AMERICAN RED CROSS ACCEPTED $10,000 IN APPARENT EFFORT BY CAMP TO BUY ALLEGIANCE AFTER FAKE LIFEGUARD CERTIFICATION SCHEME UNVEILED

LOS ANGELES — In an apparently disturbing turn of events, an IRS tax document revealed that the owners of an Altadena summer camp where Roxie Forbes drowned wrote a $10,000 check to the Red Cross following allegations that the camp and the global nonprofit had engaged in a fake lifeguard certification scheme.

Roxie, 6, drowned on June 28, 2019, under suspicious circumstances in the relatively small Summerkids camp pool owned by Cara DiMassa and her family. Roxie’s father Doug Forbes, a part-time freelance investigative journalist, launched his own investigation.

Within weeks, he suspected foul play.

Forbes alleged that Red Cross representative Andrew Cervantes certified himself as a lifeguard and instructor, after which he issued fake lifeguard certifications to Summerkids counselors.

Beginning September 10, 2019, Forbes repeatedly attempted to reach Cervantes about the matter. Cervantes refused to respond.

Forbes subsequently contacted both the Red Cross Los Angeles office and its national complaints center. He advised representatives that Cervantes clearly certified himself as a lifeguard and instructor, which Forbes believed to be nefarious if not fraudulent.

Forbes explained that if Cervantes faked his own certifications, his illegitimacy thereby meant that he issued fake lifeguard certifications to all Summerkids counselors, including those at the pool when Roxie drowned.

Proper lifeguard certification is a prerequisite to becoming a lifeguard instructor.

Red Cross representative and instructor Andrew Cervantes fraudulently certified himself for at least four years. Here are two certifications that show he was the trainee and instructor, which is a clear breach of standards. Cervantes has since admitted to these actions, to fraudulently certifying himself as a lifeguard instructor and to fraudulently certifying dozens if not 100 Summerkids counselors .

After reviewing internal records, a Red Cross representative agreed with Forbes’ assertions. The representative advised Forbes that she would immediately escalate the matter, especially since it drew a straight line to Roxie’s preventable death.

Forbes made repeated attempts to follow up with the Red Cross, but neither its Los Angeles office nor its national office returned his calls.

By that time, Forbes and his now deceased wife Elena had launched the camp safety and drowning prevention nonprofit known as Meow Meow Foundation. Forbes launched the organization’s website soon after his contact with the Red Cross.

Forbes wrote several pieces about the apparent fake lifeguard certification scheme between Cervantes and Cara DiMassa. Several news outlets also covered the story.

On November 1, 2019, Forbes and his wife filed a lawsuit against Summerkids.

Soon thereafter, the DiMassa Family Foundation wrote a $10,000 check to the Los Angeles office of the American Red Cross.

“You’d have to exist in an alternate universe to think that the DiMassas weren’t trying to buy allegiance or silence from the Red Cross,” Forbes said. “Foul play does not get much more obvious than this.”

Forbes said that the DiMassa’s attempt to curry favor from the Red Cross “perfectly sums up the family’s merciless, barbaric behavior, including its incessant lies to the general public since they killed my daughter.”

Forbes said that he is not yet aware if Cara DiMassa, her doctor-brother Giancarlo and her parents Joe and Maria also made substantial individual payments to the Red Cross.

Forbes checked prior years of the DiMassa Family Foundation’s tax returns. The DiMassas had not contributed more than a few thousand dollars to any third party.

They also had not contributed to the Red Cross.

Forbes contends that the Di Massa Family Foundation is nothing more than a means to harbor $256,749 and manufacture write-offs.

A private foundation is required to annually distribute at least 5% of non-charitable use assets from the preceding year, which forces private foundations to distribute money for charitable purposes. The DiMassas failed to do so in years prior to donating to the Red Cross.

Forbes eventually also gathered enough evidence to prove the depth and breadth of the fake certification scheme. “Cervantes eventually admitted to fraudulent acts.” Forbes said. “According to documents, DiMassa and her family conspired with him for years.”

He said the scheme was, yet again, apparently driven by money — a decision to minimize training expenses and maximize profits. DiMassa used tuition monies from camp parents to help fund Red Cross rep Cervantes. But because the two faked legitimate training and testing, they were able to pocket the extra money by eliminating training time at the expense of children’s safety.

Armed with supporting information, Forbes made a series of demands in a letter to Phyllis Harris, the chief legal and compliance officer for the Red Cross.

“I told her that their representative Cervantes must be banned for life, that Summerkids must be banned from training, that all certifications be revoked and that the Red Cross admit its complicity and work with Meow Meow Foundation to correct colossal oversight gaps.”

Red Cross legal parties reviewed the evidence after which they agreed to ban Cervantes, ban Summerkids from training and revoke the certifications.

However, the Red Cross stopped short of admitting to any fault of its own, despite Forbes’ repeated attempts to demand correction of lethal practices that enabled Cervantes to execute the scheme. Some of those practices included the fact that Cervantes leveraged the Red Cross database, Red Cross documents and even other Red Cross employees.

Because the Red Cross refused to acknowledge its role in Roxie’s death, Forbes has since added them to his lawsuit which asserted gross negligence and fraud.

On May 16, federal judge John Kronstadt agreed with a number of Forbes’ assertions. This is an excerpt from the judge’s comments.

“The allegations are sufficient to establish that the Red Cross had a special relationship with Cervantes and Summerkids, Inc., who were certified by the Red Cross to be, respectively, an Authorized Provider and a Licensed Training Provider (“LTP”) of Red Cross training courses. As to the first factor, it is foreseeable that if a lifeguard training and certification organization such as the Red Cross failed properly to train its authorized lifeguard instructors in compliance with its own water safety and lifeguarding policies, harm could result. Thus, poorly trained instructors could subsequently certify poorly trained lifeguards, which could lead to injury to those in pools. The applicability of the second factor, the certainty that the plaintiff suffered injury, is not disputed. Both of these factors weigh in favor of a duty on the Red Cross based on the current allegations.”

Forbes said that an abundance of documents and admissions clearly prove a haunting pattern of behavior in Cara DiMassa’s myriad attempts to cover up the truth. She continues to operate her camp while the Attorney General has also sued her for operating an illegal child care facility.

This is a breaking story. Reporting will continue as more details emerge.