BERLIN, Md. - Tiffany Knupp, whose son Gavin was killed in a 2022 hit-and-run in Berlin, has been charged with embezzlement and theft relating to funds missing from the Gavin Knupp Foundation. Worcester County Court Documents list nine charges, including both felonies for theft between $1,500 and $25,000 and misdemeanors for misappropriate embezzlement.
According to these documents, Knupp embezzled a total of $12,625 between Jan. 1, 2023, and Dec. 29, 2023, from the Gavin Knupp Foundation and Shaka Pool Bar.
"Tiffany Knupp was entrusted with overseeing the Gavin Knupp Foundation, but it is clear that she betrayed that trust," Sgt. J Pruitt from the Maryland State Police wrote in the documents. "She used these funds to pay for her personal attorney in a civil contempt case."
On Wednesday, Tiffany Knupp's attorney, Thomas Maronick Jr., spoke at a press conference in Ocean City, where he said they will be entering a plea of not guilty.
"These charges are absolutely bogus, based on distortions of the truth or blatant inaccuracies and we will fight these charges to their core." said Maronick.
Documents continue to state Knupp said under oath that she had received permission from the foundation to use the funds for her own lawyer in a 2023 contempt case relating to her 2019 divorce and child support modifications.
"Tiffany deceitfully claimed under oath that she had received permission from the foundation to use the funds for her own benefit and stated that she had personally paid for Gavin's funeral expenses instead of using the money from the GoFundMe account," Pruitt wrote. "Despite the fact that the funeral expenses for Gavin were already covered by community donations, Tiffany requested [ex-husband] Raymond to share the cost equally."
The Gavin Knupp Foundation was created after July 11, 2022, when Gavin Knupp, the 14-year-old boy from Ocean Pines was killed as a pedestrian in a car accident. The goal of the nonprofit is said to be to donate to the local surf club and create scholarship opportunities for those in the community.
The foundation's website has recorded that $47,265.05 has been raised and money donated to the foundation is listed at $8,244, both since Feb. 21, 2023.
In addition to using foundation money for personal legal expenses, court documents say Knupp mishandled money meant for another area family that lost a child. The Shaka Pool Bar in Ocean City had raised $3,200 in a fundraiser for Carter Figgs, a 16-year-old Delmar football player who was killed in a car crash in October 2023, said documents. The funds were given to Knupp to be donated to the Gavin Knupp Foundation and shared with the Figgs family, but documents state that no cash deposits were made to the Foundation between May 19, 2023, and January 9, 2024, and that the family was given only a partial payment.
However, Knupp's legal team emphasizes Knupp's innocence saying,
"I want to stress we're going to be prepared for trial if these charges don't go away if this doesn't resolve very favorably for Ms.Knupp to clear her name we're absolutely going to try this case."
Knupp’s first court date is scheduled for July 23 at the District Court for Worcester County in Snow Hill.