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The Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley has recovered over $130,000 resulting from the Ohio Clean Water Fund scam in East Palestine.
Attorney General Dave Yost’s office disclosed the recovery of $138,982.36 Friday morning in a resounding victory against fraudulent activities. The funds were reclaimed following an extensive investigation and legal measures to combat the illicit practices of the fraudulent charity and donated back to the food bank.
“I extend my sincerest praise and gratitude to Second Harvest for their diligent support in identifying and shutting down the Ohio Clean Water Fund,” Yost said in a statement Friday morning. “The fraudulent charity shamelessly exploited the food bank’s name and reputation, taking advantage of Ohioans’ generosity in the wake of an environmental disaster.”
Second Harvest Food Bank Executive Director Mike Iberis commended the Attorney General’s Office for its unwavering commitment and dedication in combatting fraudulent activities. He emphasized the significance of the substantial recovery.
Yost’s office began investigating the Ohio Clean Water Fund, founder Michael Peppel and the organization’s fundraiser after a complaint from Second Harvest officials, who said they had never given OCWF permission to raise money in the food bank’s name.
The investigation found that the phony charity had been soliciting monetary donations for bottled water for East Palestine residents via text messages following the Feb. 3 train derailment and that it had collected more than $141,000 from donors nationwide.
Only after the food bank complained did Peppel agree to pay $10,000 to the food bank, a fraction of what had been collected, Yost’s office stated in a previous news release in August.
Yost sued OCWF in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court and on June 1 announced a settlement with the “charity” and one of its board members, Patrick Lee. That settlement required OCWF to dissolve and to pay $116,904.88 in restitution to the food bank and a $15,000 civil penalty.
After that settlement, a court-mandated review of OCWF’s bank records, invoices, payment records and other financial documents showed that the phony charity and its fundraiser actually had raised nearly $149,000 ä and that OCWF used WAMA Strategies as its main fundraiser.
Under settlement with Peppel and WAMA:
– Peppel must pay a $25,000 civil penalty and is banned permanently from incorporating, operating or soliciting for any charity in Ohio.
– WAMA and its owners, Isaiah Wartman and Luke Mahoney, must pay $22,077.48 in restitution to Second Harvest, allowing the attorney general to distribute to the food bank 100 percent of the donations raised in its name.
– WAMA and its owners must also pay $3,000 in investigative costs and fees to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
– WAMA is prohibited for four years from soliciting for a charity in Ohio, and Mahoney is prohibited for four years from incorporating, operating or soliciting for a charity in Ohio.
“This settlement means the cost incurred by the state to investigate and prosecute does not come out of the food bank’s pockets,” Yost said. “That’s precisely the outcome we were looking for.”