Former isle Korean War museum organizer charged in Nebraska
Associated Press
LINCOLN, Neb. » The former museum curator of the Korean War museum in Oxford, Neb. -- who set up a similar museum in Hawaii two years ago -- was charged with defrauding Nebraska war veterans, local governments and private individuals, Attorney General Jon Bruning said in a release yesterday.
A Lancaster County district judge also granted an emergency request for a temporary restraining order to keep Kyle Kopitke of Nelson from moving the museums and removing assets from them, the release said.
Kopitke set up a Korean War museum in Wahiawa in 2004. But he had to start looking for a new location six months later because of a dispute with the owner of the land under the facility.
The Nebraska suit alleges that Kopitke set up charitable war museums in Oxford, Edgar and Nelson to gain thousands of dollars in incentives, benefits and personal possessions from individuals and local governments, the release said.
Kopitke used similar schemes in Utah and Hawaii in the past eight years, Bruning said in the release.
The Korean War Museum operated in the former Oxford nursing home building from April 2005 until Kopitke moved the museum to Edgar in November of that year.