BishopAccountability.org
	" Defendants Owe over $25,000" Kern County DA Sues Group of Web Sites Using " Catholic" in Their Names California Catholic Daily May 25, 2008 http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=5f0adf27-7f87-4b9a-b87a-ff9e41e825c4 A California-based online service offering Catholic news, money transfers for church-related organizations and other services through various Internet web sites has been sued by the Kern County district attorney for allegedly engaging in "unlawful and unfair business practices." Named in the complaint for civil penalties and injunctive relief filed in Kern County Superior Court by District Attorney Edward Jagels are Catholic Online, Catholic Financial Services, Your Catholic Voice Inc. and Your Catholic Voice Foundation Inc., along with owner Michael Galloway. All of the businesses are operated out of Bakersfield. According to the June 29, 2007 civil complaint, which has yet to go to trial, Galloway "has made false representations to the public" via the following web sites: www.catholicfs.org, www.yourcatholicvoice.org, www.ycvf.org and www.catholic.org. "The People are informed and believe and thereon allege that defendant Michael Galloway has encountered financial difficulties within the past four years that have caused him to divert funds that were solicited through the aforementioned websites, and has used those funds for purposes other than those for which they were solicited of contributed," the lawsuit states. According to the complaint, the defendants "falsely represent through their collective websites that they collect funds on behalf of Catholic charities, ministries and assistance programs and that the defendants will serve as a conduit for the public to donate monies to those charities, ministries and programs." The lawsuit further alleges that "the defendants owe over $25,000 to various organizations that have attempted to utilize the defendants' online donation processing system," and that "Michael Galloway has made false, fraudulent, deceptive and misleading statements to explain non-payments." The suit seeks damages of least half and million dollars in civil penalties for alleged violations of various provisions of the California Business and Professions Code, as well as an injunction prohibiting the defendants from engaging in any further alleged violations.
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