Bill Hemby, Slut Breeder Along with His Slut Brothers

Just in, a piece about this slut. He is just like all his buddies, they are all cut from the same cloth. Evil, thy name is one or the other, Breeder or Nathan Winograd.

A local dog breeder and vocal opponent of spay-neuter legislation has been named in a lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. as part of a nationwide crackdown on fraudulent charities.

William Hemby, who raises Borzois and silken windhounds in Grass Valley, is under scrutiny for his involvement with Law Enforcement Apprenticeship Program Foundation (LEAP), for which he allegedly worked from 2004 to the present. He also is heavily involved in another organization facing a suit, California Organization of Police and Sheriffs (COPS), for which he serves as legislative director.

Contacted at home, Hemby said his attorney had advised him not to comment, as “this is a legal issue,” but he added LEAP has been inactive since 2006.

Hemby founded political action committee PetPac in 2007 to oppose spay-and-neuter legislation, raising more than $400,000 that year to defeat AB 1634. He drew attention with what his opponents charged were questionable lobbying tactics — printing posters opposing the bill as a “Pet Extinction Act” and alleging on television that the proposed spay rules were part of a campaign by PETA and other “extremist groups” to “eliminate all dogs and cats in California.”

He serves as PetPac's director and lobbyist and has been working to defeat SB 250, the Pet Responsibility Act. Proponents of SB 250 have been quick to publicize Hemby's recent legal woes, sending out a newsletter Aug. 16 that detailed his alleged shady financial dealings and the state lawsuits.

In May, Brown filed eight lawsuits against telemarketers and charities that allegedly “shamelessly exploited” people's generosity and squandered millions of dollars of donations intended to help police, firefighters and veterans.

The organizations raised millions of dollars, based on allegedly false claims that donors' contributions would benefit police, firefighters and veterans organizations, the lawsuits state.

But in most cases, 85 percent to 90 percent of donations are used to pay the fees of for-profit telemarketing firms.



LEAP
The Law Enforcement Apprenticeship Program, its directors and its for-profit fundraiser, Rambret Inc., are being sued in Los Angeles Superior Court for falsely promising contributors that their donations would be used to operate an apprenticeship program for at-risk youth.

The program never was operated and no students ever were enrolled in it, the suit alleges.

Instead, donations allegedly were used to pay for fundraising expenses, the personal expenses of the charity's directors and the purchase of a 30-foot sailboat.

The suit alleges in 2003, Law Enforcement Apprenticeship Program raised $529,863, but $31,501 — or 6 percent — was spent on its program services. In 2004, the organizations raised $372,623, but spent only $5,615 — 1.5 percent — on program services.

Hemby is listed in the lawsuit as a director of LEAP from 2004 to present, and the group is listed as operating out of Nevada County. He is named as a defendant in a charge of filing and distributing false and incomplete records, failing to disclose expenditures and preparing false returns.

He also is named as a defendant in charges that funds were illegally distributed, for failing to provide services, and failing to maintain adequate books and records.

“The suit is trying to dissolve the charity, which is a significant step taken in very rare instances,” said Scott Gerber of the state Attorney General's' Office. “It's also forward-looking — it's trying to prevent the directors from operating charities in future. It's also trying to prevent the telemarketer from soliciting funds until they comply with state law.”

Hemby ‘fully cooperated'

Though Hemby would not discuss the lawsuit, he pointed to a response on his PetPac Web site.

The Web page says the proponents of spay-and-neuter legislation have been attacking Hemby and calling him deceitful. The Web page goes on to allege that LEAP is a program that Hemby “used to do work for” that involved educational training for disadvantaged youth.

“Mr. Hemby had no involvement with the telemarketing operations ... and has fully cooperated with the Attorney General's office,” the page reads. “No judgment of wrongdoing has been rendered against Mr. Hemby. In fact, Mr. Hemby's actions have been and continue to be of the highest ethics.”

When questioned Tuesday about his involvement with LEAP, Hemby said he had been executive director of the organization for about two years.

“LEAP has been dormant since 2006,” he said. “We're trying to shut it down, actually, because there is no funding — we've had no funding for two years.”

Deputy Attorney General Tania Ibanez dismissed Hemby's claims.

“The bottom line is, he was involved from 2004 to 2006,” she said.

Ibanez confirmed Hemby has tried to dissolve LEAP in 2007, but explained that the group already was being investigated at that time.

“A lot of charities try to shut down pending investigation,” she said. “If you're under investigation, you can't dissolve the charity.”



COPS
San Bernardino-based California Organization of Police and Sheriffs is being sued in San Bernardino Superior Court for falsely representing that donations would be used to benefit law enforcement officers and that 100 percent of each donation would be received by the charity.

Donors allegedly were told that their contributions would be used to purchase bullet-proof vests, make grants to families of officers killed or injured in the line of duty, provide veterinary treatment for service animals injured in the line of duty and mentoring for at-risk youths.

Out of the $30 million raised from 2005 to 2007, more than $25 million was spent on fundraising. The suit alleges no money was spent on bullet-proof vests, no grants were made to families of officers, $6,600 was spent on veterinary treatment for service animals, and $16,500 was spent on mentoring.

According to the COPS Web site, Hemby has served as its legislative advocate for 23 years.

He is not specifically named as a defendant in the lawsuit, although the suit lists “Does,” or defendants who might be named later in an amended complaint.

“We're not going to comment on whether he will be a Doe,” Gerber said.

“I think we got the people we wanted,” Ibanez added. “But it's a possibility.”

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.