Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost reached a settlement with the sham charity, the Ohio Clean Water Fund, which stole thousands of dollars after pretending to raise money for East Palestine residents in the wake of the disastrous February 3rd train derailment.
Under the settlement, the sham charity must return over the $131,000 in pocketed donations so the money truly does benefit East Palestine residents.
Yost (pictured above) claimed in his initial lawsuit and requested for a temporary restraining order that Michael Peppel, a resident of Leetonia and creator of the Ohio Clean Water Fund, and other individuals had pocketed at least $131,000 of the approximately $141,000 collected from more than 3,000 donors to allegedly help the community of East Palestine.
The February 3rd Norfolk Southern train derailment due to an overheated wheel bearing, which resulted in the release of poisonous chemicals into the environment, drastically changed the lives of locals.
The railroad vented and burned the vinyl chloride found in five derailed cars to stop an explosion requiring the evacuation of hundreds of residents and negatively impacting the environment and residents’ health.
Yost said that Peppel’s Ohio Clean Water Fund used text messages to solicit donations for bottled water and announced a partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
Representatives from the Second Harvest Food Bank reportedly complained to Yost’s office and claimed they hadn’t given the go-ahead for a relationship with Peppel.
Second Harvest Food Bank allegedly twice confronted Peppel to tell him to stop advertising the non-existent partnership. To date, and only after Second Harvest Food Bank called him out, Peppel has paid only $10,000 to the food bank, a mere 7 percent of what Peppel admits he raised.
In a March Facebook post, the food bank encouraged people who want to help to donate to them directly.
The settlement reached in the Columbiana County Court of Common Pleas includes dismissing the claims against the Ohio Clean Water Fund and one of its board members, Patrick Lee.
Under the agreement, the Ohio Clean Water Fund must pay $131,904.88, including $116,904.88 in restitution and $15,000 in civil penalties, the Ohio Clean Water Fund must dissolve, and Lee is barred from being a board member of or soliciting money for a charity in the future.
Yost’s lawsuit remains active against Peppel as the office works to finalize details of an agreement that will protect the charitable sector from any similar misconduct by Peppel and others involved in this scheme.
Yost called the settlement a win.
“I stand by my word to fight for the community of East Palestine. We sued to make sure the contributions improperly solicited from well-intentioned donors get into the hands of people who will use them for their intended purposes. Our fight isn’t over, but this is a win,” he said.
The attorney general’s office said it plans to disburse the recovered funds to Second Harvest Food Bank, the state beneficiary.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Dave Yost” by Dave Yost.Â
