COUNTYWIDE : Court Bars Group From Operating

The state obtained a preliminary injunction Tuesday against a fund-raising group that solicited money in Ventura County, a deputy attorney general said.

The injunction prevents American National Veterans from operating until it can produce financial statements and comply with other laws governing charitable organizations, Deputy Atty. Gen. Belinda Johns said.

The injunction was issued against the San Bernardino-based group in San Bernardino Superior Court. ANV has not operated since July 3, when the court issued a temporary restraining order against it.

In addition, the Riverside Police Department is working with the state Employment and Development Department in a criminal investigation of the group, Riverside Police Detective Ron Wright said.

Police, who have obtained numerous search warrants throughout Southern California, have made no arrests. But ANV is suspected of payroll tax evasion and conspiracy to commit grand theft by fraud, Wright said.

The preliminary injunction names four staff members. But state investigators think that the group used transients to staff the tables ANV set up in front of stores and post offices throughout Southern California, including in Camarillo, Oxnard and Ventura.

ANV called the solicitors independent contractors. But the state is maintaining that they were employees subject to payroll taxes, Johns said.

The group is also suspected of giving little, if any, of the money it raised to charity, Wright said.

ANV’s literature said the group “was established to aid the veterans who are sick, homeless, addicted to alcohol and drugs, physically disabled, providing referrals for housing, employment, job training.”

But the state has found no evidence that ANV provided any of those services, Johns said. State investigators believe that the group divided funds raised between the temporary workers and the staff.

State auditors have not found any bank accounts or financial records, Johns said. In addition, ANV allegedly misled contributors into thinking that the group had tax-exempt status, officials said.

The group came under scrutiny during the Persian Gulf War, Johns said.

“They had Operation Desert Storm stickers on their literature,” which implied that the group was connected to the war effort, she said. Many complaints about the group came from veterans.