Unlikely Heroes Former Anti-Trafficking CEO Files Federal Motion to Stop "Hostile Takeover" of Victim Charity by Billionaire-Linked Foundation

LOS ANGELES, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- In a federal court filing that is raising concerns among nonprofit and survivor advocacy experts, Erica Greve, founder and former CEO of Unlikely Heroes, has filed an emergency motion to halt the proposed sale of estate assets—including confidential survivor records, donor files, and the organization's name, likeness, and mission—to a private foundation connected to a billionaire whose previous lawsuit allegedly resulted in the nonprofit's bankruptcy petition.

The motion alleges that Human Investment Foundation (HIF), a Texas-based foundation founded by philanthropist Janet Jensen, former Unlikely Heroes donor and member of Women Moving Millions, is now poised to acquire the very nonprofit it spent years litigating against. HIF has no record of trauma-informed services, yet seeks to take over the nonprofit's identity and gain access to private records of children who experienced severe trauma and received services through Unlikely Heroes' programs.

"These are not just documents," said Greve. "They are the medical, psychological, educational, and legal records of children who endured significant trauma. You don't sell that. You protect it with everything you have."

Now, HIF could cause the unredacted files of those girls, including their asylum records, safe house addresses, photos and therapy documentation, to be transferred without consent, redaction, or oversight.

"This is not just a nonprofit being sold," Greve said. "It risks undermining the trust placed in us by survivors. The very foundation whose lawsuit led to our closure is now trying to wear our name, use our channels, and access our children's deepest traumas while presenting itself as a philanthropic initiative."

The motion further alleges that Trustee Sandra McBeth, who is overseeing the Chapter 7 liquidation, failed to provide legally required notice to the California Attorney General's Charitable Trusts Section, in violation of Government Code § 12598 and federal fiduciary obligations. Greve contends this has enabled a rushed and opaque foundation sale to an entity with alleged competing interests and no demonstrated qualifications to handle survivor care.

In a further breach, the motion states that formal legal objections submitted by Hon. F. Whitten Peters, former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force and legal counsel for five survivors, were never filed with the Court by the Trustee or her Counsel, prompting concerns about proper court procedure and oversight of due process and legal ethics.

Granting the motion would authorize HIF to operate under the Unlikely Heroes brand, initiate direct engagement with survivors, and potentially collect confidential information from trafficking victims under a false nonprofit identity.

"This isn't about me," Greve said. "This is about the safety, dignity, and identities of survivors. These children trusted us with their stories, and I will not stand by while that trust is auctioned off."

Greve requests that the Court stay the sale, appoint an independent examiner, and refer the matter to the California Attorney General for investigation. She also seeks a court-supervised accounting of donor-restricted funds, which may have been deposited after the nonprofit filed for bankruptcy, in potential violation of standard post-petition procedures.

To date, Greve has personally incurred over $500,000 in legal fees defending the nonprofit, its survivors, and the principle that a child's trauma should never be treated as a transferable asset.

"This case draws a hard line between protecting survivors and permitting the exploitation of their pain. No court should allow a child's story to be treated as commodities within an organizational transaction."

About Unlikely Heroes
Founded in 2011, Unlikely Heroes is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing and restoring child survivors of sex trafficking. The organization has provided long-term housing, trauma-informed therapy, education, and medical care to more than 400 children across the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, Thailand and Nigeria. Among those served were five Nigerian girls who escaped the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping in Chibok, Nigeria – an event that sparked the global #BringBackOurGirls movement. These survivors were brought to safety in the United States under the legal guardianship of Unlikely Heroes' founder Erica Greve, with the full consent of their families and the U.S. government.

SOURCE Unlikely Heroes