One thing you have to say for National Committee for Volunteer Firefighters PAC: It’s consistent.
When a robocall computer using a voice powered by soundboard technology called the New To Las Vegas world headquarters in mid-2020 asking for a donation to the political action committee, I did a little research. It turned out the PAC, ostensibly based in Boston, had raised $240,000 in donations across the country. But its own public records showed it hadn’t given even a single penny to any political campaign in further of its main stated mission, which is to support the causes of, well, volunteer firefighters.
Clearly, NCVF PAC was what I call a faux charity. That’s a PAC that presents as a charity but isn’t and spends almost all the money raised on fundraising and overhead and undisclosed compensation to its organizers. Others call such outfits scam charities.
Fast forward to now. NCVF PAC is still around. Its robocall computer using a voice powered by soundboard technology recently called me again with the same charity-sounding pitch. The call from “Tom Evans” was short, and you can listen to substantially the same pitch with the same fake name as recorded by an anti-robocall web site by clicking here. I did a little more research. In the three-and-a-half-year period since its inception through June 30, 2023, NCVF PAC has receive nearly $5 million in donations around the country, mostly from small Mom and Pop donors. I’ll let you guess how much of that NCVF PAC’s own filings say went to identified political candidates during that entire period, which included two national election seasons.
If you guessed anything greater that zero dollars, you guessed high.
But one thing has changed between the two calls. In 2021, Nevada, where I live, passed a sweeping law prohibiting any organization from fundraising in the Silver State for, among other causes, “the benefit of … firefighting,” without first registering and making filings with the Nevada Secretary of State’s Office. The prohibition, codified as Nevada Revised Statutes 82A.010 et seq., embraces all entities, including PACs. I checked with the Secretary of State’s Office, and there’s no registration or filings on behalf of NCVF PAC.
So the call I just received was illegal, punishable by civil sanctions including financial penalties. But Nevada regulators have been MIA on this issue of illegal solicitation. Were they to act, though, it wouldn’t be the first time NCVF’s founder has been in the crosshairs of government authorities. Continue reading →
’tis the holiday season, when folks are in a generous mode and perhaps have let down their guard. I’m here to warn you about a wolf in charity clothing–“Ray Wolfe,” to be specific.
