EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a lawsuit against a fraudulent charity that claimed to be raising funds for East Palestine residents affected by the Norfolk Southern train derailment. The lawsuit alleges that Mike Peppel, the man behind the so-called Ohio Clean Water Fund, falsely presented his organization as a nonprofit working with Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to provide emergency aid and bottled water.
According to the lawsuit, Peppel and his accomplices pocketed at least $131,000 of the approximately $141,000 raised from over 3,000 donors. Yost expressed his outrage, stating, “The idea that somebody would so brazenly exploit a disaster situation and the good hearts of people who want to help is unconscionable. I’m mad as hell about this, and we’re going to make sure this sham charity gets shut down.”
Second Harvest Food Bank representatives lodged a complaint with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, claiming they never authorized the partnership Peppel cited while soliciting donations through mass emails and text messages. In response, Yost is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt Peppel’s illegal activities, prohibit further charitable solicitations, and preserve existing charitable assets.
Peppel, who was confronted twice by Second Harvest Food Bank to cease advertising the non-existent partnership, has only paid $10,000 to the food bank thus far, a mere 7% of the admitted funds raised. Yost warned others contemplating similar schemes, saying, “Here’s a message for anybody else who might hope to profit from the situation in East Palestine: Don’t even think about it.”
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, through its Charitable Law Section, is responsible for protecting and regulating the charitable sector by investigating the misuse of charitable funds and monitoring charity registrations. AG Yost encourages donors to research charities before making contributions and follow guidelines provided by his office to ensure their money goes to reputable organizations.
