CLAYTON, Mo. (CN) - A Georgia man, Sidney Young, used a sham nonprofit, Our American Veterans Inc., to raise $591,000 for homeless veterans, but kept 99.5 percent of the money for himself, the State of Missouri says.
The Missouri attorney general says Young, of Fort Valley, Ga., raised $591,000 for himself, through his sham nonprofit, in 2007 alone. The state claims Young uses "an aggressive and lucrative fund-raising scheme designed to use stories of vulnerable American veterans as a means to induce donations. But the vast majority of donors' funds do not support veterans or any charitable purpose and instead support Sidney Young, who operates OAVI."
The attorney general points out that the $3,725 Young did donate amounts to 0.5 percent of the money he raised in 2007.
In a separate claim, also in St. Louis County Court, the state sued these so-called charities and operators: Coalition of Police and Sheriffs, Disabled Firefighters Fund, American Veterans Relief Foundation, Public Safety, Jeffery Duncan, Kathy Clinkenbeard, and Valerie Hellege.
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