Last month I wrote about the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and their halting of the operation “Grant Connect” which was a program that deceived and mislead consumers about bogus products and services with unsubstantiated claims. The program marketed free government grants endorsed by President Obama, dietary supplements endorsed by Oprah, fake work-at-home opportunities and exclusive …
The state of South Carolina and Bank of America have teamed up together to administer unemployment benefits to South Carolina residents. Unemployment benefits used to come in the form of a check but are now being issued in the form of a Bank of America prepaid debit card. Bank of America claims that it’s good …
KEL law firm, formally Kaufman, Englett & Lynd, has been forced to resign from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Central Florida. The resignation of this Orlando based law firm marks “the first area law firm to be ousted in the business-rating agency’s 27-year history.” Apparently the BBB has complained that over the past year …
It was announced yesterday that the filing of a criminal information against corporations, R.S. Duffy and National A-1 Advertising, was issued charging them with money laundering and criminal forfeiture allegations including a plea agreement calling for the forfeiture of $4.9 million and a $1.5 million fine. According to the Information filed it’s alleged that the …
After pitching $40 million in fake auto-service warranties two former telemarketing executives are sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of $15,000 each. Christopher Cowart and Cris Sagnelli of Florida pleaded guilty last December to federal fraud charges arising out of the telemarketing sales practices of Transcontinental Warranty, a Florida company selling so …
A pending federal case investigating a $105 million “ponzi” scheme has charged a new defendant in the case. Newly added defendant, Alfred Gerebizza, is alleged that he and co-defendant Daniel Spitzer engaged in a ponzi scheme that resulted in losses of around $34 million after fraudulently obtaining over $105 million from over 400 victims. On …
November hosts Small Business Saturday! Never heard of it? Me either. But apparently in honor of the day which is dedicated to small businesses on the busiest shopping weekend of the year the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is urging consumers to support the day and attempting to spread awareness. “For the second year in a …
Locust Offshore Management and Locus Offshore Fund operator Andrey Hicks was charged last week in a complaint with wire fraud at the ripe, young age of 27. The complaint alleges that since March 2011, Hicks has obtained more than $1.6 million from at least nine individuals and two entities for investment purposes using the two …
After running an investment fraud scheme and causing at least $200 million in losses, Eliyahu Weinstein was indicted last week with 45 charges. Weinstein has been charged one one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 29 counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud while on pretrial release, one count of bank fraud …
Just one month ago I wrote about the implementation of debit card fees coming into play for big banks such as Chase, Wells Fargo and most notably Bank of America. Due to the change in a new government regulation that caps what banks can charge merchants for debit transactions they announced plans to implement a …
