The reason for this lonely post after such a time of silence is simply to spread the word. In 2024, I donated to a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for medical treatment of a young girl whose family I’ve known for a long time. A few months ago, the GoFundMe organizers sent out a startling update that a large portion of those funds were stolen by a man named Todd Heldt.

Todd is a librarian at Harold Washington College Library. They have been made aware of the fraud but have refused to discipline him for the theft.

Todd has been presenting himself as a high-minded moralist intellectual in an open marriage but his wife was unaware of the openness of their marriage. He has had many financial struggles, which have led him to seek to leech off the charity meant for the care of vulnerable children.

I helped the GFM organizers stand up a website to expose Mr Heldt, but he filed a false DMCA takedown for it, which removed it from Google search. This led to the creation of a mirror site exposing Heldt’s lies and fraud with the same content but better protections against DMCA.

If you’re interested in the entire sordid backstory, there is an article about it.

Don’t be like Todd Heldt. It’s a terrible way to live.