Roanoke, Va. ? The former president of the struggling National D-Day Memorial Foundation was charged with lying about the amount of donations his organization collected in an effort to secure money to build the $25 million monument.

Richard Burrow, who stepped down last year for what he said were health reasons, is charged with four counts of fraud, U.S. Atty. John Brownlee said Friday.

Burrow did not try to keep any donations for himself, but wanted to bolster his reputation as a major fund-raiser and leader, the prosecutor said.

“His prestige was connected to this memorial,” Brownlee said. “Remember, (President Bush) thanked him personally for this.”

Burrow’s lawyer, John Lichtenstein, denied the charges.

The towering monument of polished granite and concrete was a longtime dream for many D-Day veterans who wanted to memorialize soldiers of the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy that turned the tide of World War II.

Lawrence, Kan., sculptor Jim Brothers created the statuary for the memorial.

It was built in rural Bedford, which lost 23 soldiers during the invasion, more men per capita than any other community in the country. Bush attended the unveiling on June 6, 2001.

Instead of waiting to amass enough money to build the memorial, foundation officials had borrowed money and hoped the generosity and patriotism of its creditors would keep them from demanding paychecks before donations could be collected.

The indictment accuses Burrow of falsely telling a Bedford bank he had collected pledges in excess of $2 million in an effort to gain a $1.2 million loan in June 2001. On another occasion, the indictment said, Burrow borrowed $3.5 million from a California bank, then used a copy of the foundation’s financial statement to secure $3.3 million in state matching funds. The California loan, Brownlee said, was only used as a lure for the state money.