DeWine
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced on Friday that he is urging any former PJG Enterprises employees or anyone familiar with the charities the company represented to contact his office's Charitable Law Section.
Earlier this month, DeWine's office extended a temporary restraining order in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court against PJG Enterprises and Paul Grossi. PJG Enterprises allegedly raised money for The American Veterans Foundations and The American Breast Cancer Federation.
DeWine's office alleged that the address claimed for the two charitable organizations was a house in Youngstown that was the same residential address claimed by officers of the two charities and Grossi.
Many of the bank accounts connected with the business and the charities have been frozen and the action of the court requires the charities to stop soliciting activities until the preliminary injunction hearing on July 27.
"Donors need to have assurances about who is soliciting money from them and where it's going," DeWine said. "If you're concerned about this company, or anyone who calls to ask you for money, please call my office for information or to file a complaint."
In New Jersey, PJG Enterprises and Grossi received a temporary restraining order for similar alleged violations of charitable law. Grossi was charged in Girard Municipal Court with intimidation of a crime victim and solicitation after a complaint was filed by an employee of PJG Enterprises and looked into by the Girard Police Department.
Professional solicitors are paid by charities to solicit on their behalf. The solicitor must give basic information about the charity, its location, their own name, their status as a professional solicitor and, if requested, the percentage of gross revenue that the charity will retain.