Lombard couple plead not guilty to bilking veterans charity they founded
Founders of a Lombard-based charity that pledged to help returning veterans get back on their feet pleaded not guilty, in separate hearings Wednesday, to misusing more than $10,000 of those funds.
Priscilla Olshefski, 60, and her husband, Todd Olshefski, 50, who live at a hotel on the 200 block of East 22nd Street in Lombard, were charged with violating the state's Solicitation for Charity Act. They have been held on $10,000 bail since their May 2 arrest.
Their arrests came about six weeks after Attorney General Kwame Raoul filed a lawsuit against the Veterans Christian Network alleging similar thefts, and 10 months after Wheaton police officers opened their investigation.
The couple created the Veterans Christian Network Inc. in March 2018 and failed to register with the attorney general's office, as required by law. They also failed to file the statutorily required reports accounting for the organization's charitable activities, according to the lawsuit.
An investigation by Raoul's office found it was unclear whether any of the $28,000 collected and deposited into an organizational bank account controlled by the Olshefskis was used for programs benefiting veterans.
Despite the couple's incarceration, the organization's website continues to advertise and sell tickets for a $50-per-plate spaghetti dinner scheduled for 4:30 p.m. June 1 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center hotel. However, hotel officials, reached on Wednesday, said they are unable to find the event on their planning calendars.
The Olshefskis said at the time the lawsuit was filed that they have helped veterans with vehicle and medical expenses and were on the verge of launching a "Tiny Homes Community Project" to give homeless veterans and their families a place to live.
If convicted, each defendant faces three to seven years in prison.