Charity scam that raised $110M shut down, attorney general says

By: Steve Janoski
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... A charitable fundraising scam that targeted hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans has been permanently shut down after multi-state lawsuit accused the companies behind it of misleading donors and keeping most to the $10 million they raised, the state attorney general said Thursday. [03/04/2021]
..... The Michigan-based Associated community Services spearheaded the operation, which hammered Mew Jerseyans with nearly 68 million robocalls between 2016 and 2019, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.
..... The calls allegedly asked residents to supporting homeless veterans, victims of house fires, breast cancer patients and children with autism, among other things. But the defendants, which include other companies and private individuals, keep as much as 90 cents of every dollar they solicited, Grewal said.
..... "The attorney general called their conduct "outrageous."
..... "The took advantage of the trust and compassion of people in New Jersey and cross the U.S. by persuading them that they were raising money to aid some of our most vulnerable Americans," Grewal said.
..... The operation struck New Jersey particularly hard. The attorney general said more than 125,000 residents were called more than three time a day, and nearly half a million were called two or more times per hour.
..... Only residents of California, New York and Texas received a larger share of the operations' 1.3 million deceptive calls.
..... New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement the operation hit New Yorkers with more than 72 million calls, and called thousands of them more than 100 times each.
..... The Federal Trade Commission, 38 states and the District of Columbia field the 175-page federal lawsuit in Michigan two months ago.
..... The complaint named Associated Community Services and two sister companies as defendants, as well as their owners: Dick Cole; Bill Burland; Barbara Cole; and Amy Burland.
..... It also named senior manager Nikole Gilstorf, Tony Lia, John Lucidi, and Scot Stepek, Grewal said, as well as two fundraising companies Gilstorf and Lia allegedly operated.
..... Under the terms of settlements announced Thursday, [03/04/2021] the defendants will eventually give the money they've surrendered to legitimate charities that support the causes for which they originally solicited, Grewal said. They will also be permanently barred from conducting or consulting on fundraising activities or telemarketing among other thing.
..... The court still must approve the terms, Grewal said.
..... Grewal said Associated Community Services had a history of knowingly breaking the FTC's telemarketing rules by playing per-recorded messages to lure first-time donors.
.... The company, which closed in September 2019, was the subject of 20 prior law enforcement actions regarding its fundraising practices, according to the attorney general.

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