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California Attorney General sues veterans charity

A veterans charity that has collected donations in Arizona is now getting sued by the California Attorney General.

PHOENIX - A veterans charity that has collected donations in Arizona is now getting sued by the California Attorney General.

The lawsuit claims the operators of the Wounded Warriors Support Group run raffles, saying the donations go to veterans, but instead spend proceeds on personal items. The Wounded Warrior Support Group sold raffle tickets for a Shelby GT 350 Mustang in the Valley within the last year.

Kelly Augustine saw the car at the Chandler Fashion Center.

"Me being a car guy, I was very interested in what was going on," Augustine told 12 News.

Last year, Augustine bought two tickets for $10 each. The tickets said Wounded Warrior Support Group and he thought the donations were going to help injured veterans.

"It sounded legit at the time," he said.

But a Call 12 For Action investigation found that in April 2017, the California Attorney General's office filed a 26-page lawsuit against the Wounded Warrior Support Group and a veteran's equine charity it's connected to.

In a news release, the Attorney General said, "There is no place for sham charities that claim to support our veterans when in reality they’re lining their own pockets."

"I was pretty upset," Augustine said, when he saw the lawsuit. "To me, it became obvious they were taken advantage of people's compassion and sympathy for our wounded veterans."

The lawsuit said in 2014 the Wounded Warrior Support Group collected $381,416 in donations, but distributed just $93,855 to the equine charity. That's less than 25 percent. The numbers were similar in 2015, where the lawsuit said, "None of the charitable donations...were used for a therapeutic equestrian program or to support injured veterans."

Instead, the lawsuit said the money went to the organizers' credit card debt, traffic school, Victoria's Secret and a number of other retail stores.

Matthew Gregory, one of the defendants in the lawsuit talked with 12 News on the phone. He said he was limited in what he could talk about because of a gag order, but said the Wounded Warrior Support Group is innocent of the charges in the lawsuit and is fighting them.

Gregory said the Attorney General's lawsuit is the result of a "shotty" investigation. He denied spending donations meant for veterans on personal expenses, including credit card debt and retail stores.

Gregory also said California wouldn't let the charity raffle tickets off online, resulting in increased overhead costs for things such as travel to sell raffle tickets in-person. He said he traveled on a budget and at one point didn't take a hot shower for five months.

As for the Mustang raffle tickets that Augustine and others bought in the Valley, Gregory said he doesn't know if the car will be given away or the money refunded. He said that's up to the California Attorney General.

"It sounds very suspicious and doesn't sound legitimate anymore, for sure," said Kelly Augustine.

Now Augustine and others who bought tickets will have to wait and see if they, or anyone, will win the car, or if veterans will get the donations intended for them.

Read more about the California Attorney General's lawsuit here.

If you have a consumer issue, file a complaint with Call 12 For Action here.

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