Kurt Busch's ex facing 7 charges from accusations of stealing from charity

Driscoll alleged Busch abused her in 2014. Criminal charges weren’t filed due to a lack of evidence

 

Patricia Driscoll, the ex-girlfriend of NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, is facing seven charges regarding accusations she took money from the military foundation she ran.

Per the AP, Driscoll has been indicted on two counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud and two charges of tax evasion for stealing money from the Armed Forces Foundation. The seventh charge is for interfering with the IRS. Driscoll resigned as the president of the AFF in June of 2015

Court documents don’t say how much prosecutors believe Patricia Driscoll took from the District of Columbia-based Armed Forces Foundation, whose mission is to support service members, veterans and their families.

But a 2014 tax return for the non-profit says that the “foundation has become aware of suspected misappropriations” by Driscoll totaling more than $599,000 for the years 2006 to 2014. It says she misused money for meals, travel, parking tickets, makeup and gifts.

Driscoll and Busch, who met in 2010, ended their relationship in 2014. She filed for a protection order against the driver alleging that he physically abused her in his motorhome at Dover in October 2014.

Driscoll was granted the protection order by a family court commissioner just days before the 2015 Daytona 500. NASCAR responded to the protection order by suspending Busch indefinitely, causing him to miss the first three races of the season.

Busch was reinstated to NASCAR after the Delaware department of justice said it would not be pursuing charges vs. the 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion. Driscoll alleged Busch slammed her head against the wall of his motorhome after she came to his bus on Sep. 26, 2014.

Busch said he cupped Driscoll’s head in her hands and asked her to leave the motorhome repeatedly. She was granted the protection order because the commissioner ruled it was more likely than not that Busch committed an act of abuse.

Busch, who qualified for the 2015 Chase despite missing those three races, testified during hearings for the protection order that Driscoll told him she was a trained assassin and that she had shown him pictures of bodies that had been shot. Driscoll denied the allegations that she claimed she was an assassin.

Before she resigned from her role at the Armed Forces Foundation, Driscoll was placed on administrative leave by the charity’s board. Per reports by ESPN’s Outside the Lines before Driscoll’s resignation, documents “showed the Armed Forces Foundation had, in effect, been repeatedly used as a bank to lend money for or pay various personal expenses, including bills for a private company Driscoll owns.”