Ohio Settles Lawsuit Accusing Group Of Stealing From Veterans

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has settled a lawsuit accusing an organization of stealing money intended to help wounded veterans.

Healing Heroes, based in Florida, was being sued by 11 states. The multistate lawsuit claimed the group solicited donations to aid veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but instead pocketed the money.

“Ohioans always answer the call when our veterans need help and thought they were doing so here,” Yost said. “But this wasn’t a charity. It was disgraceful sham and we shut it down.”

The investigation included a related entity, Hero Giveaways LLC—a business formed by Stacey Spiegel and Neal Spiegel that engaged in deceptive charitable solicitations, including misleading sweepstakes mailers and a telemarketing campaign, the attorneys general said.

The multistate investigation revealed that the organizations falsely promised to use $95,000 in donations to help wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan receive medical treatments.

In 2016 and 2017, the charity also falsely claimed on social media that it dedicated 100 percent of its proceeds to wounded veterans, the attorneys general said. The investigation found that very little of the charitable contributions given to the Healing Heroes Network were actually used to help wounded veterans.

Instead, donations were used to pay professional fundraisers, online advertising fees, the salaries of Stacey Spiegel and son, Neal Spiegel, and to purchase T-shirts from a relative's apparel business.

Over time, Yost's office said, Ohioans donated more than $500,000 to Healing Heroes.

The stipulated judgment approved by the Pinellas Circuit Court requires Healing Heroes Network and Hero Giveaways to permanently cease all charitable solicitations. The Spiegels have also agreed to pay $95,000, which will be distributed to a veterans charity that provides services that the Healing Heroes Network promised to provide. The Spiegels are also subject to a five-year ban from overseeing, managing or soliciting charitable contributions for any nonprofit organization.

In addition to Ohio, state attorneys in California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia and Washington joined the action against the bogus Healing Heroes Network.