The manager of the 2020 campaign that launched the far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress has been ordered to pay $25,000 for his role in a charity scam aimed at capitalizing on the East Palestine train crash.
Isaiah Wartman and his business partner Luke Mahoney must each pay $22,000 in restitution as well as $3,000 in investigative costs and fees as part of a settlement with the Ohio attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case. Meanwhile, the settlement calls for a co-founder of the fake charity, Michael Peppel, to pay a $25,000 civil penalty and be banned from starting, running or soliciting for any charitable organization in the state.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The manager of the 2020 campaign that launched the far-right politician Marjorie Taylor Greene to Congress has been ordered to pay $25,000 for his role in a charity scam aimed at capitalizing on the East Palestine train crash.
Isaiah Wartman and his business partner Luke Mahoney must each pay $22,000 in restitution as well as $3,000 in investigative costs and fees as part of a settlement with the Ohio attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case.
Meanwhile, the settlement calls for a co-founder of the fake charity, Michael Peppel, to pay a $25,000 civil penalty and be banned from starting, running or soliciting for any charitable organization in the state.
The settlement, announced on Thursday, stems from the men’s involvement with the fraudulent Ohio Clean Fund, which sought donations for victims of February’s East Palestine train derailment.
Peppel previously worked as an aide to state and federal Republican lawmakers in Ohio, including the congressman Bill Johnson.
An attorney representing WAMA Strategies told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that Wartman and Mahoney were victims of fraud by Peppel but did not comment on whether they were pursuing legal action against him.
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