A Cudahy woman faces charges she stole more than $80,000 from a fundraising group that supports the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight program for military veterans.
Joni Nogay, 60, directs We Run – They Fly, a Milwaukee nonprofit that collects donations through local fundraisers and an annual 5K run in Milwaukee to pay for honor flights that take veterans to visit memorials in Washington, D.C.
Investigators allege in a criminal complaint, filed Thursday, Nogay collected more than $100,000 in donations intended for SSHF from 2013 to 2023, but bank records showed Nogay consistently deposited the funds into her personal accounts.
Investigators say Nogay made just five donations to SSHF during that seven-year period, totaling $19,861.
Investigators also reviewed claims We Run – They Fly made on social media that it made $83,000 in donations to SSHF. The complaint also included a photo of Nogay posing with an oversized check for $12,700 intended for the SSHF.
No such donations were ever made, according to the complaint.
Nogay is scheduled to make her initial court appearance July 6 in Milwaukee.