NYC Gazette

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, pled guilty today to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with his participation in a scheme to use his call centers to defraud donors of certain political action committees (PACs) through false and misleading statements. Zeitlin pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated: “Richard Zeitlin used his telemarketing business to deceive donors into believing they were contributing to charitable causes when, in reality, their money was diverted to political action committees. Zeitlin’s fraudulent actions not only undermined the trust of donors but also exploited their goodwill for personal gain. Today’s announcement highlights this Office’s dedication to holding accountable those who misuse charitable and political organizations to defraud and mislead the public.”

According to 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 typically provide direct services to communities or causes.

From at least 2017 up until 2020, Zeitlin used his telemarketing call center business and various associated entities to defraud numerous donors by providing misleading and false information about how the donors’ money would be spent and the nature of the organizations they were giving to. Specifically, Zeitlin directed his employees to alter 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 a political advocacy organization (i.e., a PAC). Zeitlin directed these lies, misleading statements, and misrepresentations so that donors would be more likely to give money, thereby increasing funds raised and profits for his businesses – which typically received approximately 90% of donated funds. In some instances, Zeitlin’s businesses retained 100% of donated funds with none going towards described causes.

When one PAC treasurer confronted Zeitlin with complaints from donors that solicitation calls falsely represented a PAC as a charity, Zeitlin falsely denied that such calls were being made, acknowledged that such calls would be inappropriate, and refused to provide any call recordings that would have revealed his fraud. In May 2022, after learning he was under federal investigation, Zeitlin directed his employees to delete electronic messages related to his businesses.

Individuals who believe they are victims of fraud perpetrated by Zeitlin are encouraged to contact USANYS.PACFraud@usdoj.gov or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.

Zeitlin, 54 years old from Las Vegas, Nevada pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress for informational purposes only; actual sentencing will be determined by the judge. Zeitlin is scheduled for sentencing by Judge Kaplan on December 10, 2024.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jane Kim, Emily Deininger, and Rebecca T. Dell are leading the prosecution.