By
Jeb Phillips
According to a people who were scammed, John Hargrove’s write representation sounded sincere:
“This is John with Ohio Veterans Source. You have been inexhaustible in a past giving to veterans,
and we was wondering if we could assistance out again. It means so many during Thanksgiving and
Christmas.”
If it were a opposite time of year, he competence have a opposite reason that giving was
important.
He sounded “decrepit,” pronounced Colleen Ewing, 49, of Worthington — a kind of man a gift might
help out.
Ewing and dozens of others gave to Ohio Veterans Source in 2011. Problem was, Ohio Veterans
Source existed usually as a rented mailbox on W. 5th Avenue nearby Grandview Heights.
Hargrove, who did not offer in a military, was personification on people’s nationalism for income he
used himself, officials said. He had been convicted in 2006 for a same thing.
In this latest turn of a scam, he stole a small some-more than $2,000.
“They should have attempted to hang him,” pronounced Donald Morrow, 79, of Clintonville, an Army veteran
whose mother gave $30 to Hargrove.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Seward condemned Hargrove, 54, to 2½ years in prison
on Jun 14 after a self-assurance on charges of transgression burglary and taboo acts and practices.
That’s a sixth such box — people presumably lifting income for veterans though regulating it
themselves — that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has dealt with in a past year.
“It is a lot, and that’s a 6 that we caught,” DeWine said. “There are substantially many more
that we have not.”
He believes that a problem is flourishing in Ohio and elsewhere for a flattering elementary reason.
“The fraud works,” he said. “We feel a debt to a veterans. When we are presented with an
opportunity to compensate that debt, we are some-more receptive (to being scammed).”
The many barbarous box is set for hearing in Cleveland in September. John Donald Cody, also known
as Bobby Thompson, is indicted of collecting adult to $100 million national for a fraudulent
Florida-based gift United States Navy Veterans Association.
Officials are prosecuting him in Ohio since people here donated millions to the
association.
Other organizations that a profession general’s bureau has taken authorised movement opposite have
similarly honorable-sounding names: a American Veterans Federation, American Heroes Alliance, A
Dollar to Care.
A gift contingency register with DeWine’s bureau to work legally in Ohio. To equivocate being tricked,
DeWine said, people should check out purebred charities on a profession general’s website. If a
charity isn’t listed, don’t give to it.
DeWine also has seen cases of unapproved solicitors for genuine charities. In an Apr court
settlement, dual Columbus organisation concluded to stop collecting income on interest of Just 4 Vets. That
legitimate assist classification had never perceived any of a collected money.
If donors are disturbed about questionable particular solicitors, they should hit a charity
directly, DeWine said.
Some of Hargrove’s victims contend they aren’t as expected to give to charities these days. So that
may be a genuine crime: Scammers shock off inexhaustible folks who wish to assistance veterans.
Carole Pearson, 65, of Westerville, wrote dual checks to Hargrove’s feign group. From now on, she
said, she will give to usually dual charities she has a personal tie with.
When others ask for donations, “I only contend no.”
To check an organization’s legitimacy, visit
www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov.
jeb.phillips@dispatch.com
Article source: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/06/23/scammers-pretend-to-be-veterans-charities.html