Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

SEATTLE — As a result of a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Bob Ferguson, 39 other attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), two national companies that made more than 1.7 million robocalls for sham charities into Washington state will pay $495,000 to help fund legitimate charities. One company has since gone out of business and today’s lawsuit requires another one to dissolve.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Secretary of State Kim Wyman warn Washingtonians looking to make charitable donations during the COVID-19 crisis to be wary of scams.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a lawsuit against non-profit organization Veterans Independent Enterprises of Washington (VIEW) and its operations manager, Rosemary Hibbler. Ferguson asserts Hibbler spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of the organization’s money for personal gain, including ATM withdrawals at casinos and her own personal bills. Meanwhile, VIEW failed to pay for repairs to veteran housing, wages to its veteran employees, and, at one point, laid off its entire staff and asked them to “volunteer” their labor.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that as a result of his lawsuit, a family who operated a group of sham charities are banned for life from all activity in the charity sector and must pay nearly $300,000 to the Attorney General’s Office. A judge previously ruled that the Haueters broke the law in multiple ways operating its charities.
SEATTLE — A King County Superior Court judge today ruled that the Haueter family used their four charities as an elaborate, deceptive scheme to solicit donations from Washingtonians for seemingly worthy causes, while pocketing much of the money for themselves. Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit in December 2017 asserting that the Haueters’ charities were a sham that the family used to enrich themselves by more than $1 million. 
Today, Pierce County Superior Court Judge Kathryn Nelson granted Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Spanaway-based Fallen Hero Bracelets, the Benjamin Foundation and other organizations run by Michael Friedmann. The injunction forces the organizations to cease operations until they register with the Secretary of State and provide financial reports for each year of their existence.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson joined Washington Secretary of Health John Wiesman today to announce that more than half a million dollars from the recovered assets of a bankrupt sham charity will fund breast cancer screenings for underinsured women, as donors originally intended.
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson today filed a lawsuit to shut down six fake nonprofit entities posing as well-known, international organizations created by Ian Richard Hosang, a former stockbroker who has ties to the mafia. The lawsuit alleges that Hosang could be using the nonprofits to cover up illegal activity.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a crackdown on three deceptive charities that claimed to benefit veterans. These organizations told potential donors that their donations would benefit veterans when, in fact, little to none of the money raised did.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a lawsuit against a Leavenworth man and his family for pocketing most of $1.5 million in donations that thousands of Washingtonians thought was going to disadvantaged children. Roy Bronsin Haueter’s family instead used most of the donations to pay themselves and go on family vacations.

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