The Completionist Controversy (Alleged Charity Mismanagement)

[ParadiseLost]

TLDR:

"The Completionist" is a YouTuber who runs a yearly charity event called Indieland which was supposed to raise money for researching a cure for dementia.

Instead it turns out that according to the tax filing of their charity (the Open Hand Foundation), which is a matter of public record, none of the money they raised has ever actually been passed on to be used for dementia research. Apparently all of it is still sitting in a bank account after 9 years... which isn't concerning at all.

Controversy is ensuing. They have already been asked to step down from a podcast they were in with SkillUp and Jake Baldino (Before You Buy) and Lucy James (Gamespot/Giant Bomb)

 

[Husky_Khan]

TLDR:

"The Completionist" is a YouTuber who runs a yearly charity event called Indieland which was supposed to raise money for researching a cure for dementia.

Instead it turns out that according to the tax filing of their charity (the Open Hand Foundation), which is a matter of public record, none of the money they raised has ever actually been passed on to be used for dementia research. Apparently all of it is still sitting in a bank account after 9 years... which isn't concerning at all.

Controversy is ensuing. They have already been asked to step down from a podcast they were in with SkillUp and Jake Baldino (Before You Buy) and Lucy James (Gamespot/Giant Bomb)

Oh yeah I just saw this as well.

Karl Jobst and SomeOrdinaryGamers were apparently working together on this.



Karl's video is shorter but SOG goes into far more detail apparently with his longer vid.

 

[Husky_Khan]

I never heard of this Completionist guy but I have the slightest bit of consideration for him in that it seems like... at this juncture, the money is still hopefully untouched and sitting in a bank account somewhere instead of being thrown away. I might be able to assume that these people are just incredibly fucking lazy and/or inconsiderate to the point they're committing fraud as opposed to completely (no pun intended) malicious.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Karl Jobst and Some Ordinary Gamers released updates on this controversy. I haven't had the chance to watch either video yet but here they are.

The Thirteen Minute Version from Karl Jobst.



And the (I would hope) more detailed Fifty Minute Version from SomeOrdinaryGamers

 

[Jormungandr]

So, yeah -- It looks like he or another person in control of the "fund" have basically nicked the cash?

 

[Husky_Khan]

Yeah I've only seen the Karl Jobst video but like I said earlier, I was being hopeful that maybe they were just being lazy or negligent and just collecting the money and not dispensing it to charities. But the latest Karl Jobst video seems to show that the Completionist made tens of thousands of dollars from these Golf Tournaments on behalf of the Open Hand Foundation and none of that money can be found anywhere, including in their tax returns as we've seen it so far.

So it seems highly likely they've stolen or hidden a lot of the cash.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Jirard The Completionist made his ONLY response video on this topic a month after the potential controversy arose. They also finally donated 600K to one of the charities they mentioned.



Jirard's apology also included a threat of legal action against those who made the original videos as he alleges he isn't guilty of any of the charges leveled against him and said accusations are defamatory.

Karl Jobst released a response video to Jirards apology, explanation and threats.



And here's Mutahar's Video which was actually released four days ago (Not a channel I typically watch so I missed it)...



Apparently the Legal Mind (He is apparently a Lawyer) Eckharts Ladder seemed to backtrack on his "Defense" of The Completionist.

Spoiler

 

[Husky_Khan]

SomeOrdinaryGamers released the Discord call audio between himself, Karl Jobst and Jirard the Completionist for transparency reasons dur to the legal threats apparently.



Just makes this all the more sad IMHO hearing all this.