COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced on Thursday that he has requested an emergency court order to protect people in his state from a Florida-based charity that is currently under investigation in several states.
Temporary restraining orders against the U.S. Navy Veterans Association and its officers were asked for in Hamilton and Fairfield counties in an attempt to hold contributions that arrive during the current investigation.
Cordray ordered the USNVA to stop contacting Ohio residents for contributions last month after determining that the group's registration documents contained false and misleading information, including the names of association officers that didn't seem to exist.
"Our investigators have not been able to locate any of the Ohio officers of the USNVA, although, oddly enough, the organization's national counsel is based here," Cordray said. "Through the counsel, USNVA has advised us that it does not consider the order to be valid and that it does not have to comply with our order to cease and desist fundraising in Ohio."
Cordray also said he is troubled by the revelation that Bobby Thompson, the man orchestrating the alleged sham, had made political contributions throughout the U.S.
Attempts to locate Thompson have failed, Cordray said.