INVESTIGATION UPDATE MDASH SEPTEMBER 12, 2026
The “I Care a Lot” pattern: The structure of the Pierre Paul Gagnon trust now reads like the fraud pattern depicted in the Netflix film I Care a Lot: a lawyer with sole discretionary control over an elderly person’s assets, a vulnerable settlor who did not understand the documents she signed, a charitable organization with no family connection positioned as the 100% remainder beneficiary, and a design that leaves no one alive to question where the money goes once the primary beneficiary dies. In this trust, Foster S.B. Friedman wrote himself in as sole trustee, locked down the accounting, and placed FINCA International at the end of the pipeline in a way that mirrors that cinematic fraud structure too closely to ignore.
FINCA’s planned giving program: Today’s research confirmed that FINCA International operates a formal planned giving and donor-advised fund program targeted at channeling estates and major gifts into the organization. Estate attorneys who specialize in steering client money to specific nonprofits can receive recognition, referrals, and advisory relationships through such programs. No public document has yet been found proving that Foster S.B. Friedman participated in FINCA’s planned giving program, but the Gagnon trust is architected exactly like the vehicles those programs use: an attorney-controlled estate, a vulnerable elderly settlor, and a nonprofit remainder beneficiary with no organic connection to the family.
The “I CARE A LOT” research file: A private research file titled “I CARE A LOT” has been opened on this site to track every potential financial and organizational connection between FRIEDMAN, GRIMES, MEINKEN & LEISCHNER PLLC and FINCA International’s board and leadership. That file cross-references FINCA’s Form 990 board members for 2019–2020, the firm’s known nonprofit affiliations, and shared organizational ties. As of today, no direct link has been confirmed, but the pattern-matching work is ongoing and the investigation remains active.
What has been ruled out so far: Public records searches have not identified any overlapping board service between Foster S.B. Friedman and any named FINCA International board member. The “Frank and Fred Friedman Family Foundation” that appears on FINCA donor lists has been confirmed as a different Friedman family, not connected to Foster S.B. Friedman. At this stage, there is no public record tying FRIEDMAN, GRIMES, MEINKEN & LEISCHNER PLLC directly to FINCA International.
What cannot be ruled out without legal tools: Any financial connection through FINCA’s planned giving advisor network, private donor relationships, or back-channel referral arrangements would not show up in public filings. Those relationships live inside internal emails, development office records, and confidential agreements. Only a subpoena, a formal trust-accounting lawsuit, or a forensic accountant’s investigation could confirm or eliminate a hidden financial relationship between Friedman, his firm, and FINCA. Maître Olivier Morin — a criminal attorney — has already recommended retaining a forensic tax expert specifically to investigate FINCA’s inclusion. That recommendation stands unaltered.
The central unanswered question: Every word of the Gagnon trust was drafted by Foster S.B. Friedman. He chose to insert FINCA International as the 100% remainder beneficiary. Gaetane Gagnon had never heard of FINCA. She did not understand that this distant nonprofit, with no tie to her family, had been positioned to take everything once her daughter was gone. She never consented to that outcome in any meaningful, informed sense. The issue is not whether FINCA is a legitimate charity. The issue is why Foster S.B. Friedman put them there and what, if anything, he stands to gain from that placement — in fees, in referrals, in standing within FINCA’s planned giving network, or in some other undisclosed benefit. Until that question is answered under oath and under scrutiny, the trust remains indistinguishable from the kind of fraud vehicle Maître Morin identified.
To: info@finca.org
Subject: Urgent Notice — You Are Named as Remainder Beneficiary in a Trust — Immediate Action May Be Required
Dear FINCA International Leadership,
My name is Valerie Gagnon. I am writing to inform you that FINCA International — at 1201 15th Street NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20005 — is named as the 100% remainder beneficiary in the Amended and Restated Revocable Living Trust of Pierre Paul Gagnon, signed February 26, 2020, drafted by attorney Foster S.B. Friedman of Alexandria, Virginia.
I am bringing this to your attention because I have serious concerns about how this trust is being administered — and because FINCA International has a direct financial and legal interest in what happens next.
What the trust states:
Article IX of the trust names FINCA International as the sole remainder beneficiary. Article X, Section C states explicitly that the trust must provide for me — Valerie Gagnon, daughter of Pierre Paul Gagnon — “without any concern whatsoever for the interest of any remainderman.” That language means my needs were to be fully met before any remainder passed to FINCA.
What has actually happened:
Foster S.B. Friedman, who drafted this trust himself, appointed himself sole Trustee with complete discretionary control. This is an estate worth north of $4,000,000.00 in 2026. The drafting lawyer Foster Friedman has refused all demands for a full accounting. He has stonewalled every legal inquiry. A complaint has been filed with the Virginia State Bar. An i am prepare to contest the trust.
Why this concerns FINCA directly:
If I am unable to fully redeem what is owed to me under this trust — whether through my death, incapacity, or Friedman’s continued obstruction — FINCA International should expect a significant remainder distribution. If that distribution is not made, or if funds have been misappropriated, FINCA International has standing to pursue Foster S.B. Friedman directly.
I am also informing you that a criminal attorney who reviewed this trust has raised serious questions about how and why FINCA International was inserted as remainder beneficiary — and whether that insertion was made in good faith.
I urge you to obtain independent legal counsel and review this trust immediately. I am prepared to provide documentation upon request.
Sincerely,
Valerie Gagnon
Daughter of Pierre Paul Gagnon
Beneficiary — Amended and Restated Revocable Living Trust of Pierre Paul Gagnon
February 26, 2020
A CRIMINAL ATTORNEY’S ASSESSMENT
Maître Olivier Morin — a licensed criminal attorney in Québec, Canada, retained by Gaetane Gagnon personally at a cost of $15,000 — reviewed the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust and identified the FINCA International insertion not as a charitable bequest but as a fraud vehicle. His assessment as a criminal attorney was immediate.
The structure he identified: mandatory distributions withheld, no accounting required, sole discretion in the hands of the drafting attorney, and an outside organization as remainder beneficiary with no family connection. This creates a mechanism by which trust assets can be quietly redirected to FINCA upon the beneficiary’s death — with no one left to question where the money went.
Gaetane Gagnon — who co-signed the Pierre Paul Gagnon Trust on February 26, 2020 — had never heard of FINCA International. That fact was confirmed to Maître Morin directly, in his presence, during meetings between 2022 and 2024. She could not explain FINCA’s presence in the trust. She had no relationship with the organization. She had never heard its name.
The question this raises is simple and devastating: Once Valerie Gagnon is gone — who will ever know whether Foster Friedman disbursed the money to FINCA, or kept it himself? There is no one left to audit. No one left to demand an accounting. No one left to ask.
A formal letter was sent to FINCA International requesting confirmation of their relationship with the Gagnon family. No response was received.
Maître Morin called it a fraud vehicle. The record supports that conclusion.
MAÎTRE OLIVIER MORIN — A CRIMINAL ATTORNEY’S ASSESSMENT AND THE COMPLETE LETTER
The following is the full text of Maître Olivier Morin’s October 24, 2025 letter to Elias Kerby regarding the estate of Gaetane Gagnon. Among the six documented findings, his third finding — the FINCA International misunderstanding — stands out as the most critical fact.
Subject: Estate of Gaetane Gagnon (Deceased) — Observations Concerning the Trust Formation and the Settlor’s Understanding
Dear Mr. Kerby,
My name is Olivier Morin, and I am an attorney licensed with the Barreau du Québec (Province of Quebec, Canada). I currently represent Ms. Valerie Gagnon, daughter and beneficiary of the late Mrs. Gaetane Gagnon, who passed away on July 16, 2025.
Between 2022 and late 2024, I met with Mrs. Gagnon on several occasions at my office in Quebec, often in the presence of her daughter. Throughout these meetings, I observed significant misunderstandings on her part regarding key aspects of the trust instrument. Based on these observations, I am concerned that Mrs. Gagnon may not have fully appreciated the legal implications of the trust she executed.
More specifically, I noted the following concerns:
1. Ownership misunderstanding: Mrs. Gagnon repeatedly stated that she "owned everything," appearing to believe she retained full control over the trust assets and could dispose of them freely — particularly with respect to the property located at 511 Princess Street, Alexandria.
2. Confusion of accounts: She often confused her personal bank accounts with those of the trust and appeared unaware of the access restrictions or the actual amounts held in trust.
3. Misunderstanding of contingent beneficiaries (most critical finding — FINCA International): She did not seem to realize that, in the event both her daughters (Valerie Gagnon and Katia Riverin) predeceased her, the trust assets would pass to FINCA International, a nonprofit organization with which she had no known relationship — effectively excluding other family members.
4. Absence of cross-border provisions: She appeared unaware that the trust documents lacked clauses addressing potential incapacity, illness, or death occurring outside the United States.
5. Expectation of testamentary control: She believed that her daughter Valerie would freely determine the distribution of her inheritance and that all real estate would automatically transfer to Valerie’s name, seemingly unaware of the discretion retained by Mr. Friedman and B&H Bank under the trust terms.
6. Lack of reporting: She indicated she had never received the periodic six-month administrative statements required under the trust provisions.
In response to these concerns, I was instructed to retain a forensic tax expert to assess possible irregularities in trust administration and recommend appropriate modifications, particularly concerning the inclusion of FINCA International as a contingent beneficiary.
Sincerely,
Olivier Morin
Attorney at Law / Member of the Barreau du Québec (Canada)
October 24, 2025
Finding number 3 — the settlor’s complete misunderstanding of FINCA International’s role as contingent beneficiary and the exclusion of other family members — is the critical hinge in this assessment. It connects the technical structure of the trust to a concrete pattern of concealment, setting the stage for criminal scrutiny of how and why FINCA was positioned to receive everything.
Maître Morin — a criminal attorney — was further instructed to retain a forensic tax expert specifically to investigate FINCA International’s inclusion as a contingent beneficiary. That is not a routine estate planning concern. That is a criminal attorney’s response to what he assessed as a potential fraud vehicle. Gaetane Gagnon had no known relationship with FINCA International. She did not know it stood to inherit everything. Foster S.B. Friedman wrote every word that put them there.
