Local fundraiser sentenced to four years for mail fraud

An Indianapolis man who operated two fundraising organizations that raised thousands of dollars under false pretenses has been sentenced to four years in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker sentenced Scott M. Gruber, 40, after he was convicted of two counts of mail fraud and one count of structuring to evade reporting requirements, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced Tuesday.

According to court papers, Gruber operated Independent Promotions and Reliant Event Management to solicit funds for local veteran’s charities. He hired individuals to falsely represent themselves as volunteers and often as veterans to solicit funds from patrons outside local retail outlets and Monument Circle.

The solicitors were instructed to tell would-be donors that 100 percent of the proceeds went to charities that support veterans.

From 2010 until 2012, Gruber and his associates collected more than $550,000 for the Purple Hearts Veterans Foundation and $575,000 for Service Connected Disabled Veterans of America.

Only 8 percent of the funds intended for PHVF made it to the charity and less than 1 percent, or $4,500, of the money raised for SDVA made it to any veteran.

The investigation found Gruber and his associates traveled to universities as far away as Florida to solicit funds. He instructed solicitors to falsely represent that they were college students competing for scholarships by soliciting for veteran’s charities. In reality, Gruber paid the solicitors 40 percent of their take.

“Our veterans have made enormous sacrifices to keep us all safe, and to steal money intended for their use is unthinkable,” Acting U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said in a written statement. “Besides being illegal, these actions are unpatriotic and will not be tolerated.”

Gruber also must pay $365,750 in restitution, payable to the American Red Cross, and serve three years of supervised release after his sentence at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division and the Indiana State Police.