An Illinois man stole the donor list of a national veterans charity and used it to fraudulently solicit funds for a copycat charity he created, the state attorney general's office said yesterday.
John Chamboullides of Du Page County, IL, a suburb of Chicago, kept the money he solicited for his organizations, the Naperville Vietnam Veterans Not For Profit Foundation and the Naperville Vietnam Veterans Coalition Foundation, the attorney general's office said. He shut down Naperville Vietnam Veterans Not For Profit Foundation in October and began the other foundation in September.
The state accused Chamboullides of copying the National Vietnam Veterans organization's name and using nearly identical solicitation materials. The tactics, in addition to the stolen donor list he obtained while working as a professional fundraiser for National Vietnam Veterans, confused consumers into making donations, according to the attorney general.
In December, a state judge issued a restraining order to halt Chamboullides' solicitation activities, the attorney general's office said. The case is pending in Cook County Court in Chicago.
A search of phone directories revealed no published numbers for Chamboullides in the Chicago area.
