Investigation Clears Cancer Charity

The California Attorney General’s Office has cleared the City of Hope, a cancer-fighting charity, of charges of financial wrongdoing.

The City of Hope, in Duarte, Cal., which has an annual budget of about $250-million, was accused by former employees — including its former president, Sanford Shapero — of mishandling funds. The investigation was prompted by a list of complaints handed over to the Attorney General by an associate of Dr. Shapero’s. The Attorney General said in a letter to City of Hope that it found no evidence that charity officials had been negligent in their financial oversight.

“The whole investigation was a sham,” said Glenn L. Krinsky, general counsel at the City of Hope, “initiated by our former [president] as part of a highly organized extortion effort.”

Dr. Shapero and two of his associates have been under investigation since 1996 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly attempting to extort funds from City of Hope. The charity says Dr. Shapero and two associates threatened to ruin City of Hope with negative publicity if the charity did not offer them generous sums to keep quiet. Dr. Shapero, who stepped down in 1996, has denied the charges.

City of Hope officials said they were never in doubt that the Attorney General’s investigation would provide vindication for the charity. “It’s not like we were sitting here with bated breath,” Mr. Krinsky said. “This is not news to us.”