AG requests restraining order in Girard solicitation scam

Staff Report

Girards

The Ohio Attorney General’s office requested a temporary restraining order in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against a charity solicitation company operating out of Girard, accusing it of misleading donors and failing to register with the state.

The restraining order would freeze the assets of PJG Enterprise, Inc., operating out of 206 N. State St., and prevents its owner, Paul Grossi, and all of the employees listed as defendants from soliciting charitable donations in Ohio, according to the injunction request filed Friday.

The preliminary hearing on the request is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Judge Andrew Logan will preside over the hearing.

An investigation by the attorney general’s office and the city’s police department revealed that while PJG Enterprise solicited money for the The American Veterans Federation and the American Breast Cancer Federation, Grossi ordered its employees to tell potential donors the they were calling from Massachusetts, the injunction request said.

Investigators allegedly found envelopes addressed to both AVF and ABCF in the dumpster near PJG Enterprise, according to the court filing.

The injunction said the addresses for both AVF and ABCF were given as 53 N. Brockway Ave., a vacant building.

The payments involved are more than $25,000, the court filing said.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s office was granted a temporary restraining order against PJG Enterprise and Grossi earlier in April for the same reasons, according to the New Jersey injunction.