Medford Men Indicted for Charity Scam

Two Medford men are among five suspects who were indicted Monday by a Middlesex County Grand Jury for allegedly defrauding over 1,000 donors to disabled deterans’ and retired police organizations.

Authorities say Ronald Seeley, 38, and his son, Brandon Seeley, 20, were part of a scheme that allegedly used fraudulent telemarketing practices to deceive over 1,000 donors to police and veterans’ charitable organizations and then allegedly used those funds for their own personal use.

It is estimated that between August 2006 and January 2008 1,000 donors were defrauded and well over $100,000 in donations was misappropriated.

The elder Seeley is charged with four counts of larceny over $250, two counts of attempted larceny, five counts of conspiracy to commit larceny over $250, conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of uttering, gross fraud, and deceptive professional solicitation practices, while his son is charged with larceny over $250, attempted larceny, conspiracy to commit larceny over $250, gross fraud, and deceptive professional solicitation practices.

According to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office, they began an investigation in August 2006 after the matter was referred by a veterans’ charitable organization. In addition, the Attorney General’s Non-Profit/Public Charities Division Division had also received multiple complaints.

Investigators discovered that between August 2006 and January 2008, telemarketers from Ronald Seeley’s professional fund-raising organization, CMR Marketing, based in Medford, would allegedly engage in fraudulent fund-raising telemarketing schemes to raise money for two charities: Veteran’s Charitable Foundation (VCF), of Boynton Beach, FL, and a retired police officers organization. Much of the money given by donors never made it to the veterans and retired police officers it was intended to benefit.

Investigators also say that the elder Seeley, his son, and one of his employees, William Lewis, made false statements to potential donors, including claiming they were affiliated with the New England Paralyzed Veterans Association (NEPVA), that they were a volunteer organization or were themselves volunteers, that the money raised was exclusively for the benefit of Massachusetts veterans or for veterans in a particular town, and that the money was used for such things as scholarships or phone cards. Authorities also allege that the elder Seeley stole some of the donations and deposited the donor checks directly into his company’s bank accounts.

Furthermore, authorities also learned that Seeley’s company had a contract to raise funds for the Retired Boston Police Officers’ Association (RBPOA) beginning in December 2006 to solicit donations from potential donors, pick up the donations, and deposit them directly into RBPOA’s bank account. Seeley and another co-worker, George Borden, allegedly stole a large portion of the donations they solicited and lied to RBPOA about the donations they received. Investigators allege that Seeley and Borden fraudulently received “donations” such as hotel rooms from donors and used these donations for their own purposes without the authorization of the RBPOA.

Following the indictments, the Attorney General’s Non-Profit/Public Charities Division will begin the civil process to prevent Veteran’s Charitable Foundation from continuing to fundraise in Massachusetts.

The Seeleys and the other defendants are scheduled for arraignment in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn on September 3, 2008.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Marc Jones of Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Corruption and Fraud Division, Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, and Financial Investigator Jessie Julian. The Massachusetts State Police Fusion Center provided assistance with the investigation and NEPVA and RBPOA also cooperated fully with the investigation.

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Charitable Giving Tips from the Attorney General’s Office

– Information from Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office was used for this story.