But Friedman’s investigation also found the same guys are working across the country and have told callers they were helping firefighters, veterans or breast cancer patients. Donations to some police or firefighter groups may not be tax deductible. 33307, © 2017. The job title is “Representative,” which means instead of them telling us what they want to do, they should listen and the ask us want we want them to do. Last year, Fisher represented Zachary Bass, the treasurer for Heroes United PAC, and Matthew Greenlee, the group’s director and a close associate of Bohms, in their dispute with Montgomery County, Maryland. That case, a double scam split between the PAC and a related charity called the Volunteer Firefighters Association, was covered by multiple national media outlets, and the group ended up settling, agreeing to end solicitations in the county and refund any donations. The VFA also offers another connection between Bohms and Heroes United PAC. With the support of you and thousands of other like minded concerned citizens, the Firefighter Support Association PAC will continue to push for the election of candidates that support the fire service and fight government for more support through legislation that support our Firefighters! In a democracy we should have the right to elect people on their ideas. But what ended up being really scary, once investigators got to the bottom of this? His campaign did not reply to Salon‘s detailed questions about the PAC, the ads or Bohms. Bohms would not answer that question — although he said he formerly lived in Crist’s district, in and around St. Petersburg, Florida. That case, a double scam split between the PAC and a related charity called the Volunteer Firefighters Association, was covered by multiple national media outlets, and the group ended up settling, agreeing to end solicitations in the county and refund any donations. All Rights Reserved | Florida Bulldog. His settlement was confidential, but he said it was a “small claims” amount of money he got from them. That indictment alleged that “less than 1% of all donor money to the PACs was spent on political contributions.” The rest went to fundraising efforts and into the two men’s pockets, resulting in a $1.2 million fine. The site’s architect is a political marketing researcher from Germany. I was surprised at how many “secrets” he turned loose of in this well written book. “It wasn’t a charity, it was clear that it was a PAC,” Worsham said. Still, American Wounded Veterans PAC has about $2.3 million in 2020 fundraising to account for. The addresses are all mail drops. Box 23763 Or go to your local charity’s pancake breakfast or crab feast. “One of the more pernicious effects of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision has been an explosion in the number of super PAC scams,” Kappel said. Many of these entities appear to be new, and it seems likely they are all part of a single network. “These deceptive business practices are a despicable way to exploit our natural desire to financially support those who risk their lives to protect all of us,” Friedman said. During that same time frame, the PAC spent only $147,000 on legitimate political activity. “Fortunately, the Justice Department has responded to the proliferation of super PAC scams and has successfully prosecuted many scam PAC operators for mail and wire fraud over the past few years,” Kappel added. The association is listed as affiliated with the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA). The scam artists claim to be from a nonexistent group called the "Fire Fighter Support Association." Those people should be getting their money back thanks to a settlement agreement the Friedman’s office signed with the folks behind the scam. A $11.5 billion shortfall shouldn’t be used to justify cuts that would limit light rail service here. 9. Fisher’s bio claims he is a board member of a law enforcement advocacy charity called Band of Blue. This year he is listed on none. Scott files and makes public 2013... Lt. Gov. For starters, it may take two to three years for a return to full employment and its inflationary pressures. We all do. And it’s not even like donors were deceived into giving money that instead went to political campaigns they had no dog in. In fact, Tampa Media pulled in a combined $2.5 million between 2018 and 2020 cycles, according to data from Open Secrets. That address is the mail processing point for our fundraising campaign.). For instance, Campaign Vendor Management is a company in Gulfport, Florida, founded this April by John DiGregorio, who lives near Bohms’ old home, in Pinellas County, Florida — Charlie Crist’s district. While … “The big national story seems to be that these crooks seem to register as charities,” Friedman said. Numerous sources list NPTA as a scam, and a recent report from the Center for Public Integrity (which is a self-described “nonprofit newsroom that investigates betrayals of public trust”) reveals just how much of a scam it really is. In 2017, Bohms disclosed his connection to Heroes United in a phone call with a man who believed he had been the target of an automated call from a group called the Volunteer Firefighters Association — nominally, a different entity from the Volunteer Firefighter Alliance, and the one involved in the scam that Heroes United settled with Montgomery County. Anyone can get on,” the operative said. The East Tennessean characterized him as “a self-described family man and volunteer firefighter who stands for the rights of marginalized groups, wants to get big money out of politics and is a proud supporter of second amendment rights.”. In addition, the Association for Emergency Responders & Firefighters PAC will support legislation that severely punishes any person convicted of endangering the life of an Emergency Responder while in the performance of their duties. “Since super PACs can solicit and accept contributions in unlimited amounts, they have become a favorite vehicle for the unscrupulous — many of whom previously ran charity scams.”. This charity has had its legitimacy called into question several times, and each time Bohms has defended it affably. There are ferns in the lobby and a stone-faced security guard. Salon called back and selected the “substance abuse” option. Campaign finance and government ethics law expert Brett Kappel told Salon this fits the scam PAC pattern. It’s easier to set up a PAC than it is to rent a car, he said. website designed by wwdb integrated marketing, Video: Bob Graham on Unanswered Questions of 9/11, operate outside the laws that regulate charities, The Squirrel Commander: Guide to Small Game Hunting, Eat Less CRAP, Eat More FOOD: A Paleo Crockpot Cookbook, no other candidates in the Democratic primary, Meet the ‘Dark Money’ phantom; Ohio lawyer at nexus of nonprofit network is conservatives’ secret weapon, FBI probes whistleblower claim of $130 million scam; Plaza Health Network under scrutiny, New GOP super PAC aimed at attracting youth vote; American Crossroads a major donor, Convicted thief sets up South Florida super PAC with Federal Election Commission’s OK, Marco Rubio gets $247K boost from Rove’s PAC, Professional Association for Customer Engagement. “He wants nothing to do with her,” the person said. Bohms, along with his lawyer, Matthew Fisher, appears to be at the center of a sprawling, intertwined network of super PAC and nonprofit scammers first revealed in 2019 in a series of exposés about a group called Heroes United PAC. Youth Development Fund 13. Instead he feeds off of the PACs, one operator in a large network of shadowy marketing companies where affiliated PACs shuttle almost all of the funds they raise. But during the 2018 and 2020 cycles, Market Process Group made about $18 million from political organizations, according to OpenSecrets, including from American Wounded Veterans, the Firefighters Support Association, Heroes United and the American Alliance for Disabled Children. Under "About Us", it states, "The Police Officers Support Alliance is a project of For a Better America, a non-partisan independent expenditure-only group governed by Section 527 of … Earlier this year, Maryland former attorney Michael Worsham won a settlement from a complaint he filed against Bass when his telemarketers called him. Five Tips to Avoid Scam Political Action Committees. Committee For Missing Children 14. “I don’t care to take part in your article,” he said, then hung up. But the VFA claims to offer legitimate charitable services, and its website is unusually heavy on specific data, which it presents upfront as proof of the group’s work. You get those, right? The Committee to Recall Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney (recallfortney.com) has requested… Continue reading, Assisted suicide threatens the most vulnerable in society, especially people with disabilities.… Continue reading, In his original campaign Donald Trump bragged that he could go to… Continue reading. In reaction to Bohms’ self-published racetrack gambling advice book, “The Art of Horseplay: The Life of a Handicapper,” Kesterson wrote: I have been around horse racing my entire life, even grew up in a thorough bread facility. Bohms has self-published a number of other books, including “The Squirrel Commander: Guide to Small Game Hunting,” “Eat Less CRAP, Eat More FOOD: A Paleo Crockpot Cookbook” and “Big Al’s Golf for Beginners,” which can be purchased for $902.81. © 2021, Everett Herald and Sound Publishing, Inc. Advertising in The Herald Business Journal, Editorial cartoons for Wednesday, Feb. 24, Editorial: Adopt protections for internet users’ personal data, Saunders: Limbaugh succeeded despite the mainstream media, Comment: Inflation is to be expected but controls are ready, Comment: Global vaccination not enough to stop global spread, Effort to recall sheriff requests extention on petition deadline, Don’t weaken protections in state’s assisted suicide law, Trump was right about his supporters’ blind allegiance, Editorial: Cost increase can’t risk ST3’s ‘spine’ to Everett jobs, Bill would allow use ranked-choice voting for local elections, Protect personal information of state, local employees, Trump’s acquittal confirms suspicions about Senate, Comment: N.Y.’s death count not a cover-up, nor is it accurate, You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing, If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to. That charity’s website, however, does not list him among its board members. Not only was it a scam. Firefighters Charitable Foundation receives 28.86 out of 100 for their Charity Navigator rating. When Poirier sent his information to Friedman, he helped set off a three-month investigation that looks like the tip of a nationwide fraud that got a few clever guys millions of dollars given by generous donors in small — usually $40 — increments. Dan Christensen The calls asking for donations come from aliases like the Police Officers Support Association and The National Coalition for Police & Troopers. In the general election, he won 15.4% of the vote against Rep. Phil Roe, the Republican incumbent. Where did it come from? Thank you.”. Little went to political action or advocacy — the core purposes of a PAC. Know the difference between a political action committee and a non-profit. Association for Firefighters and Paramedics 15. “Which department is this for?” he asked the caller. Lopez-Cantera’s relatives profited from his 2008 House campaign,... Florida IG’s report on Broward Health: five years late, questioning its own value, Publix: Where political giving to DeSantis helped get no-bid COVID vaccine business. Caller: Firefighters Support Association PAC; Call type: Scam suspicion; Reply! There is a simple way to improve our local elections so that…, On a yearly basis, the Seattle Times requests too much personal information…, If nothing else came out of the recent impeachment trial, we now…. Try that with Avis. That year, Bass was listed as treasurer for five PACs. Florida Bulldog’s year-end fundraising campaign is here. Except zero cash from the Heroes United PAC, which was making calls as the “Volunteer Firefighters Association” in Montgomery County, went to any firefighters. The call was redirected and immediately dropped. When Salon informed Bohms about the hang-ups in a text message, he replied, “I will check into that. Bass, who seems to be the main guy at that D.C. office on K Street, didn’t respond to my efforts to reach him. And soon, you say, sure, why not? That appears similar and perhaps smaller in scale to United Heroes and the larger network that Bohms, Fisher and their associates are in, which netted tens of millions of dollars this year alone. “He’s a crook, a liar, and waste of time.”, Bohms’ brief political career was also peculiar. Favorite Answer They're not quite a scam, but they're not quite ethical either. And, when you take a look at the PAC’s filings with the Federal Election Commission, it was hardly doing any political action, either. Bohms, however, has never had his name on a PAC and was never named in those stories. Not only was it a scam. Just as you sit down to dinner, the phone rings and the caller asks for a donation. Not printed at … Email address: Florida Bulldog delivers fact-based watchdog reporting as a public service that’s essential to a free and democratic society. In truth, all the political action that investigators found was a single, 30-second radio ad, Friedman said. The first pieces of information about the charity that viewers see are the “over 47,911,770 people” that Nielsen suggests may have been reached by the group’s radio PSAs; its recruitment mailings to “over 8,964,664 people”; the 423 cable outlets and “over 700 radio stations” that it has sent PSAs; and the alleged 949 people that “have contacted us wanting to become involved with their local Fire Department.”, The vast majority of that work seems to involve dumping mass amounts of unsolicited direct mail into the world. Fisher told Salon during the call that he did not represent Bohms in connection with election law, which seems far-fetched. It paid more than that, $421,947, to a New Jersey company called The Contact Center, Inc., which made a total of $1.2 million in the 2020 election cycle and operates a bogus website with a phone number that appears tied to a modem or fax line. We need your help! Paid for by Law Enforcement for a Safer America PAC, an independent expenditure-only committee, www.leoforasaferamerica.org and not authorized by any candidate committee. You just check a few boxes on the form, just put down an address.”. Donate by 12/31/2020, and NewsMatch will double it! Those bigger entities, however, are better at hiding their tracks. Heroes United PAC spent a total of more than $462,000 on Tampa Media’s services between 2018 and February 2020, FEC records show. The company appears to be one of the biggest fish of the PAC network’s 2020 scam cycle, pulling in millions of dollars for marketing services this year alone. That’s how you know for sure where your money is going. These are also a scam. This year Crist ran unopposed in the Democratic primary for Florida’s 13th congressional district, which was originally scheduled for August but ultimately canceled. Knoxville Fire Fighters Association Treasurer Rob Cheesman presents $70,000 in checks to local programs. Organizations included Camp Phoenix - helping give children in Tennessee who have suffered from burn injuries a place where they can have fun without the fear of rejection regardless of their physical features or limitations. Bohms paid himself $93,864. About $4 million of that paid for fundraising and related expenses. Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation 12. While Bohms appears to have made good money from American Wounded Veterans, the overwhelming majority of the PAC’s cash was spent on telemarketing. FEC filings also undermine Bohms’ claim that he was not connected to American Wounded Veterans. It was an arguably legal one. ), To the extent Bohms had a campaign platform, it was vaguely libertarian in tone. This year, Bohms started fresh, ditching Tampa Media and creating a new company with a generic, essentially invisible moniker: “Campaign Marketing Inc.” That company was the eventual recipient of the $18,000 ad buy from the American Wounded Veterans PAC — which itself had also been created in January. His LinkedIn page features certificates indicating that he completed courses in “Understanding the Dates on Food Labels” and “General Nutrition: Belly Fat” through online classes provided by Texas A&M University. But the groups plowed almost all of their millions into fundraising and marketing companies, including paying sham companies run by people in their own network. Federal filings reveal a tiered structure, with a level of entities above Bohms that receive massive PAC payments for vague marketing-related services. Bohms originally hails from a small town in northern Illinois, but a person familiar with his family told Salon he had left for Florida decades ago after he was told he had fathered a child. Heroes United reported bagging $4.6 million nationwide during the 2018 election cycle, said Eric Friedman, director of the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection. (Florida state records show that in 1993 Bohms registered in Pinellas County as a convicted criminal. It is also unclear how Crist feels about a sketchy newcomer PAC using his campaign as a vehicle to raise millions of dollars in the name of wounded U.S. troops. While it is not clear whether these any of these LLCs or PACs raise funds for charities — and collect fees for the work — circumstantial evidence abounds. In 2018, federal prosecutors indicted two brothers who operated a network of right-wing scam PACs with names like Americans for Law Enforcement PAC, Life and Liberty PAC and Republican Majority Campaign PAC, which over the course of 10 years had bilked donors out of $50 million. One other Volunteer Firefighter Alliance board member took a $93,864 salary: Robert Kesterson, who in 2016 gave Bohms a five-star book review on Amazon, apparently the only one he has received. Thank you for your support! A Wisconsin lawyer named Matt Fisher, who says he represents Bohms, called Salon to ask what the story was about, but declined to discuss anything on the record. That wasn’t all Bohms earned from American Wounded Veterans’ innumerable small donors — Campaign Marketing Inc. performed a number of other services for the PAC this year, apparently $129,000 worth. A LinkedIn page exists for Political Marketing Services, which appears to have two employees in Alabama. Mission Statement Association for Emergency Responders and Firefighters is a non-partisan, independent, expenditure-only PAC.. Our Political Action Committee seeks out candidates and sitting government officials at the local, state, and federal levels to support legislation for First Responders including but not limited to: health care, mental health services, long-term … Not so fast. Hoxie’s worked in fundraising for years and said it's perfectly legal for a PAC to solicit under a charitable sounding name. No other political group reported paying any of those three companies. First of all, they don't represent the firefighters - any firefighters. Got into wagering on races the last few years. A review of the organization’s tax filings shows that in 2019 the VFA pocketed more than $5 million in contributions, and managed to spend almost that exact same amount — but not on charity work: Almost all of its income went to telemarketing and fundraising efforts. It’s a high-pressure call pretending to be from them. He refused to answer multiple detailed follow-up questions. All donations are tax deductible. But in the case of the PAC, he was on the money when he sensed their calls were suspicious. Bohms, who also has a family in Tennessee, has a three-year-old grandson he does not know about, the source told Salon. That year, Bass was listed as treasurer for five PACs. Bohms gave her campaign and PAC $4,700 in 2018 — less than the maximum allowable amount. Another review of that book says, “If you got this book free, it’s still not worth reading!”, “The back of the book and description leads you to believe this is a book on how to handicap horses, what to look for in horses and picking horses to bet on. IRS records indicate the charity reports less than $25,000 revenue annually. And they don’t do anything by phone. Rather, they and their fundraisers present the PACs as charities, suggesting they support veterans, firefighters or victims of deadly diseases, for instance.

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