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AG Yost sues sham charity for illegally pocketing donations intended for aiding East Palestine

By Staff report Mahoning Matters
In this image captured from video, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost welcomes Youngstown students into the Do the Write Thing program.
In this image captured from video, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost welcomes Youngstown students into the Do the Write Thing program. (Ohio Attorney General | YouTube)

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a reported phony charity that falsely claimed to be collecting donations to benefit residents of East Palestine following the Norfolk Southern train derailment.

What Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s lawsuit alleges

Yost’s lawsuit alleges that Mike Peppel, in soliciting contributions, presented his Ohio Clean Water Fund as a nonprofit organization acting on behalf of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley to provide residents with emergency aid and bottled water.

Instead, the suit claims Peppel and others have pocketed at least $131,000 of the roughly $141,000 raised from more than 3,000 donors.

“The idea that somebody would so brazenly exploit a disaster situation and the good hearts of people who want to help is unconscionable,” Yost said. “I’m mad as hell about this, and we’re going to make sure this sham charity gets shut down.”

Hear from the AG:“We’re fighting for the residents of East Palestine…”

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