Conn. attorney general to probe charities aiding Yale hockey player battling leukemia

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Conn. probing charities aiding Yale hockey player

HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says his office is investigating two charities run by a man spearheading efforts to help a Yale women’s hockey player fighting leukemia.

Blumenthal said Thursday that the two leukemia-related charities founded by Tedd Collins IV had not notified the attorney general’s office of its fundraising activities as required by Connecticut law.

Blumenthal says his office will investigate to confirm that the donations to the organizations have been used appropriately.

The New York Times reported the 53-year-old Collins is the subject of a fraud investigation by federal prosecutors in Kentucky. A spokesman for federal prosecutors declined to comment.

A telephone message and e-mail was left Thursday with one of Collins’ charities. His telephone in Kentucky was disconnected.

Yale hockey player Mandi Schwartz has attracted widespread attention with her fight with leukemia.

Family members of the 22-year-old said they had not been aware of Collins’s legal history.

Elizabeth Stauderman, a Yale spokeswoman, said the university ended any cooperation with Collins when it learned of the attorney general’s investigation and welcomes the inquiry.