additional funds he received within 30 days. If he had reported the $32,539 settlement, he would have been ineligible for $4,600 in food stamps and medical assistance benefits he received between May 2005 and August 2006. His benefits were terminated starting in December 2006.

The settlement was from a 2002 suit Mabson filed after breaking his leg in a Kahului parking lot while shopping. After deliberating for a couple of hours Monday, the jury found Mabson guilty of welfare fraud and second-degree theft.