DENVER (AP) — The Colorado attorney general says the man behind Boobies Rock and Say No 2 Cancer misled donors and customers around the country into thinking more of their money was going to breast cancer charities.
Instead, Adam Cole Shryock only sent a little bit of money to legitimate cancer groups while using company bank accounts to buy himself a BMW, subscribe to an online dating service, and to pay bar tabs and a maid service, Attorney General John Suthers alleges in a complaint filed in Denver District Court.
A phone number listed for Shryock wasn't accepting messages Tuesday. A phone message left with Say No 2 Cancer wasn't returned. Both companies sell merchandise such as shirts, bracelets and beer koozies with pro-breast or anti-cancer slogans.
Colorado started investigating after attorneys general in Indiana and Illinois did the same. The Chicago Sun-Times had reported last year that some charities that Boobies Rock claimed to be helping received little money from the company.
Boobies Rock Inc. and Say No 2 Cancer have disabled their websites since a Denver judge issued a temporary restraining order last week restricting operations, and assets have been frozen. A hearing for a preliminary injunction is scheduled Monday.
According to the Colorado complaint, Shryock originally ran Boobies Rock from San Francisco after incorporating it in California in 2011, but he moved to Castle Rock, Colo., south of Denver last year. The address listed for Shryock is for a home valued at $1.8 million, according to Douglas County records.
Shryock launched Say No 2 Cancer last January, the complaint said.
Suthers alleges the companies would send models to bars or sporting events to sell merchandise, with instructions to mention that Boobies Rock is a for-profit company only when asked. Oftentimes, people simply made cash donations.
Boobies Rock did give $50,000 to the Pink Fund, based in the Detroit area — but only to avoid lawsuits after Pink Fund found out the company was using its name without its permission, Suthers' complaint said. Suthers said Boobies Rock donated $25,000 to another organization, also to avoid a lawsuit. Other donations fell short of the percentage of net revenue that Boobies Rock represented it would donate, the complaint alleged.