Restraining orders issued against nonprofit in probe

By MARC KOVAC

news@vindy.com

COLUMBUS

Judges in two county courts have granted Attorney General Richard Cordray’s request for temporary restraining orders against a nonprofit that allegedly assists veterans.

Common Pleas Courts in both Hamilton and Fairfield counties signed off on the orders, prohibiting the U.S. Navy Veterans Association from soliciting contributions in Ohio and barring the group from accessing the contents of two mailboxes.

“We appreciate that the courts moved quickly to shut down the activities of this organization while we continue our investigation and sort out the facts from the fiction,” Cordray said in a released statement. “There is compelling evidence that much of the information put out by this organization is false and misleading, including the names of association officers who appear to be fictional.”

The orders came about a week after Cordray filed suit to stop what he called “a phony outfit that is simply using the good name of our armed forces ... to cheat Ohioans and other patriotic Americans.” The group received close to $2 million in donations within the state in recent years.

Ohio joined a number of other states investigating the association and its activities. The issue came to light following an investigation by the St. Petersburg Times newspaper, which questioned whether the association was using donations to assist veterans or if some of the donations went instead to political candidates or other uses.

The main individual associated with the U.S. Navy Veterans Association has disappeared, and others listed on charitable registration documents filed with the state could not be found.