Federal Officials Probe Canceled Inaugural Benefit Ball
February 10, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Federal and Washington agencies are investigating a possible fraud case against the organizer of an unofficial inaugural ball that was advertised as a fund raiser for injured Iraq war veterans, The Washington Post reports.
The Veterans Presidential Inaugural Ball was canceled the day before President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Federal prosecutors, the Secret Service, and the Washington attorney general’s office are looking into whether organizer Darryl Dante Hayes, who sold $250 and $500 tickets to the event and collected donations of cash and services, ever intended to mount the ball.
Mr. Hayes, who ran a successful inaugural ball in 2001 but also declared bankruptcy five times over the following two years, denied any wrongdoing. He said the veterans event was scuttled because most of his corporate sponsors pulled out. He said he intends to refund all of the money raised.
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