WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has recently made public its final action on three matters previously under review (MURs). In the first two MURs involving fraudulent solicitation by individuals and groups claiming to support Gephardt for President, the FEC found civil violations of the law and the individuals were criminally prosecuted by the Department of Justice or state officials. With respect to the third MUR, the FEC dismissed a complaint alleging that the University of Arizona and others violated the law by staging a political debate. This release contains only disposition information.
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MUR 5384 |
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RESPONDENT: |
(a) Never Stop Dreaming, Inc. (NSD)
(b) Blanchi Dugatkin a.k.a. Jade Newhart
(c) William Dugatkin a.k.a. Bill Baulding |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Gephardt for President, Inc.
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SUBJECT: |
Fraudulent solicitation of funds
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DISPOSITION: |
(a-c) Reason to believe, but take no further action*[re: knowing and willful participating in, conspiring to participate in, a plan, scheme or design to engage in fraudulent solicitation]
[On November 22, 2005 Blanchi Dugatkin and William Dugatkin pled guilty to one count each of misdemeanor fraudulent solicitation, and the court accepted provisions conciliating civil violations of the Act as an addendum to the plea agreement. See ]
The complaint involved allegations that individuals using the names “Jade Newhart” and “Bill Baulding” of NSD violated the Act by fraudulently misrepresenting their organization as acting on behalf of the Gephardt Committee in connection with the planning of a fundraiser for the purpose of soliciting funds. The Gephardt committee asserted that no person associated with it had knowledge of the activities of Baulding, Newhart, or NSD. The investigation revealed that the two individuals involved in the fundraising scheme, Blanchi and Willaim Dugatkin used multiple aliases, including “Jade Newhart” and “Bill Baulding,” and changed addresses frequently to conceal their whereabouts. As part of a global settlement with Department of Justice, the Commission settled civil violations of the Act in an addendum to a plea agreement signed by the Dugatkins, in which they each pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal violations. Following the court’s sentencing of the Dugatkins, the Commission closed the file in this matter. The Commission also decided to take no further action with respect to NSD because it was, exclusively used as a shell for the Dugatkins to participate in a fraudulent solicitation scheme. |
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5384 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
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2. |
MUR 5385 |
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RESPONDENTS: |
(a) Groundswell Voters PAC
(b) Jerome Dewald
(c) Jonathan Mosier |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Gephardt for President, Inc.
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SUBJECT: |
Fraudulent solicitation of funds; failure to register and report; impermissible use of contributor list for solicitation purposes
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DISPOSITION: |
(a-c) Reason to believe, took no further action*[re: knowing and willful fraudulent solicitation of funds; impermissible use of contributor list for solicitation purposes]
(a) Reason to believe, took no further action* [re: failure to register and report]
(a-b) Send admonishment letters.
The complaint alleged that Groundswell Voters PAC violated the Act by fraudulently misrepresenting that it was acting on behalf of former Congressman Richard Gephardt in mailing undated fundraising letters requesting contributions of up to $5,000 to fund a purported grassroots effort to benefit Gephardt for President, Inc. The Gephardt Committee asserted that Groundswell had no authority to act on its behalf and it was wholly unaware of the organizations’ fundraising activities until it obtained copies of the Groundswell solicitations. The complaint also alleged that Groundswell obtained the names of individuals it solicited for contributions from reports on file with the Commission and that Groundswell failed to register as a political committee with the Commission. The Commission found reason to believe that Groundswell and two individuals, Jerome DeWald and Jonathan Mosier, violated the law.
Mr. Dewald was imprisoned on state fraud charges in the fall of 2003.
Following an investigation, the Commission took no further action as to these Respondents but admonished Groundswell and Jerome Dewald that fraudulent solicitation is a violation of the Act, and closed the file. |
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5385 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
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3. |
MUR 5650 |
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RESPONDENTS: |
(a) University of Arizona, by and through the Arizona Board of Regents
(b) Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA)
(c) Alistair J. Chapman
(d) Fernando Ascencio
(e) Friends of John McCain, Thomas R. Holtrup, treasurer |
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COMPLAINANT: |
Bennett S. Kalafut |
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SUBJECT: |
Failure to allow candidate to participate in debate/corporate contribution |
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DISPOSITION: |
(a-e) Dismiss the complaint.
The complaint stated that two officers of ASUA admitted to the complainant and other witnesses that the ASUA excluded a third candidate on the ballot, at the request of the participating candidates’ campaigns. Therefore, the complainant alleged the debate constituted an illegal in-kind contribution from the University of Arizona to the McCain and Starky campaigns. The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University denied the complainant’s claim that the McCain and/or Starky campaigns were responsible for excluding Hancock from the debate and that University does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates or political parties. Moreover, the University contended that even it were deemed a corporation for purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act, it met all the requirements of the Commission’s debate staging regulations when it staged the debate. Also, the University stated that the two former ASUA Officers, Alistair Chapman and Fernando Ascencio recalled speaking with the complainant after the debate, but did not recall telling the complainant that Hancock was excluded at the request of the McCain or Starky campaigns. The Commission exercised its prosecutorial discretion and dismissed this matter and closed the file.
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DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC RECORD: |
Documents from this matter are available from the Commission’s web site at http://www.fec.gov by entering 5650 under case number in the Enforcement Query System. They are also available in the FEC’s Public Records Office at 999 E St. NW in Washington. |
It requires the votes of at least four of the six Commissioners
to take any action. The FEC can close a case at any point after reviewing
a complaint. If a violation is found and conciliation cannot be reached,
then the FEC can institute a civil court action against a respondent.
