Man Held in Riot Charity Fraud Case : Investigation: City prosecutors say he mailed thousands of letters seeking donations for victims of unrest.

On the surface, Rodger Bolden’s idea to help rebuild Los Angeles after the riots appeared admirable.

Tugging at the heartstrings of the generous, Bolden sent thousands of letters seeking tax-deductible donations to an organization he set up to help riot victims in their time of need.

“The best part of a good person’s life is the little acts of kindness and love given to others,” read a small card that accompanied some of the 34,000 letters sent by the group, Express Aid of Beverly Hills.

But authorities say the organization was a fraud.

On Thursday, Barry A. Malcolm, 26, of Los Angeles--a.k.a. Rodger Bolden--surrendered to officials of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Pasadena on charges of deception and fraud in connection with the mass-mail appeals.

The case is the first fraud prosecution involving a purported riot-relief charity since Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn formed a special task force last month to combat consumer fraud in riot-scarred areas of the city.

Malcolm was being held in lieu of $10,000 bail, Deputy City Atty. Ellen Pais said. If convicted, he faces up to three years in jail and $7,500 in fines, she said.

The task force began investigating Malcolm last month after many people who received the letter contacted the city attorney’s office, suspicious that it was a scam, Pais said. “What we don’t know is how many people gave money and how much was collected,” she said.

The solicitation said that riot damage had been estimated at more than $500 million. “Many families and businesses were destroyed, many people were caught without adequate insurance and their lives may be ruined forever,” it read. “But you can help at this time of need with your tax-deductible donation of $10, $20, $40 or $100.”

Investigators said that the address used on the solicitation was actually a Beverly Hills commercial mail drop. The home address Malcolm provided to postal authorities was another such business in Hollywood, which had no record of Malcolm as a client, they said.

Before Thursday’s action, authorities had prosecuted about a dozen other cases of fraud, most involving stolen money orders, stemming from the riots, Pais said.

On Thursday, Michelle Woods, a 24-year-old Los Angeles woman, was sentenced to 25 days on a Caltrans work crew and three years’ probation after being convicted of passing a check stolen from a South Los Angeles convenience store during the riots.

Investigators said the check had been made out to an office supply company, where the woman had sought to purchase telephones and other equipment.

A co-defendant, who has yet to come to trial, is accused of illegally obtaining computer equipment from the same office supply house using another check issued by the convenience store, authorities said.

Last week, two city employees were convicted of conspiracy to commit forgery in connection with the cashing of a stolen money order. They each served two days in jail and were ordered to work 25 days with Caltrans cleaning up freeway debris, Pais said.

“This is the first (riot-related) charity scam we’ve seen,” Pais said, “and we expect, as more people become aware of the task force, we will learn about others that may be out there.”