The Orlando Sentinel reports that Dr. Phil got Cindy and George Anthony, the parents of Casey Anthony and the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, to appear on his eponymous television show last September. Were they paid? The Sentinel doesn’t say so, but it reports on a People magazine article that says that Dr. Phil McGraw did pay $600,000 to Caylee’s Fund. Was it a quid pro quo or did McGraw simply happen to feel motivated to contribute to the charity at around the same time that the elder Anthonys appeared on his show?
As of last month, the charity was dissolved, with $100,000 left in its coffers that was distributed to three other charities according to the grandparents’ attorney, Mark Lippman. People believes that the McGraw payment went to support Casey Anthony who, as everyone knows, was acquitted of her daughter’s murder.
Actually, papers [PDF] dissolving the entity known as Caylee’s Fund Foundation were filed with the Florida Secretary of State in May, signed by Lippman the attorney as its registered agent, based on a vote of the “members” of the corporation on May 22, 2012. The articles of incorporation for the fund, filed on July 19, 2011, establishing it as a “Florida not-for-profit” corporation are a little thin – just one page. The articles say the fund is “exclusively for charitable purposes that qualifies (sic) under IRC ss. 501(c)(3), including advocating for grandparents rights with regard to grandchildren and assisting grandparents of missing, neglected, or exploited grandchildren.”
If Casey Anthony received any money from the fund, it would violate Article VII in the amended articles of incorporation, filed August 2011, which disallowed any of the earnings of the fund to go “to its directors, officers, or other private persons, except that the Corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered …”
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