Black Lives Matter fraud lawsuits and criminal cases fall into four distinct tracks: a December 2025 federal indictment of the head of BLM Oklahoma City, a completed federal conviction of a self-appointed Atlanta-area BLM leader, an active U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, and a civil lawsuit by grassroots chapters against that same foundation that was dismissed in 2023. Related state enforcement actions and a short-lived suit the foundation itself filed against a former fiscal sponsor round out the picture. The cases are legally separate, involve different defendants, and have reached very different stages.
Federal Indictment of BLM Oklahoma City’s Director
On December 3, 2025, a federal grand jury in the Western District of Oklahoma returned a 25-count indictment against Tashella Sheri Amore Dickerson, executive director of Black Lives Matter Oklahoma City. The charges are 20 counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.1U.S. Department of Justice. Executive Director of Black Lives Matter OKC Charged With Wire Fraud and Money Laundering The indictment was unsealed on December 11, 2025.
Prosecutors allege that between June 2020 and October 2025, Dickerson diverted at least $3.15 million in returned bail checks into personal accounts. The money had come from national bail organizations — the Community Justice Exchange, Massachusetts Bail Fund, and Minnesota Freedom Fund — routed through BLM OKC’s fiscal sponsor, the Alliance for Global Justice. Instead of maintaining a revolving bail fund, Dickerson allegedly used the funds for trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, tens of thousands of dollars in retail spending, more than $50,000 in food and grocery deliveries, a personal vehicle, and six Oklahoma City real properties titled to her or to an entity she controlled, Equity International, LLC.2KOCO. Black Lives Matter OKC Executive Director Indicted on Wire Fraud, Money Laundering Charges
The indictment further alleges Dickerson submitted two false annual reports to the Alliance for Global Justice, representing that the funds had been used entirely for tax-exempt purposes.1U.S. Department of Justice. Executive Director of Black Lives Matter OKC Charged With Wire Fraud and Money Laundering Between 2020 and 2025, BLM OKC raised more than $5.6 million in total, much of it tied to the protests following the death of George Floyd.2KOCO. Black Lives Matter OKC Executive Director Indicted on Wire Fraud, Money Laundering Charges
If convicted on every count, Dickerson faces up to 20 years per wire fraud count and up to 10 years per money laundering count. The case, United States v. Dickerson, No. 5:25-cr-00499, remains pending before Judge Jodi Warmbrod Dishman as of mid-2026, with no plea or trial date publicly recorded.3CourtListener. United States v. Dickerson After the indictment was unsealed, Dickerson posted a video on Facebook saying the charges showed she was “doing the work,” while characterizing the post as not a formal comment.4Oklahoma Voice. Oklahoma City Black Lives Matter Leader Indicted on Embezzlement, Money Laundering Charges She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Sir Maejor Page’s Conviction and Appeal
The one BLM-related fraud prosecution that has run to verdict involved Tyree Conyers-Page, who went by Sir Maejor Page. In April 2024, a federal jury convicted him of one count of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering after a six-day trial. Starting in 2016, Page ran a Facebook page called “Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta” to solicit donations. Prosecutors said he spent the money on personal travel, personal items, a home in Toledo, Ohio, firearms, and other purchases.513abc. Sir Maejor Page Sentenced to Prison for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering
Page was arrested in September 2020 and sentenced on October 3, 2024, to 42 months in prison by Judge Jeffrey Helmick. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence on December 30, 2025, finding the government had provided “overwhelming proof” of a scheme to defraud. The panel rejected arguments that the evidence was insufficient, that the trial varied from the indictment, and that the district court erred in admitting evidence about firearms and personal purchases. It identified a minor error in the admission of certain character testimony but held it harmless.6FindLaw. United States v. Page, No. 24-3871
One point matters for anyone trying to place this case: Page’s operation had no affiliation with the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. He was a self-proclaimed leader of a local group that used the movement’s name.7Capital B News. Black Lives Matter DOJ Investigation
DOJ Investigation of the National Foundation
The Department of Justice has been investigating the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation itself. Reporting from CNN and the Associated Press in late October 2025 said federal investigators have issued subpoenas and at least one search warrant while examining whether foundation leaders defrauded donors who gave during the 2020 protests. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is handling the inquiry, which began under the Biden administration and reportedly picked up under the Trump administration.8CNN. Justice Department Black Lives Matter Investigation
The probe centers on how the foundation managed roughly $90 million in donations received in 2020. Much of the public scrutiny concerns the foundation’s 2022 purchase of a Southern California property for nearly $6 million, acquired in October 2020 through private LLCs to keep the buyer anonymous. The property has more than 6,500 square feet, a pool, a soundstage, and parking for more than 20 vehicles. The foundation said it was intended as a campus for a “Black Joy Creators Fellowship,” though an internal memo discussed framing it publicly as an “influencer house” or a “safehouse.”9New York Magazine. Black Lives Matter $6 Million Dollar House Co-founder Patrisse Cullors, who resigned as executive director in May 2021, has acknowledged hosting personal events at the property, including a birthday party for her son and an election-night gathering, and later said doing so “probably wasn’t the best idea.” Tax filings show she reimbursed the foundation $390 for use of the property.10New York Post. Black Lives Matter Spent at Least $12 Million on Mansions
No criminal charges have been filed against the foundation or its leaders in connection with the federal investigation. The foundation has denied being a target, saying in October 2025: “We remain committed to full transparency, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of resources dedicated to building a better future for Black communities.”7Capital B News. Black Lives Matter DOJ Investigation
The BLM Grassroots Civil Suit
In September 2022, BLM Grassroots — a coalition of about 25 local chapters — sued the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation and board secretary Shalomyah Bowers in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit alleged the foundation had raised money on the strength of local chapters’ work, then shut those chapters out of decisions, mismanaged the funds, and let Bowers’s consulting firm collect millions in fees.11The Guardian. Black Lives Matter Grassroots Lawsuit Against Global Foundation Plaintiffs also pointed to the $6 million California property and said the foundation had locked grassroots organizers out of BLM’s social media accounts.12Courthouse News Service. Lawsuit Accuses Black Lives Matter Head of Syphoning More Than $10 Million From Donors
On June 27, 2023, Judge Stephanie Bowick dismissed the case. She ruled the plaintiffs had not shown they were entitled to the donated funds or that foundation leaders had siphoned money for “nefarious purposes.” The complaint, she wrote, failed to “sufficiently allege the how, when, where, to whom, and by what means the representations were tendered.” The dismissal came on the foundation’s motion under California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which targets suits aimed at protected speech activity.13The Hill. Fraud Lawsuit Against Black Lives Matter Foundation Dismissed in California
BLM Grassroots co-founder Melina Abdullah said the group was “stunned and dismayed” and pledged to appeal.14The Root. Black Lives Matter Foundation Fraud Lawsuit From BLM Grassroots Dismissed No appeal was filed. In a November 2025 statement, BLM Grassroots said it “did not have the resources to pursue an appeal” after being “blocked from receiving our day in court and forced to pay GNF’s legal fees.”15Institute of the Black World 21st Century. BLM Grassroots Statement on the DOJ’s Reported Investigation Into BLM Global Network Foundation
State Attorney General Actions
In April 2022, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita sued to compel the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation to comply with an investigative demand issued that February. His office said it was examining whether the foundation’s handling of donor money violated Indiana’s Deceptive Consumer Sales Act or Nonprofit Corporation Act, citing discrepancies including the foundation’s 2020 fundraising of $90 million against a report to the IRS of $0 in revenue, expenses, and assets for the first half of that year.16WANE. Indiana AG Sues Black Lives Matter Over Concerning Patterns of Behavior The matter was later resolved without a civil penalty after the foundation turned over the requested documents.17CharityWatch Blog. Black Lives Matter Announces Leadership Change Amid DOJ Investigation
A separate line of enforcement targeted a group with a similar name but no connection to the movement. The California Attorney General issued a cease-and-desist order in December 2019 against the Santa Clarita-based “Black Lives Matter Foundation” led by Robert Ray Barnes, and the New York Attorney General ordered the same group to stop soliciting donations from New Yorkers in July 2020. Employees at large tech companies had donated millions believing the money would reach the movement.18NBC New York. NY Attorney General Orders Black Lives Matter Foundation to Stop Soliciting Donations GoFundMe placed a hold on about $350,000 spread across 180 campaigns that had raised money for that group.19The Hill. Millions Mistakenly Raised for Black Lives Matter Group Those state actions concerned the unaffiliated Barnes entity, not the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation or any chapter of the movement.
The Foundation’s Retracted Suit Against Tides
The BLM Global Network Foundation has also been a plaintiff. In May 2024, it sued the Tides Foundation, its former fiscal sponsor, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging fraud, breach of contract, and mismanagement. The complaint claimed Tides had withheld about $33 million in donations and had distributed some funds to an unaffiliated group led by Melina Abdullah.20Our Weekly. BLM Files Lawsuit Against Progressive Non-Profit Group Tides called the claims “completely false.”
After what Tides described as “discussion and discovery,” the foundation voluntarily dismissed the case and issued a full retraction, stating that “Tides did not engage in any wrongdoing” regarding BLM or any other matter raised in the litigation.21Tides Foundation. Tides – Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Statement