FEC won't punish Trump-aligned company over alleged 'elder fraud' involving recurring donations

The Federal Election Commission has closed an investigation into an alleged "elder fraud abuse" case involving the Republican online campaign donation platform WinRed and will not pursue a penalty against the company, according to new agency documents reviewed by Raw Story.

"This matter is rated as low priority for Commission action after application of these pre-established criteria," wrote the FEC's general counsel. "Given that low rating, and the low dollar amount involved, we recommend that the Commission dismiss the Complaint consistent with the Commission’s prosecutorial discretion to determine the proper ordering of its priorities and use of agency resources. We also recommend that the Commission close the file."

Sisters Peggy Karstens and Kimberly Schilling filed a complaint in 2021 with the FEC accusing WinRed and its treasurer, Benjamin Ottenhoff, of charging their elderly mother's credit card without approval for $6,712.99 in recurring contributions to Donald Trump and other GOP candidates or committees over nearly a year.

The sisters noticed the charges in October 2021 and called Discover to freeze charges for WinRed, but they said representatives for the credit card company told them their mother would have to contact each individual group the online payment portal had directed the money to get a refund.

IN OTHER NEWS: France's Macron confronted Sen. Joe Manchin with a blunt accusation: report

"Our 79-year-old mother has been taken advantage of by WinRed," the sisters said in their October 2021 complaint to the Better Business Bureau. "She made one $50 donation on May 3, 2020, and then they continued to steal money from her until 4/27/2021 to the tune of $5,492.99. She tried to get them to stop twice. They would stop for a bit and/or return a little bit of money to her and then start all over again with the charges."

The sisters also filed a police report and contacted the FEC, which instructed the sisters to send them a formal complaint with detailed evidence, and Discover eventually disputed six charges totaling $1,220 that were refunded by WinRed -- although they said the payment processor kept $2,492.99 that the FEC ruled was too low of an amount to take further action.

"Our mother is on a very fixed income," they told the BBB. "She tried to rectify this herself but was getting nowhere ... This has caused her a great deal of [undue] stress and we need to get it resolved as soon as possible."

READ MORE: School board meeting goes off the rails amid furious battle with right-wing 'parental rights' activists

The bipartisan FEC voted 5-0, with Democrat Ellen Weintraub abstaining, against taking further action against WinRed, which has been investigated in multiple states over similar complaints about recurring donations involving Donald Trump's re-election campaign and other GOP candidates. The vote took place on Dec. 13, although the FEC only made the results of their decision public today.

The commission voted unanimously in 2021 to recommend Congress outlaw pre-checked recurring donation boxes used by WinRed and other campaign donations portals, and legislation has since been introduced in both the House and Senate.

WinRed told the FEC that "contributions were made by the donor voluntarily and were collected and transmitted by WinRed in accordance with applicable law and WinRed policy," according to FEC documents.

The FEC further stated that WinRed asserted that it "addressed the donor’s concerns promptly, including issuing refunds that WinRed asserts were not legally required" and that "once contacted by the donor, WinRed addressed her concerns to the extent possible and provided additional information on seeking refunds from the committees that receive the contributions at issue."