Swampscott PD: Organization trying to cash in on behalf of vets

SWAMPSCOTT – A professional for-profit fundraising organization is using heavy-handed tactics to try to solicit “donations” from area residents, according to police.Attorney Mike Cerulli said he received one of the calls at his law office on Humphrey Street.”They told me if I gave them $200 they wouldn’t bother me for another three years,” he said. “I immediately smelled a rat and called the police.”According to police, Veterans Charitable Foundation is not soliciting money for Swampscott Veterans Association. The town of Swampscott requires solicitors to have a special permit, which is issued by the police department and the Veterans Charitable Foundation has not been issued a permit, according to Detective James Schultz, who also serves as veterans agent.According to Schultz, this is the same organization that solicited money from town residents following the deaths of U.S. Army Specialist Jared Raymond and USMC Captain Jennifer Harris, who were killed in Iraq.Schultz said many for-profit professional fundraising companies prey on people’s emotions and frequently surface following a tragedy or just prior to Veterans Day.”It happened when the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial was destroyed,” he said. “This company showed up again after Jared Raymond and Jennifer Harris were killed.”In March, when the Veterans Charitable Foundation, which also goes by the name Veterans Charitable Organization, was soliciting funds in town, one resident put an empty envelope on her door.”We had police stop them when they went to pick up the check,” Schultz said.Schultz said the two white males who picked up the envelope were working for the Veterans Charitable Foundation.The group, which has its headquarters in Boynton Beach, Fla., is registered with the Attorney General’s Office, but Schultz was quick to point out the company does not donate to Swampscott veterans and has never been granted permission to solicit on their behalf.According to an online database of charitable organizations, Veterans Charitable Foundation raised more than $118,000 in 2005 and only 3 percent of that was donated to a charity.Schultz, who contacted the group in March, said they denied representing themselves as collecting money for Swampscott veterans but Schultz said at least 10 residents called reporting they were identifying themselves as soliciting money for the Swampscott Veterans Association.In earlier interviews, Veterans Charitable Foundation President Frank Cariello said the company was founded in 1996 and uses telemarketers in nine states to solicit funds. He said calls locally are made out of Medford and the organization donates approximately 3 percent of proceeds raised in Massachusetts to a veteran’s hospital in Jamaica Plains.Schultz urged anyone who received a call asking them for a donation not to succumb to high-pressure tactics.”Anyone who is in doubt should call the police department,” he said. “Never leave money in an envelope for someone to pick up.”Schultz said the Swampscott Veterans Association is gearing up for its annual fundraising drive, but telemarketers are not used to solicit funds.”We never solicit money by phone,” he said. “We send a mailing to residents and we ask for a check, which is sent to Town Hall.”