The Crown Council of Ethiopia has been presented with incontrovertible evidence that several persons in the US and Europe have been illegally and fraudulently raising funds using the name of the Ethiopian Crown and its charities, offering the sale of ranks, orders, and decorations which are within the Crown’s gift alone, and for which the Crown holds historical copyright.
Supporters of the Crown are urged to only communicate with the Crown Council directly, or via its recognized charitable body, The International Society for the Imperial Ethiopian Orders (registered as The International Society for the Star of Ethiopia), a US-registered [501(c)3] charitable foundation.
The individuals concerned have purveyed illegal grants of Orders in exchange for payment, and these illegally-bestowed Orders may not be worn, nor the ranks, privileges, and post-nominals used. All legally-awarded recognitions by the Crown Council are recorded in the Crown’s Official Registry, maintained by the Council.
Anyone who is concerned that he or she may have been the subject of fraud in regard to the issuance of a Crown honor should contact the Crown Council at: PO Box 320608, Alexandria, Virginia 22320, USA, or via email to: GRCopley@StrategicStudies.org. Anyone who feels that he or she has been the subject of such fraud should also attempt to retrieve all details of correspondence, bank transfers, and the like with the criminals involved, and copies of any such documentation should be sent to the Crown Council.
The illegal sale of Crown honors diminishes the prestige of recognitions lawfully given to those who have faithfully and diligently served the community. Moreover, those who have innocently acquired fraudulently-dispensed honors in exchange for what they have felt were donations to the charitable works of the Crown have, unfortunately, seen their funds go only to enrich those people who have dispensed the fake honors. The Crown and its charities are the poorer for this theft of funds which were intended to help (in particular) Ethiopia, Ethiopians, and Africans, including the Water Initiative for Africa (WIA), the main charity of the President of the Crown Council, HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie.
Those claiming to represent the Crown Council have often used non-existent titles such as “Grand Chancellor”, have forged the signature of HIH Prince Ermias on many of the documents, and have forged the Seal of the Council.
