HARRISBURG — Attorney General Tom Corbett announced the filing of a civil lawsuit against a Washington State husband and wife accused of using misleading or deceptive telephone solicitations to raise more than $500,000 that Pennsylvania consumers believed would be supporting injured firefighters, police officers or veterans in their communities.
Corbett said the civil suit was filed today, in Commonwealth Court, against Robert M. Friend and Shao Mei Wang, both of Gig Harbor, Washington. The lawsuit also names three nonprofit corporations created and controlled by Friend and Wang; the Disabled Firefighters Foundation, the American Veterans Coalition and the National Association of Disabled Police Officers, also of Gig Harbor, Washington.
“Pennsylvania residents were mislead into believing that their contributions would benefit a variety of programs in their communities, including local fire departments and police departments, the families of firefighters and police officers, veteran’s programs and camps for children who suffered burns,” Corbett said. “Some callers also falsely claimed to be calling from local police departments and implied that they were law enforcement officers, when the calls were actually being made by paid telemarketers.”
According to the lawsuit, fundraising calls made to Pennsylvania residents between May 2004 and May 2008 generated a total of $528,000 in contributions, with no indication of any direct benefit to any local fire departments, police officers, veterans or children’s burn camps operating in the state.
Corbett said during that same period of time, federal tax documents indicate that Friend and Wang paid themselves more than $433,582 in salaries and paid an additional $927,000 consulting fees, travel, benefits and expenses, while directing little or no money toward charitable programs.
Corbett said that Friend, Wang and their companies are charged with numerous violations of Pennsylvania’s Charities Act and Consumer Protection Law, including:
-Failing to register as a charitable organization in Pennsylvania.
-Using a professional solicitor that was not registered in Pennsylvania.
-Failing to disclose that callers were professional solicitors.
-Implying or inferring that solicitors were law enforcement officers.
-Failing to disclose that contributions would be sent outside Pennsylvania.
-Falsely stating that contributions would directly benefit local organizations.
-Not providing required written disclosures on printed materials.
-Failing to exercise control over fundraising activities.
-Using the name of unrelated charitable organizations, without their knowledge or consent.
-Unfair trade practices and unfair methods of competition.
The lawsuit asks the court to order the defendants to repay the total amount of contributions received in Pennsylvania because of deceptive practices, prohibit the defendants from any further charitable fundraising in the Commonwealth and civil penalties of up to $1,000 for each solicitation conducted in violation of state law.
The lawsuit was filed in Commonwealth Court by Senior Deputy Attorney General Heather Vance-Rittman and Chief Deputy Attorney General Mark A. Pacella of the Attorney General’s Charitable Trusts & Organizations Section.