American Indian Relief Council and Co-defendants to pay $395,000
HARRISBURG, Pa., June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney General Mike Fisher today
announced that a South Dakota charity and its co-defendants will pay $395,000
to resolve allegations that they intentionally exploited the plight of Native
Americans to obtain donations -- and then used the contributions to primarily
benefit certain officers and directors of the charity.
"We contend that this organization's intent was to deceive potential donors
and play on every human emotion imaginable to extract dollars from caring
Pennsylvanians," Fisher said. "Consumers were told that Native Americans, on
several South Dakota reservations, were suffering from widespread famine and
other life threatening conditions that we determined either never existed or
were greatly exaggerated."
Fisher said his Charitable Trusts and Organizations Section entered into a
consent agreement with the American Indian Relief Council (AIRC), also known
as National Relief Charities, located in Virginia and Rapid City, South
Dakota; AIRC president Brian J. Brown, Oregon; AIRC former vice president
Corrin Bare, San Jose, Calif.; AIRC former secretary/treasurer Camellia Van
Exel, Hempstead, N.Y.; Great Plains Economic Development Corp., Rapid City,
and its principals David G. and Bernice J. Myers, also of Rapid City. The
agreement ends a lawsuit filed against the defendants in Commonwealth Court.
According to the lawsuit, AIRC from July 1991 to December 1993 used direct
mail solicitations to raise money for Native Americans living on reservations
in South Dakota. The investigation revealed that the residents who received
the solicitation were falsely told that:
-- Thousands of Native Americans on reservations in South Dakota are
suffering from widespread food shortages and lack of heat and medical care.
-- The reservations were hit with catastrophic natural disasters and that
funds were needed to prevent famine and death.
-- AIRC was significantly alleviating unemployment for Native Americans in
the Rapid City area through a jobs training program.
-- AIRC was feeding thousands of starving and desperately poor Native
Americans each month.
-- AIRC provided significant quantities of medical supplies, heating fuel,
gardening tools and supplies to Native Americans.
-- AIRC does not employ professional fund raising organizations or
individuals and was therefore more efficient than other charities.
"Due to the egregious nature of these allegations, my office was intent on
returning the money this charity solicited from Pennsylvanians under false
pretenses," Fisher said. "We succeeded in that, and now we're making sure
that the restitution collected will be distributed to Native Americans in
need."
The consent agreement requires the defendants to pay $350,000 in restitution
that will be distributed to independent relief programs located on the Pine
Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe reservations in South Dakota.
The independent relief programs are not operated by AIRC.
"Our legal action has stopped this charity from using half-truths and
outright lies to obtain donations and has resulted in increased funding for
Native Americans living on three reservations in South Dakota," Fisher said.
Under the terms of the consent agreement, the defendants admit no wrongdoing
and are required to:
-- pay $350,000 in restitution, $15,000 in civil penalties and $30,000 for
the costs of investigation.
-- maintain an autonomous board of directors.
-- maintain AIRC's existing level of program services benefiting Native
Americans in South Dakota, in addition to the restitution mandated.
The case was handled by Mark A. Pacella Senior Deputy Attorney General of
Fisher's Charitable Trusts and Organizations Section in Pittsburgh. Fisher
thanked his former Senior Financial Investigator Steven C. Arter for his work
in the case.
SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General
CO: Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General; American Indian Relief Council
ST: Pennsylvania, South Dakota
IN:
SU: LAW
06/11/99 12:31 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
Reprinted under the fair use
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
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