Renowned Seattle Entrepreneur Ripping Off Youth Groups and Non-Profits?

Talk about an unexpected twist. Terry Drayton, a well-known Seattle entrepreneur who has founded companies like HomeGrocer.com (acquired by WebVan), is being accused of ripping off a soccer club, a Little League team and a ski organization. But that may be just the beginning of his troubles.

Drayton’s Count Me In, a Bellevue company whose online registration tools are used by thousands of nonprofits and youth programs across the country, apparently hasn’t been passing along a percentage of those fees.

The Eastlake Little League is short $70,000, according to its president. Meanwhile, the Montclair, New Jersey, soccer club and the Alaskan ski association say they’re each missing more than $100,000. The soccer club has filed a lawsuit naming Drayton and Count Me In, alleging they co-mingled the club’s fees with Count Me In’s other funds to pay off debts at the company. The ski association says it’s contemplating a suit as well.

John Cook of TechFlash broke the story, details of which you can find here.

In the meantime, Drayton isn’t talking — to anyone. Frustrated customers say the company has been unresponsive to their complaints. And when Cook contacted him to learn more, Drayton strangely chose to text him, saying only that he had no comment about the company’s “problems.”