Kenai resident Francis "Frank" Roach, a familiar face from the valley community of Wasilla to the south Kenai peninsula town of Homer, is facing charges from Theft in the First Degree to Scheming to Defraud in a nine count indictment.

The charges stem from an organization “Alaska Veterans Outreach Boxes for Heros” that Roach started in 2010. The organization raised money and collected goods from donors that was sent as care packages to deployed soldiers. While much of the goods collected were sent to their intended locations overseas, some of the money donated found its way into the pockets of people involved with the organization according to an Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions press release.

Roach could be found at many events and locations collecting for the “boxes for Heroes” cause. He has had floats at the Kenai Fourth of July parade and the organizations booths could be seen at locations such as Three Bears and Walmart. Roach also videoed various clips for Youtube and the “Boxes for Heroes” Facebook page, where he could be seen soliciting funds for the organization. In one video, volunteers could be seen stuffing boxes destined for overseas as hundreds of boxes waited to be filled, and others already filled ready to be shipped.

Frank Roach and his organization have been the subject of many articles in Alaska and has appeared in many of the newspapers around the south central portion of the state in the past year.

According to the statement, the organization collected approximately $140,000 during the period of April 2011 to October 2011, but prosecutors say an employee of Roach’s told Kenai police that the money wasn’t being spent as it was intended to be. “The employee believed the vast majority of the donations were not being used for shipping costs but were going to the pockets of those involved in the organization,” the statement said. It was this statement made in October that sparked the months long investigation into Roach and his organization.

Prosecutors say that some of the monies collected were spent by Roach for paying his rent,eating out at restaurants, and other items such as a TV. The Department of Law states that Roach was not employed anywhere else and that the organization was his sole source of income.