Yavapai County Sheriff's Office has charged a 53-year-old Spring Valley man with fraudulent schemes and theft for scamming the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Deputies say Douglas Ray Riesberg scammed the foundation out of $11,000 and never followed through on a promise to a seriously ill boy.
According to paperwork, Riesberg agreed to deliver a custom go-kart to a 16-year-old Chicago boy in March, and accepted $11,000 from the foundation to cover the cost.
Deputies say the kart was expected to be completed within three weeks, but the Make-A-Wish staff never heard from Riesberg until a foundation lawyer found him in June.
Make-A-Wish then requested law enforcement intervention.
During the last week of August, deputies discovered Riesberg was in custody at the Prescott Detention Center on unrelated drug charges.
Riesberg admitted to police he lost several thousand dollars in a business deal and used the Make-A-Wish money to cover some of the loss.
During the investigation, deputies learned Riesberg had ordered the basic go-kart assembly from another company in March, but had never picked it up.
They also learned Riesberg told the 16-year-old and his family that he would meet them at the airport on August 15th, but Riesberg never showed.
