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Fund-raiser faces fraud charges A former fund-raiser was arrested by the FBI in Medford Tuesday and hauled into federal court on charges he defrauded Portland-area banks of more than $80,000. Dale Hardy Jones, 32, did not enter a plea during a brief appearance Tuesday afternoon before federal magistrate John P. Cooney in Medford. He was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on 27 counts of bank fraud. The indictment stems from allegations that Jones, while living in the Portland area from 1993 to 1998, continued to solicit money for two charities long after they became defunct; and also that he stole identification and mail from donors. One of the charities, American Veteran�s Corporate Center, was shut down by Oregon authorities in 1994 and then by authorities in Washington in 1996, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kent Robinson. The other charity, Helping Hands for Citizens, let its registration in Washington lapse in 1997, Robinson said. Jones also assumed the identities of senior citizens he contacted as a fund-raiser, rerouted their mail and stole checks from them for the purpose of forgery, Robinson said. The indictment specifically alleges Jones fraudulently obtained a Washington identity card in the name of Raymond V. Shuster and opened accounts in that name at various banks in Vancouver, Wash. Moreover, the indictment alleges Jones used those accounts to write more than $80,000 in bad checks, in the process mingling more bad checks between accounts in the names of the charities. Robinson said Jones moved to Medford in September or October of 1998 � after the offenses alleged in the indictment. In addition to the arrest, the FBI served search warrants at Jones� home as well as his place of employment, which Robinson identified as Celena�s Grill, 908 Chevy Way. Robinson did not identify where Jones lived. He said the FBI raided Celena�s Grill, located off Biddle Road near the Medford airport, as part of an effort to "trace proceeds" from the bank accounts. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.