Sir Maejor Page, an activist in Toledo, Ohio, was arrested by the FBI in the September of 2020 and charged with two accounts of money laundering and wire fraud.
A complaint was submitted to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center in April 2020 after his Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta (BLMGA) Facebook page was suspected to be a fraudulent non-profit organization’s account and Page himself posing as a BLM leader.
The Facebook page was set up in 2016 to accept monetary donations as he also registered BLGMA as a 501(c)(3) with the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Due to Page’s failure to submit paperwork to the IRS for three years, they revoked his non-profit status in 2019. According to findings from the court, he didn’t tell Facebook and continued to accept donations.
Page, in 2018, opened up a bank account named “Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta, Inc.” in which he is the only authorized user.
According to the FBI, the Facebook account raised him $450,000 while he posed to fight for George Floyd and racial equality throughout last year.
On September 25, 2020. the FBI wrote in an announcement, “In June 2020, Page responded to private social media inquiry messages that funds had been donated to be used to fight for George Floyd and that none of ‘the funds have been used for personal items. All movement related.'”
Later, in March, the FBI Special Agent in Charge, Eric Smith, said in a statement, “Page allegedly purchased homes, traveled, and spent other people’s money to buy luxury items for himself, all on the backs of hardworking people believing they were donating to a worthy cause.”
In a statement to NBC 24, Page said, “I maintain my position that I did not intentionally commit any crimes, as it is my only purpose in life to fight for those whose voices have been muffled and or silenced. Had I violated any state or federal laws I have no problem owning that and working to correct my actions. I believe that I acted in good faith.”
