Thief steals Vermont Democratic Party debit card, hits FanDuel sports betting site

The Vermont Democratic Party is one of many political fundraising committees that have fallen victim to theft during the past couple of years.

But it’s the only one where the thief deposited the stolen funds into a sports betting account.

A Raw Story analysis of Federal Election Commission records showed the Vermont Democratic Party experienced a fraudulent charge of $925 on its political committee debit card — and the money went into an account on the sports and fantasy gambling site FanDuel.

The political group recovered the money from the bank, Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director Jim Dandeneau told Raw Story in an interview.

But he had no other details, including whether the thief was known to the Vermont Democratic Party. The bank, Dandeneau said, would be the one following up with law enforcement.

Sports gambling became legal in Vermont in January. FanDuel and Draft Kings are the leaders in the American sports gambling business at present.

Over the past year, Raw Story reported that scammers stole millions of donor dollars combined from dozens of political campaign committees, which have experienced varying levels of success in recouping the stolen funds.Nearly $40,000 each was recently stolen from two different political committees — one being a campaign organization for Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) and the other being a political action committee supporting miners.

In February, a Texas Republican congressional candidate, Scott Armey, lost $25,013 through a “fraudulent transaction,” and another labor PAC, the Mason Tenders District Council of New York and Long Island PAC, lost more than $4,300 over the summer, Raw Story reported.

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC, lost $35,000 earlier this year.

The Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest PAC reported $14,156.25 in fraud over the course of December, Raw Story reported.

A thief nabbed a $3,000 check sent by a political committee led by former House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The July 2023 check intended for a photographer was “stolen during the USPS mail process and fraudulently cashed,” Raw Story reported.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s political action committee reported theft of nearly $4,700 due to fraudulent checks in December, and the Oregon Republican Party was the victim of a fake check scam last summer.

Last year, the FEC questioned the campaign of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) about the fraudulent use of her campaign credit card by far-right agitator Milo Yiannopoulos, who purchased a 2024 campaign website domain for rapper-turned-2020 presidential candidate Ye, formerly Kanye West, using Greene’s donor dollars, Raw Story reported.

In May, Raw Story reported that the Managed Funds Association PAC was targeted more than 20 times between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2023, initially losing $147,000 in fraudulent check payments, although it appeared to have since recouped the money, according to filings with the FEC.

The Retired Americans PAC, a super PAC that supports Democrats, recouped more than $150,000 it lost in late 2022 after paying fraudulent bills sent to the committee, according to an April 21 letter to the FEC, Raw Story reported.

The FBI got involved when Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) was the victim of a cybertheft incident in late 2022 that initially cost his campaign $690,000.

Raw Story reported that other current and former Republican members of Congress targeted by thieves include Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas (his campaign lost $157,626), former Rep. John Katko of New York ($14,000), Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida ($10,855), former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California ($3,000), Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina ($2,607.98) and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida ($362.04).

The Republican National Committee and Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) also experienced campaign cash thefts.

The problem isn’t unique to Republicans.

Last year, the Minnesota Democratic Party experienced check fraud. In November 2022, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s campaign fell victim to check fraud worth $10,085, Raw Story reported, and President Joe Biden’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign committee lost at least $71,000, according to Business Insider. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) were also hit.

One-time Democratic presidential candidate and congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and West are among others who reported money stolen from their political accounts.

Other PACs losing campaign cash to thieves include the Business Industry Political Action Committee ($14,156), State Farm Insurance PAC ($12,220) and the International Franchise Association Franchising Political Action Committee ($2,500), Raw Story reported.

The political action committees of Google, National Association of Manufacturers, Consumer Technology Association, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, MoveOn.org, and law firms Akerman LLP and Blank Rome LLP have also experienced theft of various kinds, ranging from cyber theft to forgeries and check tampering, according to Business Insider.