State slaps two alleged charity scams with suits

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July 21, 2011

By Jeff Lehr news@joplinglobe.com The Joplin Globe Thu Jul 21, 2011, 09:41 PM CDT

JOPLIN, Mo. — Missouri’s attorney general announced Thursday that the state is seeking to stop an online group based in Puerto Rico and an Internet radio operator from Georgia from fraudulently soliciting donations to help victims of the Joplin tornado.

Attorney General Chris Koster announced at a news conference in the emergency operations center in Joplin that injunctions are being sought against Alivio Foundation Inc. and Steven W. Blood.

Koster said Alivio began soliciting donations shortly after the May 22 tornado through a PayPal link on the purported charity’s website and through an online donation conduit, Crowdrise. He said both websites claimed that donations would go to St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Joplin and to Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri.

“Both the church and Catholic Charities told us that they have never been contacted by Alivio, and neither has received a dime from the group,” Koster said.

He said his office has been able to locate $9,700 donated on the Crowdrise site alone.

“We’ve been able to freeze that money, and through our court actions, we are seeking to have it returned as promised to the people of Joplin,” Koster said.

He said a similar injunction is being sought against Blood, aka Wild Bill or Cowboy Bill, who runs an Internet radio business through three websites. Blood has been claiming in recent weeks to be helping the victims of both the Joplin and Tuscaloosa, Ala., tornadoes through the sales of “Storm Aid” T-shirts and the organizing of benefit concerts.

Visitors to his websites are offered concert sponsorships for sale, can purchase concert tickets and are provided the opportunity to donate to tornado relief efforts. Blood’s alleged fraud includes a phony concert slated for July 23 in Branson at which various musical groups were to appear.

There are PayPal links on the websites for each of the donation and purchase options. Koster said that Blood has collected about $4,800 since he opened the PayPal account, and none of it has gone to tornado victims.

The attorney general said the amounts of the alleged fraud in both cases are not particularly significant, except that both charity scams seek to take advantage “of the generosity of good-hearted people in the midst of a state crisis.” Koster said they also are significant because both involve Joplin, and “no fraudulent activity in this community is too small for us to protect this city until it regains its feet.”

The Rev. J. Freidel of St. Peter’s said at the news conference that any charity that seeks donations knows the importance of providing confidence to those who give that their money will be used responsibly and well.

“It’s disturbing to us when somebody then will raise funds in our names and the money not go where it’s supposed to go,” Freidel said.

Injunctions sought

The lawsuits filed in Jasper County Circuit Court seek injunctions against any further deceptive practices by either defendant and the direction of all funds already collected to the intended recipients. The court action also seeks a civil penalty of $1,000 for each violation of the state’s merchandising practices law and other penalties, and court costs.

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State slaps two alleged charity scams with suits

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