Vets group under investigation in Hawaii, too - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Vets group under investigation in Hawaii, too

HONOLULU — A group that claims to represent Navy veterans is under investigation in Hawaii over whether it made up the names of chapter officials and deceived the public with its fundraising.

The United States Navy Veterans Association is being investigated for its fundraising activities in several states, including New Mexico, Florida, Missouri and Hawaii.

At issue is whether money raised by the group was misappropriated to former director and Chief Financial Officer Bobby Thompson, the only one of 85 people listed as board members of the organization who could be located, the St. Petersburg Times in Florida reported.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones said the organization isn’t cooperating with the state’s requests for contact information of three people listed as Hawaii chapter commander, lieutenant commander and chief financial officer of Navy Veterans. Their names are listed as John Kimura, Ed Kinimaka and Pat Timmerman.

“Whether these people really exist or not, I can’t tell you at the moment. I wish I could,” Jones said. “I’ve asked them (Navy Veterans) for their contact information and they’ve refused to provide it, which certainly causes me to be suspicious.”

The group’s attorney Helen Mac Murray couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.

Navy Veterans wrote in a June 2 letter it had closed a contribution mailbox in downtown Honolulu at the end of 2009, Jones said. That letter followed a cease-and-desist order for solicitation in Hawaii that the Attorney General’s Office said was continuing through its website.

Jones said Mac Murray maintains that the Hawaii Attorney General’s Office no longer has jurisdiction because the nonprofit organization no longer solicits funds in Hawaii.

“They said they had a Hawaii chapter on the registration form that was filed with our office, and if that chapter was really fictional, that is, I think, a deceptive trade practice,” Jones said.

The group had revenues of $5.9 million nationally in 2009 and expenses of slightly less than that amount, according to tax forms by Navy Veterans.

In Hawaii, the group’s website says it raised $122,000 between June 1, 2008, and May 31, 2009. Spending reached $103,000 for “mission statement” activities, including the support of “education communication for policies and public support enhancing the cause of the United States of America.”

The Navy Veterans website said it gave $10,000 each to the USS Arizona Memorial and National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. Both of those contributions were confirmed.

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