Mo. AG files suit over post-tornado scams

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is filing suit over two alleged fundraising scams involving the Joplin tornado.

Koster said Thursday that his lawsuits will target a Puerto Rico-based group called the Alivio Foundation and Georgia resident Steve Blood, who runs an Internet radio business.

The attorney general says Alivio Foundation solicited donations for Joplin tornado victims by claiming the money would go to a Catholic church and charity. But he says the Catholic entities have never heard of the foundation nor received any money.

Koster says the Georgia man claims to help tornado victims by selling T-shirts and setting up benefit concerts. But Koster says the man has instead used the money for his own expenses.

Neither the Alivio Foundation nor Blood immediately returned messages left by The Associated Press.