CINCINNATI — The U.S. Department of Justice is sending out emails from their Victim Notification System to people who purchased raffle tickets or made donations to the non-profit Providing Hope VA (PHVA).
Within the email the DOJ says PHVA’s owner James Arehart is charged with two counts of mail fraud and wire fraud. In addition, Arehart faces two counts of monetary transaction with property derived from specified unlawful activity, and one count of false statements.
The non-profit’s website says, “Providing Hope’s mission will always be to help our nation’s struggling veterans, in any capacity we’re able to.”
Facebook posts on PHVA’s page appear to show their non-profit services at work. In addition, to videos from their live auctions and giveaway events where they award prizes.
PHVA hosts raffles for big prizes from luxury cars and high-end trucks to motorcycles and cash.
On June 8, 2019, PHVA held a raffle for a Polaris Slingshot. Cincinnati’s Greg Sutter won the prize and tells WCPO 9 he was awarded the prize with all taxes paid during an event at an American Legion post in the Dayton area.
In the email and the indictment, the Department of Justice says the non-profit generated more than $9 million in cash flow that went through a bank account under PHVA wherein Arehart was the sole person on the account. The DOJ also alleges Arehart was the sole member of the non-profit’s board of directors.
The indictment says Arehart misrepresented everything from his salary and compensation to how the money was spent. The documents say in December 2021, Arehart proposed and approved a compensation package for himself which included a base salary of $425,000 and quarterly bonuses, which brought his annual compensation to at least $525,000. The indictment says Arehart spent money on his personal veterinary bills and spent $360,000 to renovate a personal property he was leasing to the non-profit for $4,000 per month.
WCPO 9 reached out to Arehart via telephone and the PHVA website contact form to get his side of the story. At the time and date this story was published we had not heard back from him or a representative.
The DOJ says they will seek full restitution for victims of the non-profit but there are no guarantees.
The email from the DOJ says Arehart is not in custody but does have a trial date set in February.
Providing Hope VA Indictment by WCPO 9 News on Scribd
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