The press release says it all:

Owner Of Telemarketing Call Center Sentenced To 121 Months In Prison For Multi-Year Scheme To Defraud PAC Donors

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RICHARD ZEITLIN, the owner of a telemarketing call center business, was sentenced to 121 months in prison for his leadership role in a scheme to defraud donors of certain political action committees (“PACs”) through false and misleading fundraising calls. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan following the defendant’s guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on September 10, 2024. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Richard Zeitlin’s actions represent a profound breach of trust, as represented by today’s sentencing. The integrity of donor contributions is essential, and this Office will continue to pursue justice against those who undermine it.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment, court filings, and statements made in Court:

PACs are entities registered with the Federal Election Commission that may be tax-exempt and collect money to advocate on behalf of or against certain causes and political candidates. By contrast, charities, unlike PACs, typically provide direct services to communities or causes. 

From at least in or about 2017 up to and including in or about 2020, ZEITLIN used his telemarketing call center business and various associated entities to defraud numerous donors of millions of dollars by providing misleading and false information about how the donors’ money would be spent and the nature of the organizations to which they were giving. Specifically, ZEITLIN directed his employees to alter the call scripts used when calling potential donors on behalf of certain PACs in order to mislead potential donors into believing that they would be giving to a direct-services organization (i.e., a charity), rather than to a political advocacy organization (i.e., a PAC). ZEITLIN directed that these lies, misleading statements, and misrepresentations be made so that donors would be more likely to give money, thereby increasing the funds raised and profits for his businesses – which typically received approximately 90% of the funds donated. In some instances, ZEITLIN’s businesses retained 100% of the funds donated with none of the money going to the causes described in telemarketing calls to donors. When one PAC treasurer confronted ZEITLIN with complaints from donors that solicitation calls falsely represented a PAC as a charity, ZEITLIN falsely denied that the calls were being made, acknowledged that such calls would be inappropriate, and refused to give the treasurer any call recordings that would have revealed his fraud. 

ZEITLIN lied under oath to conceal his fraud. In December 2020, while testifying under oath during a deposition in connection with a federal civil matter, ZEITLINfalsely stated, in substance and in part, that neither he nor his employees provided input as to the call scripts used by ZEITLIN’s telemarketing call centers when making fundraising calls on behalf of PACs. In truth and in fact, ZEITLIN and his employees frequently provided input on and changed call scripts, including by adding false and misleading statements into the call scripts. In March 2022, in a declaration filed under penalty of perjury to a federal judge, ZEITLIN falsely stated that, among other things, he was not associated with and did not direct, supervise, or control certain business entities relating to ZEITLIN’s telemarketing business when, in truth and in fact, ZEITLIN controlled all of the entities by exercising ultimate authority over managerial, operational, and financial decisions, including at the time he signed this declaration. 

In or about May 2022, after ZEITLIN learned that he and his businesses were under federal investigation, ZEITLIN directed his employees to delete electronic messages relating to his businesses. 

Full ruling here: gov.uscourts.nysd.604562.104.0

Goes without saying (but I will say it) that defrauding people is NEVER a good idea and can land you in massive trouble. Pretty common sense stuff.