For many charities, 2020 was tough. Hard to raise money. But not for Charitable Impact Foundation, commonly known as "CHIMP."
Last year, CHIMP, based in Vancouver, reported almost $150 million in tax-receipted donations. To put that into perspective, consider that CHIMP, a relatively new charity, raised five times as much as Vancouver Foundation which has been the biggest charity in the city for 75 years.
Before I go further, I hasten to emphasize that Vancouver Foundation is not affiliated with CHIMP. I mention it here simply as a point of comparison.
Now, back to CHIMP ...
Since it began, CHIMP has helped more than 110,000 people donate to 9,000 charities across Canada - or so it said until a few days ago. CHIMP has since retracted that claim, as shown below. So who is CHIMP and why is it suddenly changing its story?
CHIMP is a federally registered charity set up by Blake Bromley, a retired Vancouver lawyer, and a couple of his associates. CHIMP is now run by Bromley's sons, John and Clif.
Blake Bromley has started 650 charities that handled $2 BILLION worth of giving, he says. Over the past four years, I have identified 200 of these charities. Since nearly all of them are run out of the same office and by the same core group of people who are Bromley's employees and former employees, I refer to these as "The Bromley Charities." According to their tax returns, these 200 charities have reported more than $1 BILLION in tax-receipted donations. That's a lot of money - and a lot of tax relief. So what do these charities have to show for themselves? That's a fair question.
Two of the flagship projects of these charities were Quest University in Squamish and Fortius Sport & Health Centre in Burnaby, B.C. The Bromley Charities that started the university and the sports centre reported more than half a billion dollars in tax-receipted donations and gifts ($425M & $106M). With that level of support, both Quest and Fortius should be in good shape but that is not the case.
Last year, Quest was forced into creditor protection and sold to pay a debt to one of The Bromley Charities. As a result of the sale, the university lost ownership of all its land and buildings and is now reduced to leasing its campus from the new owner.
Fortius Sport & Health Centre also closed last year, citing financial difficulties, and was purchased by The City of Burnaby.
One of the important points to note here is that the sale of Quest and Fortius resulted in huge payments to The Bromley Charities for $25 million and $26 million, respectively.
Just a few years ago, CHIMP gave $74 million to Fortius Foundation, the charity that built and owned the sport centre before it was bought by The City of Burnaby. If that $74 million was real money, there's no way that the sports centre should've needed a $26 million dollar bail-out from Burnaby taxpayers.
Over the same years that Quest and Fortius sunk deep into debt, The Bromley Charities benefited substantially from land sales, the lease and sale of a student residence, royalty income and more. By my analysis, gross benefits to The Bromley Charities exceed $100 MILLION, including $40 MILLION paid to Chimp Technology Inc., a private company run by John Bromley.
As the grand visions of a unique, international university and a world class sport centre now lie in ruins, its time for CRA to investigate the monkey business at CHIMP and the Bromley empire of at least 200 charities. Important questions need answering:
- What about the $775 million in donations that CHIMP reports? Was that tax-receipted properly?
- What about CHIMP's gift of $74 million for the sports centre? Was that a true gift? Or was that a sham?
- What about the $40 million paid to Chimp Technology Inc.? Is that legit or does any of that constitute undue benefits?
- Do Bromley's charities own land (eg. Parcel A and Lot 12) or other assets that rightfully belong to Quest University Canada?
And perhaps the most important question of all: Did the CRA's lax enforcement and long-delayed audits of the Bromley charities contribute to the downfall of Fortius and Quest? And why has CRA let the Bromley charities carry on as they have for so long?
For the letter to CRA sent on March 22, 2021, requesting an audit of CHIMP and an investigation of The Bromley Charities as a whole, click here. For the follow-up letter sent March 26, 2021, click here.
Below, here are the Appendices (940 pages) to my letters to the CRA:
- The Bromley Charities, Directors, Assets, Revenue, Expenditures, Etc.
- $1 BILLION Tax-Receipted Donations (2000-2020)
- Gifts From The Bromley Charities: $265 Million (2015-2019)
- Gifts to CHIMP $173 Million (2015-2019)
- BHP Billiton Diamonds LLC Mortgage
- Estimated Gross Benefits to The Bromley Charities
- Letter from CJW Forensics & Affidavit from Vivian Krause RE: Quest
- CHIMP Gift to Fortius for $74,711,535 & Imladris Gift to CHIMP $29,260,000 (2018)
- Fortius Foundation Loans to Related Parties & Bad Debt
- Global Charity Fund Funding Agreement
- CHIMP Gifts for $19 Or Less
- Balance Sheets & Mortgages
- Payment to Chimp Tech Inc $40 Million (2014-2020)
- CRA Letters of Revocation
- CRA Data Entry Errors
- CHIMP 2020 Tax Return & Financial Statements
- Quest University Canada's Mortgage: CHIMP & Vanchorverve
- Angel Philanthropy Foundation
- Trust Me Foundation - Tax-Receipted Donations & Fees Paid
- BeCause Foundation
- Viva Voce Charitable Foundation - CHIMP $35 MILLION for Life Insurance
More info: