Re the scam super PACs I've been tweeting about. They went into overdrive in the 2019-20 election cycle & cont'd thru June 30 '21. Definitely organized crime but I'm not sure who did the organizing. Same vendors, same PACs...
...Here's one example. On June 30 '21, two scam super PACs paid a total of $723k to Public Support Services Inc w a shared office space address in Fort Lauderdale for "compliance fees"...
...Can't access sunbiz.org at the moment but according to OpenCorporates, Public Support Services Inc was registered on July 23 '20 by Philip Braunstein whose middle initial, I'm pretty sure, is "R" & lives in Parkland...
...Per OpenCorporates, Philip R. Braunstein also registered Presto Consultants Inc to another shared office in Boca Raton on July 23 '20...
...Per LinkedIn, Michael Gelvan is employed by Presto Consultants. Like Philip Ron Braunstein, Michael is from NJ & appears to be related to Mark Gelvan, a name @bysarahkleiner might recognize...
...This Sept 16 '20 Tap Into Montville article about Mark Gelvan getting bagged by the FTC & SDNY for operating scam charities confirms Michael Gelvan worked for a company owned by Mark Gelvan...
tapinto.net/towns/montvill…
...Looks to me like Mark Gelvan didn't skip a beat & went into the scam super PAC business after his charity business was shut down. And now I'm off to run errands. Later...
...More evidence Mark Gelfan & his gang are behind some of these scam super PACs. The same two PACs that paid $723k to Public Support Services on June 30 '21 paid a total of $80k that same day to Office Edge LLC...
... A public database shows one of Mark Gelfan's accomplices, Thomas Neil Birkenbush of Wanaque NJ, registered Office Edge LLC in NJ on Feb 12 '20...
...In a Dec 13 '17 Center For Public Integrity story, @bysarahkleiner wrote about Mark Gelvan, his scam charities & one of his first ventures in scam super PACs via Outreach Calling...
publicintegrity.org/politics/veter…
...Time out for more research. Not sure but I think the cops at IUPA might be in deeper w Mark Gelvan & the scam super PACs than I first thought...
....In the year ended March 31 2019, the International Association of Police Unions reported that the "International Association of Police Unions Call Center" raised $4.7 million & kept $4.2 million.....
...There is no company named International Association of Police Unions Call Center. I suspect Sam Cabral, long time IAPU president, helped Mark Gelvan hide $4M bc the feds were after him at that point....
..The tell is the IAPU brought in a new CPA firm that year, replacing Judith P. Barnhard who had prepared the IAPU 990s since 2005. Was Barnhard fired or did she resign?....
...IUPA revenue & expenses by year. Expenses for the year ended March 31 2019 don't make sense...
...Compare the change in independent contractors reported on the '18, '19 & '20 IUPA 990s...
...2019 wasn't an anomaly. In 2020, the IUPA again covered up how much money was raised by telemarketing firms & by which firms. It reported paying $7.4 million in fundraising fees but only listed $1.4 million on the schedule of fundraising activities...
...The 2020 IUPA 990 is laughably bad. Not a single word about the use of IUPA resources to administer a super PAC headed by IUPA officers. Per FEC filings for the Law Enforcement For A Safer America PAC...
...Next up: IUPA real estate ventures
...Deed & mortgage transactions recorded in Sarasota County official records for IU Infrastructure LLC, an IUPA disregarded entity registered to hold investments in property....
...IUPA via IU Infrastructure paid $450k in cash for a vacant lot at 1388 Cattlemen Road in Sarasota in Dec '17 & sold it for $455k in Nov '20. Not much of a profit...
...In Aug 2018, IUPA via IU Infrastructure bought an office building for $2.6 million, putting down $500k in cash & taking out a $2.1 million mortgage...
...Laying out $950k in cash for the purchase of property within a eight month period seems significant for an organization the size of the IUPA...
...The name of the IU Infrastructure, LLC registered agent was changed from IUPA in-house counsel, Holly Von Horsten, to Tracy Mainguy in Jan 2021...
..Along w the change in CPA firms came a change in the description of Investments - Other Securities. Instead of listing actual investments, the lump sum is labeled "IUPA Deferred Compensation Trust"....
...I suspect IUPA president, Sam Cabral, made the change to ensure the $1 million in deferred compensation liability on the books actually gets paid. On the '20 990, the amount isn't disclosed....
...If I were auditing IUPA's books, I'd demand documentation for every line item on the financial statements. If I were recently appointed IUPA treasurer, Michael V. Crivillo, I'd hire a lawyer...
And so ends another scam super PAC thread. Not sure if I'll do another but it's not for lack of material.
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