CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — A Georgia charity that claimed to manage more than $10 billion in assets used charitable donations for private school tuition, family travel, real estate and other personal expenses, according to an emergency cease-and-desist order issued by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
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The order alleges SDG Impact Fund and its CEO, Anthony “Tony” Suber, “misappropriated solicited charitable funds” and commingled donor money with Suber’s personal accounts before using those funds “for personal use.”
“People have been defrauded as it looks to us,” Raffensperger told Channel 2 Action News Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
The Cartersville-based nonprofit operated donor-advised funds, a popular, tax-friendly charitable giving tool that allows donors to contribute money to the fund then decide when and where the money should be given at any time.
Bertram Meyer, said he donated $1.9 million to the fund, intending to give it to help build an environmentally friendly church and monastery in California.
“For me, it was taking 20% of everything that I own and putting it into charity,” Meyer told Channel 2 Action News.
Meyer said he directed the money to be transferred to the church, a registered nonprofit organization, but says the transfer never happened.
“We’re not here to fund some executive director’s home or family tuition or new car,” Meyer said.
The order alleges SDG and Suber “misappropriated solicited charitable funds” and “then used those funds for personal use.”
Investigators say donor funds paid approximately $171,618 to a private Atlanta college-preparatory school attended by two of Suber’s children. The order also alleges donor funds were used in connection with the purchase of Louisiana real estate owned by Suber, as well as personal credit card bills, luxury retail purchases and family travel.
Suber had initially agreed to an interview with Channel 2 Action News but later canceled and instead provided a lengthy written statement.
In that email, Suber wrote: “Donors are granted the privilege to recommend grants and/or investments, however veto power and the final decision rest solely with the organization.”
Longtime investment adviser Ted Jenkin from Exit Stage Left Advisors said that is not how donor-advised funds typically work.
“It’s the individual that controls the allocation of how they invest their money,” Jenkin said.
The Secretary of State’s order notes that multiple donors complained in 2025 that grant requests and communications were going unanswered and that they no longer knew the status of money they had entrusted to the fund.
Suber also told Channel 2 Action News that SDG Impact Fund was entitled to collect fees equal to 5% of assets under management. He argued that if the fund’s claimed assets totaled $10 billion then “the administrative fee due to the Fund’s staff and Board exceeded $450 Million.”
“That sounds like the most absurd thing that I’ve ever heard,” Jenkin said. “In the industry, I would say at the high end, it would cost you maybe 1%.”
State officials told Channel 2 Action News investigators spent more than a month attempting to serve the order on Suber. The order gave him the right to request a hearing and contest the allegations. The Secretary of State’s office said no hearing request was filed, allowing the order to become final.
In the emergency order, the Secretary of State barred SDG Impact Fund from operating as a charitable organization in Georgia, barred Suber from charitable solicitation activities and imposed a $100,000 civil penalty.
Channel 2 Action News also confirmed the Georgia Attorney General’s Office has an active investigation involving Suber. The AG does not comment on active investigations.
“Those funds need to be repatriated to the charities that they were intended for,” Meyer said.
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