By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A youth football organization has filed a lawsuit against TD Banknorth, Epsom School Board member Barbara Doughty and "unknown others," alleging charges including fraud and civil conspiracy, all stemming from a $60,000 travel fund.

In a civil suit filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Jan. 17, the New Hampshire Youth Football and Spirit Conference, or NHYFSC, claims that money to be used for youth teams' travel funds went missing after TD Banknorth allowed Doughty and others to unlawfully access the account.

At the time of the transaction, Doughty was the treasurer for New Hampshire Pop Warner, another youth football organization. Last June, the vast majority of New Hampshire Pop Warner member organizations left the group to join NHYFSC.

The suit alleges that in December a NHYFSC treasurer went to a TD Banknorth Manchester branch to withdraw funds - collected from member dues - to support trips to a national tournament in Tucson, Ariz.

The bank informed the treasurer that the signature authorizations on the account were changed in July, and that the account was closed in October, according to court records.

"The loss of the NHYFSC's account created significant hardships for the children and their families because many of them incurred expenses with the understanding and commitment that the travel funds would assist in deferring costs," the group's board of directors wrote in a press release.

The suit also alleges that the funds were converted, "ostensibly for use in a competing youth football conference."

New Hampshire Pop Warner officials have countered the competing group's claims, maintaining that the money was gathered under the Pop Warner name and trademark.

"It is just the latest by this organization to harm the remaining Pop Warner programs of our state," the group wrote in response to the charges.

Doughty said she contacted the state attorney general's office before securing the funds.

"I am confident that once the facts come out it will be clear that we acted appropriately and that these funds belong to Pop Warner New Hampshire," said Doughty, who filled a vacated Epsom School Board seat last summer.

According to the group's Web site, the NHYFSC is made up of 24 organizations and supports more than 4,000 children. Pop Warner New Hampshire supported only three teams - the Hooksett Hurricanes, the Derry Demons and the Hampstead Wildcats - in its latest season.

The NHYFSC is accusing TD Banknorth of charges including wrongful dishonor, breach of contract and negligence, and is accusing Doughty and "unknown others" of civil conspiracy and fraud.