The False Face — 45 Nonprofits, One Desk, Zero Employees, Millions in Dark Money

The Pattern

Across 45 nonprofits managed from one desk at Dykema Gossett’s Lansing office, the structure is identical:

Zero employees. Zero salaries. Zero program services revenue. 100% contributions. These aren’t charitable organizations serving communities. They’re pass-through vehicles for dark money that can’t be traced to donors.

The Receipts — 990 Financial Data

All data sourced from IRS Form 990/990-EZ via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer and siviq.co.

Building a Better Economy (EIN 83-3939983)

Status: Not in IRS Business Master File. Not in Pub 78.

Where $1.65M in expenses went (2024):

• “Other expenses”: $1,265,677 (76.5%)
• Professional fundraising fees: $106,162 (6.4%)
• Grants to other orgs: $282,000 (17.1%)
• Salaries and wages: $0

Funded by: Michigan Energy First ($950K), Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy ($300K), Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers ($55K), PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)

Source: ProPublica — EIN 83-3939983 · Intellispect

Michigan Values (EIN 86-2905593)

Status: Not in IRS Business Master File. Not in Pub 78.

Grants GIVEN (2024): $270,655 total — including $120,000 to GOPAC Education Fund (Republican political training organization)

Funded by: Michigan Energy First ($150K), Michigan Citizens for Better Health ($50K), Citizens for Energizing Michigan’s Economy ($50K)

Source: ProPublica — EIN 86-2905593 · CauseIQ

Detroiters to Protect Our Future (EIN 86-3918838)

Status: Not in IRS’s most recent tax-exempt list.

$2.7 million in one year. $0 the next. This is a pop-up entity. It exists for one election cycle, processes millions, then goes dormant.

Officers: Samuel Buzz Thomas (President), Mario Morrow (VP), Maurice Morton (Sec/Treas), Renae Moore (Asst Secretary), Rebecca Vykydal (Asst Treasurer)

Source: ProPublica — EIN 86-3918838

Detroiters for Our Children (EIN 85-2848932)

Status: Terminated/inactive. Not in current IRS tax-exempt list.

Another pop-up. $397K in 2020 (election year). $0 in 2021 and 2022. Negative net assets. Terminated.

All $377,883 in expenses classified as “Other expenses.” Zero employees. Zero salaries. Where did $378K go?

Officers: Samuel Buzz Thomas (President), Oscar Jones (VP), Lindsay Walters (Sec/Treas), Renae Moore (Asst Treasurer)

This is a Banks enterprise-connected entity. Carol Banks received $18,000+ from the connected network.

Source: GiveFreely — EIN 85-2848932 · w9ein.com

Put Progress First (EIN 93-2414487)

Formed by W. Alan Wilk. Dykema attorney. Same attorney who formed Save Detroit Jobs.

990 Preparer: Dykema Gossett PLLC — confirmed on the filing. The law firm prepares the tax returns for the entities it creates.

Purpose: Mike Duggan promotional vehicle — Bridge Detroit reported the nonprofit was formed to position Duggan for a gubernatorial run.

Officers: Jane Garcia (Chair), Carlo Castiglione (VP), Clarence Gayles (Sec/Treas), Renae Moore (Asst Secretary), Allison Chorey (Asst Treasurer)

Signing officer on 990: Peter Scher (Chairperson). Preparer: Olivia RC A Flower, Dykema Gossett PLLC, 2723 S State St Ste 400, Ann Arbor, MI.

Source: siviq.co — EIN 93-2414487 · Bridge Detroit · putprogressfirst.org

Save Detroit Jobs DBA Impact Detroit DBA Detroit Leaders (EIN 81-3772058)

Officers: Kenneth Daniels (President — charged 2014 buying Mercedes for convicted drug dealer), Damian Mitchell (Treasurer), Elisha Brown (Secretary), Renae Moore (Asst Secretary), Allison Chorey (Asst Treasurer)

This is the entity that backed Latisha Johnson → Johnson won → Johnson on PCA Board → PCA = Banks’ school. Dark money to board seat pipeline.

Source: ProPublica — EIN 81-3772058

The Pop-Up Pattern

Election cycle entities that spike and die:

2020 (Election Year)
├── Detroiters for Our Children: $396,896 → TERMINATED
├── Detroiters to Protect Our Future: filing activity
└── (others activated)

2021 (Off Year)
├── Detroiters for Our Children: $0
├── Multiple entities filed at $0
└── (dormant)

2022 (Election Year)
├── Detroiters to Protect Our Future: $2,702,252 → then $0
├── Michigan Values: $1,221,574
├── Building a Better Economy: $1,481,374
└── (surge)

2023 (Off Year)
├── Detroiters to Protect Our Future: $0
├── Michigan Values: $207,500 (down 83%)
├── Building a Better Economy: $321,059 (down 78%)
└── (cooldown)

2024 (Election Year)
├── Building a Better Economy: $1,509,275 (back up 370%)
├── Put Progress First: $571,675 (Duggan launch)
├── Michigan Values: $466,000 (back up 125%)
└── (surge again)

The entities are election cycle instruments. They exist to move money during campaign seasons, then go dormant. New ones are created for each cycle. The desk — Moore + Chorey — stays constant.

Where the Money Actually Goes

Across these entities, the expenses are classified as:

$1.27 million in “Other expenses” from a single entity (Building a Better Economy, 2024) with zero employees. Where did that money go? The 990 says “public policy advocacy” and “polling.” But who does the polling? Who does the advocacy? Not the entity — it has no employees. It pays vendors. Which vendors?

The 990 Schedule B (donor list) is confidential for 501(c)(4) organizations. The Schedule O (supplemental information) may list vendors but is not always digitized. The money flows IN from donors who can’t be identified and OUT to vendors who may not be disclosed.

That’s not a nonprofit. That’s a laundromat.

The Dykema Connection — Confirmed

Put Progress First (EIN 93-2414487) filing confirms:

• Formed by: W. Alan Wilk — Dykema attorney
• 990 Preparer: Dykema Gossett PLLC, Ann Arbor office
• Preparer name: Olivia RC A Flower

Dykema doesn’t just provide the compliance desk (Moore). Dykema forms the entities (Wilk) and prepares the tax returns (Flower). The firm creates, manages, and files for the same entities.

The entities serve political purposes:

• Put Progress First: Duggan gubernatorial promotion
• Michigan Values: grants to GOPAC Education Fund ($120K — Republican political training)
• Building a Better Economy: funded by PhRMA, Michigan Energy First
• Save Detroit Jobs / Detroit Leaders: backed Latisha Johnson for city council

One firm. Both parties. All the money. The desk is bipartisan because the firm’s client is power, not party.

The IRS Question

Multiple Moore-managed entities are not in the IRS Business Master File and not in Pub 78. Some appear terminated. Several filed $0 returns after processing millions.

For IRS Criminal Investigation:

1. Are the 990s accurate? When an entity reports 76% of expenses as “Other” with zero employees, who is the actual recipient of $1.27 million?

2. Are the entities operating within their tax-exempt purpose? A 501(c)(4) is supposed to operate “exclusively for the promotion of social welfare.” Is promoting a mayor’s gubernatorial campaign “social welfare”?

3. Why are entities disappearing from the BMF? Building a Better Economy processes $1.5M but is not in the Business Master File. Michigan Values processes $466K but is not in the BMF. What happened to their exempt status?

4. Is there structuring? Multiple entities with the same officers, same desk, same preparer — is this one operation structured across 45 EINs to evade reporting thresholds?

5. Where is the money? $2.7M flows through Detroiters to Protect Our Future in 2022, then $0 in 2023. The entity has $0 in net assets. Where did $2.7 million go?

Form 13909 — Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint

Any person can file IRS Form 13909 for any of these entities:

Download Form 13909 — Tax-Exempt Organization Complaint Referral

Verify Everything

The Bottom Line

45 entities. 113 tax returns. One desk. Zero employees. Millions of dollars.

The desk takes money from donors who want anonymity. It routes the money through entities that exist for one election cycle. The entities have no staff, no offices, no programs, and no program revenue. The expenses go to unnamed vendors for “public policy advocacy” and “polling.” The entities go dormant after the election. New entities are created for the next cycle. The desk stays the same.

This is not nonprofit work. This is a permanent dark money infrastructure managed by a single law firm, staffed by a single compliance officer, filing returns that classify 76% of expenses as “Other” while reporting zero employees.

The IRS can see all of this. ProPublica has digitized the returns. siviq.co has aggregated the officer connections. The pattern is visible to anyone who looks.

Renae Moore manages 45 nonprofits. She testified she has “no duty to report.” She receives $1,600 in total compensation across all 45 entities. Her real compensation comes from Dykema. She manages the desk for the firm. The firm creates the entities, prepares the returns, and provides the compliance infrastructure.

It’s not a nonprofit. It’s a false face on a dark money machine. And the IRS has every receipt.