Staff Reports
Rep. Brian Mast has been linked to a Florida marketing company under investigation by federal regulators, according to POLITICO.
World Patent Marketing and its owner are being accused by the Federal Trade Commission of defrauding clients of millions of dollars. On Thursday, POLITICO reported Mast, a Treasure Coast Republican, was appointed to the company’s advisory board in February 2016, before the company’s owner, Scott J. Cooper, donated more than $5,000 to his campaign.
Mast told POLITICO he never received compensation from the company, and became aware he became a member of the board through a news release someone else sent him.
According to POLITICO, a Florida district court agreed with an FTC request to temporarily free the company’s assets earlier this month. The Federal Trade Commission claims Cooper, through World Patent Marketing and Desa Industries, charged customers thousands of dollars to patent and market their inventions.
“Congressman Mast never served on the board and has no knowledge of the inner workings of this business,” said spokesperson Brad Stewart in an email to FloridaPolitics.com Thursday.
Stewart reiterated that there were never any legal filings indicating the congressman served on the board of directors, attended a board meeting or any meeting on behalf of the company nor had he ever conducted business on behalf of the company. Mast never received any compensation from either company, he said.
Promotional materials with the congressman’s image came from a source publicly available on the internet, Stewart added; Mast did not know about the press release beforehand and did not approve the quotation used in the release.
Mast is returning a campaign donation from Cooper, Stewart said.
