Report: FBI Investigating Philly D.A. Seth Williams’ Nonprofit

The nonprofit board's former chairman told the Inquirer that the organization received a federal subpoena for financial documents on Monday.

The FBI is investigating Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams‘ nonprofit, the Second Chance Foundation, according to the Inquirer.

The nonprofit board’s former chairman, Ryan Boyer, told the newspaper that the organization received a federal subpoena for financial documents on Monday.

It’s allegedly part of a federal probe into Williams’ finances, both personal and political, which the Inquirer first reported in 2015 after sources said a federal grand jury subpoenaed Williams’s campaign finance records and his political action committee, Friends of Seth Williams.

Second Chance Foundation’s mission is “to raise funds to provide financial assistance and resources to vital community-based organizations that serve ‘at-risk’ children, young adults, and families to help them lead more productive lives that promote a safer Philadelphia,” according to its website.

A spokesman for Williams declined to comment on the alleged investigation.

Boyer told the Inquirer that he chose to leave the nonprofit shortly after discovering the news that Williams belatedly reported receiving more than $160,000 in gifts over five years (one of which was a “priceless” portrait someone painted of him).

It was the first stirring of what’s been a rough few weeks for Williams, whose office recently turned down a controversial sexual assault case that allegedly took place during the Democratic National Convention. Then on Monday, law enforcement sources said Philly detectives are investigating a tire slashing that took place last fall outside of Williams’s Overbrook home. And yesterday, a wrongly convicted man who the D.A.’s office decided to retry in 2014 was acquitted and released from prison.

It’s the latest in what’s been a challenging year for the District Attorney, as Philadelphia magazine’s David Gambacorta reported last month.

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