SMURF THIS! Legal action looks to kill fraudulent political donation scheme

Smurfing with campaign donations has become an epidemic in America, probably involving tens of thousands of victims and millions, likely hundreds of millions of dollars.

It involves a criminal using someone else’s identity in order to make a political contribution.

Such operators can, through the schemes, direct massive amounts of money to individual candidates and causes without doing a lot of reporting and documentation.

Star investigative reporter James O’Keefe of O’Keefe Media Group, has documented the problem:

BREAKING: O’Keefe Media Group Uncovers Potential MASSIVE Money Laundering into Political Campaigns #FollowTheMoneypic.twitter.com/MiNS63G2rI

— O’Keefe Media Group (@OKeefeMedia) March 29, 2023

Those whose names are used often never even find out about it, and mostly they are not in a position to hire lawyers, do investigations, and find those who are abusing them.

Until now.

Now someone has used the name of a longtime Republican political strategist, Mark Block, who has gone to court to uncover the details of the thievery, and get it stopped.

A report at the Gateway Pundit explains that he’s charging his personal information was stolen and used in recent months to launder money 385 times to 62 different campaigns and political groups.

At the center of the controversy is ActBlue, the behemoth that collects money for multiple Democrat interests.

He found out, the report said, when he got a receipt, at an old email address, recognizing his $7.50 donation to LGBTQ Equality PAC, an organization he explains he would never, ever support.

His legal filing, in court in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, seeks injunctive relief for the operation. He cites Kamala Harris’ fundraising boasts, but points out, “Unfortunately, however, at least some of those donations – and similar donations to campaigns and organizations across the country – have been fraudulently made.”

The filing explains there have been documented more than 385 donations from “Mark Block” to 62 campaigns and candidates in just the past few weeks. They total $884.

He explains, “Specifically, federal law does not require campaigns to itemize contributions from donors when the aggregate amount totals less than $200. Campaigns that receive contributions below $200 can simply bundle the donation into a list of un-itemized contributions. Small dollar donations have seen explosive growth in recent years, with the number of reported transactions increasing by 400% just between the 2016 and 2020 elections.”

But “bad actors” can skew elections by “smurfing,” putting huge sums into campaigns through small-dollar donations illegally using the names of other people.

Block explained that the donations all were made from “the same American Express card … with an expiration date of July 2026, and tracked to the zip code 90403 located in Santa Monica, California. Upon investigation, plaintiff discovered that the UPS location was used as a mailing address for a ‘Cain Companies Construction’ … Cain Co. was administratively dissolved by the California Secretary of State in 2013.”

The principal there was listed as Bernard L. Cain, Jr. but Block has no connection to him.

Multiple attempts to contact Bernard L. Cain Jr. were fruitless.

The Gateway Pundit noted, “Some of the individuals accused of this fraudulent scheme include Soros-funded Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Soros Funded Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), Democrat Senator Raphael Warnock (GA), and Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.”

The perpetrators, identified at this point as “John Doe,” violated the “Wisconsin Organized Crime Control Act” with the actions, the filing charges.

Requested is a Temporary Restraining Order to stop the “”repeated and fraudulent use of plaintiff’s PII” and expedited discovery in the matter “for all discovery requests issued between the date of this Order’s entry and the determination [of] John Doe’s true identity.”