LEAVENWORTH, Wash. - 'Tis the season for giving, but the state attorney general says a charity website run by a local family is nothing but a scam. The charities have names like the "Cancer Exam Network" or the "Children's Hospital Emergency Fund."

State investigators say they are based in Leavenworth but they have been ripping off people and they are bogus.

The names pull at the heartstrings. "Children's Hospital Emergency Fund." The "Children's Safety Bureau." The "Needy Children's Shopping Spree for LOCAL children in dire need!"

"Look, I'm a parent of 10-year-old twins, right?" said state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. For him, it almost feels personal. "Folks want to help out kids in their community who are struggling."

However, he contends that desire to help is being exploited by these charities, which were created by a Leavenworth couple and their adult children.

State investigators say Roy and Billee Haueter and their family lure donors by making it appear their money is staying in their community.

They allegedly set up post offices boxes near where the donors they are targeting live. Whether you live in Seattle or Tacoma or in Everett or anywhere in this state, you could send your money to a local post office box.

Ferguson says they had just one goal:

"To make it look like the money was going to your local community, and it was not."

Donors have been generous. Tax returns for the Children's Safety Bureau, one of the charities investigators traced back to the Haueters, show from 2010 through 2015, the charity reported taking in $1 million. However, the charity also told the IRS they had nearly $860,000 "functional expenses." That's more than 90 percent of what they brought in.

"And really where that money went was to help the Haueters themselves," said Ferguson. "Pay for their vacations, pay for their personal needs."

Ferguson says they have evidence of that

"Oh yeah," he said. "We wouldn't bring a case unless we were confident we would prevail."

Indeed, Ferguson sued the Haueters late last year. He accuses them of using the charities to steal money from unsuspecting donors in this state and in Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California and Alaska, too.

This is not a new problem.

In 1983, the Spokane Spokesman-Review ran a series of critical articles about a charity, the "Disabled American Veterans Christmas Basket Fund." The newspaper was sued.

A search of court records uncovered an appeal filed by Roy Haueter, who identified himself as president of Spokane Passport, which ran the disabled vets' charity. Haueter contended Passport had been hired to raise funds for various Spokane-area charities. A former employee said Haueter was keeping 90 percent of the money raised, so he quit.

Twenty-five years later, Haueter was fighting still more allegations of fraud, this time in Montana. In a letter to the editor in 2008, Haueter thanked "the Helena Community for 20 years of faithful support. Yes," he wrote, "Search and Rescue charities is a legitimate nonprofit organization. No, our project is not a scam." He decried the charity being given a black eye.

Now 10 more years have passed, and the allegations continue.

"It's complicated," said Ferguson. "But one reason my team and I think it's hard to hold these folks accountable or folks like them is when you make a donation to what you think is a charity, no one ever writes back to you to say, 'Hey, 65 percent of your money actually went to the charity,' right? You don't know where that money goes."

"They'll change names, they'll reappear," said David Quinlan, with the Better Business Bureau.

Quinlan says illegitimate charities work hard to keep the authorities at bay.

"It really goes back to the consumer," he said. "They have to do their due diligence. They have to do their own homework, their own research before donating or giving money."

That can be difficult. We went to two properties in Puyallup listed in the Haueters' names, one in the Sterling Ridge neighborhood and the other in the gated community of Wisteria.

But both houses are in foreclosure, and an attorney for the Haueters never responded to our request to interview them.

However, the lawsuit is already making its mark.

A judge ordered the Haueters to cease their charity operation for now, and the state is seeking a summary judgment.

A judge has scheduled a hearing on that motion for Thursday, Nov. 30th

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/leavenworth-family-accused-running-a-charity-scam/876772051