Telemarketers slammed with record fine for lying about police, veterans' charities

A telemarketing operation that made its money duping consumers into thinking they were donating directly to charities -- not going through a high-priced middleman -- was ordered to stop soliciting on behalf of charities and pay a record $18.8 million penalty, the Federal Trade Commission said.
(To learn more about the FTC, watch this exclusive Consumer Ally interview with FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz.)




The penalty against Civic Development Group, LLC; CDG Management LLC; and owners Scott Pasch and David Keezer was the largest in FTC history for a consumer protection case.