Veterans charity founders face criminal charges in DuPage
Founders of a Lombard-based charity that pledged to help returning veterans get back on their feet are behind bars and charged with 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, have been charged with violating the state's Solicitation for Charity Act. They are expected to appear in bond court Friday morning.
Their arrests Thursday afternoon 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 that 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.
The network currently has a $50 per plate spaghetti dinner scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on June 1 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center hotel. The event was recently rescheduled from April 20.
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.
Wheaton Police Chief William Murphy said the department has received numerous complaints in reference to aggressive soliciting tactics, intimidation and concerns surrounding the legitimacy of the charity group as a not-for-profit organization.
"The Olshefskis are alleged to have been preying on the charitable nature of our community," Murphy said in a written statement. "The investigation uncovered information indicating the Olshefskis were abusing the community's trust by allegedly misusing charitable funds that were intended to help those in need. Our detectives did a thorough, exhaustive investigation to bring charges in this instance."
If convicted, each defendant faces three to seven years in prison.