A telemarketing firm that collected tens of thousands of dollars for charities for disabled firefighters, children with cancer and military veterans has been fined $2,500 by the state attorney general's office.

LJM Productions and its owner, Lisa Miller, also agreed to place its registration as a charity fundraiser on probation for 45 days for hiring unregistered telemarketers and for failing to make proper disclosures to local donors.

The actions come as the attorney general's office has made a big push to police abuses by telemarketers and fundraisers.

"If you are being paid to solicit funds for a charity, you need to be registered," said Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones.

Miller could not be reached for immediate comment but her attorney Steven Ho said the fine was for technical violations and not for any financial wrongdoing.

State business records list Miller as the head of LJM Productions, which is a local fundraising and market research firm.

Miller and LJM Productions raises money for several local and Mainland charities such as the Children's Cancer Assistance Network, the Disabled Firefighter's Foundation, the Regular American Veterans and the Sylvester Foundation.

According to reports filed with the attorney general's office, LJM raised a total of $140,506 from local donors but turned over just $43,963.04 to the charities.

In other words, the company kept more than 68 cents of every dollar it collected from local donors.

The Children's Cancer Assistance Network received just $3,940.32 of the $24,627 the LJM raised on its behalf, while the Disabled Firefighters Foundation received $3,876.20 of the $24,170 raised by the telemarketing firm, state records show.

The charities themselves have faced scrutiny over the years for high administrative costs and high fundraising fees.

Filings with the Internal Revenue Service show that the Children's Cancer Assistance Network and the Disabled Firefighters Foundation, which are affiliated with Gig Harbor, Wash., residents Robert Friend and Shao Mei Wong, collected more than $1.1 million from donors in 2006.

That same year, the charities spent just $442,321, or 37.9 percent, on their charitable activities.