OLYMPIA, Wash. (Legal Newsline) — Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced July 20 that his office has filed a lawsuit against Blue Utopia, a company providing campaign and non-profit fundraising services located in Seattle, alleging it used new donations to cover old debts to other campaigns.
According to allegations, Trace Anderson and his company Blue Utopia committed unfair and deceptive practices in violation of the Washington Consumer Protection Act.
Blue Utopia is a subscription service; political campaigns and nonprofits pay a monthly subscription fee for services, including the act of collecting, processing and managing online fundraising. Blue Utopia takes a portion of the donations as payment and the rest are delivered on a weekly basis to the nonprofits. However, Blue Utopia allegedly started failing to send donation payments as early as 2013. The company was purportedly using donated funds to cover company losses.
Handling the case for Washington are assistant attorneys general Tiffany Lee and Kate Barach. Ferguson recused himself from the case. He therefore has no involvement in legal decision-making related to the case.