The United Way scandal most people remember is the 1995 federal fraud conviction of William Aramony, the organization’s longtime national CEO, who was found guilty of looting the charity to fund a lavish personal lifestyle. But Aramony’s case is only the best-known entry in a longer record: executives at local United Way chapters in Washington, D.C., Michigan, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York have been caught stealing from the charity in the decades since, and the national office has more recently weathered a harassment-and-retaliation controversy that pushed out another CEO.
What William Aramony Did
Aramony led United Way of America from 1970 until he was forced out in 1992, building it into a fundraising giant with more than 2,100 local affiliates run from headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.1The New York Times. William Aramony, Disgraced Leader of United Way, Dies at 84 His undoing began with a Washington Post investigation by reporter Charles E. Shepard, who first contacted United Way in November 1991. The paper’s initial story ran in February 1992.2Los Angeles Times. United Way Scandal
The reporting described a $463,000 annual compensation package paired with Concorde flights, limousines, and first-class travel.3The Washington Post. Perks, Privileges and Power in a Nonprofit World It also detailed a web of for-profit spinoff companies, most notably Partnership Umbrella Inc., staffed by Aramony’s associates and his son Robert, which operated with little board oversight.4The Washington Post. United Way’s For-Profit Offspring An outside review commissioned by United Way’s board found that over four years Aramony had spent $92,000 on chauffeured cars, taken frequent trips to Las Vegas, and flown 49 times through Gainesville, Florida, which the report described as the home of “a close female friend.”5The Washington Post. United Way Report Criticizes Ex-Leader’s Lavish Lifestyle
According to CharityWatch, Aramony spent $450,000 in charity money to buy and furnish a New York City condominium for a 17-year-old girl he was dating, paid $78,000 to chauffeur her around the city, and spent $4,800 to renovate her Florida home. The two vacationed in Egypt, London, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City using charity funds.6CharityWatch. CharityWatch Hall of Shame
In September 1994, a federal grand jury returned a 71-count indictment against Aramony, former United Way chief financial officer Thomas J. Merlo, and Stephen J. Paulachak, the United Way executive who ran Partnership Umbrella. Prosecutors said the three had diverted more than $1.5 million through the spinoff to pay for luxury real estate in New York and Coral Gables, Florida, overseas vacations, and a lifetime pass on American Airlines. The charges included conspiracy to defraud the United States, mail and wire fraud, interstate transportation of fraudulently acquired property, filing false tax returns, and money laundering.7Los Angeles Times. United Way Indictment
A jury convicted all three in April 1995. Aramony was found guilty on 25 counts and sentenced to seven years in prison plus three years of probation. Merlo was convicted on 17 counts and sentenced to 55 months, and ordered to forfeit $522,000. Paulachak was convicted on eight counts and sentenced to 30 months.8The New York Times. Ex-United Way Leader Gets 7 Years for Embezzlement9UPI. Ex-United Way Chief Gets 7 Years in Prison On appeal, the Fourth Circuit upheld most of the convictions but vacated the money-laundering counts against Aramony and Merlo and sent those back for resentencing. Paulachak’s conviction was affirmed in full.10FindLaw. United States v. Aramony Aramony served six years in federal prison, was released in September 2001, and died on November 11, 2011, at age 84.11The Washington Post. United Way Leader’s Fraud Scandal Marred Charitable Legacy
Thefts at Local United Way Chapters
Each local United Way is a separately incorporated 501(c)(3) with its own board, finances, and audits. That structure has let embezzlement recur at the chapter level long after the Aramony case.
Oral Suer, National Capital Area
Oral Suer ran the United Way of the National Capital Area in Washington for 27 years before retiring in 2001. In March 2004 he pleaded guilty to defrauding the charity of nearly $500,000, including $333,000 in payouts for annual leave he had already used and $94,000 pulled from the pension plan. A federal judge in Alexandria gave him 27 months in prison, the maximum available, and ordered $497,000 in restitution.12The Washington Post. Ex-Chief of Local United Way Sentenced13The NonProfit Times. Special Report: The Year in Review The Washington affiliate raised nearly $30 million less the following year.14The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 7.5% Drop in United Way Donations Is Worst in Three Decades
Jacquelyn Allen-MacGregor, Capital Area United Way (Michigan)
Allen-MacGregor, the vice president for finance at the Capital Area United Way in East Lansing, embezzled more than $2 million over nine years starting in 1994. She wrote checks to herself, forged executives’ signatures, kept the checks out of the accounting system, and booked the shortfalls as “pledges not received.”15CBS News. Horse-Crazy Embezzler Took $2M She pleaded guilty to forgery and illegal monetary transaction in February 2003. U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist sentenced her to four years in federal prison and ordered $2.08 million in restitution.16Crain’s Detroit Business. Ex-United Way Finance Chief Gets 4 Years, Told to Repay $2.1 Million
Guy Thompson, Santa Rosa County (Florida)
Guy Thompson, the executive director of the United Way of Santa Rosa County and a former mayor of Milton, Florida, stole at least $650,000 over what investigators believe was at least a decade. He kept near-total control over the chapter’s money by separating staff into “campaign” and “finance” sides, forbidding them to communicate, monopolizing access to the P.O. box, and forcing out campaign managers every two years so no one would notice patterns. He also skipped the chapter’s mandatory annual audits, claiming they were too expensive. Thompson laundered donation checks through accounts at three banks, moving portions into his personal account and replacing the missing money with other intercepted donations.17Pensacola News Journal. Guy Thompson Used Loyalty to Steal From United Way Donors for Years He was sentenced in January 2020 to 51 months for wire fraud and tax evasion.
Imran Alrai, Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley
Imran Alrai, a former vice president for IT services at the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, stole $6.7 million between 2012 and 2018. He secretly owned an IT company that invoiced United Way for services while he, as VP, oversaw the charity’s IT contracts; he sent the invoices to his own United Way account under a fictitious name.18Fortune. United Way Fraud and Money Laundering His first conviction in 2019 was vacated after a judge found prosecutors had not produced all required pretrial evidence. He was retried and convicted in October 2024 on 12 counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering. U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante sentenced him in April 2025 to three years in federal prison, a year of supervised release, and $2.3 million in restitution.19Nashua Telegraph. Windham Man Sentenced to Three Years for Stealing Nearly $7M From United Way
Ralph Dickerson Jr., New York City
Ralph Dickerson Jr. led the United Way of New York City for 15 years and was at one point the highest-paid local United Way executive, at roughly $470,000 a year. He resigned in 2003 after an internal investigation found he had diverted $227,000 in charitable assets for personal use during 2002 and 2003, spending it on dry cleaning, parking tickets, and hotel stays. He agreed to repay the money and the New York attorney general’s office was notified, but as of 2006 no criminal charges had been filed.20The New York Times. United Way Says Ex-Leader Took Assets
What the Scandals Cost in Donations
The hits to fundraising were measurable. In the 2002–2003 fiscal year, donations to the roughly 1,400 United Ways in the country fell 7.5 percent to $3.71 billion, the organization’s worst drop in three decades. More than half of the 83 largest chapters lost money. Chicago fell 22 percent, San Francisco 18.3 percent, and Portland, Oregon, 16.4 percent.14The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 7.5% Drop in United Way Donations Is Worst in Three Decades On an inflation-adjusted basis, fundraising still had not fully recovered from the 1990s by 2007.21Nonprofit Quarterly. The United Way’s Way or Bust
Workplace giving, long the backbone of United Way fundraising, was shrinking at the same time. Corporate employee participation fell from 47 percent in 1988 to 35 percent by 1998.21Nonprofit Quarterly. The United Way’s Way or Bust Inflation-adjusted giving to the network declined by nearly 28 percent over the decade ending in 2017, and several large chapters missed projections and cut staff and grants.22CharityWatch. Is the United Way Relevant in the Internet Age?
Reforms That Followed Aramony
United Way of America tightened its rules for local affiliates after Aramony, requiring annual financial reports, independent audits, adherence to a code of ethics, and an independent organizational assessment every three years. The 165 largest chapters had to submit Form 990 returns and audited financial statements to the national office, and Deloitte & Touche was retained to provide additional audits of the biggest chapters.14The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 7.5% Drop in United Way Donations Is Worst in Three Decades
The case also pushed broader change in the nonprofit sector: formal CEO evaluation procedures, compensation reviews, and dedicated governance committees at charity boards. Federal legislation made it easier for the public to obtain IRS Forms 990 and 990-PF, and Guidestar had digitized the filings of more than 700,000 nonprofits by 2001, opening administrative costs and executive salaries to public view. Accreditation programs with enforcement teeth followed: Maryland’s “Standards for Excellence” certification and, in 2001, the Better Business Bureaus Wise Giving Alliance, which standardized charity accountability criteria nationally.23ICNL. Trends in Self-Regulation and Transparency of Nonprofit Organizations in the U.S.
Recent Leadership Troubles
United Way Worldwide’s national leadership has been unsettled since 2021. Brian Gallagher, who had led the organization since 2009 and worked at United Way since 1981, resigned effective March 1, 2021, after former female employees publicly alleged a “culture of misogyny” and retaliation against women who raised sexual harassment complaints.24Business Insider. United Way CEO Brian Gallagher Resigns After Sexism and Retaliation Allegations Gallagher denied the allegations. An outside investigation by the law firm Proskauer Rose concluded that employment decisions concerning the complainants were based on “legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons,” though the complainants said investigators never contacted them. Reporting at the time indicated as many as 200 local affiliates were considering withholding dues to the national office in protest. Gallagher’s total compensation in his final fiscal year was about $1.5 million.25The NonProfit Times. Gallagher Out at United Way Worldwide
Angela F. Williams followed Gallagher as permanent CEO. She announced her retirement in December 2025, citing the need to care for her mother after her father’s death and describing the balance of caregiving and the job as “no longer sustainable.”26The NonProfit Times. United Way Worldwide CEO Angela Williams Retiring Rosie Allen-Herring, longtime president and CEO of the United Way of the National Capital Area, was named interim president and CEO of United Way Worldwide effective February 2, 2026, while the board searches for a permanent successor.27United Way NCA. Rosie Allen-Herring Named Interim President and CEO of United Way Worldwide
United Way Worldwide now supports a network of more than 1,100 community-based United Ways across 34 countries and territories, each a separately incorporated 501(c)(3) responsible for its own fundraising and audits.28ProPublica. United Way Worldwide – Nonprofit Explorer That decentralization is part of what has let individual-chapter scandals keep surfacing, and it is also why the national office’s reforms reach the local level only through the dues-and-standards relationship rather than direct control.