L.A. CHARITY FUND SWINDLE CHARGED ATTORNEY GENERAL SAYS $1.5 MILLION ILLEGALLY DIVERTED.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

A high-powered Hollywood fund-raiser with strong Democratic Party ties swindled several Los Angeles charities and their donors out of more than $1.5 million, according to a civil lawsuit filed Thursday by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

The suit charges Aaron Tonken and his business associates with defrauding charities - including the Michael J. Fox Foundation, City of Hope and Inner-City Games - by diverting donations into his own accounts. The suit also seeks to shut down Tonken's organization and recover some of the funds.

``It's tragic,'' Lockyer said at a morning press conference to announce the filing of the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court.

``We want the community to be on notice that if there are sharks in the water, be careful,'' Lockyer said, adding that people can check on the state attorney general's Web site to find a list of affected charities. ``I hope this is a rare set of misdeeds.''

Tonken, who has produced star-studded events for former President Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, could not be reached for comment. Lockyer said Tonken and other co-defendants' whereabouts are currently unknown.

The 51-page complaint alleges the defendants approached local charities on several occasions over last three years and offered to produce celebrity-studded events, but required up-front donations. In many cases, the suit said, these events never happened or contributions to the charities - many backed by celebrities - were funneled into Tonken's account.

Lockyer was joined by representatives of some of the charities that claim they were taken in for thousands by Tonken and co-defendants Robert Freedman, Kevin Mattes Clarke and Cynthia Gershman, head of the Cynthia Palmer Gershman Foundation.

Among them was Marc Pollick, president and founder of The Giving Back Foundation, which sets up and runs foundations for celebrities and sports stars.

Pollick, who settled an earlier lawsuit against Tonken, said he was introduced to the Hollywood fund-raiser by the president of his foundation's board. Tonken had important credentials through work he had done on events for President Clinton and the DNC, Pollick said.

This is not the first lawsuit Tonken has faced due to his fund-raising productions. Paula Abdul and the co-founder of Stan Lee Media in Calabasas have also filed individual lawsuits that charged Tonken with fund-raising misdeeds.

Lockyer said other agencies he wouldn't divulge are investigating Tonken's activities and said criminal charges may be filed.