The Director of a national charity for veterans Roger Chapin has refused to testify before a Congressional Committee and has evaded attempts by the U.S. Marshall Service that is actively looking for him.Serious allegations have arisen against Chapin, head of the California based charity Help Hospitalized Veterans which raised more than $98 Million dollars in 2006 including the payment of exorbitant salaries to both him and his wife, using donations to pay for questionable expenses such as new condos, moving funds amongst several groups to skew reporting numbers, to concealing millions of dollars in payments for fund raising corporations. Henry Waxman, D-CA whose Congressional Committee is investigation the charity said, "...a disturbing number of groups are raising millions of dollars in the names of charity but keeping most of the donations for themselves...intolerable fraud...a sickening betrayal of our most fundamental values."
Roger Chapin a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont in 1990 he founded the the special G.I. Gift Pac Program which has distributed 880,000 gift packs to American Troops stationed in the Persian Gulf.
A successful real estate developer in San Diego County, Chapin is married, his wife Elizabeth and him have 4 children and 2 grandchildren.
Henry Waxman read a letter from former Sen. Robert Dole, R-KS which called groups such as the one in which Chapin is involved "parasites" Senator Dole wrote, "...I can not imagine anyone or any group, stooping so low to enrich themselves by exploiting veterans misery." Waxman's Committee will hold another Congressional Hearing on January 17 and has issued a new subpoena for Roger Chapin to appear.
