Minneapolis Non-Profit Director Charged with Fraud

ST. PAUL – Tony Robinson, age 41, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, made an initial appearance today on an indictment charging Robinson with five counts of wire fraud and conspiracy offenses for Robinson’s participation in a fraud scheme with Tezzaree El-Amin Champion, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel N. Rosen.

Robinson was the operations director at Encouraging Leaders, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization founded and led by Champion. Champion used the organization to submit fraudulent grant applications and progress reports to government and private grant programs, then misused substantial portions of the grant funding. Participants in the scheme, including Champion and Robinson, retained grant funds for themselves.  Champion and Robinson defrauded the U.S. Department of Justice, Hennepin County, the City of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and others.   

Robinson participated in the scheme from approximately December 2021 until October 2022.  Robinson worked with a freelance worker in Africa to draft and submit false grant progress reports to organizations that had awarded grants to Encouraging Leaders.

For example, Robinson prepared false reports for the U.S. Department of Justice, which issues grants focused on juvenile justice and substance-abuse prevention; the Minnesota State Arts Board, which issues grants to Minnesota’s theaters, museums, choirs, and arts organizations; and Non-Profit A, which is a Minnesota non-profit founded by the McKnight Foundation with a focus on youth-learning outside of the classroom.

Robinson’s reports claimed Encouraging Leaders used grant funds to organize events and activities that never occurred, and overstated Encouraging Leaders’ involvement in events that had occurred.  Robinson’s reports also falsely claimed that Encouraging Leaders had assisted various students, when in fact it had not.

During Robinson’s participation in the scheme, the fraud and Encouraging Leaders caused a loss of more than $1 million to victims.

Tezzaree El-Amin Champion was charged separately and pled guilty.  On November 18, 2025, U.S. District Judge Katherine M. Menendez sentenced Champion to 84 months of imprisonment to be followed by 60 months supervised release, and to pay $3,479,575 in restitution.  In sentencing Champion, Judge Menendez noted that Champion’s fraudulent conduct was “relentless” and “reflects a scale and a depth that is disturbing.”

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and the Minneapolis Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph H. Thompson and Matthew D. Forbes are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.