Community TV Exposes Scammer Pretending To Support Veterans
From their website
Thanks to Community TV
Myles McDonald aka Myles MacDonald
Memories of Days Gone By Novelties and Trinkets (MODGBNT) O/A Our Wounded Warriors
Has been proven to be a scam.
FYI – There is a legitimate charity called Wounded Warriors and they do a lot of important work.
*I’m going to use “MacDonald” for this article but his name has been spelled McDonald as well.*
It appears that Myles MacDonald was relying on the similarity between the two names to give his company credibilty and get donations from people who thought they were giving to a real charity.
MacDonald’s presence at the 2022 Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce (MHDCOC) Home and Leisure trade show angered a number of local veterans.
Veterans will be very pleased to know that
Myles MacDonald is NOT an exhibitor this year.
Community TV Founder Thomas Fougere filed a complaint with Service Alberta and received a letter Feb 27 2023 confirming that
“there was sufficient evidence that the following offence’s (sic) occurred
• Failing to comply with Section 12(1) of the Act that indicates that indicates that no charitable organization may make a solicitation to an individual unless the charitable organization is registered
• Failing to comply with Section 47(1) of the Act that indicates that no person may...(d) make a representation that contributions will be used for one or more charitable purposes when the contributions are not being provided directly to a charitable organization or are not being used for those charitable purposes”
Timeline of the Scam
Jan 13 2018 MacDonald was removed from the Edmonton Motorcycle and ATV Show after complaints were received from veterans, they were very upset he was using the poppy image without permission. He was reportedly blacklisted by the Expo Centre.
Jan 22 2018 The Alberta –NWT Command Legion put out a NOTICE re DONATION BEWARE stating that Myles McDonald (aka Myles MacDonald) has been using the image of a poppy without permission from Dominion Command. They also state that McDonald did not have a registered charity number nor was he associated with Wounded Warriors
Jan 29 2020 A letter from a Law Firm representing the Royal Canadian Legion, Dominion Command stating that they discontinued legal action against Memories of days Gone By Novelties and Trinkets Inc and Myles MacDonald. Mr MacDonald did not produce the actual Notice of Discontinuance.
NB – Anybody using the poppy without permission from Dominion Command does not have a legal leg to stand on. An Act of Parliament in 1948 granted the Royal Canadian Legion exclusive rights to the poppy image and usage. It is our understanding that a cease and desist letter is sent when there is a violation of the poppy policy. If the person/organization complies then it typically goes no further especially when small amounts of money are involved.
(I imagine they prefer to spend their money on our veterans.)
Not only did the Legion name MODGBNT in their lawsuit, they also named Myles MacDonald. 100% of sale proceeds re the poppy are supposed to go the Legion so if they really wanted to play hardball, they could go after the personal assets of violaters.
March 2020 Tom got tips from local veterans about Myles MacDonald going to be present at the Mar 2020 Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce Sunshine Home and Garden Show. Tom confronted MacDonald and fellow director Alice Shea at the trade show. The video is quite illuminating.
MacDonald said
“Our financials are all online”
“We’re not done with the poppy fund yet”
(I’ve not been able to find any court documents in regards to this matter. )
“We have lawsuits pending”
When asked about against who MacDonald and Shea said
”no comment”
When asked about why they left other trade shows MacDonald said
“People were grudgeful...made up false accusations against us.
Alice Shea spoke up and said
“You should ask the Legion about how much they got a discount this year...they couldn’t afford to pay their taxes last year, they had to write the government and ask for a lower tax payment.”
A veteran came up and questioned MacDonald about why they were filing a lawsuit against the Legion, MacDonald said
“I don’t want to comment on that”
Mar 9 2020 Here is what the Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce said about it.
MacDonald obtained a charity number and license but they are not now a registered charity federally or provincially. The license on their website expired May 2019.
In the 2020 video Tom speaks with a rep from the real charity Wounded Warriors and learns that MacDonald’s organization “Our Wounded Warriors” had never donated anything to them.
Again Wounded Warriors are NOT affiliated with McDonald at all.
The Wounded Warriors rep said that you can sell all the trinkets you want, just don’t try to pass yourself off as a charity.
On the Our Wounded Warriors webpage it is claimed
“...Since 1991, Our Wounded Warriors has raised hundreds and thousands of dollars for worthwhile causes such as the Food Banks, Homeless Shelters, Kids Help Phone, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Swiss Air Disaster and Child Help USA to name a few.”
Their financials do not reflect those donations.
Donations Profit (Loss) Accumulated Profit (Loss)
2015 - $0 ($11,729) ($11,729)
2016 - $1000 ($2,774) ($14,503)
2017 - $1500 ($12,835) ($27,338)
2018 - $395 $4,776 ($22,562)
April 2022 MacDonald’s presence at the 2022 Medicine Hat and District Chamber of Commerce (MHDCOC) Home and Leisure trade show angered a number of local veterans. Tom contacted the Chamber and let them know of the allegations about MacDonald, they seemed unconcerned. Tom was kicked out after MacDonald accused Tom of swearing at him.
On this video, you can see Tom speaking with Jamil Ahmad, accountant for MODGBNT O/A Our Wounded Warriors. Mr Ahmad admitted that they
sold memorabilia,
were not a charity,
do not donate anything.
Their own financial documents confirm that most of money does NOT go to donations. In fact they fail to differentiate between Earned Income and Donations, it is all lumped together under Income. No cost of supplies, no listing of the recipient of the charitable donation, even his name is different yet again, it is Miles not Myles.
In 2018 they filed a T-2 which is for corporations. Real charities file a T-3010. None of his posted financials include the T-3010.
If the trade show officials had looked at the financials of this “charity”, they’d have seen that.
Also on the video is Myles McDonald telling Tom not to call again or he would have him charged with criminal harassment.
This is a common tactic by people who do not want to answer the hard questions. (Two police officers in Quebec were recently suspended for arresting a Radio-Canada journalist in 2018. The Ethics Board found their investigation was incomplete and they abused their authority.)
That is sounding familiar but that is a story for another day.
We’ve not been able to find anything recent about Myles /Miles McDonald/MacDonald. If you have any tips, please let us know. We like to expose scammers like this.
We have the same atttiude as the legitimate charity of Wounded Warriors
Sell all the trinkets you want, everyone has the right to make money.
Just don’t call yourself a charity if you’re not.
#kasosumh #comTV #communityTV #independentjournalism #mylesmcdonald #mylesmacdonald #aliceshea #woundedwarriors #memoriesofdaysgoneby #scam #tomfougere
