Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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225 ILCS 460/9

(225 ILCS 460/9) (from Ch. 23, par. 5109)

Sec. 9.

(a) An action for violation of this Act may be prosecuted by the
Attorney General in the name of the people of the State, and in any such
action, the Attorney General shall exercise all the powers and perform all
duties which the State's Attorney would otherwise be authorized to exercise
or to perform therein.

(b) This Act shall not be construed to limit or restrict the exercise of
the powers or the performance of the duties of the Attorney General which
he otherwise is authorized to exercise or perform under any other provision
of law by statute or otherwise.

(c) Whenever the Attorney General shall have reason to believe that any
charitable organization, professional fund raiser, or professional
solicitor is operating in violation of the provisions of this Act, or if
any of the principal officers of any charitable organization has refused or
failed, after notice, to produce any records of such organization or there
is employed or is about to be employed in any solicitation or collection of
contributions for a charitable organization any device, scheme, or artifice
to defraud or for obtaining money or property by means of any false
pretense, representation or promise, or any false statement has been made
in any application, registration or statement required to be filed pursuant
to this Act, in addition to any other action authorized by law, he may
bring in the circuit court an action in the name, and on behalf of the
people of the State of Illinois against such charitable organization and
any other person who has participated or is about to participate in such
solicitation or collection by employing such device, scheme, artifice,
false representation or promise, to enjoin such charitable organization or
other person from continuing such solicitation or collection or engaging
therein or doing any acts in furtherance thereof, or to cancel any
registration statement previously filed with the Attorney General.

In connection with such proposed action the Attorney General is
authorized to take proof in the manner provided in Section 2-1003
of the  Code of Civil Procedure.

(d) Upon a showing by the Attorney General in an application for an
injunction that any person engaged in the solicitation or collection of
funds for charitable purposes, either as an individual or as a member of a
copartnership, or as an officer of a corporation or as an agent for some
other person, or copartnership or corporation, has been convicted in this
State or elsewhere of a felony or of a misdemeanor where such felony or
misdemeanor involved the misappropriation, misapplication or misuse of the
money or property of another, he may enjoin such persons from engaging in
any solicitation or collection of funds for charitable purposes.

(e) The Attorney General may exercise the authority granted in this
Section against any charitable organization or person which or who operates
under the guise or pretense of being an organization exempted by the
provisions of Section 3 and is not in fact an organization entitled to
such an exemption.

(f) In any action brought under the provisions of this Act, the Attorney
General is entitled to recover costs for the use of this State.

(g) Any person who knowingly violates this Section may be enjoined
from such conduct, removed from office, enjoined from acting for charity
and subject to punitive damages as deemed appropriate by the circuit
court.

(h) Any person who violates this Section shall not be entitled to keep
or receive monies, fees, salaries, commissions or any compensation, as a
result of the solicitations or fund raising campaigns, and at the request
of the Attorney General such monies, fees, salaries, commissions or any
compensation shall be forfeited and subject to distribution to charitable
use as a court of equity determines.

(i) The Attorney General may publish an annual report of all charitable
organizations based on information contained in reports filed hereunder
stating the amount of money each organization received through solicitation
and the amount of money which was expended on program service activity and
the percentage of the solicited assets that were expended on charitable activity.

(j) The Attorney General shall cancel the registration of any
organization, professional fund raiser, or professional solicitor who
violates the provisions of this Section.

(k) Any person who solicits financial contributions or the sale of
merchandise, goods,
services, memberships, or advertisements in violation of the prohibitions of
subsection (d-1) of
Section 11 of this Act, or commits false personation, use
of title, or
solicitation as defined by Section 17-2 of the Criminal Code of 2012 shall, in
addition to any other penalties provided for by law, be subject to civil remedy
by cause of action brought by the Attorney General or a
Public Safety Personnel Organization affected by the violation.

In addition to equitable relief, a successful claimant or the Attorney
General shall recover damages of
triple the amount collected as a result of solicitations made in violation of
this Act, plus
reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

A plaintiff in any suit filed under this Section shall
serve a copy of all
pleadings on the Attorney General and the State's Attorney for the county in
which the suit is
filed.

(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)