Ex-Director Of Charity Admits Taking $1 Million

The former director of a national charity, who built it into one of the major forces funding research into the causes and cures of Parkinson’s disease, was arrested by federal agents Monday and charged with embezzling $1 million from the organization over the past seven years.

Frank Williams, 54, who resigned as executive director of the American Parkinson’s Disease Association in April, admitted to federal agents that he had stolen the money because he “was not paid enough for all the work I did,” according to sources.

Williams - who oversaw the growth of the charity to a $5 million-a-year operation and attracted as spokesmen such figures as Mohammed Ali, Brooke Shields, Lynn Redgrave and former Rep. Morris Udall - told arresting agents that he repeatedly asked for raises, but was turned down and was not given adequate insurance policies, according to the sources.

Williams said he was confessing because he “wanted to get this off my back.”

In article in Fortune magazine this month, Williams was quoted as admitting to taking the money because, “I wore myself into the ground, but nobody ever compensated me. I was making $109,000 a year when I left after 13 years. … Anyone else in my position … was making about $200,000.”