State Files Civil Charges Against Charity Group : Investigation: Valley Fundraisers is accused of defrauding the public. Judge freezes bank accounts and bars soliciting until hearing.

Alleging an “enormous” fraud, state officials have filed charges against a charitable fund-raising business, accusing it of illegally soliciting donations for charities that do not exist or that never received the money.

On Wednesday, a judge froze the bank accounts of Valley Fundraisers and barred the firm from soliciting donations until a July 20 hearing on the state’s charges, contained in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit.

The civil complaint alleges that Valley Fundraisers and its president, Thomas Galambos, defrauded the public in a telemarketing operation that has reported raising $2.6 million over the past four years.

In declarations filed with the complaint, Deputy Atty. Gen. James M. Cordi alleged that the Burbank-based firm failed to report donations that it received fraudulently.

Cordi said Galambos has declined to turn over his financial records, invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.

In an unusual procedure, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne issued the temporary restraining order without requiring notification of the defendants.

In asking for the order, Cordi argued that Galambos may try to remove funds from his accounts.

The state inquiry followed a Times investigation that disclosed that Valley Fundraisers cashed checks for charities that do not exist and real charities that it did not represent.

The firm, one of 121 commercial fund-raising firms in California, is licensed by the attorney general’s Registry of Charitable Trusts to solicit donations for three charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Times found that checks made out to more than 30 names were deposited in the firm’s bank accounts.

Galambos, in an interview, acknowledged that mistakes were made, but said he refunded the donors’ money in every case that came to his attention.

Exhibits filed by the attorney general Wednesday included checks made out by four alleged victims to 31 different names. Cordi said that 21 of those are not registered with the state attorney general as charitable organizations.

Also, he said, the firm failed to report contributions on behalf of any organizations other than those it was licensed to represent.

“The court may . . . infer that such donations were not given to any charitable organization,” according to court papers. “If these solicitations prove to be typical of those conducted generally by Valley Fundraisers, it will have perpetrated an enormous pattern of fraud, indeed.”

The civil complaint seeks fines under seven sections of the Government Code and Business and Professions Code. They include failure to report charitable contributions to the state, false and misleading advertising, unfair competition, violating a fiduciary trust to the public, and converting charitable funds to private use.

Cordi is seeking fines of $2,500 for each violation. He said each fraudulent check represents a separate violation.

Prompted by The Times’ article, the city’s Department of Social Services last month stripped Valley Fundraisers of its license to conduct charitable solicitations within the city.

The state and the Los Angeles city attorney are continuing criminal investigations in the case.