“Mr. [Steven] Richter, who is in his 70s, is a semi-retired lawyer who primarily specialized in representing people in tax cases, including a 2001 precedent-setting case regarding the taxation of state lottery payments which are paid over 20 years,” read a September 28 La Prensa dispatch.

A spam king and his dad

A widely proclaimed ex-king of spam and YouTube influencer with a big-money slot machine channel who hails from Colorado — along with a million-dollar contribution to San Diego’s longtime hit piece purveyor Lincoln Club by a Point Loma man identified as the high roller’s father — have introduced a new level of intrigue to political money here.

The Byzantine saga began on September 26 when a campaign filing by the Republican-run San Diego County Lincoln Club revealed that Steven Richter, a man with a Point Loma Heights zip code, came up with an unprecedented million dollar mega-contribution to the club on September 12, after having first given $49,950 on August 26. Insiders noted that the earlier contribution was just under the $50,000 limit that would have required Richter to submit a major donor report, yet Richter sailed past that mark when he kicked in his million dollars shortly afterwards.

Scott Richter gave an awful lot of Lincolns to the Lincoln Club.

“Mr. Richter, who is in his 70s, is a semi-retired lawyer who primarily specialized in representing people in tax cases, including a 2001 precedent-setting case regarding the taxation of state lottery payments which are paid over 20 years,” read a September 28 La Prensa dispatch. “Although still an active lawyer who only handles cases on a sporadic basis, Richter has no business interests, clients, or projects before any government agency in San Diego County.”

Could be, but Richter is praised for his local government work by somebody named “Scott” in a comment on lawyer rating site Avvo.com: “Steve Richter is great! Steve took over our case from another attorney and worked with the County to resolve our dispute quickly and with little pain. I highly recommend Steve as an excellent attorney and would not hesitate to use him again.”

Richter’s website curriculum vitae says he “became President of Media Breakaway, LLC, in 2005 and additionally Chief Executive Officer of MBmobile, LLC, in 2009. He has been a featured speaker on internet law and compliance at several Affiliate Summits, the FTC SPAM Forum and has published articles and made presentations pertaining to internet law, civil and criminal tax controversy, accounting malpractice and litigation.” Media Breakaway’s website lists Steve Richter as the company’s Chief Legal Counsel, but it identifies Scott Richter as the company’s CEO.

Online records of Nevada’s secretary of state, where Media Breakaway is registered, show that as of August 30, 2018, the company’s manager was Scott Richter, who made national headlines in 2005 when he agreed to pay Microsoft $7 million to settle a high-profile spamming case brought by the software giant against a Media Breakaway predecessor, OptInRealBig.com. “This is an exciting settlement for us because it accomplishes our goal of sending a message to senders of illegal spam that there are real consequences for their conduct,” Microsoft attorney Aaron Kornblum told the Denver Post in an updated May 8, 2016 account of the case.

The paper went on to report that Microsoft’s lawsuit, which originally demanded $46 million, prompted OptiIn and Scott Richter to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “OptIn could exit bankruptcy as soon as next month, said Steve Richter, the company’s attorney and Scott Richter’s father. He said insurance will cover part of the settlement and the company is able to pay the rest,” the Post account said. “OptIn’s business was expanding even while this lawsuit was going on,” Steve Richter was quoted as saying.

Aaron Kornblum, spammer slammer for Microsoft.

“Our conclusion was that if we settled the lawsuit and closed the bankruptcy, it would be in the best interests of OptIn.” Added the story: “Microsoft accused OptIn of sending at least 50,000 illegal e-mails to accounts in its Hotmail e-mail service. The e-mails, which violated Washington state laws, contained misleading subject lines, Microsoft said.

Often they were difficult to trace back to the sender. Federal law enacted in early 2004 prohibits these and other practices such as sending unsolicited e-mail. OptIn says it now sends e-mail only to those who sign up and then respond to a confirmation e-mail. Last month, the SpamHaus Project removed the company from its Registry of Known Spam Operations, a list of 200 of the most active spammers.”

In 2008, an arbitrator ordered Scott Richter and Media Breakaway to ante up $6 million to MySpace to cover damages and attorney’s fees in a similar case, per a June 17, 2008 Law.com post. According to subsequent news coverage and a raft of blog and Instagram entries, Scott Richter, known to fans as Raja, currently enjoys a lucrative incarnation as a YouTube influencer with a channel called The Big Jackpot, dedicated to playing Las Vegas slots. Late last year, he parlayed that into the first million-dollar jackpot in Las Vegas history, per a December 21, 2023 account by the Las Vegas Review-Jounal. “Scott ‘Raja’ Richter won $1,081,106 in the new high limit gaming lounge at the Palazzo casino floor at The Venetian, according to a casino spokesperson,” the R-J reported. Noted Casinos.com, Scott is a “self-appointed exemplar of how to make money on YouTube, a practice built around his love for high-stakes slots.”

Meanwhile, the Lincoln Club has quickly gone about spending its Steve Richter windfall, sending $250,000 of the loot on October 1 to a newly formed city campaign committee calling itself Turn San Diego Around in Support of Larry Turner for Mayor, 2024, sponsored by the Lincoln Club Business League.

And on September 30, a committee called the Neighborhood Action Council in Opposition to Terra Lawson-Remer for County Supervisor 2024, Sponsored by the Lincoln Club Business League, spent $131,063.85 on a hit piece against the incumbent Democrat, per an October 1 disclosure filing with the county Registrar of Voters.

Meanwhile, incumbent Democratic mayor Todd Gloria, said to be the sudden target of much of the Lincoln Club’s stash, has been collecting money from the usual set of city hall special interests, including $10,000 given on October 2 by controversial Hillcrest developer Dan Floit to a committee calling itself San Diegans for Fairness Supporting Todd Gloria for Mayor & Stephen Whiburn for City Council 2024. IQHQ Reit of Solana Beach, builder of the hard-to-lease Research & Development District at Broadway and Pacific Highway, also kicked in $10,000 the same day.

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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