A Longmont businessman who allegedly raised thousands of dollars for charities has been indicted for allegedly keeping the bulk of the money for himself.
The indictment accuses Mark L. Schifter, president of www.AV123 and Perpetual Technologies, of using his company’s website to post about 27 illegal charity raffles from 2004 through August.
The Colorado grand jury said Schifter, whose company sells audio and stereo equipment, would use emotional appeals on the website to lure the bloggers who posted comments on the forum area of AV123. Schifter claimed the money from the raffles would go to charities or people with serious illnesses.
Saying an expensive piece of audio equipment would be awarded to the raffle winner, Schifter enticed 707 to contribute more than $180,000.
Of that, said the grand jury, $29,500 of the money went to charitable causes.
Schifter didn’t obtain permission to use charities’ names, the grand jury alleged.
