A Langhorne, Pennsylvania man has been convicted of perpetrating a brazen scheme to deceive the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and engage in credit card fraud.
Christopher Richardson, 37, pleaded guilty to making a false entry in a record and access device fraud, crimes that could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
According to court documents, Richardson created an independent, expenditure-only Super PAC named Americans for Progressive Action USA (AFPA) in March 2020. He then filed a falsified quarterly report with the FEC claiming that AFPA had raised $4.8 million from several fictitious individuals.
Richardson also filed a report of expenditures that falsely claimed that the Super PAC spent over $1.5 million to purchase advertisements and media production opposing certain candidates for the U.S. Senate. He filed another FEC report that falsely stated that AFPA refunded the non-existent $4.8 million in donations.
But that wasn’t the end of Richardson’s deceitful activities. He used the alias of one of the fictitious donors to AFPA to obtain a credit card, which he then used to conduct approximately 200 transactions.
Richardson is scheduled to be sentenced on June 13.
As part of his plea agreement, Richardson admitted to filing documents with the FEC that contained false and fictitious information about a political action committee, or Super PAC, and credit card fraud.
Richardson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the false entry count and a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on the access device fraud count.
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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