Prosecutors have accused John Pierre Dupont, 80, of scamming $250,000 from unwitting political donors who believed they were sending money to various candidates or causes, when in fact the money was going to him. The Californian has been arrested and charged with wire fraud and identity theft, prosecutors with the Southern District of New York announced on Tuesday. Dupont is alleged to have set up multiple websites and bogus political action committees to carry out the fraud. He filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to create what prosecutors referred to as “Scam PACs” that had no active operations, employees or programs. Prosecutors say that Dupont received hundreds of thousands of dollars through his scam PACs and websites.

Source: Washington Post March 20, 2019 19:18 UTC