Permitting bad actors to take advantage of the gullible destroys public trust while enriching those who can most convincingly lie to the desperate. They should be punished for their opportunism.

Zeitlin carried out the fraud by using “call centers” that he has operated since at least 1994 to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for charities and political action committees.

A Las Vegas police officer who’s raising money in the name of children with leukemia — but spending most of the cash on himself, his wife and professional fundraisers — is still employed by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.