SOUTH BEND, Ind. — In what appears to be a precursor to a defamation lawsuit, a St. Joseph County woman sent a taxpayer funded activist a Cease and Desist Order for what she claims is years of unwanted harassment. REAL News Michiana obtained the document from unnamed sources earlier this week. RNM is not naming the woman out of concern she could be targeted further.
Malone, who founded the non-profit Justice for Michiana, is accused of using his position to publicly call the innocent woman a prostitute, a racist, a criminal and an adulterer.
“This firm represents (redacted). As you may imagine, (redacted) has sought legal representation due to an alarming amount of misconduct on your end.” The notice reads in part. “As you know, there is no valid or legal basis for any of this conduct. Your behavior has caused and, in the future, could cause financial and emotional damages to (redacted). Furthermore, these facts give rise to several claims such as: 1) harassment; 2) tortious interference with business relationships; 3) defamation; and 4) libel. As a result, (redacted) demands that you cease and desist from any of the above activities immediately, and that you publish a full retraction of all your statements regarding (redacted).“
Malone, who spent several years in federal prison for multiple fraud convictions, was given thousands of dollars in taxpayer money from the City of South Bend’s Alive Grant program for his non-profit, Justice for Michiana. The grants were created to help curtail violent crime in the City of South Bend. Malone claimed Justice for Michiana was designed to help families of homicide victims with funeral arrangements. However, RNM discovered Malone was taking and sharing nude photographs of the recently deceased at a local funeral home. That case is now being investigated by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
The Alive Grant program gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to local organizations. However, RNM’s investigations into the Alive Grant and its awardees have lead to the discovery of several other potential criminal acts.
RNM discovered the city changed the name on one grant to give money to a friend of the Director of Community Initiatives, Maurice Scott. A notice of tort was issued in that case. You can read all about that here.
Another awardee, Wright Chosen Ministries and its founder Lori Wright, is accused of taking food stamps from homeless families and selling them to a woman in Louisiana. You can read more about that story here.
RNM discovered the city gave thousands of dollars to a convicted murderer who had been out of prison for less than a year. You can read about that here.
The city also gave grant money to a federally convicted armed robber.
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