ST. LOUIS - A Missouri court has ordered a director of a charity that falsely claimed to raise money for spinal cord research to pay $5,000 restitution.
A judge also banned Mary Bolling from serving as director for non-profit organizations in Missouri and from participating in fundraising operations like raffles, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Gateway to a Cure arranged raffles of big-ticket items like cars and houses, telling buyers the money raised would go for research. Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon said ticket buyers were also told, falsely, the purchase price of the tickets was tax deductible.
Lou Sengheiser, who founded the charity, killed himself in November during jury deliberations in a criminal case.
Sengheiser allegedly used money from Gateway to pay personal living expenses.
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