The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced they are requiring “U.S. Homeowners Relief” defendants to pay millions in their settlement along with banning them from the debt and mortgage relief business. The FTC had charged six defendants (that have agreed to settle) in the participation of a fraudulent mortgage modifications and foreclosure relief scheme. The settlement …
The Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement putting a stop to the phony claims of marketers who told consumers their fuel economy device could boost automobile gas mileage by at least 50 percent and “turn any vehicle into a hybrid.” The settlement bans marketers of the so-called “Hydro-Assist Fuel Cell” from selling fuel economy products. …
Defendants in a payday lending case have been ordered to pay more than $294,000 for illegal garnishment of consumers’ paychecks. A federal court has ordered, at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one of the individuals behind a payday lending scheme and two companies he controlled to pay $294,536 for illegally trying to …
Americall, an Illinois-based telemarketing firm will pay $500,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that it interfered with consumers’ requests to be placed on company-specific do not call lists and transmitted deceptive Caller ID names. The FTC alleged that Americall Group, Inc violated the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) in it’s efforts …
Earlier this month it was announced that Lisa Wright, Cathy Saffer and Carrington Coombs were all charged with fraud in a Florida foreclosure rescure scheme. Wright and Saffer were charged with conspiracy to defraud homeowners and banks in a foreclosure rescue scheme. Coombs, a certified public accountant, was also charged as a participant in the …
In early December Edward Lawson pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with a $6.2 million fraudulent investment scheme. According to his plea, Lawson was the president of “Automated Revenue Creation LLC” and “Guaranteed Results Advertising, LLC” (collectively, GRA). GRA’s investment literature stated that it was in the business of providing advertising through “Narrow Cast …
Back in May of 2008 David Whitaker pled guilty to an information charging him with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and commercial bribery to which Whitaker admitted to defrauding around 83 business account customers and a credit card processing company of over $10 million. Earlier this month he was finally sentenced …
Two men running a fake hedge fund scheme have been charged in New Jersey for the alleged $3.5 million fraud. The men, George Sepero and Carmelo Provenzano, claimed to run Jersey based hedge funds using a secret computer program to invest in foreign currency were charged for defrauding victims and spending the investments on high-end …
Last week a man whom operated a foreclosure-rescue scam agreed to plead guilty after collecting $1.6 million from 1,100 distressed homeowners. The man, Frederic Alan Gladle, of Austin, Texas, ran his scam in Los Angeles and elsewhere where he falsely promised the owners of more than a thousand distressed properties that they could indefinitely postpone …
For my generation the term “Hard Knocks” cannot be mentioned without the memorable image and sound of Jay-Z’s “ghetto anthem” rendition of “It’s A Hard Knock Life” from the play Annie. My personal favorite lyric and image from the infamous song being: “I’m from the school of the hard knocks, we must not let outsiders …