UPDATE 1/7/11 @ 12:30 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSAZ) -- Ohio's Attorney General announced today a lawsuit against three individuals accused of scamming thousands of dollars in the name of an autism charity. Attorney General Richard Cordray said William Terry, Herbert Terry and Vicky Perdue used the name 'Mikayla's Place' to sell laptop computers and other electronics at discounted prices to defraud customers.

"These individuals created a sham business to prey on the kindness of strangers," said Cordray. "They represented that they were conducting a fundraiser and consumers could purchase laptops and other electronics at huge discounts to support a camp for children with autism or special needs. Instead, they pocketed the money and many consumers who purchased equipment never received it and never received refunds.

Cordray's office received 54 complaints from consumers in several counties including Ashland and Boyd in Kentucky and Gallia, Lawrence and Scioto in Ohio.

Cordray has asked the court to issue a permanent injunction and to require the defendants to pay full restitution and civil penalties.

That's the word from a local state agency suing those responsible for what they call a laptop computer scam conducted in the name of autism awareness.

The West Virginia Attorney General's Office is suing the three primary individuals involved.

This is the news hundreds of people who lost thousands of dollars have been waiting for. We have new details on just how many people this scam affected and how the Attorney General's Office plans to get their money back.

"They were selling laptop computers for a charity called 'Mikayla's Place' that was going build a camp for children with autism and other disabilities," West Virginia Assistant Attorney General Jill Miles said.

But, Miles says brothers Will and Herbie Terry and Vicky Perdue were scamming people. They were selling refurbished laptop computers purchased from government auctions.

"At least 300 people purchased computers from this organization," Miles said. "Some got computers, some got refunds, but most didn't."

A stack of paperwork from the Attorney General's Office details the extent of the problem. In some cases, offices invited what they thought was a charitable organization in the workplace, and as many as 50 employees bought one or more computers -- paying half down.

"People did what they thought was a good thing, then they told their friends who told friends and -- before you know it -- entire state agencies were participating," Miles said.

Mikayla's Place was even distributing flyers advertising their products, which also included desktop computers and even TV's, iPods, and GPS devices. Seized bank records showed deposits from $2,000 to $3,000 all the way up to $8,000 at a time -- pushing the bank balance up to nearly $30,000.

"We have been in touch with them, and they want to do the right thing," Miles said. "If they don’t, we will seek judgment against them and place liens on their property. If the property is ever sold, we’ll get the proceeds from the sale. Believe me, we’re gonna try."

The Attorney General's Office says the lesson here is clear -- know who you're giving money. Early on in our investigation, we made a quick call to the Secretary of State's Office and found out in just minutes this was not a registered charitable organization.

That's the first red flag. So far, the West Virginia Attorney General's office has 94 complaints. You can still file if you're a victim.

According to the complaint, the parties represented to consumers that they had started a charitable organization called Mikayla’s Place that was affiliated with Autism Speaks, a Delaware charitable organization.

The complaint further alleges that the defendants misrepresented to consumers they were raising money for a camp for autistic and other special needs children by selling laptop computers that had been donated by corporate sponsors and some federal and state agencies.

In reality, the defendants were purchasing the computers at liquidation sales and surplus auctions. Moreover, neither the defendants nor Mikayla’s Place were registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office to solicit funds for a charity.

Attorney General McGraw stated that his office became aware of the scam when consumers began filing complaints with his Consumer Protection Division.

Consumers complained that they had ordered laptop computers from the defendants because they were told the money was for a fundraiser for Mikayla’s Place and Autism Speaks. The consumers were charged $50.00 for each computer they ordered and were promised delivery within a certain period of time. Most consumers never received a computer. Many never received a refund.

“Consumers must be wary of anyone who contacts them raising funds for any charitable organization,” warns Attorney General McGraw. “The law requires all charitable organizations and the people who solicit donations for them to register with the Secretary of State. Consumers should always contact the Secretary of State’s office to ensure the organization is, in fact, a charity.”

West Virginia consumers who purchased merchandise in connection with fund-raising for Mikayla’s Place can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling the Consumer Protection Hotline, 1-800-368-8808.

Will Terry was picked up last night on unrelated arrest warrants in Elliott County, Kentucky by the sheriff. This all happened after he said his brother set him up. He's now in the Carter County Detention Center.

Will Terry placed blame on everyone but himself. He admitted he was naïve and even dumb about what was going on. But, he says he doesn't deserve the blame for any of this mess.

Terry spoke to WSAZ.com today, from behind bars.

“I didn’t intentionally do anything wrong. The records are what they are. It would be nice if everyone else would tell the truth. I was stupid enough to think that if I made the effort to do something different that would matter. But, it doesn’t," Terry said. "I’m the world’s dumbest guy. If I’m able to get out of here, I don’t care if I’m 85 years old if I have to pay people one person at a time."

Terry said he has been in contact with the West Virginia Attorney General's Office about a repayment and restitution plan.

Terry also still spent a lot of time blaming others for this mess, from his brother Herbie to his short-time girlfriend and 'Mikayla's Place' volunteer, Vicky Perdue.

Terry has not been charged with any crime regarding the fundraiser, but several local law enforcement agencies are looking into it.

UPDATE 6/16/10 @ 11:50 p.m.
ELLIOTT COUNTY, Ky. (WSAZ) -- The Elliott County Sheriff says William Terry, the man who's accused of being the brains behind a fake charity fundraiser, has been arrested.

Sheriff Ronnie Stephens says Terry was arrested about 7 p.m. Wednesday evening at Ralph's Market in Isonville.

Deputies were tipped off that Terry was coming through town in his girlfriend's car. When the car was spotted, Terry was arrested.

Sheriff Stephens says he was arrested on numerous outstanding warrants for writing back checks and parole violations, but none of them relate to the alleged laptop fundraiser for Mikayla's Place.

The Sheriff also says after Terry was arrested, he claimed to be having a heart attack. He was taken to the hospital, but was given a clean bill of health.

Terry was then taken to the Carter County Detention Center.

We've been following this story for more than a week, and the news still isn't good.

On Tuesday, WSAZ.com's Carrie Cline talked with Will Terry who continues to promise to make everything right.

Cline asked Terry where he is and when is he going to return to the area to give people their money back. He said he's in North Carolina staying with a friend and working on financing. He says he has several plans in the works to fix this mess.

"I won’t hold my breath," Susan Jackson said.

She is not hopeful she'll ever see the $900 she paid toward several laptop computers.

"It would be nice to have that happen, but I don’t believe it will," Jackson said.

We first checked in with her a little more than a week ago. That's when Terry, the head of the so-called 'Mikayla's Place' autism charity, promised Jackson he'd give her a full refund the next day. That never happened.

"We played phone tag all day and never did make arrangements," Jackson said.

Later that night, Terry was arrested in South Carolina along with one of his volunteers, Vicky Perdue. The two had briefly dated. She was accusing him of kidnapping. He accused her of stealing money from the 'Mikayla's Place' bank account.

Police couldn't determine a crime was committed. They also couldn't get any of the local law enforcement to come get Terry on the multiple arrest warrants that exist against him for writing bad checks. So, the department let them both go, but confiscated several thousand dollars in cash and about six to eight laptop computers.

Jackson says she's tired of waiting and has filed multiple complaints, including one with the West Virginia Attorney General's Office.

"It says they’ve received my complaint," she said.

Unfortunately, the jury is still out on this one. We talked with the West Virginia Attorney General's Office. While the details of their investigation are confidential, they can confirm they are looking into the matter and have received more than 50 calls and complaints.

Deputy Attorney General Jill Miles says their office frequently sues groups like this and frequently gets refunds.

Terry assured us on Tuesday that he'd call the attorney general's office as soon as we hung up and offer to work with them to make amends.

We'll continue to follow this developing story.

As far as any criminal charges relating to this fundraiser, several agencies are still compiling information including the Huntington Police Department and the Huntington Post of the West Virginia State Police. There is no word, however, about the details of their investigation or if any formal charges will be filed.

Police say it's safe to say this is one big scam that's growing by the day. WSAZ has received numerous calls and emails from doctors offices, schools, churches and charities that have all paid hundreds, and in some cases $10-$15,000 trying to get a good deal while helping a good cause. In the end, it all appears to be a lie.

“He’s a scam artist,” said Sheriff Ronnie Stephens, Elliott County, KY.

And Sheriff Stephens has the proof--one charge after another in Kentucky for theft by deception or writing bad checks stemming back nearly 30 years. That includes at least eight active warrants for his arrest in Kentucky.

“We first heard of Will Terry when he was selling lunches for Ashland for a church and kept the money for himself,” said Sheriff Stephens.

Terry and a volunteer, Vicky Perdue, who briefly dated Terry, were taking orders and money for cheap laptops in the name of 'Mikayla's Place', a charity to help children with autism. Will told us his brother started it over a year ago in the name of his daughter, Mikayla, who has autism. We tracked down Mikayla's place of residence here in Sandy Hook, Kentucky. Her dad, Will's brother, Herbie Terry, says he didn't know anything about a ‘Mikayla's Place’ charity until three days ago when this laptop flop surfaced.

“There isn't no 'Mikayla's Place' and never was a 'Mikayla's Place'. I don't mean any harm, but you could donate $50,000 and it wouldn't change the fact that she has autism,” said Herbie.

“I have a granddaughter who's in the hospital and can't move anything but her eyes. It hurts me that anyone would take people's money like this. I want to see him locked up,” said Sheriff Stephens.

We did some more checking and ‘Mikayla's Place’ is not registered with either the Kentucky or West Virginia Attorney General's Office, which any charity is supposed to do if it's going to fundraise.

Will Terry and Vickie Perdue were also raising money in the name of ‘Autism Speaks’. We talked with that national charity and they said they did receive a check for $2000 about a month ago at an autism walk in Cincinnati. But, ‘Autism Speaks’ stresses they have no official connection with these folks and do not endorse any fundraising they're doing.

Again, if you're a victim of this fundraiser, call the West Virginia Attorney General's Office and your local police department.

Then, one of the founders of Mikayla's Place explained there was a problem with the computers, and he was prepared to issue refunds.

Since then, that man, Will Terry, one of his volunteers and girlfriend, Vicky Perdue, have skipped town. They showed up in police custody in South Carolina when Perdue accused Terry of kidnapping.

On Tuesday, we spoke with Perdue who says she now believes she was the victim of fraud.

"He told me that he had some corporate donations of laptops and to let people know that," Perdue said. "I posted on my Facebook and it snowballed."

Perdue continued, "I met Mikayla. Mikayla was autistic. She was 7 or 8 years old. I did what the volunteers were told to do, which was deposit the checks and hand the cash to Will and that's exactly what I did, and his reasoning for handing the cash to Will was so that he could take care of refurbishing the laptop.

"Monday, he had me go to the bank in Cross Lanes and pull out $3,500 for refunds and to purchase laptops in Virginia. It became apparent that we were not going to Roanoke and that we were not going anywhere near where we were supposed to be going. Finally, in North Augusta, he got hungry and pulled into a Bojangles and I noticed to the side there was a Dollar General. I dialed 911 immediately when I got inside in the store and told them what was going on and where I was at.

"I feel like the stupidest person in the world. I am going to come home and try to do what I can to help get this straightened out and put Will Terry behind bars. I am so sorry. I had no idea that this was going to happen. I know 'sorry' is very little to say, but it's all I have to say."

WSAZ.com's Carrie Cline spoke with Terry last night when he asked the North Augusta Police Department to call her for some reason. At that time, he told Cline a very different story, saying Perdue was trying to take money and run, and he went along to make sure she didn't disappear. He says she accused him of kidnapping to try to get him out of the picture.

Here's what we know for sure: Terry, who is from Sandy Hook, Ky., is nowhere to be found, Perdue, who is from Proctorville, Ohio, is still stranded in South Carolina.

Mikayla's Place is being investigated by several law enforcement agencies in three states. At this point, no one knows if refunds will ever be made.

If you purchased one of the laptops and haven't received a refund or your computer, there are some things you can do. You can call your local police department where the transaction took place. You also may call the West Virginia Attorney General's Office at 1-800-368-8808.

You also can go to the Attorney General's website. We’ve made it easy for you, just go to our Featured Links page here at WSAZ.com and click on the West Virginia Attorney General’s link.

People looking for a good deal on computers can check out the West Virginia Office of Surplus Property. It's a place were the old stuff goes when state agencies get new equipment. It is located in Dunbar. A complete set up, including a Pentium 4 tower, runs about $103.

It apparently sounded like a great deal to a lot of people. Even better, buying these computers was supposed to help a local children with autism. But, after hundreds of orders were taken and down payments placed weeks ago, many are still saying, "Where's my computer?"

"I've been actively going after them for a couple of weeks," Susan Jackson said. "The stories I was hearing got worse and worse, and people weren't getting deliveries."

Jackson is not happy. She wrote a check for a $900 down payment to a local charity for several dozen laptop computers. She found about the deal from a friend.

"He told me he came across great deal where you could get laptops that were donated to them and raise money for autism," Jackson said.

That organization is called Mikayla's Place. It is based in Sandy Hook, Ky., and is a resource group for children with autism.

“It was a really great deal because my friend refurbishes computers anyway," Jackson said. "So, we were going to buy a bunch of these and sell them at a profit for ourselves and do a good deed for Mikayla’s Place.

“I've got lots and lots of students who could benefit from having a laptop at low cost,” Jackson continued to say.

Several weeks later, though, and Susan has yet to see one single computer, and she's not alone. Mikayla's Place also has a Facebook page where you'll see concern after concern from folks who have placed an order for one of the $50 refurbished laptops, but have yet to receive them.

While WSAZ.com's Carrie Cline was at Susan's home, one of those involved with Mikayla's Place and the laptop fundraiser called her. Then, Cline talked with Will Terry who was eager to explain.

“What we're trying to do is open a camp for kids with autism," Terry said. "We're trying to raise money to buy property. What happened with the computers was we started taking orders and got way more orders than we had working computers. Of the computers, a lot of them were broken or busted."

"Sounds like you got scammed," Cline said.

“Oh big time," Terry said. "That’s exactly what happened."

“We’re looking for replacement computers," he continued. "If we find it, we'll fill your order, if we don't, we'll give you your money back."

That's what Mikayla's Place is in the process of doing. Terry tells us they've given back nearly $30,000 in refunds. We have verified that several people have received their money back.

Terry tells us Jackson will get her money back first thing Tuesday morning. Of course, we'll follow up.

Terry says he's heartbroken over the whole situation, and folks with Mikayla's Place still plan to work toward helping children with autism. While Mikayla's Place is not a non-profit group, Terry says they are working toward that.

If you ordered one of the computers and would like a full refund, Terry says they're bonded and insured and prepared to do that. Just call Terry at 606-362-8001.