Judge again refuses to release Las Vegas telemarketer accused of fraud

A federal judge again refused to release a Las Vegas telemarketer on Friday, a day after he was arrested on charges of defrauding donors who gave to charities and political action committees.

Richard Zeitlin, 52, the longtime operator of Zeitlin Call Centers, was arrested the same day FBI agents raided his multimillion-dollar home in Las Vegas and an indictment in the wire fraud case was unsealed in New York.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Cam Ferenbach had refused to release Zeitlin from custody on Thursday, in part because of his recently obtained Israeli citizenship and connections to a private plane.

Zeitlin’s attorneys argued Friday that the plane Zeitlin has partial ownership of is in Florida and currently inoperable, and that his foreign citizenship is a “mere token” that does not grant him full citizenship rights or an Israeli passport, but the judge again declined to release him.

“I’ve been thinking about this all day,” the judge said before Zeitlin’s attorneys argued for him to be released.

Zeitlin will now be transferred to New York to face charges of attempted and conspiracy to commit wire fraud; fraud by wire, radio or television; and two counts of tampering with a witness, victim or informant.

Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Zeitlin used his business to defraud donors and potential donors by giving “misleading and false information about how the donors’ money would be spent and the nature of the organizations to which they were giving.”

He is accused of claiming to donors that PACs were actually charities, and ordering employees to delete messages after he was warned that the company was under investigation. Prosecutors allege that his company kept 90 percent of the money solicited, and gave the rest to political groups.

Dozens of charities and PACs have been identified as victims, including veteran, police officer and firefighter organizations, and the Children’s Leukemia Support Network charity.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240.