Virginia to Investigate Salahis' Polo Cup Tournament

From the Washington Post, "Virginia Will Probe Salahis' Polo Cup."

The layers just keep peeling off this rotten onion of fraud and deception.

The report indicates that Tareq and Michaele Salahi are under investigation by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. And it turns out that the Indian Embassy has pulled out of the America's Polo Cup Tournament, "USA vs. India America’s Polo Cup World Championship!" The website is still available, but here's a screencap just in case it goes down soon:

Further, the Post's report notes that the Salahis' organization is not sanctioned by the National Polo League; the couple submitted pictures to a Florida-based polo magazine claiming that Michaele is a "former Miss USA"; and police in Montgomery County, Virginia, report that the Salahis have had 41 contacts with law enforcment, and materials submitted by the Salahis to authorities show a pattern of fraud:

The detective noted in his report that Tareq Salahi sent him paperwork that the detective judged to be false.

"The fact that Tareq Salahi would fabricate an 'invoice' rather than request another copy from the contractor caused the writer to question the veracity of the information given by the Salahis'," wrote Det. Bill Heverly on Oct. 2.

In particular, the investigation will look into the Salahis philanthropic activities, and especially the couple's Journey for the Cure foundation. The charity is not registered in the state, and thus donations may be used for "non-charitible" purposes (see also, the Washington Examiner, "Virginia starts investigation into Salahi polo event").

According to the Post:

The Salahis are the only two principals listed for the America's Polo Cup, a business that has held a polo bash each spring since 2007. The event is billed as a fundraiser for the Journey for the Cure, a federally approved nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation that also lists the Salahis as its only directors. Virginia regulators realized last year, four years after the foundation was established, that it had never registered to raise funds and had filed no financial statements.

After the agency issued a public warning that gifts made to the foundation might not be used for charity, the Salahis filed the required paperwork in November, records show. The only financial information was a few typed-out lines that said the charity took in about $18,000 in 2007 and donated $15,000. There was no record submitted of any other donations.

Also, check out Web of Deception, ""Tareq Dirgham Salahi's Rap Sheet."

Plus, from yesterday's Washington Post, "A new field of inquiry: Salahis' polo cup; Couple's problems didn't start with White House dinner."

RELATED: From Patricia Murphy, "Congress Will Subpoena Michaele and Taraq Salahi" (via Memeorandum).