The Ohio Cops for Kids charity bilked thousands of donors out of $4.2 million while the charity spent less than 2 percent of its money on actual charitable donations, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the Ohio Attorney General.

Attorney General Mike DeWine called the Ashtabula-based program a "sham" operation. Its two organizers, Thomas Duffy and Charles Hitzel, along with Telcom Enterprises of Ohio, the telemarketing company the charity used to solicit donations, are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

We believe Cops for Kids is a sham operation that has defrauded Ohioans out of millions of dollars while performing almost no legitimate charitable work.

The charity, which was founded in 2004, has no affiliation with any law enforcement agencies. It is also not affiliated with other charities with similar names, including the Cleveland Cops for Kids program, according to Cleveland Police Foundation Director of Development and Programming Angela Bennet.

DeWine said that they will refer their investigation to county prosecutors, but that he doesn't believe there is a strong enough criminal case to pursue charges. He said his office filed the lawsuit because the charity misled donors and grossly misspent donations. The lawsuit is filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Read the full article on Ohio Cops for Kids by Adam Ferrise at Cleveland