The IRS revoked the 501(c)(3) status of Julians Fountain of Youth Inc [sic] (JFOY) on May 15, 2024. The revocation was posted three months later.
Founder Julian Cavazos says he didn’t know until the middle of January 2025.
But, there appears to be much more to the story than meets the eye.
JFOY, perhaps best known for running the upscale thrift shop Wilton Collective, didn’t file its IRS 990 tax form in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Nonprofit status is automatically revoked if the form isn’t filed for three consecutive years. That appears to be what happened here.
OutSFL went to Wilton Collective to talk with Cavavos, who said he had found out about the situation, from a third party, just days earlier.
While shocking, this appears to be a mini-scandal inside a much larger mega-scandal.
Jose Coss was JFOY’s accountant. Coss was charged in November 2023 with myriad felonies including money laundering, grand theft, grand theft of someone 65 or older, organized fraud and more.
Cavazos says he learned of Coss’s arrest in late January 2024, and showed us an email from Coss dated Feb. 1, 2024, in which Coss professes his innocence and that JFOY would not be affected.
Cavazos told OutSFL JFOY’s income is so small that Coss couldn’t have stolen much if anything.
After the email exchange, Cavazos says he fired Coss and didn’t give it much further thought.
That was until a few days ago, when he learned JFOY lost its nonprofit status.
Cavazos says he is working with a new accountant and lawyer to get the 900 tax forms filed. He has also reported the matter to law enforcement.
