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Written by: A. Smith
Published February 18, 2025 @ 8:30 AM ET
PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. – A Paulding County woman accused of skimming donations from her own charity has been ordered to pay back what she owes after the Secretary of State sued her, claiming she misappropriated funds.
Sarah Koeppen founded The Hope Box in Acworth after a 3-year-old boy was abandoned with her and later became her son. She said the charity aimed to prevent infant abandonment, rescue children from trafficking, train Georgia law enforcement on the state’s “Safe Haven” law, and guide parents toward available resources. However, officials claim the charity was never registered as a charitable organization.
At a recent hearing, a Fulton County judge ruled that Koeppen misappropriated tens of thousands of dollars from her charity for more than five years and ordered her to repay $80,000 and close the nonprofit organization. Additionally, she was ordered to give up assets including a Kia SUV, a MacBook computer, an Apple watch, and office equipment and supplies as well as any remaining donations.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger alleges that Koeppen spent charitable donations on personal expenses, including travel, dental work, a car, salon visits, dinner parties, her daughter’s birthday party, and $800 for photographs at her son’s wedding. Between January 2018 and April 2022, she allegedly spent more than $36,000 at restaurants, brewpubs, and liquor stores.
In June 2023, Koeppen signed a consent decree agreeing to dissolve The Hope Box and cease collecting donations. Despite this, investigators say she continued to solicit funds, opened a bank account in Hawaii, and started a new organization, Haven, which shares the same mission, website, phone number, and address as The Hope Box. Officials claim Haven is not a registered charity in Georgia either.
According to reports, Koeppen denied misappropriating funds and insisted she had been waiting for further guidance from the Georgia Attorney General’s Office to properly dissolve the charity.
The judge granted Raffensperger’s request to enforce the 2023 agreement, requiring Koeppen and The Hope Box to refund improperly obtained donations and surrender assets as part of the court’s ruling.