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Charity Event
Organizer Busted

A man in charge of organizing a Halloween bash
in Sarasota, Florida, has been arrested for
defrauding a Bradenton woman out of
a $12,000 credit card charge.

Above, Joshua S. Unger

SARASOTA, Florida [NMT] -- Sarasota Police Detectives have arrested Joshua S. Unger, 35, of 131 Ogden Street, in Sarasota. Detectives say in addition to organizing a charity event, he also organized a scheme to defraud Bonnie McMullen, of Bradenton, out of a $12,000 charge on her American Express credit card.

On April 30, 2009, Bonnie McMullen filed a complaint with the Sarasota Police Department regarding a $12,000 fraudulent credit card transaction that occurred on October 24, 2008, at a Halloween fundraiser for Rob's Rescue called Hallowkey.

Rob's Rescue is a Sarasota charity that raises money for the needs of families of children with cancer at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rob's Rescue came into being when Rob Hauss, just 18 years old, died of leukemia in 2003. Hallowkey was an event to raise funds for that mission.

Bonnie McMullen was a volunteer for the event. She had known Joshua Unger from other events with which she had been involved. She was in charge of collecting donations for the Hallokey event, which was to be put on in a 12,000-foot warehouse called "The Binz" in Sarasota. It was to be a gala event and lots of fun.

Joshua Unger was the organizer for the event. On the afternoon of the event, Unger went to Bonnie McMullen and said he needed a credit card that had at least $4,000 availability on it. He told Bonnie that the card would only be used to ensure that the folks from the lighting and stage crew would show up and do the event. He said no charges would be put on the card. There was a witness to that conversation who would later tell detectives that was, in fact, what happened.

Then, in November, a charge of $12,000 showed up on Bonnie McMullen's American Express card of which she was totally unaware. She immediately contacted American Express and disputed the charge, saying she knew nothing about it. Bonnie was then contacted by Tony Casler from Action Promo and Events and Soundwave. Casler told her that he had asked for her when he arrived at the Hallowkey event, but Unger told him he didn't need to see her and he signed off on both the receipt and invoice. Unger had used Bonnie's credit card to pay for a deposit for the lighting and stage crew.

On May 5, 2009, detectives contacted Casler who told them he had been pressing Unger for a deposit since early October and that Unger had finally provided a credit card number (Bonnie's credit card) late on the day of the event.

On May 13, 2009, detectives met with Casler in Tampa. He was shown a photo lineup that included a picture of Unger. Casler immediately pointed to Unger and said Unger was the person who signed the credit card receipt and invoice.

Unger was arrested on June 12, 2009, and charged with Scheme to Defraud Under $20,000, a felony. He bonded out of the Sarasota County Jail on a $2,000 bail bond. He is set to appear in a Sarasota County courtroom on July 10, 2009.

Unger is no stranger to law enforcement and courtrooms. If anyone had bothered to check court records, perhaps as a background check on Unger, they would have discovered he has been arrested three times in the past for Fraud because of Insufficient Funds in a checking account. Not that it matters much, but he had also been arrested 5 times for Expired Vehicle Registration and once for No Driver License since 2002.

It's not known as of this report whether Bonnie McMullen ever got or ever will get her money back.

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