SEOBLOGREEN - Trust is a fragile thing. Once broken, the pieces scatter like glass. The community in Portland's Slabtown learned this the hard way. The face of their fitness family, their charismatic head coach, has admitted to a massive betrayal. He pleaded guilty. The coach is Ryan Tong. His nickname: "Coach RyRy." He stole thousands of dollars meant for charity.
Tong was an Orangetheory star. His energy was legendary. He led the popular 90-minute charity classes. Every month, members sweated and donated. They felt good about the workout. They felt better about the good deed. Tong was praised. An Instagram post even suggested he helped raise over $500,000 for charities over the years. A hero of fitness and philanthropy.
 |
| Photo From Pixabay |
The Venmo Scheme and False Promises
The scheme was simple. And deeply personal. Tong used his personal Venmo account, @RyRyRainbow, for the donations. He asked members to send their money there. He promised the funds would go to local nonprofits. He also promised matching donations. From himself. And from major corporations like Nike and Adidas. It was a powerful incentive. More sweat, double the donation. Who wouldn't give?
The members donated generously. Daniel Borgen was one of them. He was also a board member for one of the purported charities, Cascade AIDS Project. He started asking questions. The math didn't add up. The money never arrived. Other charities confirmed the same. Twelve, then seventeen nonprofits said they received nothing. The donations, sometimes made in honor of a deceased member, vanished. The feeling of doing good turned sour. It became a feeling of foolishness.
The Missing Money Trail
The revelation was shocking. A KGW investigation exposed the truth. Nike and Adidas denied any association with the matching program. The promises were lies. Tong, the man everyone trusted, was pocketing the cash. He was suspended. Then he was fired by the franchisee, Honors Holdings.
The company had to clean up the mess. They started their own investigation. They asked members for Venmo receipts. The goal was to track the missing trail of money. Initially, the company estimated about $12,000 was unaccounted for. The members felt it was more. Much more.
The Portland Police investigation continued. The Oregon Department of Justice got involved. The sheer number of transactions and the duration of the theft made it complex. Tong had built a life on stolen kindness.
The Guilt and The Cost of Restitution
Finally, the day of reckoning arrived. Ryan Tong pleaded guilty. He faced the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He was charged with serious felonies. Theft in the First Degree by Deception. Computer Crime Fraud. Aggravated Theft in the First Degree.
The total amount he diverted was not $12,000. It was more than $24,000. This is the figure the prosecutors could account for. $24,000 stolen from people who only wanted to help. Stolen in the name of charity.
His sentence is clear. It is focused on repayment. Restitution is the key word. He will work on a work crew. He must pay back the more than $24,000. The Oregon DOJ is also pursuing civil claims. They want to prevent him from ever getting involved in the charitable sector again.
The Orangetheory franchisee stepped up. They promised to reimburse the donors. They wrote checks for $1,000 each to the 17 affected nonprofits. This gesture does not erase the sting of betrayal. But it is a necessary step towards mending the community's broken trust. The story is a harsh reminder. Even in a place of sweat and good intentions, we must be vigilant. The heart rate monitor can measure effort. It cannot measure a person's integrity.
Source: kgw.com
#OrangetheoryScandal #CharityFraud #RyanTong
