In what the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley is calling a “resounding victory against fraudulent activities,” it announced Friday the recovery of $138,982 resulting from the Ohio Clean Water Fund scam in East Palestine.

The funds were reclaimed after an investigation and legal measures to combat the illicit practices of the fraudulent charity and donated back to the food bank, according to a food bank release.

The Ohio Clean Water Fund, led by Mike Peppel, claimed they would use the money to offer emergency aid and bottled water via the food bank. However, an investigation revealed that Peppel and his associates diverted at least $131,000 of the $141,000 raised from more 3,000 donors for personal gains, the release states.

The food bank brought the matter to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Office, which filed a lawsuit that was settled.

“I extend my sincerest praise and gratitude to Second Harvest for their diligent support in identifying and shutting down the Ohio Clean Water Fund,” Yost said in a statement. “The fraudulent charity shamelessly exploited the food bank’s name and reputation, taking advantage of Ohioans’ generosity in the wake of an environmental disaster.”

Yost’s office began investigating the Ohio Clean Water Fund, Peppel and the organization’s fundraiser after a complaint from Second Harvest officials, who said they had never given the fund permission to raise money in the food bank’s name.

The investigation found the phony charity had been soliciting monetary donations for bottled water for East Palestine residents via text messages after the Feb. 3 train derailment and that it had collected more than $141,000 from donors nationwide.

Only after the food bank complained did Peppel agree to pay $10,000 to the food bank, a fraction of what had been collected, Yost’s office stated in a previous news release in August.

He announced the lawsuit settlement in June with the fund and one of its board members, Patrick Lee.

The settlement required the fund to dissolve and to pay $116,904 in restitution to the food bank and a $15,000 civil penalty.

After that settlement, a court-mandated review of group’s bank records, invoices, payment records and other financial documents showed the phony charity and its fundraiser actually had raised nearly $149,000 — and that OCWF used WAMA Strategies as its main fundraiser.

Under settlement with Peppel and WAMA:

l Peppel must pay a $25,000 civil penalty and is banned permanently from incorporating, operating or soliciting for any charity in Ohio.

l WAMA and its owners, Isaiah Wartman and Luke Mahoney, must pay $22,077 in restitution to Second Harvest, allowing the attorney general to distribute to the food bank 100 percent of the donations raised in its name.

l WAMA and its owners also must pay $3,000 in investigative costs and fees to the attorney general’s office.

l WAMA is prohibited for four years from soliciting for a charity in Ohio, and Mahoney is prohibited for four years from incorporating, operating or soliciting for a charity in Ohio.