A Naperville man who may have conned about 500 local residents into donating money to bogus Vietnam Veterans groups may have fled the area.

Melissa Merz, spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, said Thursday that investigators with the attorney general's office believe John C. Chamboullides, who was linked to organizations called the Naperville Vietnam Veterans Coalition Foundation and the Naperville Vietnam Veterans Not For Profit Foundation, may now be in southern California.

Madigan's office has filed a lawsuit against Chamboullides for allegedly soliciting and collecting donations on behalf of local veterans and then pocketing the money for his personal use.

"Most of the people who Mr. Chamboullides targeted were elderly women," Merz said. "People who may have been married to World War II veterans or knew veterans so he took advantage of people who may have wanted to assist other veterans."

Merz said the attorney general's office was notified of the scam by the National Vietnam Veterans organization, which had been receiving calls from individuals who had made contributions to Chamboullides' groups. Chamboullides was not authorized to solicit on behalf of the national organization but used solicitation materials that looked very similar to those used by the legitimate Vietnam veterans organization.

"We believe as many as 500 people may have made contributions to Chamboullides with donations averaging about $50 each," Merz said.

Merz said investigators with the attorney general's office have been searching for Chamboullides and learned he may have fled to California, possibly Los Angeles.

Investigations by Madigan's office found Chamboullides may have stolen a donor's list from a legitimate national veteran's nonprofit foundation and created his own organization similar in name to a real organization to confuse possible donors.

Madigan obtained a temporary restraining order to stop Chamboullides from seeking further contributions. Apparently, Chamboullides had collected contributions between July 2002 and September 2003, on the claim that he would use the funds to assist local veterans.

Money collected by Chamboullides allegedly was deposited into personal bank accounts.

In October, Chamboullides voluntarily dissolved the Naperville Vietnam Veterans Not For Profit Foundation, Madigan said in a statement. The group was never reinstated or reincorporated, but Chamboullides continued to solicit contributions under the group's name.

In December, Cook County Judge Donald O'Brien granted a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting Chamboullides from collecting any additional money on behalf of any charitable organization.

Anyone who made a contribution to Chamboullides or any of the groups he was associated with is asked to call Chaka Patterson or David Cole, both investigators with the Illinois attorney general's office, at (312) 814-3000.

01/09/04