Vietnam War veterans charity being sued by Mass. Attorney General
By Will Richmond
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Aug 16, 2012
SOMERSET
The Attorney General’s office is suing a local veterans charity and its professional fundraisers for allegedly using deceptive tactics in violation of state laws.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Bay State Vietnam Veterans Inc. and its Rhode Island-based fundraiser, Dynamic Marketing Solutions Inc., violated the Massachusetts charitable solicitation and consumer protection laws during a phone solicitation campaign.
Also named in the lawsuit are Dynamic’s president, John Chaves of Warren, R.I., and its founder Thomas Gity Jr., of Pompano Beach, Fla. A temporary restraining order has been obtained against the charity and its fundraiser requiring them to preserve fundraising records and prohibiting them from transferring funds.
The suit alleges that during phone solicitations, Dynamic’s fundraisers deceived potential donors by falsely stating that 100 percent of their donations would benefit veterans, while only about 15 percent of the solicited funds went to support veterans and about 85 percent of the funds went back to Dynamic for their fundraising services.
According to the organization’s 2011 filing with the Attorney General’s office, the group raised $460,081 in 2011, with just $69,012 going to the charity.
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Deceiving the donors to making them believe that a hundred percent of their donations go directly to veterans is really unfair. They get to reap the benefits mostly and they're using it so relentlessly. Of course it's only appropriate for a law suit to be placed.
ReplyDeleteThanks of the comment. It does hurt everyone. It hurts the veterans that ended up being the reason someone made money when they didn't get the help they need and it hurts other charities actually doing good but not getting financial support they earned. A good fundraising plan of action and great PR campaign does not mean they doing good.
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