An entity which has been criticized for claiming to have non-profit status and raising funds for HIV/AIDS and cancer causes when it did not, in fact, have this status, is tied to the controversial Rudy King, Guardian Business can confirm.Following investigations by this newspaper, King, who has been indicted in the U.S. twice on fraud charges, confirmed to Guardian Business that his organization, The King Global Humanitarian Foundation (TKGHF) is the "parent" of Celebrating Women International (CWI).CWI has been soliciting women across The Bahamas to receive awards for their contributions to society from the organization. It has stated in publicly-issued materials that it will donate "part proceeds" from funds raised to HIV/AIDS and cancer. The group was able to obtain a proclamation from the prime minister describing October as "Women of Excellence" month to coincide with their awards ceremony and to book Government House, the home of the Governor General Dame Marguerite Pindling, as the site for the awards ceremony. King said: "CWI is a subsidiary. It would fall under the umbrella of The King Global Humanitarian Foundation. I don't understand the concerns."Last week, Guardian Business reported that CWI had come under fire for describing itself in publicly-issued materials as a non-profit organization when the Registrar General's Department had no record of any registration of CWI as a non-profit.Camille Barnett, president of the AIDS Foundation, said it is "unfortunate" that CWI had chosen to do so, adding: "It is sad because it gives other organizations a bad reputation, so we all get tarnished with the same brush".The day that Guardian Business reported that CWI does not have non-profit status, the group - which describes itself as a "group of women's advocates" but has been unwilling to identify the names of these advocates - insisted it was legitimate. It forwarded a letter of incorporation as a limited liability company dated the same day in support of this contention and clarified that it is a private company, rather than a non-profit. The company's website continues to describe it as the latter, however.Several women who have been asked to be honorees have expressed concern over the legitimacy of the organization. King and his organization have previously drawn international confusion and consternation for giving an award for "contributions to human kind" to then prime minister of Swaziland, Barnabas Dlamini. Dlamini's regime had been criticized for its poor human rights record, including comments in the Swazi media that anti-government protesters should be tortured.King told Guardian Business he is not involved in the day-to-day operations of CWI, but defended the group.King is no stranger to controversy. In 2007 he was indicted on charges of filing a false claim to the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. According to the indictment, King presented a claim to the IRS for refund of taxes in the amount of $2,700,000 knowing it to be false. The IRS said King did so under the alias Klever Rosales in the state of California.In 2010, King was criticized for presenting Swaziland's Dlamini with a "World Citizen Award". At the time, the Associated Press reported that the World Citizen Award website also included a listed of trustees that a respected peace group said was used without its permission.Richard C. Allen, a lawyer for the World Peace Foundation, said in an email to the Associated Press that the trustees list on the World Citizen Award site was "lifted without authorization from the web site of my client, the World Peace Foundation, a well-respected NGO in the U.S. Neither the World Peace Foundation nor its board members are connected with the 'World Citizen Award'."In 2011, Antigua and Barbuda opposition leader Lester Bird came under fire in that country for accepting what was dubbed a "dubious" award from King. Bird was honored for his "pre-eminent role in shaping the global community and for his continued influence on the world stage".In May 2013, King was declared bankrupt by a Bahamian judge over an unpaid debt to Cavalier Construction amounting to $1 million. Meanwhile, in May 2014, The Nassau Guardian reported that King had been hit with a 23-count indictment in the U.S. charging him with mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to defraud. According to the indictment, King created fictitious corporations that he then used to create merchant accounts with credit card processors. "Rudolph Kermit King would inflate the amount of funds within the merchant account by charging unauthorized devices," said a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida."These funds would then be deposited to a small business checking account under King's control, from which he withdrew funds. Finally King, used unauthorized access devices to purchase goods and services to fund his lifestyle," it added.If convicted, King could face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution, and a consecutive two years in prison for each country of aggravated identity theft.Contacted about the indictment by The Nassau Guardian, King said he was "very surprised" to learn of it. He denied that he was involved in fraud.

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