Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster’s office filed a federal lawsuit against two Illinois-based professional fundraising firms and their owners for allegedly violating state and federal telemarketing and no-call laws, as well as state merchandising practice laws.
The suit names Automated Professional Marketing LLC and Safety Publications Inc., as well as co-owners Adam Herdman and Arthur Olivera, according to a news release.
Filed in the Eastern District of Missouri, the suit claims the companies made calls to Missouri residents on the state’s no-call list to solicit donations for the Association of Firefighters and Paramedics Inc., the Breast Cancer Survivors Foundation and VietNow National Headquarters.
Koster’s office alleges the companies kept 80-86 percent of the donations, despite telling consumers 100 percent of their pledges would go directly to charity, according to the release.
The lawsuit claims the fundraisers violated the federal Telemarketing and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by continuing to call consumers who requested not to be contacted, as well as making calls to cellphones using an automatic phone dialing system.
“This telemarketer did more than just annoy people with 25,000 robocalls; they also misled good-hearted consumers,” Koster said in the release.
According to Koster’s office, the federal penalty for breaking telemarketing laws is $16,000 per violation, compared to Missouri’s $5,000 per violation.
