What Role Did Brian Pasch Really Have in Civic Development Group? Part 1

"My reaction to this decision was that Shift Digital must think that Chrysler dealers are like mushrooms. They can feed them shit and keep them in the dark."

"Is the real reason why the connection has been denied, is so that Shift Digital does not want dealers to understand their business model? Are they trying to hide just how much their Digital Advertising program is padded with fees?" - Brain Pasch https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/does-shift-digital-treat-chrysler-dealers-like-mushrooms-brian-pasch


When I read what Brian Pasch is publicly questioning Chrysler Digital and is question Shift Digital regarding their dealer service.  I'm frankly surprised by his audacity given his own questionable past.  For the past few years in the auto arena there's been mention of Brian and Civic Development Group, also referred to as CDG.  Brian has minimized his role in the business, and defers to not being mentioned in the FTC's shut down of the business as his reasoning.  I am going to simply present the facts that I have been able to amass regarding the question, "What Role Did Brian Pasch Really Have in Civic Development Group?"  I will use great restraint in inputting my opinions, or conclusions in regards to what I'm going to say in this post.  For the record, no criminal charges have been filed against anyone from CDG, and Brian is not mentioned in any of CDG lawsuits or FTC actions.  Again, just the facts, and it is up to you to answer the question for yourself!

Let's start with the three people that you will see mentioned in this post, and their roles at CDG.
David Keezer- President CDG
Scott Pasch-Vice President CDG and Brian's brother
Brian Pasch-?

CDG was the parent company with many other companies under its umbrella.  CDG was a telemarketing company that raised money for non-profit organizations, and it was no small operation.  It operated call centers in multiple states, and was one of the largest telemarketing companies in the country!  "Millennium Teleservices — a leading teleservices company which focuses 100 percent on outbound domestic business (with NO offshore call centers) reports a phenomenal growth of over 100 percent!! Mr. Brian Pasch, the company CEO, informed me that the company plans to double its number of call centers in 2005 versus 2004 by going from about 30 existing call centers to over 60 call centers!!" - http://www.tmcnet.com/call-center/0705/PublishersOutlook.htm It was based out of New Jersey, and the business formation was an LLC, and for those not familiar with the terms used with an LLC.  There's members, those are individuals that have an ownership stake in the business, and there's also Managers, these can also be individuals with an ownership stake.  In corporate terms, Managers would be the top executives of the company, i.e. President, Vice President, CEO, etc.  I mention this because these terms will come into play in answering this blogs question.  One of the companies under the umbrella of CDG was Millennium Teleservices, which Brian was the CEO of.



The time frame that I've been able to connect Brian with his involvement with CDG is from 1993- late 2009.

"It had taken some time for the 39-year-old Pasch, who in 1993 joined Millennium cofounders Scott Pasch (his younger brother) and Dave Keezer as a managing partner.." - http://www.cio.com/article/2440891/leadership-management/corporate-angst.html

You can see that Brian is listed as a Manager on the filing above, and the date filed is 9/18/2009.  As you will see, he's listed on many state filings as a Manager, and even a Member.

  

Source: http://www.bizapedia.com/people/BRIAN-PASCH.html

According to his 2004, 2008 political donations, he lists CDG as his employer, and "Executive", "Partner", and "Finance", as occupation.

Incidentally, his contribution to Rudy's campaign got on the radar of a Harper's Magazine writer.
"Here’s a donor to Rudy Giuliani’s campaign that presumably slipped through the cracks: Brian Pasch of a New Jersey-based company called CDG Management.
Pasch gave Rudy $2,300 (the maximum allowed) back on June 4 of this year; his wife Denise gave the same amount. In making the donation Pasch identified himself as an executive at CDG (which is associated with firms known as Civic Development Group and Millennium Teleservices). These firms have an extensive public track record of shady telemarketing and have been widely accused of making false representations to consumers in fundraising appeals, and keeping much of the money it raised for the charities. And they appear to specialize in taking advantage of small charities created to assist police and firefighters." - http://harpers.org/blog/2007/12/alert-to-charities-and-political-campaigns-watch-out-for-cdg/

As the above mentions what the issue is with CDG, and why the answer to the question of this post is very relevant.  CDG's business was soliciting donations over the phone to raise money for charities, which by itself sounds like a noble venture.  The problem was that they were lying to potential donors in order to get a donation from them.  From the same article:

"Back in 1998, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had reached a settlement with CDG, whose top officials include Scott Pasch (Brian’s brother) and David Keezer. The press release said, among other things, that the company had been “soliciting on behalf of a non-profit organization, the American Deputy Sheriff’s Association…. [CDG] misrepresented to consumers nationwide that contributions [would] buy bullet-proof vests, provide death benefits for deceased officers surviving family members, or otherwise benefit local law enforcement.” In fact, the FTC charged, virtually no money raised by CDG in the name of the Sheriff’s Association was used for the purposes stated.
CDG has been the subject of multiple state investigations and has been operating under a consent agreement with the FTC since the 1998 settlement."

The FTC in 1998 tells them to essentially, "Cut it out, and to stop their deceptive practices", and they agree.  In 1996 Star-News ran an article about a former employee of CDG, and he explained how the telemarketing at CDG worked.  This employee quit over the moral dilemma of the work he was doing.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19961215&id=DLdQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QBUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2333,5826425&hl=en